Who will guard the guardians? Amartya Sen's contribution to development evaluation

An Action Learning process integrated with Sen's Capability Approach can support development agencies to formulate interventions that enhance freedom. The authors show that putting this approach into practice has important implications for the manner in which ‘development’ is undertaken as an ideological project. It may help to examine and challenge those who hold power in development: the guardians. This finding is the result of an emergent Action Learning process that was initiated by applying Sen's principles to focus-group interviews with women who care for people affected by HIV and AIDS. One of the findings of these focus groups was that the participants valued the process because it opened a space for them to influence the work of the implementing NGO. Essentially, they could hold the implementing agency to account. Reflection on this outcome by the agency led to important shifts in processes that are more supportive of freedom.     

Community sustainable-development indicators: a useful participatory technique or another dead end?

This article undertakes a critical re-evaluation of a DFID-funded project in South Africa which ran between 1998 and 2001. The evaluation sought to test whether the development of community-led indicators would improve governance. Since the project ended, a series of papers have been published that are critical of such participatory methods, arguing particularly that they are apolitical and adopt a technocratic approach. In the light of these criticisms, this article re-assesses the DFID project, following on from the initial evaluation carried out by the author in 2001. Sobantu, a black township in Pietermaritzburg, was one of the original project sites. It was chosen as the subject for research because the local implementing agency was a politically astute, well-connected institution that understood the political nature of the process required to develop the indicators. Although the project achieved some positive outcomes, the long-term commitment to the indicators has since been compromised. This was in large part due to the inability of community members to engage meaningfully with key municipal service providers. However, recent changes to the South African planning regime might provide opportunities for the indicators to become more useful again.     

Practitioner-led research: experiences with Learning Platforms

This article describes Learning Platforms, a structured effort by the Dutch-based agency SNV to encourage its expert advisers to engage in reading and analysing academic research related to the context in which they work, and to undertake research of their own. Although the practitioners' ability to apply their research to their daily practice, and the organisation's ability to absorb the findings of the research as part of its ways of working, have been partial or limited, the approach has the potential to bring academic and practice-based endeavour together in ways that are mutually beneficial.     

Capacity building through secondment of staff: a possible model in emergencies?

This article offers a case study of a secondment of staff from a Northern NGO (Trócaire) to a Southern partner, the Catholic Development Commission (CADECOM) of Malawi, as a possible model for capacity building. The approach described was tried in the context of an emergency programme, but it could also be used in a development context. The author analyses the appropriateness of the model in terms of its administrative structure, focus, and impact, and draws lessons for practitioners for its successful application.     

Factors and motivations contributing to community volunteers' participation in a nursery feeding project in Malawi

This article reports on a study to explore the factors and motivations that contribute to community volunteers' participation in a nursery feeding project in Malawi. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with community volunteers in 14 of the 32 sites in the programme. The findings pointed to a mix of intrinsic motivations, namely a deep concern for orphans and vulnerable children, a moral obligation to help, and a declared love of the work undertaken, and also to external factors such as spirituality, links of reciprocity, and the building of social capital. Understanding what motivates volunteers to take part in resource-poor settings is crucial to recognising, facilitating, and sustaining the work that they do. Further research into volunteering in the South is crucially needed.     

(Re-)building governance in post-conflict Africa: the role of the state and informal institutions

Post-conflict governance is an increasingly important aspect of foreign development assistance in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where the weakening and disintegration of the state undermine sustainable human development. A major challenge in post-conflict rebuilding in SSA concerns the incorporation of subnational non-state structures and informal institutions into the post-conflict governance apparatus. In order to tackle this apparent gap in sustainable peacebuilding, more theoretical and empirical research is needed into the nuanced role(s) and contribution(s) of the post-conflict state in reconstituting governance and rehabilitating communities. This article discusses the post-Washington Consensus (PWC), an emerging development approach which seeks to re-introduce the role of the state in development and post-conflict studies. The central proposition of the article is that, contrary to the anti-statist premise of the Washington Consensus, states, non-state structures, and informal institutions play an important role in cultivating institutional reconciliation, interpenetration, and integration between macro-level government structures and subnational social institutions.     

Reaching the Millennium Development Goals: equality and justice as well as results

Though less than expected, resources are available for simple, cheap interventions that can accelerate progress towards the Millennium Development Goals. Results-based management has been the key to increasing access to education and health care, but it does little to change the political, social, and economic conditions that make people poor. Unless there is a better balance between the drive to achieve measurable impact, investments in long-term poverty-eradication measures, and the creation of space where poor people can discuss and develop strategies for achieving equality and social justice, it will not be as easy to make poverty history as many people think.     

