I have been working “in development” for nearly twenty years. Such a period of time is long enough to see a change – primarily positive – in terms of development effectiveness. In preparation for the CIVICUS World Assembly in Montreal this September, I’ll be blogging about development effectiveness, one of the four program tracks. Between now and the Assembly, I’ll use this space to share personal thoughts around development effectiveness, and stir up some critical reflections on the topic.
Let me start off with terminology. The North-South Institute, in a recent policy brief, advocated for a shift from “aid effectiveness” to “development effectiveness.” The brief points out that there is no commonly agreed-upon definition of development effectiveness: “It is generally agreed that aid effectiveness refers to the achievement of expected impacts and stated objectives through aid. […] The meaning attached to development effectiveness varies from a narrow focus, namely organizational effectiveness, to a broader understanding in terms of policy coherence, outcomes from aid, and overall development outcomes.”
To me, the shift from aid to development is worth noting. I started in 1993 as a volunteer teacher in Malawi, most likely taking the job of a qualified local teacher. “Volunteer” changed four years later to “development worker.” My organization made sure I strengthened the skills of a group of people, namely the Ministry of Education in Ghana. This was a step towards the “organizational effectiveness” mentioned above, and it’s in contrast with my teaching stint that essentially benefitted the students but had little effect on teachers or their practices.
Since then I have been a human rights educator at Equitas. A guiding principle in my work was reaffirmed with clarity in a meeting with a member of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights five years ago. When I told him about my work, he slammed me for what I was doing and said, “What are you doing to work your way out of a job?” His point was well taken, and since then I have been actively making sure to work my way out of a job.
Which brings me to the first of many questions I want to ask concerning development effectiveness: Is everyone involved in development “working their way out of a job”? Or are some NGOs, CSOs, or donors comfortable in their roles, entrenched in their positions and unwilling to change, even at the risk of eliminating their own work? I suspect the answer is not a simple matter of saying yes or no, but far more nuanced.
There are many references on development effectiveness, and here are a few I will refer to over the coming weeks:
