The Paris Declaration and the Accra Agenda for Action emphasise the importance of aligning aid with recipient government priorities and delivering aid through government systems. However, since a significant amount of aid is not delivered through national budgets, the issue of aligning these...

We examine the role of local need and various distortions in the design and implementation of United Nations flash appeal triggered in response to the destructive 2015 Nepal earthquake. Specifically, we investigate the extent to which the allocation of this humanitarian assistance follows...