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Ownership with adjectives

03/06/2008 By Stefan Meyer, Nils-Sjard Schulz

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This synthesis report carried out by Stefan Meyer and Nils-Sjard Schulz, looks into the impact of donor harmonisation on
democratisation processes in recipient countries. It is based on four case studies (Mali, Nicaragua, Peru and Vietnam) and explores the political implications of the aid effectiveness agenda and particularly of the new aid modalities.

Following the Paris Declaration, donors and governments engage in a closer relationship in defining policies. In this dynamics, other stakeholders such as CSOs, parliaments, public oversight institutions, the media and sub-national governments (dubbed the oversight triangle in this paper) may become increasingly marginalised, which could hamper the democratic process and lead to negative “side-effects” for democratic ownership and domestic accountability.

The focus is thus on donors’ performance as increasingly active actors in the domestic political economy dimensions of participation, transparency and accountability, rather than as external and neutral aid deliverers. Among the conclusions aimed at sensitizing policy-makers and planners, the study stresses the necessity to address country specific political dimensions and the overall quality of compliance with the five PD commitments, especially regarding downwards accountability and “good” ownership.

An abridged version in German has been published in FriEnt Impulse.

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Keywords

Aid effectiveness Aid management Aid policy Harmonization Mali Nicaragua Peru Vietnam

Related publications

• Country ownership and donor harmonisation: the Vietnamese experience
• Donor harmonisation and democratisation: are donors fit for politics?
• Donor harmonisation: between effectiveness and democratisation. Theoretical framework and methodology for country case studies
• Nicaragua: a rude awakening for the Paris Declaration
• Peru: the kingdom of the NGO?
• The impact of aid policies on domestic democratisation processes: the case of Mali
• The Nicaragua challenge: upholding the Paris agenda in an agitated setting
• Vietnam's laboratory on donor harmonisation: between effectiveness and democratisation

Bio author: Stefan Meyer

Stefan Meyer is a Political Scientist (FU Berlin) and holds a Masters degree from the IDS in Brighton, UK. He worked as a consultant on aid instruments and in conflict impact assessment for a number of NGOs and for the German Development Cooperation (GTZ and KfW).

Bio author: Nils-Sjard Schulz

Global governance of aid. Aid policy and effectiveness. Donor harmonisation. International division of labour. South-South cooperation.