Accountability : All Articles

Islands of integrity: Identifying positive outliers

16 March 2012

Why have some public organizations or sectors seen a reduction in corruption (or a greater reduction than might be expected) while others have not? What explains the differences across or within countries and sectors? What are the political processes that drive corruption reduction and what policy lessons can be learned from studying cases where it has happened? This paper, the first in a series on this topic, is part of a project that seeks to try to answer those questions, and is being undertaken by the Developmental Leadership Program (DLP) in conjunction with Transparency International (TI). The paper outlines the way in which a ‘long list’ of cases has been identified by a careful statistical analysis of TI’s Global Corruption Barometer (GCB)

New multi-language tool for measuring development effectiveness

10 March 2012

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has launched a learning tool meant to support trade unions worldwide in the application of the effectiveness principles in their everyday development cooperation practice. Known as the Trade Union Development Effectiveness Profile (TUDEP) the new tool is based on a questionnaire that is automatically evaluated and analysed in an active excel document. The aim is to contribute to the improvement of the quality and effectiveness of the development cooperation work of trade unions by helping partners to reflect on their practice as well as the principles and values that underpin their work. It also helps to facilitate the monitoring and evaluation of the progress in the use of the principles and guidelines for trade union development effectiveness.

How to write Terms of Reference for an evaluation

23 January 2012

Developing an accurate and well-specified terms of reference (ToR) is a critical step in managing a high-quality evaluation. The evaluation ToR document serves as the basis for a contractual arrangement with one or more evaluators and sets the parameters against which the success of the assignment can be measured. This practical guide from the World Bank's Independent Evaluation Group sets out a few basic principles and guidelines to help in the development of an effective evaluation.

Assessing decentralization and local governance in West Africa

12 January 2012

This document examines a number of initiatives to build the capacity of local stakeholders to monitor and evaluate decentralisation and local governance processes in a participatory way. It includes case studies from Benin, Cameroon, Ghana, Mali and Niger.

SNV Practice Brief: Supporting domestic accountability

25 November 2011

Accountability can be an abstract concept, but it comes alive for ordinary citizens if it involves looking at whether (and how) funding for services is distributed and spent at the local level. This Practice Brief is the first of a new series prepared by practitioners working with the SNV Netherlands Development Organisation. It helps to shed some light on what support organisations can do to amplify the voice of local stakeholders in demanding greater accountability from governments and service providers.

3ie launches online database on systematic reviews

16 November 2011

The International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) has launched an online database of systematic reviews. This database provides policymakers and practitioners with easy access to systematic reviews that examine evidence on the effects of social and economic development interventions in low- and middle-income countries. It currently has over 100 reviews for many sectors, including agriculture, education, nutrition and health.

Humanitarian action in drought-related emergencies

11 November 2011

The Action Learning Network on Accountability and Performance in Humanitarian Action (ALNAP) has published a Lessons Paper that identifies seventeen key lessons for humanitarian agencies responding to droughts, on topics such as: early warning, targeting, working with government, food aid, water interventions and nutrition. It builds on the 2007 ALNAP/ProVention paper Slow-onset Disasters: Drought and food and livelihoods insecurity and a review of over 100 evaluative documents produced by humanitarian agencies in the period 2007-2011.

Implementing the Paris Declaration: No end in sight

05 October 2011

The results of the 2011 Survey on Monitoring the Paris Declaration make for sobering reading, according to the OECD. At the global level, only 1 out of the 13 targets established for 2010 has been met, which makes for a tough agenda as countries prepare to meet in Busan, Korea, for the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness.

Evaluating capacity development

13 September 2011

Why evaluations seldom satisfy – could we do better?

As capacity development becomes mainstreamed in international development assistance programmes, demand for the systematic evaluation of capacity-development initiatives is growing. Doug Horton explains how the evaluation of capacity development can be improved.

Perverse governance: State incapacity by design in Bihar, India

20 August 2011

Poor governance is often attributed to historical and structural factors that are difficult to change: “it is there because it is there, or because of a legacy of pathologies like colonial rule and an unnatural degree of socio-linguistic diversity." IDS Working Paper 366 (May 2011) by Santhosh Mathew and Mick Moore explores the role of individual agency and the incentives and opportunities that powerful political insiders may face to weaken state capacity in their own interests. It focuses on governance practices during the tenure of Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, from 1990 to 2005.

