Careers in International Development

Policy: What is the Frontier?

Valerie Kozel (vkozel@wisc.edu)

Adjunct Associate Professor
La Follette School of Public Affairs
Informal Discussion: how to start a career in
international development
Based on my experiences at the World Bank and outside
As well as… conversations with development practitioners (willing to
answer your questions and queries)
• Pierre Fallavier: Chief, Social Policy, Policy and Monitoring at UNICEF in South
Sudan (MIT urban and regional studies)
• Dean Cira: Lead Urban Specialist at the WB in Nairobi (La Follette)
• Brendan Brian Brady: Consultant at the World Bank (recent grad of Harvard
Kennedy School)
Including several here today e.g.
• Chris Russell: joint degree La Follette and UW law school, ex-Peace Corps in
Ukraine
• Steve Malpezzi: UW Professor, Real Estate and Urban Land Economics in the B-
school, and ex-WB

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Widespread agreement: its a tough job market and breaking into development
requires passion, persistence, and patience coupled with a lot of luck. There are
things you can do to increase you chances… we will discuss some today
There is an enormous amount of material on the web focused on jobs in
international development including
 Websites providing guidance, with related job-boards (e.g. DevEx)
 Alanna Shaikh’s, Chris Blattman’s really helpful blogs e.g.
http://chrisblattman.com/2009/04/20/getting-a-job-in-international-development/
 Conventional job boards e.g. ReliefWeb, UNJobFinder.org (good site, includes internships and
entry level jobs), career pages run by firms e.g. Gates, Chemonics, DAI, etc.
 Facebook group “International Jobs for Young Professionals” with 116,900 (!) current members
 Coupled with many articles, books, advice…
Research and read!

What can I add? General advice, but also some specifics:

On the “international aid architecture”, ODA flows and aid providers (follow the money)
On strategies for “building a career in development” -- with some personal stories e.g. from
Chris, Steve – and personal contacts
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As a first step: Think it through…
Why do you want to work in development?
“One of the greatest accomplishments of the past 50 years—the massive drop in the number of child deaths from
20 million children in 1960 to 8.1 million deaths last year—is an example of the tremendous progress we’ve
made, in large part, thanks to foreign assistance. If the world comes together on a plan for financing
development, the impact on health and development will be enormous.” (Bill Gates, April 2011)
 Do not be seduced by promises of privilege, grand benefits, and high salaries: that aspect of
development work is gone/fast disappearing

What kind of work do you want to do, in what role? (be deliberate! And
think longer term)
 Diplomatic and administrative (working for/with governments)
 Technical expert, including program management
 Humanitarian aid (the classic “aid worker”)

On which issues (what are the hot issues in development?) and in what
settings?
 Finance and macro; business innovation, private sector development; energy!
 Service “basics” – health, education, water and sanitation
 BRICs? Conflict affected countries, fragile states? 4
Then explore…
 Which agencies/firms do that kind of work?
 What skills do you need, how can you equip (and distinguish) yourself substantively
from 1000s of other job seekers?
 specific skills are particularly important for internships, entry level jobs
 What are effective approaches towards getting a job in the field?
 Job boards are good for knowing what’s out there, but personal contacts are still the main route
into jobs, esp entry level jobs.
 NETWORK!
 Lots of good advice online i.e. start with modest expectations, volunteer, be willing to do office,
work, be flexible, passionate about change (but not about salary and benefits…) and so on.
 Come across as a sound potential team member with interesting skills
 Will come back to this…

Two things to keep in mind:

 There are lots of people out there with extensive country experience, language, and
good technical skills (116,000+ on the FB page). Many also with project
management experience: what can you bring that is new?
 Entry level jobs are increasingly going to local staff, also increased south-south
hiring. This is different from when I entered the field.

