Mr. Jonas Bensah

Old Dominion University

Bio

Jonas Bensah is a Ph.D. student in International Studies at Old Dominion University. His paper, "Aid Impact Framework: A Framework for Maximizing the Impact and Sustainability of Education Aid in Ghana," explains why aid interventions produce different outcomes. It argues that effectiveness depends on the interaction of local consultation, institutional alignment, donor coordination, community involvement, capacity building, and adaptive learning. The paper uses education aid in Ghana to illustrate how these conditions shape development results.

The Aid Impact Framework: A Framework for Maximizing the Impact and Sustainability of Education Aid in Ghana

Abstract

Education aid in low-income countries yields uneven results because research isolates factors like ownership, coordination, or capacity building. The Aid Impact Framework argues that lasting impact requires six components functioning as one system: local stakeholder consultation, donor-implementer coordination, cultural, institutional, and political alignment, community involvement, capacity building, and adaptive monitoring and evaluation. Comparing two Ghana programs, USAID achieved stronger, sustainable outcomes because these components reinforced each other, while the World Bank’s remained fragmented and ineffective.