International Development Sector Research Articles

Performative politics of REDD+ experts: Siloed discourses and a missed opportunity

This paper examines the role of experts in implementing Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) initiatives at the national level and explores the performative politics and power dynamics involved. Original research conducted in Malaysia, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, where REDD+ efforts were underway, provides the empirical basis for the study. The findings reveal tensions between the official win-win narrative of REDD+ and the reflective perspectives of experts based on their empirical knowledge and unique positionalities. These tensions raise questions about the underlying norms and values associated with REDD+. However, the pursuit of professional development within the international development and conservation sector, reliant on donor funding, impedes constructive reflection. The alignment of experts with donor visions for career advancement contributes to this obstacle. Therefore, the paper argues for creating space for a more reflexive approach among scholars and practitioners to foster comprehensive reflection and a fundamental rethink of the future of REDD+.

Locally Led Opportunities for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, Climate Change and Gender Equality Partnerships in the Blue Pacific

Partnerships between water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and rights-holder organisations (RHOs) have become more common, important and impactful in the international development sector, and they have been driven by aligned agendas, mutual benefits and the pursuit of locally owned and inclusive development agendas. There are opportunities to broaden partnerships and coalitions to include climate change advocacy, adaptation and mitigation organisations given the increased focus on the links between WASH, resilience and climate change action. This article takes a first step in addressing the question: How can the experience of WASH, gender equality and climate organisation partnerships and coalitions in the Blue Pacific inform the WASH sector in its growing support of and investment in diverse partnerships in support of localism? We conducted a systematic scoping review to identify the literature on gender equality, WASH and climate change-related partnerships and coalitions in the Blue Pacific. Three key themes emerged from the systematic scoping review based on 23 studies published from 1996 to 2024. Firstly, partnerships and coalitions are part of a critical localism agenda, though care needs to be taken by potential partners and donors to understand and manage power dynamics between actors and organisations working within and across sectors. Secondly, a range of benefits and success factors have been documented on partnerships and coalitions in the Blue Pacific, including support for emerging leadership, leveraging policy outcomes, facilitating learning and the sharing of frameworks and tools between partners. Thirdly, like all parts of the community and governance ecosystem, gender dynamics and social norms inform and influence partnerships and coalitions. At the same time, partnerships are important for informing and driving gender equality and inclusion at the local and regional levels including within the WASH sector. This article is useful for local actors, donors and civil society organisations wishing to pursue the mutually beneficial goals of WASH, gender equality, climate change action and localisation in the Blue Pacific.

Q&A with... Miriam Graham

Miriam Graham, structural engineer at Arup, reflects on her work in the humanitarian and international development sector and being part of the IStructE's HID panel.

Indigenous youth and international development: a decolonial analysis of Canada's International Aboriginal Youth Internship programme

ABSTRACT The international development sector has witnessed an increasing shift towards programming focused on feminist goals and Indigenous inclusion over the past decade. In this context, the government of Canada under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s leadership has branded itself a feminist and progressive leader in the sector. Canada launched its Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP), as well as pledged 100 million dollars to small and medium-sized civil society organisations over five years to renew the government’s relationship with Indigenous peoples at home and abroad. These commitments contextualise Canada’s International Aboriginal Youth Internship (IAYI) initiative, where eight organisations have been funded to offer Indigenous Canadian youth professional experience in the international development sector. Indigenous youth, as the programme’s objectives make clear, are expected to act as good ‘Canadian global citizens’ and, in so doing, gain labour market experience that prepares them for employment or education post-internship. This article is sceptical of the IAYI’s objectives, ones that seek to include Indigenous peoples into a historically colonial field without regard for Indigenous peoples’ well-being and knowledge before, during, and after the programme. Drawing on decolonial, Indigenous, and feminist theoretical frameworks, this article undertakes a disruptive discursive analysis of the IAYI. We illuminate how the programme engages in the instrumentalisation of Indigenous youth, superficially celebrating their potential as global citizens, but ultimately leveraging this inclusion to bolster Canada’s international image abroad. Nevertheless, through previous interns’ experiences with the programme, we aim to humbly suggest transformative possibilities for the IAYI.

Who is disabled? On whether the functional definition of disability targets the same individuals as the subjective definition

With the increased attention to disability as a vulnerability criterion in the Sustainable Development Goals, international organizations and NGOs within the international development sector have started to pay explicit attention to persons with disabilities, including the collection of data on persons with disabilities. The Washington Group Short Set of Questions, which focuses on functional limitations, has been gaining popularity as an assessment tool for disability. This set of questions reflects a categorization of disability that does not necessarily correspond with subjective disability assessments, such as the yes/no question (“do you have a disability?”) which many development actors have used in their assessment tools when they collect disability data This study compares the subjective and the functional limitations assessment tools for disability to answer the question: do they identify the same individuals as persons with disabilities? Based on a survey carried out amongst persons with disabilities in Cambodia, we included both the Washington Group Short Set and a subjective question asking respondents to self-identify their disability type. We find that, although all respondents self-identified as disabled, not all respondents would be considered disabled according to the Washington Group Short Set of questions. In addition, there is little overlap between specific disability types according to a subjective classification method and the domains of functioning measured through the Washington Group methodology. Our findings affirm that categorization as abled or disabled depends on the tool used. This is important, as the assessment approach chosen by those collecting disability data can shape the design choices of policies and programs, and determine who benefits.

Making Relationships Count: Measuring Trust in Relationships Between a Catholic Development Agency and Māori Communities

Abstract: Relationships affect outcomes in the international development sector, yet there are few frameworks or indicators to measure trust as a foundation of relationships. This article describes an emergent framework for evaluating trust in cross-cultural relationships. It is based on a case study of Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand and its Indigenous partners. Perspectives on monitoring and evaluation (M&E) and measuring trust are explored from an Indigenous world view. Interviews with five people representing all parties suggest various types of behaviours that indicate trust. Through this exploration, culturally competent M&E and the centrality of relationships in expanding evaluation practice are revealed.

Grandmother, breadwinner, caregiver, widow, entrepreneur: COVID-19, older women, and challenges for the implementation of the women’s economic empowerment agenda

ABSTRACT In both academic and practitioner work on women’s work, there is significant focus on women in the 18–55 age bracket. However, there remains a gap in the policy agenda on the impact of COVID-19 on older women in the 55+ age group, including those with disabilities. Christian Aid research and projects that have focused on Myanmar, Bangladesh, Ghana, and Nigeria provide anecdotal evidence with regards to this. This paper addresses what the authors argue to be a distinct gap in programmatic work regarding the economic and social labour of women over the age of 55. During the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular, anecdotal evidence arose that noted how women of that age bracket were holding the significant role of breadwinner, as well as main caregiver, for their families. However, on further investigation, we noted that this is an issue that has, so far, received little attention in policy and programmatic work in the international development sector, and that data surrounding the issue are often very limited, and usually found in anecdotal formats. Noting gaps within the work of our own organisation, we reflect on how such a lacuna in policy and programmatic work limits the ‘liberating’ aspect of women’s economic empowerment. Using this reflection, and drawing from anecdotal evidence, as well as discussions with individuals working with older women, we suggest strategies towards recognising and rewarding such workers, and with this to add to literature arguing for a more diverse implementation of the women’s economic empowerment agenda.

United States Foreign Aid and Multilateralism Under the Trump Presidency

Abstract This article addresses two key questions concerning US foreign aid under the 45th US President, Donald Trump (2017–21): Did the Trump administration radically restructure the foreign aid apparatus of the US government amid the recent reemergence of China as a key state actor in international development and global governance? If so, how and under which conditions did the US, as the world’s largest foreign aid donor, deal with the new challenges posed by the expanding global reach of Chinese foreign aid and diplomacy? The core objective here is to look back at the Trump administration, particularly in its role in the US foreign aid apparatus vis-à-vis the reemergence of China as a global power and the decline of US influence abroad. This article maintains that the dominance of the US in the international development sector was under serious threat from two principal challenges: (1) the lack of coherent and credible strategy from the Trump administration amid the rapidly increasing influence of China as an aid donor country; and the (2) the declining legitimacy of the US a foreign aid donor due to the exclusionary and anti-globalization discourses of Trump vis-à-vis the perceived the decline of American power.

Rethinking d/Development

A dialectical relationship between ‘big D’ Development (broadly, the formal interventionist, international Development sector) and little ‘d’ development (the immanent structures and processes of capitalism) is a concept widely invoked in Geography and Development Studies. In this paper, we ask how the d/Development dialectic is evolving under current conjunctures of emergent state capitalism(s). We suggest that, going beyond ‘containment’, Development is ever more deeply inhabited by (capitalist) development; with implications for its palliative and restructuring roles, and for praxis, contestation and transformation.

Transformative or Tokenistic?

Transformative or Tokenistic?