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Learn about how the aid system works: much
development work is financed by “foreign aid”

 Foreign aid includes

 Financial flows, technical assistance, and given by one country (donor) to another
country (recipient) either as grants or subsidized loans.
 Can be given or received by governments, charities, foundations, businesses, or
individuals
 Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the OECD is
international organization that tracks ODA flows.
 30+ industrialized countries belong to the OECD, including most of the major
donor countries
 According to the DAC, foreign assistance must meet two criteria to be
counted as aid
1. Designed to promote economic development and welfare as main objective
(military aid excluded)
2. Provided as a grant or heavily subsidized loan
• Referred to as “concessional assistance”, if loan then grant element much be
25% or more (ref. WB IDA lending on highly concessional terms qualifies)
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There are different categories of “aid”
 Official Development Assistance (ODA) is aid provided by DAC donor
governments to low and middle income countries for development
purposes
 Bilateral, national aid programs
 Multilateral (UN organizations, WB, ADB, also regional banks)
 Private Voluntary Assistance is another important source increasing rapidly
—including (some) humanitarian assistance
 Churches, faith based organizations have been involved for decades
 More recent, rapid expansion of assistance provided by INGOs e.g. Save the
Children, Oxfam, World Vision and foundations
 And new foundations like Gates, which current provides more than $1 billion in
support primarily for education and health research and programs in low income
countries.
 In recent years, private assistance is estimated to provide countries with as much as
half to two-thirds increase over official development assistance (ODA)
 But private assistance is not counted in ODA, which is limited to “official”
sources

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Who gives ODA?
 Most ODA (80%) is given in the form of bilateral assistance from one
country to another
 Typically through bilateral development agencies e.g. USAID, DFID, JICA, CIDA,
SIDA, Saudi Fund for International Development
 Many countries e.g. the U.S. have multiple aid agencies e.g.
 USAID, Millennium Challenge Corp, Depts of Agriculture Defense, Health and Human
Services, Census, also Peace Corps
 Some aid provided in cash, but 70-75% is provided in goods (e.g.
agriculture products, medicines) and services (technical assistance)
 Big push-back in recent years against “tied aid”, food aid, and use of TA
(expensive consultants and travel)
 Many “aid conscious” donors no longer allow tied aid, good in many respects
but also problematic given..
 Ongoing shift from pure-development objectives to more commercial interests
in defining relationships between rich and poor countries
 Even true e.g. for Norway in terms of its relationship with Vietnam (example)

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Net Official Development Assistance (ODA)
(USD millions, 2012 – WDI)
30000

25471
25000

20000
17172
15307
15000

10000 8709 8584

7927
6402

5000 4560 4052 3857 3638

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ODA donor-country estimates (previous
slide) also includes multilateral aid
 Countries provide bilateral (direct) ODA as well as (indirect) aid
through multilateral institutions
 Major institutions include
 World Bank, IMF, MIGA and IFC
 UN organizations
 European Union (EU) institutions, including the EC
 Regional banks e.g. AfDB, ABD, IADB
 Different rationales for multilateral aid, but generally
 Less tied to national interests, politics (no longer accept tied aid)
 “whole-sale” provision, lower overhead costs.
 Global harmonization of aid, shared global objectives

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World Bank is the largest multilateral aid
institution
 Initially the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
(IBRD),
 founded at the Bretton Woods conference in July 1944
 To finance the reconstruction of Europe after WWII
 Shifted to focus on countries outside Europe with the advent of the Marshall
Plan (1947), until 1968 focus on building economic infrastructure – e.g. ports,
roads, irrigation systems
 1970s, revised focus on basic needs including education and health
 McNamara introduced focus on poverty
 1980s, difficult era of structural adjustment, expanded lending to Africa
 1990s through present
 More diversified lending portfolio, more open processes (in response to harsh criticisms
in 1980s), greater focus on environment, social concerns