Fragile states

Since the 1990s, states that lack the capacity to discharge their normal functions and drive forward development have been referred to as ‘fragile states’. This article focuses on Africa, which not only has the largest concentration of prototypical fragile states, but has been the focus of attention for scholars, international development agencies, and practitioners. The author reviews competing analyses of the post-colonial African state and concludes that its characteristics of weak institutions, poverty, social inequalities, corruption, civil strife, armed conflicts, and civil war are not original conditions, but are rooted in specific historical contexts. It is essential to understand both the external and internal factors of fragility if such states are to get the assistance and empowerment that they need – not only for the benefit of their impoverished citizens, but also for the sake of global peace, prosperity, and security. Ultimately, it is the citizens of the countries concerned who are responsible for determining when states are no longer fragile – not ‘benevolent’ donors and the international community, whose prime motivation for interventions supposedly to strengthen the state is to ensure that fragile states find their ‘rightful’ places in the hegemonic global order.     

Childhood poverty and evidence-based policy engagement in Ethiopia

This article explores efforts to bridge multi-disciplinary research and policy engagement to tackle child poverty in the contexts of developing countries, based on the experiences of Young Lives, an international longitudinal policy-research project. It focuses on a case study involving the application of research evidence on child poverty to shape policy debates concerning Ethiopia's second-generation Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (2006–2010). The discussion is situated within theoretical literature on the interface between knowledge, policy, and practice, which supports the conceptualisation of policy making as a non-linear dynamic process. It pays particular attention to the importance of understanding the political and policy contexts of Southern countries, rather than assuming that they should simply import Northern-derived models of advocacy. It concludes by identifying general lessons for translating research into social-policy change.     

Counting the costs of HIV and AIDS to civil-society organisations

HIV threatens the survival of many civil-society organisations (CSOs) in Africa. While we know the range of potential costs to such groups, we lack a detailed picture of the extent of the impact. This article highlights important findings from exploratory research in Malawi. Respondents perceived that overall performance in the four CSOs studied declined by an average 20 per cent because they were working in a context of high HIV prevalence. Yet the CSOs' workplace response to this threat was very limited, and they remain highly vulnerable to future impact. We consider why the CSOs have not been more proactive, and we recommend that donor policy should help partners to respond to the epidemic and enable them to remain effective.     

Gender equality – whose agenda? Observations from Cameroon

The political project of gender equality in Africa has gained momentum and made many achievements. However, these have been largely confined to the ‘big’ women working in the public and private bureaucratic contexts in which there is a greater commitment to gender equality. It is argued that in the context of Cameroon, until these ‘bigger’ women renew their commitment to their grassroots sisters, the experience of gender equality will remain largely unequal. Only strong links between white-collar workers and less privileged women will span this chasm.     

HIV/AIDS prevention: building on community strengths in Ajegunle,Lagos

This paper builds upon field research in Ajegunle, Nigeria, which suggests that effective HIV/AIDS prevention requires a much higher degree of independent community participation. In exploring ways to achieve this, we suggest that assessing community strengths provides positive scope for understanding and utilising a much wider variety of HIV/AIDS responses which have not been previously used in the context of community development. Community-based approaches also encourage a deeper understanding of locally-specific vulnerability issues that surround HIV and AIDS. Such initiatives can be linked to trends that value the knowledge and capacities of neglected local people and build on their resources, including their networks, relationships and trust. However, the connection to, and use of, the resources of international NGOs (INGOs) remain central to success. If an interactive community-based agenda of working with local level resources receives enough acceptance at the higher levels of the INGOs, the results could be very significant. Such international/local agreements, where INGOs seek to work more closely with local community groups and their people on shared agendas, could begin to tackle some of the key structural issues, especially conflict and poverty, that exacerbate HIV/AIDS at the grassroots and are not responsive to purely medical solutions.