Tracking health workers in Botswana

18 August 2011

In June 2011, Botswana's Ministry of Health began partnering with CapacityPlus to implement iHRIS Manage, a free, open source software (OSS) designed to maintain information on health worker deployment and attrition. CapacityPlus is a USAID-funded global project that focuses on strengthening human resources to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. The goal of the Botswana programme is to track all health workers in the country, what districts they work in, and what cadre they belong to, in order to ensure that the right provider is at the right place with the right skills.

Enhancing the development effectiveness of health systems funding

17 August 2011

Established in 2009, the Health Systems Funding Platform is one of the latest initiatives to improve coordination amongst the numerous external funding organizations working to support health care institutions in developing countries. It has advanced farthest in two countries, Ethiopia and Nepal, and is currently expanding to several others. A new Working Paper from the Center for Global Development analyses the role of the Platform as a case study of how to resolve tensions between the aid and development effectiveness agendas.

Local governance and ICTs in Africa: Case Studies and guidelines for implementation and evaluation

12 August 2011

E-governance has the potential to enable local governments to engage citizens in greater participation, leading to socioeconomic developments at local and national levels. But this potential remains largely unexploited. This book offers studies from nine African countries that explore how ICTs can transform service delivery, tax, financial management, land management, education, local economic development, citizen registration, and political inclusion.

Micro methods in evaluating governance interventions

18 June 2011

Although billions of dollars have been invested on improving governance in developing countries in the past decade, few of the programmes that have received funding have been subjected to strong and rigorous impact evaluation. The aim of this discussion paper from the German Development Institute (DIE) is to answer three key questions: what are the features of governance interventions that make rigorous impact evaluation difficult and challenging? Second, what aspects of governance have been evaluated by rigorous quantitative methods? And third, what evaluation lessons can we learn from previous experience and what practical implications does it have?

Interview: Giving substance to pretty words

28 May 2011

NGO's role in bolstering public health systems

Promoting ‘country ownership’ in aid-dependent countries is central to the debate on aid effectiveness – but global health initiatives have often encouraged the opposite. In 2008 a code of conduct was drafted to address this trend. Capacity.org talked with Wendy Johnson, director of new initiatives with Health Alliance International (HAI), who was one of the architects of the code of conduct.

Case study: Applying the Paris Declaration to Zambia's health sector

28 May 2011

Earmarked and vertical funds are often at odds with commitments to strengthen health systems. Can such funding be tweaked to prevent a negative impact on health systems?

The road to Busan

28 May 2011

Capacity development and aid effectiveness debates

The Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness will take place in Busan, South Korea later this year. How will the question of capacity development be addressed in the forthcoming debates?

Strengthening the role of civil society in conflict and post-conflict settings

25 May 2011

Against the backdrop of popular protests across the Middle East and North Africa region, the May 2011 issue of ONTRAC, a newsletter of the International NGO Training and Research Centre (INTRAC), explores the role that civil society can play in promoting social development and bridging divides. Drawing on lessons from diverse contexts, including Kyrgyzstan, Cyprus and Somaliland, the articles analyse how civil society can contribute to building trust and reconciliation, maintaining peace and security, and rebuilding indigenous institutions for sustainable development and more democratic governance.

Strengthening stakeholder ownership for capacity development results: A conceptual framework

19 May 2011

This 48-page paper published by the World Bank Institute (WBI) in May 2011 seeks to deepen understanding of the importance of stakeholder ownership in achieving development goals. It describes the conceptual framework and processes that underpin WBI's approach - the Capacity Development Results Framework -  which aims to bring about development outcomes by supporting institutional change.

Preparations for Busan aid effectiveness summit intensify

28 April 2011

The official website for the Fourth High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness to be held in Busan, Korea, from 29 November to 1 December 2011, has been launched. To facilitate knowledge-sharing and priority-setting ahead of the meeting, the OECD/DAC, in cooperation with the Learning Network on Capacity Development (LenCD) and the Southern initiative CD Alliance, are coordinating broad consultations on capacity-development related issues in the aid effectiveness agenda.  

Rethinking governance and development in Africa

20 April 2011

Below the apex of the national political systems and behind the headlines, in most parts of sub-Saharan Africa most of the time, governance is failing to work for development. The better-off solve their livelihood problems privately, while for the majority life remains harsh, troubled and short.

It is against this backdrop that a new research venture, the Africa Power and Politics Programme, is exploring more effective forms of delivering public goods, under the guiding hypothesis that "institutions function better when they 'work with the grain' of the society which hosts them."