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More WB…
 World Bank is heavily dominated by US interests, with strong ties to the US treasury
 All WB presidents are US, nominated by the US president
 Beginning to change with in response to changing distribution of wealth, changing global financial
flows (including but not limited to aid flows)
 World today looks very different than 1970s/80s
 World Bank consists of five affiliated institutions operating in 100+ countries (20,000+
staff and consultants)
 IBRD
 International Development Association (IDA)
 International Finance Corp (IFC)
 Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA)
 International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID)
 Most funding provided by the WB is not aid
 IBRD lends to middle income countries at market rates
 Borrows from international capital markets, relends to developing countries at cheaper rates than
countries can obtain directly
 But demand for IBRD loans has been falling, esp as countries progress, become more creditworthy
and can access international markets
 WB has becomes lender of last resort. Increasing exposure in poor, conflict affected and fragile
states 12
IDA provides aid through grants and highly
concessional loans
 Donor countries (primarily DAC but increasingly others) contribute funds
to IDA (referred to as IDA replenishment), which are used to provide
concessional loans and grants to IDA eligible countries
 IDA eligible – GNI per-capita less than $1215 (2015)
 IDA gives grants plus loans on concessional terms e.g. 25-38 year repayment
period, 5 year grace period, initiation fee of only .75%, low interest schedule
 Annual lending envelopes determined by Country Policy and Institutional
Assessments (CPIAs)
 But there is a lot of momentum in the system, process not transparent
 Currently 59 IDA only countries, 18 blend countries (based on creditworthiness),
plus India (can access IDA on “exceptional basis” through 2017)
 Several countries that receive high ODA are included on the “blend” list i.e.
 Ethiopia, Pakistan, Nigeria, Vietnam, Zimbabwe
 Countries with the biggest “exposure” (outstanding IDA loans and commitments)
 China, Brazil, Turkey, India, and Indonesia (concessionary, no rush to repay)

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World Bank led by share holders

 World Bank controlled by 188 member governments (share holders) with voting
shares determined by capital contributions. Referred to as “the Board”.
Currently
 USA is largest share holder with 10.3% voting share (reduced substantially from 16% in
early 2000s)
 Japan is second with 8.6%
 UK with 6.1%
 Germany with 5.5%
 France with 3.7%
 China with 2.1%
 Followed by regional groups of countries, each having 4-5% voting shares
 The Board, chaired by the WB president, decides on major policy directions,
reviews all (major) loans and grant agreements.
 Very political environment, changing as geo-politics and geography of wealth changes (e.g.
China is now a full voting member, also in ADB board)
 US is the only country with veto power… but much less likely to exercise it in recent years.
 Controversial loans don’t make it to the Board

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Other multilateral donors…

 Some of the regional banks have a strong development focus i.e.

AfDB, ADB, IADB
 Also new Asian Infrastructure Development Bank (China)
 These operate in a similar way to the World Bank but with regional
focus
 Provide concessional and non-concessional financing to countries in their
region of focus, through regional contributions/share-holders
 ADB is largest (in terms of lending)
 Set up in 1966, membership limited to UNESCAP countries
 Currently 67 member countries
 Japan has largest voting share, president is always Japanese
 Aid also provided by other agencies, for example the EU, OPEC fund,
and Islamic Development Bank

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Other UN Organizations

 Wide range of other UN organizations that play a role in global

development efforts, often linked to specific issues
 e.g. IFAD, ILO, FAO, UNESCO, UNIDO etc
 UN organizations have a range of foreign assistance programs, but
considerably smaller than the WB and IMF
 Much of this assistance comes in the form of technical cooperation
(consultants, advisors) under the guise of UNDP, UNFPA, WHO
 Or humanitarian assistance, development projects through the WFP, UNICEF,
and UNHCR (UN High Commission for Refugees)

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Trends in ODA, 1960-2008 (OECD DAC)

http://www.oecd.org/dac/stats/documentupload/MeasuringAid50yearsDACStats.pdf 17
DAC members total net resource flows to
developing countries 1970-2009 (OECD
DAC)

http://www.oecd.org/dac/stats/documentupload/MeasuringAid50yearsDACStats.pdf 18
The distribution of
ODA receipts from
DAC countries
1978/9-2008/9
The geographic distribution of
aid responds to changing needs
as well as to changing political
imperatives.
Note reduction in aid flows to
East Asia and Pacific countries as
well as to South Asia, coupled
with sharp increase to sub-
Saharan Africa.
Rise in aid to Europe and Central
Asia reflects the emerging global
financial crisis in 2008-9.

