25 research outputs found
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
The Impact of Transparency and Accountability Initiatives
Transparency and accountability initiatives (TAIs) have taken democratisation, governance, aid and development circles by storm since the turn of the century. Many actors involved with them – as donors, funders, programme managers, implementers and researchers – are now keen to know more about what these initiatives are achieving. This issue of Development Policy Review arises from a study of the impact and effectiveness of transparency and accountability initiatives in different development sectors. It analyses existing evidence, discusses how approaches to learning about TAIs might be improved, and recommends how impact and effectiveness could be enhanced
Multi-donor trust funds and fragile states: assessing the aid effectiveness of the Zimbabwe multi-donor trust fund
It is widely acknowledged that multi-donor trust funds (MDTFs) contribute to aid effectiveness. This paper challenges this assertion through assessing the aid effectiveness of the Zimbabwe Multi-Donor Trust Fund. The paper makes four key arguments. First, political relations between recipient and donor countries are vital in the functioning of MDTFs. Second, the design of MDTFs affects the delivery and functioning of the trust fund. Third, whilst the legitimacy of national governments in fragile states is often contested, targeting legitimate and credible institutions can offer tangible and life changing results. Fourth, MDTFs focusing on the recovery of key sectors such as water, sanitation and energy have direct impacts to economic recovery and people’s lives
Shifting power? : assessing the impact of transparency and accountability initiatives
Accountability and transparency initiatives have taken democratisation, governance, aid and development circles by storm since the turn of the century. Many actors involved with them –
as donors, funders, programme managers, implementers and researchers – are now keen to
know more about what these initiatives are achieving.
This paper arises from a review of the impact and effectiveness of transparency and
accountability initiatives which gathered and analysed existing evidence, discussed how it
could be improved, and evaluated how impact and effectiveness could be enhanced. This
paper takes the discussion further, by delving into what lies behind the methodological and
evaluative debates currently surrounding governance and accountability work. It illustrates
how choices about methods are made in the context of impact assessment designs driven by
different objectives and different ideological and epistemological underpinnings. We argue
that these differences are articulated as methodological debates, obscuring vital issues
underlying accountability work, which are about power and politics, not methodological
technicalities.
In line with this argument, there is a need to re-think what impact means in relation to
accountability initiatives, and to governance and social change efforts more broadly. This
represents a serious challenge to the prevailing impact paradigm, posed by the realities of
unaccountable governance, unproven accountability programming and uncertain evidence of
impact. A learning approach to evaluation and final impact assessment would give power
and politics a central place in monitoring and evaluation systems, continually test and revise
assumptions about theories of change and ensure the engagement of marginalised people in
assessment processes. Such an approach is essential if donors and policy makers are to
develop a reliable evidence base to demonstrate that transparency and accountability work is
of real value to poor and vulnerable people.
Keywords: Accountability, transparency, impact assessment, evaluatio
