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The disappointing results of development aid policy have discredited traditional incentive-based conditionality and have unleashed a debate on the effectiveness of development aid. There is now a consensus that sustainable reforms cannot be imposed, rather it is necessary that recipients be willing to take responsibility for formulating and implementing reform programs with the financial and technical support of the donors.The new paradigm of development partnership is accompanied by a continuing debate over re-designing conditionality. This signals an effort to translate contradictory demands and goals into consistent policy programs which are above all efficient in aiding development. This study offers orientation in this debate by identifying the options for applying conditionality: an exclusive approach, which calls for a stricter selectivity in the choice of partners, and an inclusive approach, which conceives of conditionality as knowledge transfer and a learning process. The performance of both strategies is exemplified by the conditionality of the Millennium Challenge Account and the development aid of the EU.It becomes clear that a selective strategy does not promise much success with regard to a more efficient ressource allocation and cannot be implemented consistently. In contrast, the example of EU programs demonstrates that when conditionality is framed as development partnership, it is a powerful instrument of political influence which expects the recipients to take ownership of reform programs and hence tends to delegate the responsibility for their impact and consequences to the recipents. (SWP-Research Papers / SWP)

'Die enttäuschenden Ergebnisse entwicklungspolitischer Interventionen haben die traditionelle Anreizkonditionalität in Verruf gebracht und eine anhaltende Debatte über die Wirksamkeit von Entwicklungshilfe ausgelöst. Mittlerweile herrscht unter den Gebern Einvernehmen darüber, dass nachhaltige Reformen nicht erzwungen werden können, sondern ein reformfreundliches Umfeld ebenso voraussetzen wie die Bereitschaft der Empfänger, sich eigenverantwortlich für die von den Gebern unterstützten Reformen einzusetzen. Mit dem neuen Paradigma der Entwicklungspartnerschaft geht eine Re-Formulierung von Konditionalität einher, die von dem Bestreben geleitet ist, widersprüchliche Vorgaben und Zielvorstellungen in konsistente und effiziente Entwicklungsprogramme zu übersetzen. Die Studie stellt die diskursiven und instrumentellen Neuerungen vor und identifiziert die daraus abgeleiteten Optionen für den Einsatz von Konditionalität: einen exklusiven Ansatz, der für eine striktere Selektivität bei der Empfängerauswahl plädiert, und einen inklusiven Politikansatz, der auf Lern- und Aushandlungsprozesse setzt. Abschließend wird die Leistungsfähigkeit der beiden Strategien am Beispiel der Auflagenpolitik des 'Millennium Challenge Account' und der EU überprüft. Im Ergebnis zeigt sich, dass eine Strategie der Selektivität entwicklungspolitisch kaum vertretbar ist, hinsichtlich eines effizienten Ressourceneinsatzes wenig Erfolg verspricht und nicht konsequent umgesetzt werden kann. Dagegen wird am das Beispiel der EU-Programme deutlich, dass die unter dem Signum der 'Partnerschaft' reformierte Konditionalität ein machtvolles Instrumentarium der politischen Einflussnahme bereit hält, das die Empfänger verstärkt in die Pflicht nimmt und die Verantwortung für die Reformmaßnahmen tendenziell an sie delegiert.' (Autorenreferat)

Der Autor diskutiert den generell zu beobachtenden Mangel an Zielgruppenorientierung bei der Planung und Durchführung ländlicher Entwicklungsprojekte in der Dritten Welt. Als Illustration dienen zwei Entwicklungsprojekte in Ägypten (Lake Nasser und Nord-Sinai); beide mit dem Ziel der Verbesserung der Lebensqualität der betroffenen lokalen Bevölkerung. Die Projektevaluierung basiert auf Gesprächen und Interviews mit allen Beteiligten. (DÜI-Hns)

In this Policy Briefing we address the question of whether there is a coherent and consistent policy when it comes to giving development aid. While one would theoretically argue that aid provision should be based on objective criteria set out to optimize governments' behavior or people's welfare, we find that this is not the case. While specific countries may be optimizing their objectives in international aidgiving, the cumulative effect, particularly when it comes to European policy is incoherent and inconsistent. Coordinating development policy at the European level could alleviate this problem.

