Towards Aid Effectiveness : Contested Theories and Concepts : A Case Study of Ghana’s Community–Based Rural Development Project

The discussion of aid effectiveness continues to gain prominence in international development policy discourse and analysis. However, the question of why aid seems to be ineffective is far more complicated and remains largely unanswered. While the notions that aid drives donors’ interests and creates dependency are still relevant, this thesis confronts the problem, by examining the issues that influenced the operationalisation and effectiveness of aid programs in the context of Ghana’s Community-Based Rural Development Project (CBRDP) (2005-2011). By arguing that aid dependency and “aid as a concept” are different, the thesis makes the most basic assumption that ‘aid’ is not negative; albeit, in the knowledge that its focus on aid in Ghana will also bring to the fore the major issues that frame debate on international aid. Two theoretical themes emerged from the thesis. First, the thesis argues that the effectiveness of an aid program should be measured from the recipients’ point of view. This is crucial, as donors tend to use their aid to successfully achieve their strategic advantages, while not necessarily benefitting the recipient country, or those groups for whom the aid was designed to help. Second, in lieu of the instrumentality of international aid, the thesis found that aid effectiveness also depends upon the ‘externalities’ (programs, degree of dependency, motives, theories, concepts; social and politico-cultural factors) that drive it. This notwithstanding, most of the current mechanisms for achieving aid effectiveness, such as Results-Based Financing, Aid-Agenda Conferences and Program-Based Approaches, appear to pay negligible attention to these ‘externalities’. The researcher contends that these mechanisms are not enough for improving aid effectiveness per se. The thesis employed ethnographic research to investigate the outcomes of the CBRDP implemented in nine districts of Ghana. The findings suggest that, alongside the mechanisms mentioned above, prior attention must be paid to the political and cultural realities of the recipient country as well as the theories and complex concepts that drive aid programs (by staff at donor agencies). Such attention, the thesis shows, should focus on a clear and contextual conceptualisation of key terms such as ‘community’ and ‘empowerment’, while at the same time embedding strategies to manage unintended outcomes. Efforts at making ‘aid work’ would also require further critical discussion of the decentralisation theories that underpin aid programs, particularly, Community–Driven Development (CDD); in this regard the thesis found that the indicators that the World Bank uses in relation to CDD (referred to as high and low functioning intergovernmental systems), were far removed from the grounded realities of Ghana’s decentralised system of local and regional politics. The concept of ‘community’ is appealing, yet deceptive. Although a complex term, ‘community’ is often misused, and conceptualised only in the spatial sense, while it transcends the notion of territoriality to include an entity that has a: 1) Function that drives the group; 2) Opportunity for interaction; 3) Membership who identifies with and contributes to it; and 4) Culture that makes it distinct from others. Analysis of the empirical data presented in the thesis shows that the politico-cultural dynamics and population settlement and mobility patterns of the CBRDP beneficiary localities did not support interaction to the levels required for a coherent ‘community’ to exist. Put simply ‘community’ in the functional and geographic sense had to exist in the CBRDP beneficiary localities for the project to succeed. While the sense of ‘community’ can be developed, the World Bank and Ghana’s Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, who designed the CBRDP, ignored the need to nurture it in the recipient localities. As a result of this top down approach there existed no cohesive ‘communities’ to maintain the projects, and most of the CBRDPs were found to be in a state of complete disarray at the time of fieldwork. The term ‘empowerment’ is another complex concept the thesis examines to show how its many theoretical complexities can, if ignored, have dire outcomes for aid programs. Scholars disagree on whether empowerment is a process or an outcome or both, a dilemma which presents many challenges for measuring it. The fact that ‘empowerment’ is predicated on the concept of ‘power’ makes it even more complicated. The reason being that ‘power’ is not a neutral concept and cannot be shared in the simple terms portrayed in donor discourse; also ignored is the fact that ‘empowering’ one group may mean disempowering others, a situation that could lead to conflicts. These conflicts were self evident in the fieldwork and are present in the thesis. Despite these theoretical realities, empowerment appears to have been vaguely applied in the CBRDP as the project: 1) Had no working definition of ‘empowerment’; 2) Targeted women and vulnerable groups, although it was meant to empower the general population; 3) Measured ‘empowerment’ only in term of participation, ignoring the conditions that perpetuated ‘powerlessness’; and 4) Had no strategy in place to monitor unintended outcomes. Therefore, in their bid at ‘empowering’ Ghana’s local government officials (Assembly and Unit Committee Members in the quest for further decentralisation), the designers of the project were unaware that they were actually disempowering Traditional Chiefs, many of whom felt ostracised. Moreover, project designers were also oblivious of the fact that the local government officials did not function in isolation, but are part of a very complex socio–cultural system. These shortcomings led to clashes between Traditional Chiefs and the newly ‘empowered’ local government officials. As the designers and managers of the CBRDPs did not anticipate these eventualities, they had no plan in place to manage resulting conflicts, which have ended up in protracted legal battles, leaving the CBRDPs in a state of dereliction, some completely abandoned. The thesis brings to the fore the need for more concerted efforts at making aid effective, but at the same time arguing that all stakeholders need to pay closer attention to the use of nebulous theories and normative, yet complex concepts in aid-program designs. It underscores the essentiality for programs attempting to apply concepts such as ‘community’ and ‘empowerment’ to clearly define and conceptualise these terms within the confines of the political, social and cultural forces and social dynamics of beneficiary localities. If this were to happen development projects are more likely to receive community support and be more likely to be effectively maintained. The thesis below provides empirical insights into what becomes of aid programs that apply concepts and terms that are promoted by ‘development pundits’, but are at variance with the realities of the recipient country’s pervasive traditions, culture and indeed its success or otherwise in adopting Western notions of decentralisation (as was the case outlined in this thesis)

