Aid effectiveness in education: Why it matters

This article introduce s the special issue of Prospects on Aid effectiveness ineducation. It brings together case studies of attempts in several very different contexts toimprove the effectiveness of the use of aid in the education sector. By drawing on the historical evolution of the new paradigm over the last 20 years, the authors make the casefor a closer focus on aid s effectivenes s in education, as well as the need to reform the aideffectiveness architecture. In particular , they identify two major obstacles that need to beovercome to improve aid s effectivene ss in education: the lack of sufficient institutional and staff incentives for coordinated and harmonized behaviour; and factors that lead to risk-aversion and discourage innovation in delivering aid effectively.