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This is the World Bank's blog on governance and anti-corruption. It aims at providing a space for debate and knowledge sharing on this critical field of development. | Learn more...

capacity development

On “Aid Effectiveness and Governance: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”

Submitted by Kaufmann on Tue, 2009-03-24 10:57

‘Aid Effectiveness’ gone astray?  Imagine official multilateral and bilateral donor aid agencies holding high level meetings for years to agree on ‘harmonized’ aid strategies for recipient developing countries whose governments are expected to fully 'own' them.

Don't look in this space for formal definitions of donor aid ‘harmonization’.  They are in official reports from aid organizations; there you can also read about efforts to 'harmonize' the timetable and frequency of official visits by donors to recipient countries.

Instead, in this blog space let me spur debate, as I just did in a panel on ‘Aid Effectiveness’.  Let me start by echoing a panel member in advancing an unorthodox interpretation for donor ‘harmonization’:  lowest common denominator agreement among donors regarding their strategy towards a recipient country.  Spineless strategies, devoid of innovation, and skating over the toughest challenges for development.

Notebooks for school children in Burundi: Improving performance in the education sector

Submitted by Susana on Fri, 2008-10-03 07:00

During my recent mission to Bujumbura, Burundi, I witnessed the rapid results initiative team in action.  Earlier this March, a group of government officials participated in a training session on the use of the Rapid Results Approach to promote good governance and anti-corruption.  During this training, a group of officials from the Ministry of Education decided that this method could help them to improve efficiency in their sector.

What transpired at the High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Accra?

Submitted by Mark on Fri, 2008-09-05 13:10

The 1700 people who came to Accra for the big aid effectiveness conference this week are packing their bags, but the agreement they managed to cobble together here looks to leave a lasting impact.

More than 100 ministers were on hand here for what many called a watershed.  As I noted in an earlier posting, the Accra conference was preceded by a major conference of civil society organizations (CSOs).  Then starting on Tuesday at the official conference, 82 CSOs were given seats and played a major role in the proceedings.  That CSO presence, combined with a strong push from some of the official delegations here, produced an agreement that goes much further than ever before towards transparency, civil society engagement, and fostering stronger developing country leadership in the $100 billion-a-year international aid business.

Aid effectiveness without better governance and capacity development? Don't bet on it!

Submitted by Mark on Tue, 2008-09-02 08:23

I'm sitting in the audience at the "CSO Parallel Forum on Aid Effectiveness" in Accra, Ghana, listening to speaker after speaker read a list of demands that ought to come without saying.

CSOs are civil society organizations, and this is a very engaged group of activists, more than 500 strong, who came here to offer their opinions and inputs before the big official "High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness" that starts here on Tuesday.  At that time, more than 100 ministers and a total delegation of more than 1200 people are expected to descend on this pleasant capital in West Africa to take stock of the $100-billion-a-year international development aid business.