“Economic development does work, but it does not work overnight,” Andrew Natsios, former Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (AID), told The Cipher Brief. The problem with common criticisms of aid programs – that they are wasteful and do not produce real results – is that results are often measured only in the short term. As a result, intra-governmental audits and external studies may miss the true dividends of economic development programs, which could come to fruition decades down the line.

Increasing development aid, rebooting European climate policy, partnering with green technologies in emerging economies: the French president has made his diplomatic priorities clear. [...] In front of a distinguished audience, he listed France’s new ambitions “in the current state of affairs”: security, independence, and influence. This motto, he stressed, does not mean to “make France a small and reluctant country, jealously guarding its security”.

Protecting and promoting human rights is a cornerstone of Swedish foreign policy. Sweden strives to be a strong voice and a global leader that stands up for and defends human rights, democracy and the principles of rule of law through foreign policy. This is also central to our engagement in Myanmar. I will meet with representatives from the government, civil society and international organizations to get a good understanding of the situation.

The Philippines hopes the European Union revives an offer to provide development grants -- but this time without conditions linked to the country’s human rights record, according to Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez. “We believe that to help a friend and provide aid it must be without conditions,” Lopez said in an interview late Saturday at a meeting of Asia-Pacific trade ministers in Hanoi, Vietnam. “We would appreciate all aid but we would just request that there be no conditions,” he said.

The Saudi foreign ministry published an infographic that shows the size of aid which the Saudi kingdom has provided to Yemen since April 2015 until April 2017. Saudi Arabia has provided $8.2 billion during this phase. The amount has been divided on different sectors. The development sector received the biggest share worth $2.9 billion while aid to the legitimate Yemeni government was worth $2.2 billion.

The World Bank reports the African region will receive $45 billion of the $75 billion allocated for development purposes. It says other recipients will include small Pacific island states threatened by climate change and fragile countries in the Western Hemisphere, such as Haiti. [...] The fund, which runs from July 1 through June 30, 2020, also will support specific development projects in 82 additional fragile states, including Guinea, Nepal, Niger, and Tajikistan.