This article discusses the complexities of aid-giving
using the example of early childhood policies in
Namibia. It supports a critical view of aid processes
and of World Bank endeavours in particular. Using
an analysis of the World Bank funded education
sector-wide improvement plan (ETSIP) in Namibia
and three Namibian local case studies, it shows how
the local circumstances of young children and their
parents are ignored in order to fit in with donor
preconceptions, and how senior officials come to
adopt those views. It argues that universally derived
policies on early childhood development are
misapplied, and poverty and inequality are ignored
in the search for technocratic solutions.