Comments on: NYU’s Aid Watch Initiative Held Conference on “What Would the Poor Say? Debates in Aid Evaluation” http://aidwatchers.com/2009/02/nyu%e2%80%99s-aid-watch-initiative-held-conference-on-%e2%80%9cwhat-would-the-poor-say-debates-in-aid-evaluation%e2%80%9d/ just asking that aid benefit the poor Fri, 30 Jul 2010 01:21:34 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Paul Armington http://aidwatchers.com/2009/02/nyu%e2%80%99s-aid-watch-initiative-held-conference-on-%e2%80%9cwhat-would-the-poor-say-debates-in-aid-evaluation%e2%80%9d/comment-page-1/#comment-4459 Paul Armington Mon, 23 Feb 2009 08:47:48 +0000 http://aidwatchers.com/2009/02/nyu%e2%80%99s-aid-watch-initiative-held-conference-on-%e2%80%9cwhat-would-the-poor-say-debates-in-aid-evaluation%e2%80%9d/#comment-4459 Bill, So many familiar faces in this report! And it’s a pleasure to re-engage with you, Bill, in this new, higher-tech format for education. Congratulations and thanks for managing this forum on development aid, which really does need to be “watched.” Since I left the World Bank in 1999, my company, WILMA Inc., has been hammering out a private sector approach to the task that Jim Wolfensohn called the Comprehensive Development Framework. Ours is a business model that avoids the pitfalls of foreign aid and that builds the autonomy of the beneficiaries, as you and David Ellerman among others have urged through your books. We call it the WILMA Business Ecosystem for Africa, which is described in a document linked to our website, www.wilma.us . I think that your blog would be a good channel for discussion of the ideas in this document, and I would welcome your advice on the best way to organize this discussion. Paul Bill,

So many familiar faces in this report! And it’s a pleasure to re-engage with you, Bill, in this new, higher-tech format for education. Congratulations and thanks for managing this forum on development aid, which really does need to be “watched.” Since I left the World Bank in 1999, my company, WILMA Inc., has been hammering out a private sector approach to the task that Jim Wolfensohn called the Comprehensive Development Framework. Ours is a business model that avoids the pitfalls of foreign aid and that builds the autonomy of the beneficiaries, as you and David Ellerman among others have urged through your books. We call it the WILMA Business Ecosystem for Africa, which is described in a document linked to our website, http://www.wilma.us . I think that your blog would be a good channel for discussion of the ideas in this document, and I would welcome your advice on the best way to organize this discussion.

Paul

]]> By: Jeff Barnes http://aidwatchers.com/2009/02/nyu%e2%80%99s-aid-watch-initiative-held-conference-on-%e2%80%9cwhat-would-the-poor-say-debates-in-aid-evaluation%e2%80%9d/comment-page-1/#comment-4457 Jeff Barnes Mon, 16 Feb 2009 18:43:37 +0000 http://aidwatchers.com/2009/02/nyu%e2%80%99s-aid-watch-initiative-held-conference-on-%e2%80%9cwhat-would-the-poor-say-debates-in-aid-evaluation%e2%80%9d/#comment-4457 I would hate to appear to be against transparency and accountability, but I think the call for more of these misses the point. You can't hold people accountable for using aid to help the poor if that is not the primary objective. (Bill, you used to claim it was to achieve economic growth. Glad to see you are evolving with the poor-focused times.) Most aid happens in the context of a culture of diplomacy. The ostensible objectives of such aid are numerous but the primordial ones are to make the host country happy and move the money. Diplomats are international PR agents. The desired spin is more important than the evidence of effectiveness. You want to see accountability? Try being a USAID contractor and publicly complain about how the host government is squandering the aid or misusing it. You will have your contract quickly cancelled and probably be declared persona non grata in short order. Unfortunately, multilateral aid doesn't offer a much better model. There aid is stuck in the model of government ownership. If the host gov't wants to use its aid badly, that is their right and no one from the UN or WB will tell them they can't. NGO aid might offer another alternative but the principle objective with most of that aid is satisfying the donor's need for compassion. Relieve basic human needs, feel better and don't worry about the evidence of larger impact including prolonged dependence. The other problem is that the culture of corruption and feeding at the aid trough has created a norm for many people (poor and otherwise) in heavily aided countries. Even when transparency or luck bring misuse of aid to light, there is more outrage from foreigners than from the local poor. The local poor have grown accustomed to misuse of aid and take it for granted. This is where the reverse causality caveat is appropriate. Some kind of education or reeducation around values is needed before transparency will lead to people holding their leaders accountable. Even where there has been major transition in government in Africa, the political discourse has not been around using aid more effectively. It has typically been around giving my party (or ethnic group) its turn to feed at the aid trough (Cote D'Ivoire, Kenya, Nigeria). Like many other important things, transparency and accountability are not magic bullets. Necessary but not sufficient to make aid more effective. I would hate to appear to be against transparency and accountability, but I think the call for more of these misses the point. You can’t hold people accountable for using aid to help the poor if that is not the primary objective. (Bill, you used to claim it was to achieve economic growth. Glad to see you are evolving with the poor-focused times.) Most aid happens in the context of a culture of diplomacy. The ostensible objectives of such aid are numerous but the primordial ones are to make the host country happy and move the money. Diplomats are international PR agents. The desired spin is more important than the evidence of effectiveness. You want to see accountability? Try being a USAID contractor and publicly complain about how the host government is squandering the aid or misusing it. You will have your contract quickly cancelled and probably be declared persona non grata in short order.

