The Impact of the SDGs on Donors’ Choices: Analysis of Trends and Types of Aid to Higher Education at the SDG Implementation Halfway Point
分析了2015年以来可持续发展目标对双边捐助者高等教育援助选择的影响，发现奖学金援助扩大而本地高等教育援助减少，且援助集中在少数国家，可能加剧全球不平等。
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been guiding global development agendas and shaping foreign aid priorities since 2015. While higher education is part of the broader agenda, the SDGs do not specify support for local systems and institutions in developing countries that require assistance. At the same time, the SDGs call for expansion of scholarship aid to enable citizens of developing countries to study in donor countries. Using the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s aid flows data and focusing on types of aid and recipient and donor trends, we analyse aid flows to higher education to assess if the focus on scholarships has had an impact on donors’ choices during the first seven years of the SDG implementation. The findings show that the SDGs have had a fundamental impact on bilateral donors’ choices regarding the types of aid provided to developing countries, leading to the expansion of scholarship aid and a decline in aid to local higher education. Additionally, most of the aid was provided to a limited number of countries, leaving many behind in the process. If these trends continue until 2030, the world will see further widening of global inequalities in higher education and development in general.