Maģistra darba tēma ir "attīstības sadarbības rīcībpolitikas pārcelšanas novērtējums". Maģistra darbā tiek pētīta rīcībpolitikas pārcelšana un tās teorijas, vēsture, globalizācija, iesaistītie aktieri, kā arī iesāktās rīcībpolitikas atkarība. Rīcībpolitikas pārcelšana ir aktuāls un nozīmīgs temats mūsdienu politikas veidošanas vidē, kuras ietekme līdz ar globalizāciju un starptautisko organizāciju izplatību ir kļuvusi vēl nozīmīgāka. Maģistra darba otrā daļa ir veltīta attīstības sadarbībai, Tūkstošgades attīstības mērķiem un, konkrētāk, pirmajam mērķim – nabadzības samazināšanai. Tūkstošgades attīstības mērķu rīcībpolitikas pārcelšana tiek analizēta pēc sešiem kritērijiem. Tiek analizēti arī attīstības valstu nabadzības samazināšanas plānošanas dokumenti un to atbilstība ANO izstrādātajiem mērķiem. Atslēgvārdi: rīcībpolitikas pārcelšana, iesāktā rīcībpolitikas atkarība, attīstības sadarbība, nabadzības samazināšana, Tūkstošgades attīstības mērķi. ; The master thesis is dedicated to development aid policy transfer assessment. In it policy transfer theories are addressed, history, the impact of globalization as well as path dependency theory. Policy transfer is a current and important topic for the everyday policy making in which globalization and the spread of international organizations have made it even more important. In the second part of the master thesis development aid and Millennium Development goals are addressed with special focus on the first goal – the reduction of poverty. The policy transfer of the Millennium Development goals will be analyzed by 6 criteria. The Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers and their accordance to the goals are analyzed as well. Key words: policy transfer, path dependency, development aid, poverty reduction and Millennium Development goals.

AbstractFormal Ethio‐Swedish development co‐operation began in 1945 with the signing of a technical assistance treaty in vocational and technical education. Since then Swedish aid has been extended to health, nutrition and agriculture, with agricultural aid constituting the largest share since 1967. Swedish agricultural aid could be classified broadly into the comprehensive and the minimum package programmes. This paper discusses the changes in Swedish rural development assistance from the project to the country programming approach as reflected in the comprehensive and minimum package programme.This paper shows that the country programming approach to international development assistance is an important contribution to the strategies of delivering foreign assistance. Since the approach utilizes existing government programmes as the starting point for development assistance, and attempts to integrate aid into the national resource base, it can build confidence and mutual working relationships among donors and aid recipients. Moreover, the approach as utilized by Sweden has a three‐year time‐frame, allowing the transfer of funds within Swedish sponsored programmes. The overall strategy objective supports and broadens existing programmes directed to improving the welfare of the rural poor.

AbstractThis paper provides an introduction to a series of articles that review the EU's engagement with a number of regional groupings of developing countries. It provides the context for the following studies by reviewing the response that the European Commission has made to the demands for increased effectiveness in its administration of the EU's collective aid policy and its evolving role in achieving coordination, complementarity and coherence across EU development policy. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This essay attempts to establish whether the current development aid policy of the European Union would need a major policy rethink. In fact, in a period of austerity, fiscal consolidation is prima facie understandable, and hence cuts on foreign aid funds. However, is it really about cutting on aid? Or is it about aid effectiveness and the challenges posed by the new emerging economies? Scholars have been pointing out the need for a cohesive aid structure, because at present the shared competence between the EU and the member states is creating a fragmented European aid agenda. For the purpose of this essay, I will strictly consider the impact that the European development aid policies have on its image abroad. I will answer the abovementioned questions by asserting that a major rethink of the EU development aid policies should be accompanied by a win-win situation for donor and recipient countries by investing in the private sector. This new approach will solve the lack of effectiveness of the current patchy European aid projects, and also the challenges posed to the EU aid regime by the emerging economies. Moreover, this essay argues that cutting on aid could be perilous for the future of the EU, especially when such cuts will affect African recipients