Unfortunately, multilateral aid doesn’t offer a much better model. There aid is stuck in the model of government ownership. If the host gov’t wants to use its aid badly, that is their right and no one from the UN or WB will tell them they can’t.

NGO aid might offer another alternative but the principle objective with most of that aid is satisfying the donor’s need for compassion. Relieve basic human needs, feel better and don’t worry about the evidence of larger impact including prolonged dependence.

The other problem is that the culture of corruption and feeding at the aid trough has created a norm for many people (poor and otherwise) in heavily aided countries. Even when transparency or luck bring misuse of aid to light, there is more outrage from foreigners than from the local poor. The local poor have grown accustomed to misuse of aid and take it for granted. This is where the reverse causality caveat is appropriate. Some kind of education or reeducation around values is needed before transparency will lead to people holding their leaders accountable. Even where there has been major transition in government in Africa, the political discourse has not been around using aid more effectively. It has typically been around giving my party (or ethnic group) its turn to feed at the aid trough (Cote D’Ivoire, Kenya, Nigeria).

Like many other important things, transparency and accountability are not magic bullets. Necessary but not sufficient to make aid more effective.

]]> By: Chrissy http://aidwatchers.com/2009/02/nyu%e2%80%99s-aid-watch-initiative-held-conference-on-%e2%80%9cwhat-would-the-poor-say-debates-in-aid-evaluation%e2%80%9d/comment-page-1/#comment-4456 Chrissy Sun, 15 Feb 2009 10:30:33 +0000 http://aidwatchers.com/2009/02/nyu%e2%80%99s-aid-watch-initiative-held-conference-on-%e2%80%9cwhat-would-the-poor-say-debates-in-aid-evaluation%e2%80%9d/#comment-4456 I was at the conference, and found it extremely informative and useful for understanding the state of the evaluation field. However, I left with one pressing question that I felt was not addressed. That is, what is the role of U.S. aid policy in responding to these criticisms? Do you feel that U.S. (specifically USAID) can become more responsive to the poor, by, for example, focusing more on private sector and small enterprise development? Or, is the very presence of U.S. money counter to these principles? The Millenium Challenge Corporation (MCC) was established with the goal of focusing on evaluation of programs and country ownership of programs. These are good principles, but they have run into their own problems. Some of the panelists (specifically Andrew Mwenda) seemed to imply that foreign aid will never help developing countries. Can we imagine a US foreign aid policy that encourages governments to be accountable to their citizens, while helping to aid growth? Any thoughts would be much appreciated. I was at the conference, and found it extremely informative and useful for understanding the state of the evaluation field. However, I left with one pressing question that I felt was not addressed. That is, what is the role of U.S. aid policy in responding to these criticisms? Do you feel that U.S. (specifically USAID) can become more responsive to the poor, by, for example, focusing more on private sector and small

enterprise development? Or, is the very presence of U.S. money counter to these principles? The Millenium Challenge Corporation (MCC) was established with the goal of focusing on evaluation of programs and country ownership of programs. These are good principles, but they have run into their own problems. Some of the panelists (specifically Andrew Mwenda) seemed to imply that foreign aid will never help developing countries. Can we imagine a US foreign aid policy that encourages governments to be accountable to their citizens, while helping to aid growth? Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