Prévention du VIH/sida: développer les points forts des communautés à Ajegunle, Lagos

Ce document se base sur des recherches menées sur le terrain à Ajegunle, au Nigeria, qui suggèrent que, pour être efficace, la prévention du VIH et du sida requiert un degré beaucoup plus élevé de participation communautaire indépendante. Dans le cadre d'une étude des manières d'arriver à ce résultat, nous suggérons qu'une évaluation des points forts de la communauté donne des perspectives positives pour la compréhension et l'utilisation d'une variété beaucoup plus importante d'interventions en matière de VIH/sida qui n'ont pas été précédemment lancées dans le contexte du développement communautaire. Les approches fondées sur les communautés encouragent par ailleurs une compréhension plus profonde des questions de vulnérabilité propres au niveau local autour du VIH et du sida. Les initiatives de ce type peuvent être reliées à des tendances qui accordent une importance aux connaissances et aux capacités des populations locales délaissées et qui se basent sur leurs ressources, y compris leurs réseaux, leurs relations et leur confiance. Cependant, la connexion avec les ressources des ONG internationales (ONGI) et leur utilisation restent essentielles pour le succès. Si un ordre du jour interactif fondé sur les communautés du travail avec les ressources locales reçoit une acceptation suffisante aux échelons plus élevés des ONGI, les résultats pourraient être très considérables. Les accords internationaux/locaux de ce type, dans le cadre desquels les ONGI cherchent à travailler en plus étroite collaboration avec les groupes communautaires locaux et leurs membres sur des ordres du jour partagés, pourraient commencer à remédier à des problèmes structurels clés, en particulier les conflits et la pauvreté, qui ont pour effet d'exacerber le VIH/le sida au niveau de la base populaire et ne peuvent pas être résolus par des moyens purement médicaux.

Prevenção do HIV/AIDS: aproveitando os pontos fortes da comunidade em Ajegunie, Lagos

Este artigo baseia-se em uma pesquisa de campo em Ajegunle, Nigéria, que sugere que a prevenção efetiva do HIV/AIDS exige um grau muito maior de participação da comunidade independente. Ao explorar maneiras para se alcançar isto, sugerimos que avaliar os pontos fortes da comunidade oferece um escopo positivo para se compreender e utilizar uma variedade muito mais ampla de respostas ao HIV/AIDS que não foram utilizadas anteriormente no contexto de desenvolvimento da comunidade. Abordagens baseadas na comunidade também incentivam uma compreensão mais profunda de questões de vulnerabilidade localmente específica que cercam o HIV e AIDS. Tais iniciativas podem ser conectadas a tendências que valorizam o conhecimento e a capacidade de pessoas locais negligenciadas e aproveitar seus recursos, inclusive suas redes de trabalho, relacionamentos e confiança. Porém, a conexão com recursos de ONGs Internacionais (ONGIs) e o uso deles permanecem centrais para o sucesso. Se uma agenda de trabalho interativa baseada na comunidade com recursos no âmbito local obtém aceitação suficiente nos níveis mais altos das ONGIs, os resultados podem ser muito significativos. Tais acordos internacionais/locais, em que ONGIs buscam trabalhar de maneira mais próxima com grupos da comunidade local e suas pessoas em agendas compartilhadas, poderiam começar a lidar com algumas das questões estruturais centrais, especialmente conflito e pobreza, que agravam o HIV/AIDS na base e não são suscetíveis a soluções puramente médicas.

La prevención del VIH/SIDA: confiando en las fortalezas de la comunidad. Una experiencia en Ajegunie, Lagos

Este ensayo se centra en una investigación de campo realizada en Ajegunle, Nigeria, la cual demostró que para conseguir una prevención efectiva del VIH/SIDA se requiere de una profunda e independiente participación comunitaria. En su investigación sobre cómo lograr este objetivo, los autores sugieren que valorar las fortalezas comunitarias puede ser una base sólida para concebir y utilizar una gama de respuestas ante el VIH/SIDA más amplia de la que hasta ahora se aplica en el contexto del desarrollo comunitario. Los métodos basados en la comunidad también contribuyen a que se entiendan mejor las vulnerabilidades específicas y locales ante el VIH/SIDA. Estas iniciativas pueden contribuir a valorar más los hasta ahora ignorados conocimientos y capacidades de las personas locales, los cuales se basan en sus recursos propios como sus redes, sus relaciones sociales y su confianza. Sin embargo, el acceso a, y el uso de, los recursos de las ONG internacionales (ONGI) siguen siendo factores importantes para lograr el éxito. Si las directivas de las ONGI consideraran una agenda de trabajo interactiva con las comunidades utilizando los recursos locales, los resultados podrían ser muy significativos. Con este tipo de acuerdos internacionales/locales en los que las ONGI intentan trabajar más estrechamente con los grupos comunitarios y las personas a nivel local compartiendo estrategias, podrían comenzar a atajarse algunos de los principales problemas estructurales, en especial en situaciones de conflicto y pobreza, que agravan el VIH/SIDA entre personas de la base y que no pueden resolverse únicamente con soluciones médicas.     

