Assessing Foreign Aid: A Benchmark Analysis of Kyrgyz Rural Aid-Recipients’ Narratives

Abstract

Foreign aid is an important aspect in understanding human development in developing countries. A consistent analysis of aid efforts is required to comprehend limitations and set up further prospects for effective strategies and development outcomes. While original assessments of foreign aid are much based on the viewpoints of aid agencies, the opinions of aid-recipients often remain ignored. This thesis contributes with a descriptive benchmark study of the characteristics of foreign aid as expressed by a rural aid-recipient society in Kyrgyzstan. It is a case study of aid performance in the Jerge-Tal village based on comprehensive feedback from aid-recipients and the framework of an accomplished international “Listening Project” (LP). The findings from Jerge-Tal village are benchmarked with the LP outcomes and discussed with references to the academic literature in order to better comprehend whether and why there is a difference between the international LP outcomes and empirical response from Jerge-Tal community with respect to foreign aid provisions.