]]> By: Anonymous http://aidwatchers.com/2009/02/nyu%e2%80%99s-aid-watch-initiative-held-conference-on-%e2%80%9cwhat-would-the-poor-say-debates-in-aid-evaluation%e2%80%9d/comment-page-1/#comment-4455 Anonymous Sun, 15 Feb 2009 10:29:13 +0000 http://aidwatchers.com/2009/02/nyu%e2%80%99s-aid-watch-initiative-held-conference-on-%e2%80%9cwhat-would-the-poor-say-debates-in-aid-evaluation%e2%80%9d/#comment-4455 I was at the conference, and found it extremely informative and useful for understanding the state of the evaluation field. However, I left with one pressing question that I felt was not addressed. That is, what is the role of U.S. aid policy in responding to these criticisms? Do you feel that U.S. (specifically USAID) can become more responsive to the poor, by, for example, focusing more on private sector and small enterprise development? Or, is the very presence of U.S. money counter to these principles? The Millenium Challenge Corporation (MCC) was established with the goal of focusing on evaluation of programs and country ownership of programs. These are good principles, but they have run into their own problems. Some of the panelists (specifically Andrew Mwenda) seemed to imply that foreign aid will never help developing countries. Can we imagine a US foreign aid policy that encourages governments to be accountable to their citizens, while helping to aid growth? Any thoughts would be much appreciated. I was at the conference, and found it extremely informative and useful for understanding the state of the evaluation field. However, I left with one pressing question that I felt was not addressed. That is, what is the role of U.S. aid policy in responding to these criticisms? Do you feel that U.S. (specifically USAID) can become more responsive to the poor, by, for example, focusing more on private sector and small

enterprise development? Or, is the very presence of U.S. money counter to these principles? The Millenium Challenge Corporation (MCC) was established with the goal of focusing on evaluation of programs and country ownership of programs. These are good principles, but they have run into their own problems. Some of the panelists (specifically Andrew Mwenda) seemed to imply that foreign aid will never help developing countries. Can we imagine a US foreign aid policy that encourages governments to be accountable to their citizens, while helping to aid growth? Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

]]> By: Blog Maintenance Committee http://aidwatchers.com/2009/02/nyu%e2%80%99s-aid-watch-initiative-held-conference-on-%e2%80%9cwhat-would-the-poor-say-debates-in-aid-evaluation%e2%80%9d/comment-page-1/#comment-4454 Blog Maintenance Committee Sat, 14 Feb 2009 08:53:25 +0000 http://aidwatchers.com/2009/02/nyu%e2%80%99s-aid-watch-initiative-held-conference-on-%e2%80%9cwhat-would-the-poor-say-debates-in-aid-evaluation%e2%80%9d/#comment-4454 Article from World Magazine on the conference: <a href="http://www.worldmag.com/articles/15015" rel="nofollow">http://www.worldmag.com/articles/15015</a> Article from World Magazine on the conference:

http://www.worldmag.com/articles/15015

]]> By: Laura Freschi http://aidwatchers.com/2009/02/nyu%e2%80%99s-aid-watch-initiative-held-conference-on-%e2%80%9cwhat-would-the-poor-say-debates-in-aid-evaluation%e2%80%9d/comment-page-1/#comment-4453 Laura Freschi Fri, 13 Feb 2009 11:40:02 +0000 http://aidwatchers.com/2009/02/nyu%e2%80%99s-aid-watch-initiative-held-conference-on-%e2%80%9cwhat-would-the-poor-say-debates-in-aid-evaluation%e2%80%9d/#comment-4453 Hi Jess: There is no paper or presentation for June's speech, but we are planning to post some selected video of the conference, so please check back with us. Laura Freschi Development Research Institute Hi Jess:

There is no paper or presentation for June’s speech, but we are planning to post some selected video of the conference, so please check back with us.

Laura Freschi

Development Research Institute

]]> By: Jess http://aidwatchers.com/2009/02/nyu%e2%80%99s-aid-watch-initiative-held-conference-on-%e2%80%9cwhat-would-the-poor-say-debates-in-aid-evaluation%e2%80%9d/comment-page-1/#comment-4452 Jess Fri, 13 Feb 2009 11:27:19 +0000 http://aidwatchers.com/2009/02/nyu%e2%80%99s-aid-watch-initiative-held-conference-on-%e2%80%9cwhat-would-the-poor-say-debates-in-aid-evaluation%e2%80%9d/#comment-4452 Thank you for posting the conference paper links! I was not able to attend. I was wondering if June Arunga had a paper or presentation that can be linked to? Thanks Thank you for posting the conference paper links! I was not able to attend. I was wondering if June Arunga had a paper or presentation that can be linked to?

