Policy Submission on Aid Policy for the UN International Meeting on Small Island Developing States

The submission argues that aid to Small Island Developing States (SIDS) has declined by over 50 percent between 1994 and 2004, despite the extreme vulnerability of these states to natural disasters and economic shocks. It highlights a disparity where some states are aid-dependent (with aid exceeding GDP), while others lack basic funding for health and education. The author proposes eight reforms, including untying aid from donor procurement, harmonising donor policies, and replacing GDP per capita with a vulnerability index to assess development needs.

• Aid levels for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) experienced a significant decline between 1994 and 2004, falling by more than 50 percent.
• Per capita aid flows to SIDS are generally higher than those to mainland developing regions, with the Pacific receiving $220 per capita and the Caribbean $34 per capita between 1995 and 1999, compared to $22 in Sub Saharan Africa, $10 in Latin America, and $2 in India.
• Aid dependency is extreme in certain states such as Tuvalu, Tokelau, and Niue, where aid equals or exceeds the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), potentially reducing government legitimacy and encouraging corruption.
• The practice of 'tied aid', which requires recipients to purchase goods and services from the donor country, reduces the overall value of the aid to the recipient by approximately 25 percent.
• The author recommends that International Financial Institutions move away from using GDP per capita to rank needs, instead adopting a vulnerability index to better account for the ability of SIDS to resist and recover from environmental and economic shocks.

APA

Brown, O. (2005). Policy Submission on Aid Policy for the UN International Meeting on Small Island Developing States. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/security_sub_aid_policy_2005.pdf

Chicago

Brown, Oli. Policy Submission on Aid Policy for the UN International Meeting on Small Island Developing States. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2005. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/security_sub_aid_policy_2005.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Brown |first1=Oli |title=Policy Submission on Aid Policy for the UN International Meeting on Small Island Developing States |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=January 2005 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/security_sub_aid_policy_2005.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{brown2005policy, author = {Brown, Oli}, title = {{Policy Submission on Aid Policy for the UN International Meeting on Small Island Developing States}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2005}, month = jan, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/security_sub_aid_policy_2005.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }