Danish Balance of Payments Support

Summaries This study is an analysis of Danish Balance of Payments Support (BOP) covering the period 1988–94. This aid instrument was not as significant in Denmark as in other like minded donor countries. Danish BOP was mainly used in a residual manner to keep up disbursement rates and promote procurement from Danish suppliers. Commodity Import Support (CIS) was by far the dominant modality used, although fundamental changes have been on the way since 1991. Nonetheless, despite the macroeconomic nature of BOP assistance existing evaluation studies and reviews have focused on microeconomic and administrative issues. Very little can therefore at this stage be concluded about the macroeconomic impact of Danish BOP aid

Using knowledge: the dilemmas of 'bridging research and policy'

The 'knowledge agenda' has become a central part of development discourse. This paper addresses one aspect of this discourse - the use of policy research in the social sciences - and the dilemmas that have been encountered by both development agencies and researchers in communicating and making use of that research. Development agencies as well as NGOs have initiated work to evaluate and document the effectiveness of research partnerships, knowledge capacity building and (social) science policy impact. As a multilateral initiative, the Global Development Network (GDN), and especially its 'Bridging Research and Policy' project, provides a vehicle to address issues related to research impact. Twelve perspectives on improving research and policy linkages are outlined to reveal that how the problem is defined shapes policy responses. Taken together, these explanations provide a multifaceted picture of the research-policy nexus indicating that there are many possible routes to 'bridging' research and policy. These diverse perspectives will be categorised into three broad categories of explanation: (i) supply-side; (ii) demand-led; and (iii) policy currents. However, knowledge is part of the solution to many development problems but not of itself a panacea

The Impacts of Politics and Ethnicity on Volunteering

This article examines how national and local ethno?politics impact on volunteering by taking a cross?country comparative perspective: Kenya and Mozambique. In both countries societal fragmentation along ethno?political lines is mirrored within the volunteer landscape and reduces the positive impacts of volunteering. The role of international volunteers (IVs) from the global North and, in the case of Kenya, national volunteers (NVs), to address these divisions is discussed. The effects of the support of the volunteering for development sector in such ethnically and politically fragmented contexts is also explored. The findings from the current research show that the perceived neutrality of the IV and NV means they may face less risk in attempting to step outside of existing political and ethnic confines than local volunteers or citizens functioning within these environments. Through this neutrality, IVs and NVs may be provided with a unique opportunity to use this position to assuage some of these societal fractions

Indigenous Peasant ‘Otherness’: Rural Identities and Political Processes in Bolivia

Since Morales's election, rural movements have become the new protagonists of Bolivian politics. Previous analyses have emphasised their active role in shaping national politics, often focusing on those organisations as a compact block. However, their relationship is marked by both cooperation and fragmentation. This article provides a narrative of Bolivian socio-political history over the last 60 years, establishing four main phases of identitarian articulations/disarticulations. It demonstrates the high degree of interdependence and fluidity of ethnic and class identities, as well as their interconnections with the broader socio-political context and the national legal and institutional changes

Rights-based Approaches and Bilateral Aid Agencies: More Than a Metaphor?

It could be argued that the rights based approach … is no more than ametaphor; a concept that catalyses a set of values into a phrase that many people can adopt and adapt. It is a general statement in favour of equitable development, involving widespread participation of those with no direct control of, or access to, the power of the state … If we still take rights as a legal concept then much of what passes as rights based is unlikely to be successful because there are often no state bodies committed to meeting the obligations implied. There is also a sense in that the “emperor has no clothes ” as there are too many people arguing about the details of what a rights approach should be and how it should be operationalised.Meanwhile, this is happening in the absence of any clear idea of what it is they are engaging with. (Pratt 2003: 2)