Complexity-Aware Monitoring and Evaluation

Background: Addressing today’s sustainability challenges requires adopting a systemic approach where social and ecological systems are treated as integrated social-ecological systems. Such systems are complex, and the international development sector increasingly recognises the need to account for the complexity of the systems that they seek to transform.
 Purpose: This paper sketches out the elements of a complexity-aware monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system for international development programmes in the area of sustainable development. 
 Setting: Not applicable.
 Data Collection and Analysis: The authors draw on existing literature on complexity and evaluation and on their own experience from working in the field of M&E.
 Findings: An M&E system should not be seen simply as a tool to track compliance against a pre-determined theory of change. Instead, it is most useful as a real-time approach, constantly defining and re-defining narratives for change that help push systems along trajectories of interest. Dealing with complexity involves embracing uncertainty; and this challenges established notions of accountability—something which funders and implementers must begin to redefine together.
 Keywords: monitoring; evaluation; complexity; social-ecological systems; international development programmes; narratives for change; theory of change

Inclusive partners? Internationalising South Korea’s chaebol through corporate social responsibility-linked development cooperation

In recent years, non-traditional or ‘emerging’ donors such as South Korea have organised their development cooperation models in a manner that seeks to complement the capacities of the private sector by extending the overseas activities of domestic businesses. To better understand this process, this article examines the role of South Korea’s large, family-led conglomerates (chaebol) in its growing international development sector. In particular, we focus on how the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been used to link the role of its large, and frequently scandal-ridden, private companies to international development, and, by extension, how it has helped to internationalise state–business networks long associated with the Korean developmental state. We examine two strategies through which this has been carried out. The first is by extending the logic of creating shared value (CSV, a derivative of CSR) to aid and infrastructure projects in which chaebol and other state-linked businesses have participated. The second is by directly embedding CSR-based aid initiatives in the value chains of the specific chaebol themselves.

Effects of the Global Coronavirus Disease-2019 Pandemic on Early Childhood Development: Short- and Long-Term Risks and Mitigating Program and Policy Actions

Effects of the Global Coronavirus Disease-2019 Pandemic on Early Childhood Development: Short- and Long-Term Risks and Mitigating Program and Policy Actions

Adapting Collaborative Approaches for Service Provision to Low-Income Countries: Expert Panel Results

The international development sector is increasingly implementing collaborative approaches that facilitate a range of sectoral-level stakeholders to jointly address complex problems facing sustainable public service delivery, for which guidance does not explicitly exist. The literature on collaborative approaches has been built on experiences in high-income countries with vastly different governance capabilities, limiting their global relevance. A Delphi expert panel addressed this need by evaluating 58 factors hypothesized in the literature to contribute to the success of collaborative approaches. The panel rated factors according to their importance in low-income country contexts, on a scale from Not Important to Essential. Experts agreed on the importance of 49 factors, eight of which were essential for success. Rich qualitative data from open-ended responses revealed factors that may be unique to low-income country contexts and to service delivery applications, including how government capacity, politics, donor influence, and culture can influence decisions on structuring leadership and facilitation roles, appropriately engaging the government, and building legitimacy. Key considerations for future practice and research are summarized in a table in the appendix. This study contributes to both literature and practice by identifying the relative importance of factors to consider when designing collaborative approaches in low-income countries with limited governance capabilities.

Combatting Human Trafficking since Palermo: What Do We Know about What Works?

ABSTRACT In 2016, there were an estimated 40.3 million victims of modern slavery in the world, more than were enslaved during the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Since the adoption of the 2000 UN Trafficking Protocol, numerous efforts from inter-governmental agencies, governmental agencies, international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), and domestic non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have strived to combat the phenomena of human trafficking through legal-institutional means, direct interventions, and programs of support for those exploited. This anti-trafficking work has paid varying degrees of attention to the principles and methods of monitoring, evaluation, and impact assessment, but has often been subject to the end of project evaluations. Similar to findings of reviews of evaluations in the international development sector, evaluations of anti-trafficking programing have primarily focused on assessing the progress of project implementation and the achievement of outputs, rather than tracking the achievement of outcomes or impact. This is further complicated by the hidden nature of human trafficking and the trauma experienced by human-trafficking victims. As a consequence, despite some evidence of raised awareness and increased levels of funding, organizations are still struggling to demonstrate impact and discern what works to combat human trafficking. This article analyses the evaluations of counter-trafficking programing produced since the Protocol to draw conclusions regarding the lessons learned from these interventions and the methods used to monitor and evaluate human-trafficking programs. By highlighting gaps, this article provides a series of suggestions on how to better track progress and impact toward the elimination of modern slavery.

Practitioner perspectives of disaster resilience in international development

Disaster resilience is now the subject of countless scientific and policy publications and initiatives within the international development sector, yet little insight is available on the perspectives and experiences of the practitioners tasked with implementing it. If disaster resilience is going to contribute to arresting growing disaster risk, it is essential that the expert insight, realities and needs of practitioners are amplified in the discourse. Through in-depth interviews with INGO staff working on disaster resilience across the developing world, we seek to understand how the concept is being understood and used in practice. We compare practitioner perspectives to scientific and policy-oriented goals for, and critiques of, resilience in the disaster and development space. We find that practitioners perceive the resilience paradigm to be driving a genuine shift towards better programming. At the same time, the concern that resilience is a vague buzzword which reinforces the status quo cannot be discredited. The usefulness of resilience as a boundary object within the science-practice interface, and the success of resilience in achieving its goals, is dependent upon scientists, policy-makers, and donors more actively engaging with the insights and experience of practitioners. We identify a number of avenues for this interaction that have high salience for practitioners.