The impact of targeted educational programmes on academic outcomes for African students in Western Australia

Over the past two decades, people with African backgrounds have become part of Australian society. There have been extensive discussions of the various academic challenges African students experience at all educational levels in Australia. The academic challenges identified range from low academic achievement to unemployment and are particularly prevalent among African students who are refugees or those who have low socio-economic status. This paper argues that targeted educational programmes need to be implemented to support African students who are struggling in their academic pursuits. The positive outcomes and lessons learned from our implementation of the Top-Up Programme, a peer-mentoring educational initiative that supports domestic undergraduate sub-Saharan African students at Edith Cowan University, Western Australia, are discussed

Do same-demography mentoring programmes make any difference to mentees’ learning outcomes? Reflections on the Top Up programme

Peer mentoring is considered an effective vehicle for addressing anti-social behaviours and improving students’ academic achievement and retention. Consequently, discussions on the subject have received considerable traction in the education literature in recent times, most of which depicts its usefulness as well as factors that contribute to successful design and implementation. One issue that has not received adequate attention in the peer mentoring literature, which this reflection paper seeks to address, relates to whether demographic attributes such as gender, race and ethnicity influence mentoring outcomes for mentors and mentees. Drawing on the Top Up mentoring programme at Edith Cowan University, Western Australia as a case study, the paper argues that both same and mixed demography peer mentoring are mutually beneficial for mentors and mentees and that their usefulness should be viewed as situational

Female genital mutilation/cutting: A conceptual discussion

Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) is a dangerous practice that predates all religions and perpetrated on children for various reasons in various cultural and global contexts, causing adverse lifelong health consequences including sexual, physical and psychological problems for the survivors. Even so, there appears to be no documented work that brings together the major conceptual blocks on FGM/C, a gap this paper seeks to begin to fill. This paper summarises some major concepts on FGM/C as a resource and evaluates key evidence on the practice. While the practice of FGM/C is highly concentrated in Africa, the practice is spread out globally with a shift towards its medicalization among migrant communities and traditional settings. A focus of this paper is to propagate awareness and polarise debates to bring to an end to the practice of FGM/C globally

Educational partnership in action: Insights from Western Australia

Governments and educational institutions are increasingly recognising the importance of collaboration and partnerships with stakeholders in achieving good educational outcomes for students and communities. In Australia, the need for such partnerships influenced the establishment of the Higher Education Participation and Partnerships Program in 2003 to ensure that Australians from low socio-economic status backgrounds who can study at university can access the opportunity. In this paper, we discuss the positive outcomes of a partnership arrangement between Edith Cowan University and the Organisation of African Communities of Western Australia on an educational outreach programme to inspire African communities in Perth to pursue higher education

Experiences of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare Professionals Working with Migrant Women Living with Female Genital Cutting in Western Australia

Female genital mutilation or cutting (FGM/C) is a global public health problem. The practice is particularly prevalent amongst people of African, Middle East and South East Asian descent. FGM/C creates a permanent change to the body of women. When such women migrate to other countries, they bring the associated social and health problems of FGM/C with them. As a multicultural society, Australia has many residents who come from settings in which FGM/C is prevalent. This qualitative study investigated whether healthcare professionals in Western Australia are prepared and able to provide adequate healthcare to women living with FGM/C. We found that there is a paucity of literature in Australia generally, and Western Australia more specifically, about FGM/C and the associated experiences of healthcare providers. Healthcare professionals were found to experience challenges when working with women living with FGM/C, mainly because of poor cultural sensitivity and poor levels of communication, and lacked appropriate education and training for working with women living with FGM/C. This study identified a need for empirical studies on how women living with FGM/C experience sexual and reproductive health services in Western Australia

