Aid in local contexts

Convener: Jan Pettersson, Expert Group for Aid Studies (EBA)
Co-convener: Eva Mineur

Contact: jan.pettersson@gov.se

There has recently been a resurgence of interest in the local dimensions of development. Examples include the IFRC:s (International Federation of Red Cross societies) World Disasters Report 2015 that points at local actors as the key for humanitarian effectiveness as well as the World Bank’s work with Local Economic Development (LED) to encourage local government, the private and not-for-profit sectors, and local communities to work together to improve the local economy. Moreover, UNDP has “Local Development” as one of its strategic themes; the Swedish International Centre for Local Democracy’s mission is to promote local democracy in low and middle-income countries; and in peacebuilding policy research, the importance of decentralisation and local government are discussed. To address national and global development challenges, initiatives must often be taken at the local level. Development actors, national as well as international, need to take advantage of local knowledge and competencies. Institutional structures also need to be developed at the local level. What experiences can be drawn from efforts to strengthen local processes and actors in support of national development efforts? What do we know about the advantages of (re-)directing the focus of development cooperation at the local level, in terms of local considerations, perspectives, solutions and actors?

24 Aug., 09:00–10:30, Nordenskiöld Lecture Hall

  • International Science Programme – over 50 years of experience of local research capacity building in developing countries. Rebecca Andersson, Uppsala University.
  • Organizational infrastructure in Northern Uganda: Implications for the effectiveness of aid and governance. Suzanne Fustukian, Freddie Ssengooba and Justine Namakula, Queen Margaret University / Makerere University.  
  • Local capacities and international aid: Experience from decentralization reforms in Cambodia. Netra Eng, Cambodia Development Resource Institute.
  • Electoral Rules and Leader Selection: Experimental Evidence from Ugandan Community Groups. Miri Stryjan, IIES/Ben Gurion University.

Abstracts

International Science Programme – over 50 years of experience of local research capacity building in developing countries. Rebecca Andersson, Uppsala University.

With support from Sida, the International Science Programme (ISP) at Uppsala University has, since 1961, been working to build and strengthen domestic capacity for scientific research and higher education in developing countries, in physics, chemistry, and mathematics. The support has, since early years, been adapted to the specific needs of the partners, and given for improving the conditions for local, sustainable research work. The ISP model is designed to prevent brain drain by improving local facilities and by promoting “sandwich” postgraduate training, where students spend part of their research training at their home university and part at a more resourceful host university abroad. The continued contact with the home institution throughout the postgraduate training, in combination with support to improve local facilities, are considered to be the two main contributing factors to why a large majority of the students from ISP supported groups and networks have remained in their home countries and regions after graduation, and continued to carry out research. Out of the 154 traced PhD students graduated from ISP supported groups and networks between 2008 and 2013, 92% are currently working in their country or region of graduation, a great majority at universities or research institutes. The remaining 8% are currently working in OECD countries, mainly at universities or research institutes. What experiences can be drawn from our efforts to strengthen domestic capacity for scientific research and higher education in developing countries? Which approach has been successful, and less successful, according to us and our partners? What can be improved in future collaborations?

Organizational infrastructure in Northern Uganda: Implications for the effectiveness of aid and governance. Suzanne Fustukian, Freddie Ssengooba and Justine Namakula, Queen Margaret University / Makerere University.  

In post-conflict health systems, the weak governance and administrative capacity of local governments is perceived to undermine their ability to effectively coordinate the proliferation of stakeholders working in their districts. This raises concerns not only about the fragmentation of existing systems and resources but also the effectiveness of aid at sub-national level, including the extent of alignment to publicly provided services and harmonisation and coherence between agencies and district systems in supporting capacity development.  However, our ability to fully grasp the strengths and weaknesses of dynamic aid relationships in these settings may be obstructed by focusing only on the formal structures of service delivery systems [as prescribed by central government or external agency headquarters]. In highly dynamic post-conflict settings, decision-makers may be able to mobilise relationships and information at local level by drawing on existing organizational networks and the collaborative capital that ensues. Following Rier and Indyk (2006:12), who argue that “the capacity to develop, modify, and maintain rich inter-organizational and inter-system linkages” is crucial if local health systems are to “make most effective use of providers, resources, and expertise,” this study sought to explore organizational networks in three districts in Northern Uganda, using social network analysis of organisations (n=87) engaged in HIV treatment, maternal delivery and human resources for health inputs. Qualitative data was also collected from a sub-set of these organisations (n=38). The findings showed complex aid relationships between state and non-state actors, all mobilised by reconstruction opportunities, which “crowded out” the  capacity and legitimacy for coordination and oversight  at sub-national level.

Local capacities and international aid: Experience from decentralization reforms in Cambodia. Netra Eng, Cambodia Development Resource Institute.

The literature on post-conflict reconstruction and development suggests that local capacities and local agency is crucial for the emergence of stable political settlements and sustainable development in fragile contexts. However, capacities of actors and institutions of local governments emerged from good governance and decentralization reforms to promote local democracy and local development in those contexts are often limited, despite enormous support and investment for capacity development by international aid. This paper will critically examine capacity development support by international aid to Cambodia’s local governments to argue that for local actors and institutions to take initiatives and show accountability, which is crucial for decentralization reform to achieve its promise, their capacities have to work both in terms of formal institutions which is what tend to be emphasized by international donors, and informal institutions being promoted and desired by the ruling elites. This is because the kind of capacities that international donors are advocating – the capacity to conduct a rules-based approach to governance – represent a challenge to the kinds of capacities that the ruling elites promotes which uphold the existing patronage network. For international donors supporting local capacity development and decentralization reforms in post-conflict contexts, detailed understandings of local contexts, in particular the tensions between donors’ and local elites’ conceptualization of capacities, is the first step towards adopting a politically constructed approach to capacity development in aid and technical assistance programs.

Electoral Rules and Leader Selection: Experimental Evidence from Ugandan Community Groups. Miri Stryjan, IIES/Ben Gurion University.

This paper studies leadership selection in community groups. Despite a large body of work documenting how electoral systems affect policy outcomes, less is known about their impact on leader selection. We study this by comparing two types of participatory decision making in Ugandan community based savings groups: (i) vote by secret ballot and (ii) open discussion with decision making by consensus. Random assignment of electoral rules allows us to estimate the causal impact of the rules on leader types and social service delivery. We find that vote groups elect leaders more similar to the average member while discussion group leaders are positively selected on socio-economic characteristics. Further, dropout rates are significantly higher in discussion groups, particularly for poorer members. After 3.5 years, vote groups are larger in size and their members save less and get smaller loans. We conclude that the secret ballot vote creates more inclusive groups while open discussion groups favor the already economically successful. The appropriate method for leader selection thus ultimately depends on the objective and target group of the program. Our findings offer important contributions to the literature on leader selection and to the understanding of public service delivery in developing countries.