The purpose of this blog is to provide a snapshot and comments on recent news and debate in the aid and humanitarian sectors. In the last quarter of 2022 the blog is focussed on planning for Ukraine’s reconstruction and the debates on how it can be delivered.
This is a meaty subject: the blog considers questions on the politics of Ukraine’s reconstruction leadership, architecture and modality with a particular focus on how support will be channelled and the use of grants and other funding vehicles.
The blog is prepared by William Morrison, Chairman of MetricsLed. William, a former founding director of Adam Smith International, has led reconstruction programmes in the Middle East, East Africa and South Asia.
Rebuilding Ukraine: digitally driven reconstruction and the challenges of coordination
There are a growing number of digital platforms circling in the Cloud above Ukraine gearing up to support reconstruction: many have overlapping aims and varying degrees of ambition, official status, and public accessibility/oversight.
Such platforms were peripheral in previous major, expeditionary or internationally financed reconstruction programmes. They are now key actors with distinct characteristics and capabilities.
Read further to gain an insight on these platforms and more..
A ‘Nothing-Burger’: Questions ducked at the Berlin Conference on Ukraine’s Reconstruction
Who pays? Who leads? When to start, where, using what approaches and modalities? What about corruption? The questions that Ukraine’s reconstruction poses are difficult and of course add pressure to governments grappling with a deep downturn and a cost of living and energy crisis. But to simply file them away in the ‘too difficult pile’ or kick them into the long grass – as Western leaders did late last month at the Berlin Conference – would be a grave strategic error.
The short-term costs of reconstruction will be huge but the costs and strategic consequences of a botched reconstruction programme over the longer term are unimaginable.
Ukraine’s Reconstruction, the Berlin Conference & Elephants in the Room
Ukraine’s Reconstruction, the Berlin Conference & Elephants in the Room 24 October 2022 As delegates head to Berlin for tomorrow’s International Expert Conference on the
Questions for the Europeans on Ukraine’s Reconstruction
Potential donors will meet in Berlin on Oct. 25 to plan for Ukraine’s reconstruction. The last meeting in July at Lugano failed to produce a plan and the principles it collectively espoused were muddled and contradictory. In recent weeks the debate on Ukrainian’s reconstruction has been gathering pace.
Who should lead the international response to Ukraine’s Reconstruction Programme?
With all the talk of a Marshall Plan for Ukraine it is perhaps worth noting that one of the reasons for the original plan’s success was that it was led and driven by the US and that its architect reported directly to the US President.
US Military structures for military and reconstruction support evolve
Reports – NYT 29 September – and public announcements suggest that the US is thinking about building institutions and processes to overhaul how the United States and its allies train and equip the Ukrainian military.