Making feminism count: integrating feminist research principles in large-scale quantitative research on violence against women and girls

ABSTRACTApplying a feminist approach to research on ending violence against women and girls (VAWG) is critical because gender inequality is an underlying driver of VAWG, and feminist research aims to empower women and girls, as well as challenge prevailing inequalities through the research process itself. However, feminist research approaches have not historically been applied in the international development sector, although statistical evidence on what works to end VAWG is in high demand from governments and donors. In this article, we explore how researchers could practically reconcile an explicitly feminist undertaking, like ending VAWG, when accepted research practices within this field employ methods that are historically not informed by feminist praxis. We argue that quantitative research and feminist research approaches are not mutually exclusive, rather, they can (and do) overlap. Drawing on five decades of combined experience conducting quantitative studies on VAWG in low- and middle-income countries around the world, we highlight the challenges and opportunities for incorporating feminist research principles throughout the research process – from design, community engagement, data collection, analysis, dissemination, and policy influence. We draw on practical examples from research conducted in countries as diverse as Timor-Leste, Kiribati, and Sri Lanka, among others, illustrating that it is not only possible to apply feminist research principles to large-scale, quantitative survey research on VAWG, but that this should become a priority for good development practice.

Complexities of Implementation: Oxfam Australia's Experience in Piloting Blockchain

This paper describes one of Oxfam’s pilot projects exploring blockchain technology, focusing on the non-technological, institutional challenges faced by the organisation. There is an emerging literature on blockchain for social good, however, this predominantly focuses on the use cases and issues relating to applying the technology in international development projects. A gap in the literature exists regarding the non-technological aspects of blockchain projects both within the sector and more broadly. Addressing this gap is critically important as many of the promises of blockchain technology will only eventuate in their fullest when whole ecosystems are using the technology. To get there requires a transition period and it is this transition period that holds the key to success for organisations exploring the technology. This paper goes some way to addressing this gap. It does so by describing a specific case study and unpacking some of the organisational challenges associated with implementing a blockchain-based project in the international development and humanitarian sector. This has important implications for the sector as blockchain technology becomes ever more present as a tool capable of reducing inequality and addressing power imbalances. The Oxfam case study described in this paper highlights the difficulty many not-for-profits are having engaging with the technology. The lessons are drawn from a specific use case of a current pilot project using blockchain technology in a cash transfer preparedness project in a small island developing state. Although important and insightful, this paper does not focus on the specifics of the application of the technology but rather discusses the myriad non-technological challenges faced from Oxfam Australia’s perspective. These are categorised into three main areas: awareness and understanding of the technology, capacity constraints of in-house support services in providing relevant support for a nascent technology, and issues related to engaging in non-traditional partnerships. The paper concludes by recommending further areas of research and suggestions to develop practical tools and guidance to help the international development and humanitarian sector navigate this emerging technology.

The Gender Equality and Basic Education in Ethiopia

Education has been pointed out as a tool for democracy, multiculturalism and diversity by the international development sector. This article has posed the problem formulation investigating how the Ethiopian Education policy and legal framework address and shape inequalities in the education system and primarily those related to gender. Currently, girls’ education has also received great attention because, in the words of the United Nations, education is not only a right but a passport to human development. Evidence has been mounting on the pivotal role that educating a girl or a woman plays in improving health, social, and economic outcomes, not only for herself but her children, family, and community. However, girls and women constitute a majority of those who remain deprived of education as evidenced by the low level of their education and the prevailing obstacles to their access to education at all levels. Despite Ethiopia has brought some economic progress over the last decade, it remains one of the poorest countries in the world in terms of several economic parameters. In fact, the Ethiopian government acknowledges that promoting gender equality for Ethiopia where women constitute approximately half of the populace is not only in the best interest of the society at large, but also fundamentally that of ensuring the human and democratic rights of women. Keywords: Education, Girl, Gender, Equality and Ethiopia DOI : 10.7176/JEP/10-16-05 Publication date :June 30 th 2019

Do results-based management frameworks frustrate or facilitate effective development practice? Irish international development sector experiences

ABSTRACTUtilising a case study methodological approach to analyse the Irish practitioner experience, this article examines if the introduction of results-based frameworks (RBFs) have led to greater impact and accountability to beneficiaries. The findings point to evidence of early resistance to RBFs based upon concerns regarding resources, inflexibility in programming, and the perceived focus on accountability to donors over beneficiaries. However, findings also point to opportunities that could facilitate more effective development in practice. Indications suggest RBFs may facilitate a greater understanding of complexity, increased focus on outcomes and impact through a systematic use of baseline measurements, and improved adaptive programming.