Since the late 1990s there has been shift in the way foreign aid is intended to be distributed to the social sectors, moving from traditional forms of project aid towards more comprehensive instruments of development assistance, including public-private partnerships, and international financing mechanisms.

Foreign aid to the social sectors, and the number of donors, has been quickly growing. For instance, since the 1990s, aid to health care has increased almost threefold to 12 billion US dollars. In this animation we look at how aid works in relation to social sectors such as health, education, water, sanitation, and social protection.

The film is part of a series produced by UNU-WIDER on the project 'ReCom--Research and Communication on Foreign Aid'. It can, for instance, be used when teaching students about the impact of foreign aid.