Ethics and integrity in developmental leadership

14 April 2011

Many developmental problems are attributed to the failure of leadership, and in particular to the absence of either ' ethical leadership'  or 'integrity. But what is ‘ethical leadership’? What is ‘developmental integrity’? How is it achieved? And what are the conditions for sustaining it? This is the focus of a new study by  the Development Leadership Programme, published in March 2011.

Rebuilding local governance structures in Afghanistan – a long walk

05 April 2011

This case study on efforts to build sub-national governance institutions in Afghanistan illustrates the challenges of implementing decentralization programmes in a post-conflict setting. The focus of the UNDP-supported National Area-Based Development Programme (NABDP) is to transform informal local Shuras (committees) into Community Development Councils and higher-level District Development Assemblies (DDAs).  The reality, however, is that the newly elected local representatives face an uphill battle to achieve widespread acceptance as legitimate interlocutors of local development.
 

New book on ownership and political steering in developing countries

03 April 2011

Donors increasingly recognize the political dimension of development cooperation and that they themselves are political actors. But how can this 'political' role be aligned with the interests and ideas of partner countries, and with the principle of ownership? How are partnerships and mutual trust created and maintained through the ups and downs of daily cooperation? How does policy making take place in partner countries, and how can donor and supply driven cooperation be avoided? This collection of essays, published by GIZ, offers important practical insights for policy-makers and practitioners alike.

Making evaluations matter

01 April 2011

“ Too often evaluations are shelved, with very little being done to bring about change within organizations that requested the evaluation in the first place." This new guide published by the Wageningen University Research Centre for Development Innovation explains how to maximize the usefulness of evaluations. It explains some of the conceptual issues involved and discusses how the evaluation process can help contribute to changing mindsets and empowering stakeholders.

How can donors best support the strengthening of domestic accountability in developing countries?

23 March 2011

Rather than encouraging the adoption of particular models of governance, donors should seek to nurture the environment of transparency and accountability out of which appropriate solutions to the challenges of development might emerge, led and owned by local stakeholders. This is one of the key messages from a panel discussion on domestic accountability during the European Development Days in Brussels, on 6th December 2010. It is also the focus of a new ECDPM discussion paper that explores how emerging capacity development perspectives can help foster democratic ownership.
 

Online discussion: Is capacity development on the brink of maturity?

21 March 2011

We are pleased to invite you to participate in an online discussion on some of the issues tackled in "Capacity Development in Practice", the resource volume for practitioners.

Scaling up in development cooperation

21 March 2011

For over 30 years one of the core tasks of the German international cooperation agency GIZ's core tasks has been to support people, organizations and societies in developing and emerging countries as they undergo the learning and change processes needed to achieve capacity development. Specifically, this entails supporting people in acquiring technical expertise, managerial competence and performance capability. And it means supporting organizations, public institutions and private companies in making their organizational, management and production structures more efficient and effective. 

First "State of the Humanitarian System" report published

20 January 2011

The aim of this report, commissioned under ALNAP’s Humanitarian Performance Project, was to provide a system-level mapping and assessment of international humanitarian assistance. The research team synthesized the findings of roughly 500 global survey responses, 100 recent evaluations, 89
interviews, staffing and budget information of over 200 aid organizations and a financial analysis of global humanitarian aid flows. The resulting report
represents a pilot effort to broadly assess the ‘state of the system’ with the intent, if it is found useful, to repeat the exercise once every two years.

In one of its key findings, the study depicts "a system steadily and incrementally improving its own internal mechanics and technical performance, while remaining deficient in some 'big picture' requirements for effectiveness".

Review of Impact and Effectiveness of Transparency and Accountability Initiatives, Institute of Development Studies (2010)

18 January 2011

As traditional forms of state-led accountability have been increasingly found to be inadequate, thousands of multi-stakeholder and citizen-led approaches have come to the fore, to supplement or supplant them. Despite their rapid growth, and the growing donor support they receive, little attention has been paid to the impact and effectiveness of these new transparency and accountability initiatives. Responding to this gap, this report, based on a review of literature and experience across the field with special focus on five sectors of transparency and accountability work, aims to improve understanding among policy-makers and practitioners of the available evidence and identify gaps in knowledge to inform a longer-term research agenda. 
 

Multi-actor systems as entry points to capacity development

26 December 2010

Reasons for a revision of intervention logic

It is often assumed that capacity development starts from within individuals and organisations and then permeates into society. But capacity also comes about through interaction between actors. This suggests that a change in intervention logic and repertoire can boost effectiveness.  

