International Aid System Research Articles

EXPLORING ACCOUNTABILITY DISCOURSES AND PRACTICES IN THE SPANISH AID SYSTEM

AbstractThis article aims to explore the different accountability discourses of the various actors in the Spanish international aid system and to examine them in light of the various theoretical interpretations of development accountability. The conclusions reached suggest a technical and financial accountability model, largely isolated from international debates where political and social issues are at the core of the concept. Although this can be explained by a range of factors which are specific to the Spanish aid system, there are also interesting tendencies that are deepening a new understanding and practice of the idea. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Making the most of the international aid system

This article outlines how the global development set-up looks today. The picture is of a complex ecosystem, with many different types of organisations delivering assistance in a variety of different forms. This complexity presents both opportunities and threats to the developing countries on the receiving end. Without some oversight and guidance, the system could become burdensome and inefficient. The article describes how the DAC is in a unique position to keep track of the trends and to help to bring harmony to the system. It describes these issues in relation to the more than 200 multilateral donors – such as the United Nations, the World Bank and the global funds – which today receive or serve as a channel for 40% of all aid. The challenge is to ensure this is being delivered effectively and that efforts are as co-ordinated as possible, both with each other and with the priorities of the developing countries in which they work. As an example, the latest global plans to tackle climate change are a test case for the development community: the article explores how this can be done without increasing the complexity further.

Analysing Success in the Fight against Malnutrition in Peru

SummaryThe prevalence of underweight children worldwide fell from 31per cent in 1990 to 26 per cent in 2008 (UNICEF 2009). However, progress is still slow and very uneven. Half of the countries have made progress on hunger, but levels of malnutrition did not improve in 28 countries and got worse in 24. The case of Peru appears to be an encouraging exception to the rule. With the support of CARE and others organisations from civil society and the donor community, the Peruvian Government has generated the political momentum to overcome obstacles and create national coordination structures and mechanisms, increase public (and private) spending on programs to tackle malnutrition and align social programs with the national nutrition strategy (known as CRECER). This included adding conditionalities on taking children to regular growth monitoring in the Conditional Cash Transfer programme, JUNTOS. The international aid system has also aligned itself around CRECER. After ten years of almost no change in child chronic malnutrition (stunting) rates (25.8 per cent in 1996, and 22.9 per cent in 2005 – with rural rates moving from 40.4 per cent to 40.1 per cent), this change in strategy has started to lead to results: malnutrition rates fell to 17.9 per cent between 2005 and 2010, with reductions mainly occurring in rural areas where malnutrition rates are highest (from 40.1per cent in 2005 to 31.3 per cent in 2010) according to the Peruvian National Statistical Office (INEI). Over 130,000 children under five are now not chronically malnourished who would have been had rates not fallen. Indeed, there is a strong case to be made that these changes would not have occurred without the formation in early 2006 of the Child Nutrition Initiative, and its advocacy success in getting ten Presidential candidates to sign a commitment to reduce chronic malnutrition in children under five by 5 per cent in five years (‘5 by 5 by 5’), followed by the support provided subsequently to the new government to meet that commitment.This paper documents and systematises Peru's recent experience in tackling malnutrition. Through an intensive review of quantitative and qualitative evidence, it argues that success is not explained by the presence of favourable socioeconomic changes in Peru, and it explores the political determinants of success in three dimensions. Horizontally, it looks at government efforts to form policy coalitions across representatives of different government and non‐government agencies; it looks at the vertical integration of agencies and programmes between national, regional and municipal governments, and it analyses the allocation of government resources used to fund the government's nutrition effort.In closing, the paper identifies some salient challenges to ensure long term sustainability of the initiative and draws policy recommendations and knowledge sharing lessons that could be of use for Southern Governments, donor agencies and civil society organisations.

Half full or half empty? Shelter after the Jogjakarta earthquake

The international shelter response to the Jogjakarta earthquake in Indonesia in May 2006 is widely regarded as a success story, especially when compared with the response to the Indian Ocean tsunami 16 months earlier. This evaluation is largely in terms of the international aid system itself, which emphasises statistical measures of 'success' and internal coordination and efficiency. From the perspective of those closer to the ground, however, it was less successful, especially in terms of coordination and communication with and participation of local agencies and affected communities. This paper, by an aid worker resident in Jogjakarta and an anthropologist, examines the response from a perspective grounded both within and outside the aid system, local as well as global. It recognises the relative success of the response, but argues for an approach more grounded in local knowledge and responsive to local concerns, while also providing practical suggestions for improvement.

Governance of irrigation systems: Does history offer lessons for today?