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Aid allocation based on income
classifications 1960-2009

From Easterly and Williamson, 2011, Figure 9

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ODA has increased in sub-Saharan Africa,
low income countries more broadly (2012)
2012 Net ODA 2012 2012
($ millions) ODA/capita ODA as % of GNI

Subsaharan Africa 46,274 51 3.1

South Asia 14,171 9 0.6

East Asia and Pacific 8,796 4 0.1

Europe and Central
Asia 9,970 37 0.5
Middle East and
North Africa 13,894 41 na
Latin American and
Caribbean 10,091 17 0.2

Low Income 39,333 47 7

Low-middle Income 38,964 15 0.8

upper-middle Income 15,595 7 0.1

http://www.oecd.org/dac/stats/documentupload/MeasuringAid50yearsDACStats.pdf 21
Is it all about economic development,
reducing poverty?
Huh. ODA is dominated by bilateral aid.
 It should surprise no one to find that ODA is also dominated by (bilateral) foreign policy
objectives, political alliances
 Countries provide significant aid to their former colonies
 US aid (including ODA) reflects geo-political concerns
 Egypt and Israel historically
 More recently Afghanistan, Pakistan (also in 80s), South Sudan, Iraq (declining, shifting to Afghanistan)
 Development and poverty reduction matters, at least for some donors, also for
multilateral institutions (e.g. IDA, UN agencies)
 Greater focus on harmonization of aid, sectoral programs
 Country size is relevant
 Some donors (and multilaterals) try to improve aid effectiveness through greater selectivity on
countries (esp smaller countries) and sectors
 Strengthen fragile democracies, transition to democracy and democratic institutions
 Commercial interests, strengthening trade ties are increasingly important in rising
middle income countries

Lets look at the evidence—which countries received the most ODA in 2012?
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Major ODA recipients – ranked by overall
ODA flows in 2012
Net ODA
($ millions) ODA/capita ODA as % of GNI
Afghanistan 6,725 225 32.6
Vietnam 4,118 46 2.8
Ethiopia 3,261 36 7.5
Turkey 3,033 41 2.4
DRC 2,859 44 10.3
Tanzania 2,832 59 10.3
Kenya 2,654 61 5.3
Cote d’Ivoire 2,636 133 10.1
Bangladesh 2,152 14 1.5
Mozambique 2,097 83 14.0
Pakistan 2,019 11 0.9
West Bank Gaza 2,001 495 16.5
Nigeria 1,916 11 2.5
Ghana 1,808 71 4.6
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Major ODA recipients (cont)

Net ODA
($ millions) ODA/capita ODA as % of GNI
Egypt 1,807 22 0.7
Syria 1,672 75 ..
South Sudan 1,578 146 15.9
Morocco 1,480 46 1.6
Iraq 1,301 40 0.6
Serbia 1,090 151 12.7
Zimbabwe 1,001 73 8.7

Source: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/DT.ODA.ALLD.CD

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The quality of ODA is improving:
Reductions in share of aid through ineffective channels, 1979-
2007

From Easterly and Williamson, 2011, Figure 10

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 Aid is only one way that rich countries affect
poor countries…
• And (according to Deaton) probably the least important way
• Highlights importance of
• FDI, private investment flows
• Remittances, migration
• Flow of ideas, technology and basic science e.g. vaccines, medical
equipment. Cell phones!
• Lifting trade restrictions, ensuring poor countries have access to international
markets

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What does this mean for your job search?
Again, be deliberate, fit your interests
 Most Official Development Assistance (ODA) comes with (many) strings—in
terms of country and sectoral/strategic focus. Do these mesh with your
interests?
 Ref: USAID Foreign Assistance Dashboard to learn about where US foreign aid goes
 Private Development Assistance (PDA) comes with different strings: are
these a better fit for you?
 Look into some of the big West Coast NGOs e.g. Gates
 And there are increasing opportunities in the private sector… to work
globally, in different country contexts and settings. Do these fit your career
objectives?
 Consulting firms, private business is not a bad place to develop skills and get
experience

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Suggestions on strategies to equip yourself to be competitive
in “your” job market? (including from my sources)

 Cultivate specific sectoral expertise and knowledge through your

course work, even if only one or two classes
 Also Learn a specific skills e.g. check USAID website on performance monitoring.
 Develop and nurture good writing skills, learn to make sharp and
focused presentations
 Find volunteer positions, internships in your chosen area of expertise
(spring break, summers). Be willing to do desk work initially, you don’t
have the field skills to compete with more seasoned job applicants
 UN, World Bank have small, very competitive internship programs
 Read voraciously, keep abreast of current events and news in your
country/region
 Really go for it…Choose a region/country, travel there, volunteer and
network. Or, join the Peace Corps, seek internships e.g. with UN
organizations, non-profits.

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