Thanks

]]> By: Brendan http://aidwatchers.com/2009/02/nyu%e2%80%99s-aid-watch-initiative-held-conference-on-%e2%80%9cwhat-would-the-poor-say-debates-in-aid-evaluation%e2%80%9d/comment-page-1/#comment-4451 Brendan Thu, 12 Feb 2009 04:53:29 +0000 http://aidwatchers.com/2009/02/nyu%e2%80%99s-aid-watch-initiative-held-conference-on-%e2%80%9cwhat-would-the-poor-say-debates-in-aid-evaluation%e2%80%9d/#comment-4451 I thought the conference was great, and that what Easterly and all these presenters, but especially Arunga, Mwenda, and Duflo, are doing is heroic. Organizations that provide ODA are, strictly speaking, neither public nor private organizations, and so lack the mechanisms that make such organizations successful. (In the public sphere this is democracy, in the private, feedback through consumer choice.) Many thanks for putting this up, and looking forward to seeing more. I thought the conference was great, and that what Easterly and all these presenters, but especially Arunga, Mwenda, and Duflo, are doing is heroic. Organizations that provide ODA are, strictly speaking, neither public nor private organizations, and so lack the mechanisms that make such organizations successful. (In the public sphere this is democracy, in the private, feedback through consumer choice.)

Many thanks for putting this up, and looking forward to seeing more.

]]> By: Nick http://aidwatchers.com/2009/02/nyu%e2%80%99s-aid-watch-initiative-held-conference-on-%e2%80%9cwhat-would-the-poor-say-debates-in-aid-evaluation%e2%80%9d/comment-page-1/#comment-4450 Nick Tue, 10 Feb 2009 16:28:33 +0000 http://aidwatchers.com/2009/02/nyu%e2%80%99s-aid-watch-initiative-held-conference-on-%e2%80%9cwhat-would-the-poor-say-debates-in-aid-evaluation%e2%80%9d/#comment-4450 There was one thoughts I wanted to voice after William Easterly's talk. While Easterly was correct in identifying that most successful public and private systems have mechanisms for accountability, I think he was mistaken to focus only on the "Threat to Existence" mechanisms. While it is true this is common to all, they all share mechanisms to reward success. One can argue that if you put institutions under "treats to existence" mechanisms of accountability, reward mechanisms will emerge endogenously, but in generally I think it is important to stress both sides of this equation when pushing for reform. I think if one only talks about punishing bad aid workers, you run the risk of making workers resentful. In the same way teacher union is most effective when on stresses rewarding good teachers as much as punishing bad ones, I think people in the industry will be more welcoming of reforms that offer both sticks and carrots. There was one thoughts I wanted to voice after William Easterly’s talk.

While Easterly was correct in identifying that most successful public and private systems have mechanisms for accountability, I think he was mistaken to focus only on the “Threat to Existence” mechanisms. While it is true this is common to all, they all share mechanisms to reward success.

One can argue that if you put institutions under “treats to existence” mechanisms of accountability, reward mechanisms will emerge endogenously, but in generally I think it is important to stress both sides of this equation when pushing for reform. I think if one only talks about punishing bad aid workers, you run the risk of making workers resentful. In the same way teacher union is most effective when on stresses rewarding good teachers as much as punishing bad ones, I think people in the industry will be more welcoming of reforms that offer both sticks and carrots.

]]> By: Euan MacDonald http://aidwatchers.com/2009/02/nyu%e2%80%99s-aid-watch-initiative-held-conference-on-%e2%80%9cwhat-would-the-poor-say-debates-in-aid-evaluation%e2%80%9d/comment-page-1/#comment-4449 Euan MacDonald Tue, 10 Feb 2009 12:49:51 +0000 http://aidwatchers.com/2009/02/nyu%e2%80%99s-aid-watch-initiative-held-conference-on-%e2%80%9cwhat-would-the-poor-say-debates-in-aid-evaluation%e2%80%9d/#comment-4449 Thanks for posting the presentations - I found the event very worthwhile, and its useful to have these reminders to hand. If anyone is interested, I have posted some reflections on your own talk - from a global administrative law perspective - at <a href="http://globaladminlaw.blogspot.com/2009/02/easterly-on-what-poor-would-say.html." rel="nofollow">http://globaladminlaw.blogspot.com/2009/02/easterly-on-what-poor-would-say.html.</a> Thanks for posting the presentations – I found the event very worthwhile, and its useful to have these reminders to hand.

If anyone is interested, I have posted some reflections on your own talk – from a global administrative law perspective – at http://globaladminlaw.blogspot.com/2009/02/easterly-on-what-poor-would-say.html.

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