Memory,suffering, survival tactics,and healing among Jopadhola women in post-war Uganda

This ethnographic case study addresses the question of how women in Jopadhola patriarchal society in Eastern Uganda remember three decades of civil war and violence and survived its aftermath. When the war ended, little changed for these women, who are still exposed to a continuum of gender-based violence and continue to use the same tactics that, during the war, enabled them somehow to live with their suffering. Local NGOs, with the support of the government, have started to assist Jopadhola women to improve the quality of their present-day lives. By rebuilding their human and social capital, these NGOs are also creating the space for women to heal their war memories.     

Structures,values, and interaction in field-level partnerships: the case of UNHCR and NGOs

This article discusses the process of transforming partnership from a conceptual framework into a practical, operational framework for field-level interaction among humanitarian organisations. The authors approach this transformation from the perspective of the core values of the partnership concept and the ability of field workers to behave in ways that are consistent with these core values, illustrated by an empirical study of the relationships between the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and NGOs in a refugee-assistance programme in northern Uganda. The authors connect inter-organisational structures with the role of people charged with making partnership work, concluding that the structures and context in which individuals operate make it impossible for them to ‘act out’ the core values of partnership. By identifying the major challenges to creating field-level, operational partnerships, the authors offer lessons for current and future partnership-building initiatives, such as the Global Humanitarian Platform.     

‘Humanicrats’: the social production of compassion,indifference, and hostility in long-term camps

Why do front-line workers not always display humanitarian compassion towards people living in camps? In seeking an answer, this article conceptualises the ‘humanicrat’: a front-line worker who is part humanitarian and part bureaucrat, each with typological emotions. Case studies from NGO teams in long-term camps in northern Ugandan illustrate the social production of emotions. The two teams work in differing contexts of organisational arrangements and discourses: conditions which result in predominant emotions of compassion and indifference in one team, and hostility in another. The article ends by asking what, if anything, can be done to curb the ill-treatment of displaced people.     

Money,power, and donor–NGO partnerships

The term ‘partnership’ can be considered something of a Trojan Horse, disguising the reality of the complex relationships in imbalances of power and inequality, often expressed through the control of one ‘partner’ over the other. With particular reference to the experience of a small, UK-based NGO working in Uganda (Hives Save Lives – Africa), this article highlights how power is manifest within donor–NGO partnerships through the control and flow of money; and illustrates that NGOs pursuing funding from donors face many challenges that reinforce this imbalance of power.     

Listen First: a pilot system for managing downward accountability in NGOs

This article reports on a research project intended to develop systematic ways of managing downward accountability in an international NGO. Innovative tools were developed and trialled in six countries. The tools comprised a framework, defining downward accountability in practical terms, and three management processes. They were successfully used to (a) encourage staff to improve downward accountability in ways relevant to their context; (b) hear beneficiaries' assessments of the level of accountability achieved and the value of the NGO's work; and (c) generate quantified performance summaries for managers. Taken together, they form a coherent draft management system. Areas for further research are identified.     

Diary of a participatory advocacy film project: transforming communication initiatives into living campaigns

In August 2007, the government of Tanzania made a commitment to doubling the number of training places for skilled midwives, following a five-year campaign by the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood in Tanzania (WRATZ), which culminated in the first television screening of a participatory film, ‘Play Your Part’. With contributions from a range of health professionals, communities, a pop singer, and the Minister of Health, the message was that everyone at every level has a part to play in saving mothers' lives. WRATZ was successful because it was able to promote its message in a way that provides a model for advocacy, combining the reactive creativity of journalism and the methodological rigour of participatory video to bring about a tangible impact.     

Civil society and reconciliation in Southern Africa

This article presents some of the key findings of the Southern African Reconciliation Project (SARP). The SARP was a collaborative research project involving five Southern African NGOs in Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. It examined how the concept of reconciliation was understood in political and community contexts in Southern Africa and investigated the ways in which national government policies and civil-society participation in reconciliation initiatives have opened up and/or foreclosed on opportunities for reconciliation, transitional justice, and the promotion of a culture of human rights. The author summarises the historical context of reconciliation in Southern Africa, outlines the reconciliation initiatives in each country, and identifies emerging debates around and principles of reconciliation that have surfaced in the work of civil-society organisations (CSOs) in the region.