Cultural capital and underdevelopment in less developed countries: The case of northern Ghana

Development paradigms under the sustainable development goals (SDGs) identify cultural capital as an indispensable asset for development in less developed countries. However, the phenomenon of culture and underdevelopment nexus has attracted little research attention in Ghana. The study used modernization theory and ethnographic research methodology to explore the role of cultural capital deficits in northern Ghana\u27s underdevelopment. Our findings suggest a close correlation between cultural capital and underdevelopment relative to unethical attitudinal standards, value deficits, and an anti-development mindset. We recommend the inclusion of cultural reorientation in the design of development intervention programs to uphold high integrity standards. We further suggest that the curriculum and concept of quality education in schools should be broadened to include inculcating high-value standards. Our study has contributed to academic discourses on cultural capital\u27s role in the search for sustainable development in less developed countries, particularly in implementing the SDGs

Perceived nexus between non-invigilated summative assessment and mental health difficulties: A cross sectional studies

The COVID-19 pandemic rapidly led to changes in the mode of teaching, learning and assessments in most tertiary institutions worldwide. Notably, non-invigilated summative assessments became predominant. These changes heightened anxiety and depression, especially among individuals with less resilient coping mechanism. We explored the perceptions and experiences of mental health difficulties of students in tertiary education regarding non-invigilated alternative assessments in comparison to invigilated assessments. A pragmatic, mixed method cross sectional design was conducted online via Qualtrics. Thematic analysis of text was carried out using NVivo 12. In the quantitative analysis, univariable and multivariable ordinal logistic models were used to examine the potential factors for preference among students in higher education. A total of 380 Nursing and Social Science students responded to the survey. Approximately 77% of students perceived non-invigilated assessments to be less stressful compared to invigilated exams. Age, course of study, stage of studies, and number of units enrolled per semester were identified as significant drivers for students’ perceived preference for non-invigilated assessments. There was an inverse relationship between the perception of stress associated with invigilated exams and the age of students. For instance, students aged between 18-24 were 5 times more likely to prefer non-invigilated exams compared to those aged 55 or more. Comparatively, students in early stages of studies had higher preference for non-invigilated assessments. However, there was a preference reversal for students enrolled in 2 or less units per semester. Social sciences students were two times more likely to prefer non-invigilated examinations to invigilated examinations compared to nursing students. The findings reinforce the use of alternative assessments in higher education as a mitigating agency to lessen the mental health burden of tertiary students in post COVID-19 era

Ladies, gentlemen and guys: The gender politics of politeness

Are there ladies and gentlemen in the 21st century? Do we need them? In the 20th century, lady became particularly unpopular with second wave feminists, who preferred ‘woman’. Gentleman was seen as similarly politically incorrect: class, race and culture bound. Following previous research on the word lady, we explore here some current evocations and debates around these words. We consider how the more casual, etymologically gendered term ‘guy’ has been utilized for men and women, and how it functions to reflect and obscure gender. While the return of the lady might be considered a consumer fad, a neo-conservative post-feminist backlash, or nostalgia for an elite ‘polite society’, it also offers an opportunity for a deeper discussion about civility as part of a broader conversation that is gaining impetus in the Western world. Politeness is personal and political. Whilst evidence for a comeback of the gentleman is limited, we critically consider the re-emergence of the lady as reflecting a deeper desire for applied sexual and social ethics. Such gender ethics have global, social and cultural ramifications that we ought not to underestimate. The desire for a culture of civility is gaining momentum as we are increasingly confronted with the violent consequences of a culture without it

Estimating the magnitude and risk associated with heat exposure among Ghanaian mining workers

Many occupational settings located outdoors in direct sun, such as open cut mining, pose a health, safety, and productivity risk to workers because of their increased exposure to heat. This issue is exacerbated by climate change effects, the physical nature of the work, the requirement to work extended shifts and the need to wear protective clothing which restricts evaporative cooling. Though Ghana has a rapidly expanding mining sector with a large workforce, there appears to be no study that has assessed the magnitude and risk of heat exposure on mining workers and its potential impact on this workforce. Questionnaires and temperature data loggers were used to assess the risk and extent of heat exposure in the working and living environments of Ghanaian miners. The variation in heat exposure risk factors across workers’ gender, education level, workload, work hours, physical work exertion and proximity to heat sources is significant (p \u3c 0.05). Mining workers are vulnerable to the hazards of heat exposure which can endanger their health and safety, productive capacity, social well-being, adaptive capacity and resilience. An evaluation of indoor and outdoor Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) in the working and living environment showed that mining workers can be exposed to relatively high thermal load, thus raising their heat stress risk. Adequate adaptation policies and heat exposure management for workers are imperative to reduce heat stress risk, and improve productive capacity and the social health of mining workers