Evidence-based policy has been the mantra for what seems like decades. Practitioners are aware of this, just as enlightened researchers are aware of the pressures acting on aid agency staff. But even with the best will in the world turning evidence into practice can be challenging. Let’s take the recent findings of ODI’s five year research program investigating the growth and development performance of patrimonial regimes in Africa.
This week the Executive Board endorsed the Updated Governance and Anti-Corruption (GAC) Strategy. It is perhaps inevitable that at the end of a corporate strategy process one reflects a little on how it went, what one would do differently next time (not that I can contemplate for one moment any such 'next time' right now), and indeed, how things have changed since 2007.
Over the past nine months or so we have been preparing an updated version of the 2007 Governance and Anti-Corruption (GAC) Strategy and Implementation Plan. Many consultations have been held–with senior management, informally with the Committee on Development Effectiveness, with front line operational staff, and with clients and partners.
There is a lot of angst in the Bank at the moment over the role and functioning of the newish ‘cadre’ of governance specialists. This reflects the endless debate about just what governance is, what it seeks to achieve, and how it differs from ‘public sector management’.