AbstractAt the present time, a large change in the governance of irrigation systems is being attempted in many countries, especially the developing ones, involving an increase in the extent of self‐governance. The objectives of this vary, but almost always include reducing the budgetary burden on the state. This paper interprets what governance means, in the form of five principal components, and proposes three principal impacts that we should seek in the evaluation of good governance. Some historical examples illustrating state governance and self‐governance types are reviewed and contrasted. Since about 1850, there has been a huge increase in the extent of state governance. The current wave of projects for irrigation management transfer reflects a feeling that the financial burden on the state has, in many countries, become excessive, leading to deterioration of systems' performance and sustainability. This effect is, at least in part, due to the arrival in the 1960s of the international development aid system, which is much more ready to finance the creation or expansion of irrigation than the subsequent running costs. The transition that is now being attempted, involving some return to self‐governance, is difficult. Historians of irrigation are urged to seek past examples that may be helpful in indicating how to achieve this result. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

International Development Aid and Its Impact on a Donor Country: A Case Study of Norway

This article argues that it is important to reconstruct and analyse how the international aid system that was established after the Second World War has impacted on the national histories of donor countries. The focus is on what has happened in Norway, using it as an example of how the relationship between national traditions and the international aid system can be studied. The article emphasises the need to develop concepts that can establish analytical distance to the normative and conceptual influence of the powerful rhetoric of the aid system. Based on very extensive empirical research of the Norwegian aid system over many years, the author presents a historical summary of his findings and a set of concepts developed in order to better grasp what has been happening; concepts like ‘the southern political system’, a national ‘do-gooder's regime’, a ‘strategic communication regime’, ‘inside aiding’, and ‘elite circulation’. Cet article soutient qu'il est important d'etablir et d'analyser la facon dont le...

Refining Effectuality of Development Aid: Donors’ Malfeasances

International development assistance has worked to improve the lives of the poor in developing countries. Yet, greater and better aid is badly needed lest donors are to live up to the commitments of the Millennium Development Goals. This article examines ways for donors to refine their assistance within the international aid system. Research exhibits that aid is of poor impact due to: less deployment to the poorest countries because of geopolitical and commercial reasons; less allocation to investments that directly address poverty; high volatility which impedes development planning of recipient countries; conditionality to donor goods and services that are over-priced and render piecemeal institutional development of recipient governments; fragmentation of competitive donor objectives which hinders a concerted resolve to corroborate a recipient development strategy; and limited systematic evaluation and sharing of outcomes. Provided donors are to allocate and manage aid in a more effectual manner, thereby to attribute to the levered well-being of the poor, they thus need to tackle these malfeasances without hiatus.

Can NGOs Make a Difference? Revisiting and Reframing a 20-year Debate

The article seeks to connect the vibrant debates in the Nordic region on NGOs and the aid system with the international comparative debates on NGOs and development alternatives. It argues for a reformulation of the international debate on NGOs and development alternatives to address the foundational questions related to the formative role and structural impact of the international aid system on NGOs and their roles. This reformulation moves the discussions further and enables analyses that provide understanding of the actual and potential role of NGOs to transform development processes.

Understanding the History of the International Aid System and the Development Research Tradition: The Case of the Disappearing Religious NGOs

This article asks why religious NGOs have been almost completely neglected in decades of research on development and NGOs, in spite of the historical fact that they have been central actors in the international aid system since its very beginning. In order to answer this question, fundamental issues are raised regarding how to approach and understand the history of the international aid system and development research in general. Revisiting this research tradition, examining its perspectives and normative concepts, and NGO activism, might help us better analyse the aid system itself, the roles of NGOs in general and religious NGOs in particular, and the impact of the international aid system on relationships between states and civil society.

The international aid system and the non‐governmental organisations: a new research agenda

AbstractNGO researchers have rarely understood the reasons for the growth of NGOs across the world. This paper sets out the parameters for an improved framework for NGO research. Beginning with a short description of the history of the international aid system, the paper then argues that a set of concepts are needed that can establish a greater analytical distance for NGO research from a policy area that has for decades enjoyed an unusually high degree of moral and political legitimacy. In conclusion, the article argues that the institutional architecture and world views developed within this policy field will need to be integrated analytically in narratives of the general historical development of societies in the era of globalisation. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION: CHALLENGES AHEAD

It is likely that the international aid system will continue to evolve along one major axis in the years to come, with a fragmented, foreign-policy focus at one end, and a more deliberate poverty focus at the other. This follows from the increasing securitisation of aid that, particularly after the events of 9/11, is likely to shift aid distribution away from where it may have the largest impact on poverty. While the current (post-Washington) consensus on aid stresses the importance of good governance for aid effectiveness, the restrictive approach to aid in conflict-prone and conflict-ridden countries will have to be revisited. Also, a major unresolved issue is how best to support poor countries which perform poorly, especially failing states.

Development NGOs: Actors in a Global Civil Society or in a New International Social System?

The international aid system forms a powerful structural force impacting organizational landscapes and civil societies all over the world in complex ways we do not yet understand. Dominant NGO research has failed to properly address this crucial issue, because of a conceptual, theoretical, and ideological tradition that is itself embedded in this very same system's normative, rhetorical agenda. This paper suggests some conceptual and theoretical approaches that should encourage more comparative research on the role of the development NGOs in shaping national and global civil societies