Case studies: Multi-actor systems as entry points to capacity development

21 December 2010

The following case studies from Ethiopia, Uganda and Kenya provide some real-life experiences of how multi-actor capacity development takes place. 

From token inclusion to transformative engagement

09 December 2010

Urban planning in India

Although labelled ‘participatory’, many urban planning processes in India involve only select elite groups. This article explains what is required to achieve genuine participation involving all stakeholders, including the poor and the marginalised.

Facilitating WASH forums

08 December 2010

Combining local knowledge and global science: A practical guide

11 November 2010

This practical guide developed by DFID’s Research Into Use programme draws on practical experience in Nepal to show how the combination of external and local knowledge helps improve the lives of small-scale farmers by producing practical solutions suited to their needs.

Legitimacy enhances capacity

11 November 2010

Do affirmative action and training of women politicians lead to effective voice and change on issues that are relevant for women?

Practical guide to capacity development in a sector context

09 November 2010

This guide, published in May 2008, was specifically designed for practitioners working with capacity development (CD) processes. The target group is staff and managers in public organizations who are or want to be change agents or change managers, consultants, as well as staff from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) or other development partners who wish to support CD processes.

Transparency and Accountability Program, TAP

08 November 2010

The Transparency and Accountability Program (TAP) is a programme of The Results for Development Institute, a private nonprofit organization based in Washington, DC. Started in 2006 with support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, TAP works to increase the capacity of civil society organizations conducting research and evidence-based advocacy to reduce corruption and inefficiency in social sector public spending and better hold government accountable for equality in public resource division.

A Paris declaration for international NGOs?

08 November 2010

The budgets of some large international NGOs surpass those of official donors, yet there is “ little evidence that INGOs are better at respecting the priorities of their local counterparts than official donors.”

Accountability builds legitimate government

29 October 2010

Strengthening the accountability of government officials to their constituents provides an important impetus to boosting their capacity to govern effectively. However, as examples from Iraq and Indonesia show, the legitimacy of the government is an important criterion for success.

To Know is to be empowered

11 October 2010

If you want to effectively tackle gender inequality, you need to be able to measure it and identify its underlying causes. Putting local governments in the know is half the battle.

Helping policy research organizations become more accountable

05 October 2010

A significant proportion of funds aimed at development is allocated to research. This investment is done on the basis that rational policy processes rely on good evidence. Research organizations generating this evidence can have great impact on the citizens of a country. As such, it is important that they remain accountable.

Research reports on demand-driven technical assistance

05 October 2010

Technical assistance and capacity building programmes for local governments have commonly been supply-driven – by central government and donors. This approach has been criticized for various reasons, including a lack of ownership by local authorities and a failure to address their genuine needs. This has resulted in a recent trend toward a more demand-driven approach. 

Tracking progress in advocacy

05 October 2010

This INTRAC paper, published in December 2009, introduces the scope of, and rational for, engaging in advocacy work as part of development interventions

The wisdom of crowds? An innovative development experiment called to account

04 October 2010

Can the internet phenomenon of “crowdsourcing,” or collective intelligence, which has been successfully applied in such areas as open source software development and medical solutions, also be chanelled to promoting rural development?

Partnerships for service delivery: what makes them tick?

29 August 2010

Issue 27 of Capacity.org addressed the roles of networks and partnerships in capacity development. To take the discussion one step further, and make it more concrete and specific, this issue focuses on the role of partnerships in the delivery of basic services. 

Strengthening country procurement sytems in Bangladesh: 2 case studies

28 July 2010

At the Accra High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in September 2008, donors agreed to use country systems as the first option for aid programmes in support of activities managed by the public sector. These two UNDP case studies describe how this works in practice in Bangladesh. The first case study: 'Towards use of country systems for procurement in Bangladesh', analyses the challenges of assessing capacity at the national level as a first step towards aligning national procurement systems. The second study highlights a promising community-level initiative to enhance local monitoring of Millenium Development Goal-related project procurement.

Monitoring flexible funding: navigating the challenges

14 September 2009

This INTRAC paper examines the debate that has emerged around the problems encountered in funding flexibly whilst trying to meet the demands for more results-based grant management (often from governments).

First Joint Governance Assessment in Rwanda

07 February 2009

Policy Practice Brief 5 - Carrying out a Joint Governance Assessment - Lessons from Rwanda