International aid in financing sustainable development
In the paper, the nature of official development assistance (ODA) viewed as a component of general international aid is considered, and mechanisms for providing aid in the context of international promotion of sustainable development are described. Also, the current world trends of providing official development assistance are highlighted, and constantly increasing amount of aid is determined. The latter demonstrates that the donor countries ensure the compliance with their international obligations related to the provision of concessional financing, and technical assistance to support the efforts that are being made by countries in the field of development.The dynamics in the amount of official development assistance is analyzed, and distribution of aid by sources of financing, regions, recipients and sectors is outlined. It is found that the largest flows of ODA go mainly to countries in Africa and Asia, and the smallest go to Europe, primarily to the education and healthcare sector, social infrastructure and economic development.It is pointed out that in Ukraine, one of the largest recipient countries of ODA in Europe, there is no holistic mechanism for analyzing the receipt, distribution and control of official development assistance viewed as an instrument of general international aid.The main challenges of mobilizing foreign assistance to Ukraine are outlined and key steps in addressing these matters are proposed. In order to promote efficient use of aid offered by foreign donors in the form of international assistance for the implementation of development programs in Ukraine, the following steps should be taken: to develop a public strategy for using international aid and a system of control for monitoring over international projects; to design a sound mechanism for analyzing the receipt, distribution and control of foreign assistance; to enhance staff performance in development, support and management of international projects in accordance with the requirements of providers of international aid; to establish a single coordinating body responsible for mobilizing international assistance.Taking these steps will increase the efficiency of using aid offered by foreign donors in the form of international assistance for the implementation of development programs and provide an opportunity to pursue sustainable development goals in Ukraine.
