Comments

Thanks Denis for your insightful comment. I agree, that community-based initiatives are a significant part of any sustainable aid initiatives ( excuse the understatement) and are often overlooked or under-represented in planning and M&E of these initiatives. Communities that take ownership of aid through knowledgable, organised and influential leaders, are far more likely to sustain these initiatives and benefits in the longer term. Peter McGlynn

I strongly agreed to what Sir Mekere Morauta have said because if our learders did not do any thing, then the people are going to be the victim of that. So I would suggest the earlier the better.

Hi Stephen- I'm so glad you blogged your arguments! I was at APW last week and found the debate really fascinating- mainly because I realised I'm in a bit of a development bubble where deep criticisms like Hugh's are (if heard) rarely digested, so I really appreciated your articulation of why development aid is important. I did feel that Hugh's critiques and solutions were very trusting of market driven economics to help people living in long-term poverty- which feels difficult for me, especially as I'm researching areas of citizen voice (on gut feeling I think I think this would be an area of major concern for the 'market'). Looking forward to your next couple of posts on the topic.

Technically we, from the third or developing world should be glad with emergence of new welfare agencies. However, project funds in countries ridden by poverty and malnutrition are often underutilized by overseers. Corruption is a practice now blended with culture. Entire system is to blame where everyone from highest dignitary to the lowest stakeholder do not even mind to wash their hands with stolen money. And they are honest in disseminating the resource, everyone gets their share. In a scenario like this, with time, will not corruption only grow in these countries, because with time things will be more mainstreamed. Donors will be happy their money deployed in good work. But, the people, for whom the resource was sent, those unprivileged, poor, uneducated will never know how they have been deprived. Yes, monitoring agencies plays a role, but they have to be more agile and fearless

Denis, I haven't included in my discussion paper much about community capacity to want and obtain better governance, but you'll find plenty in several of the texts I cite, especially (from memory) World Development Report 2011 and Fixing Failed States. Given your interest in community strengthening projects, I suggest you look also at: a recent ODE evaluation of AusAID’s engagement with civil society in developing countries – based on theory of change / literature review / mapping of AusAID’s engagement in PNG, Philippines and Vanuatu / cross-case analysis / case studies - http://www.ode.ausaid.gov.au/publications/evaluation-engagement-with-civil-society.html BRAC – NGO based in Bangladesh providing microcredit, education and other services to poor isolated communities - http://www.brac.net/ PNPM – national program for community empowerment in rural areas of Indonesia, supported by World Bank - http://www.worldbank.org/projects/P122810/pnpm-rural-iv?lang=en With regards, John

Hi Tony, This looks like a great project... it reminds me of a discussion we had about the relative dearth of ‘institutional memory’ in the Pacific a couple of months back… Nik Soni wrote that: "In aid we never allow spanner monkeys (who are usually grumpy old men and women soured from years in the field) any input." I wrote "While there may be some ‘soured and grumpy older men and women from the field’ their valuable experience in addressing development challenges is often hard to tap into." So here's to a conference of grumpy spanner monkeys from the Pacific! I for one would be keen to read/see what they have to say. ;o)

Thanks for your comments Jack. You are right about the ‘Big man’ politics in the Highlands. I was blown away by the amount of money poured in the campaigns.

Joel, I don't have an exact definition of Asia in mean, but I am particularly focused on Indonesia. I thought someone had to say something after the various calls to cut aid to Indonesia, not only from Hugh White, and the frequent, and almost flippant, dismisal of its value from several in the strategic community. As to what aid should be spent on, Ashlee's point, that is a much more difficult subject. In a way it is a strength of aid that there are so many good things it could be spent on, but it can also be a weakness as agencies end up doing "a little of a lot." Unfortunately, it seems very difficult to say in general that aid should be spent on x rather than y. Thanks to both for your comments. The second installment should appear on Monday I hope!

Hi Stephen, Very interesting and clear. Looking forward to reading posts 2 and 3. Will be interesting to read what types of aid are most appropriate for Asia. Can we also get a definitional clarification on what you and Hugh mean by "Asia." Given the size and population of the continent, might be worth clarifying how you are defining Asia for the purposes of this debate. If we are focusing on SE Asia (and you mention Indonesia directly) then that is different from focusing on Pakistan or Syria or Bangladesh for that matter. And Ashlee - like your point about assistance on social welfare structures or tax collection - rather than the traditional input focus on bednets or schoolbooks.

A good account of the PNG type of politics especially in the highlands of PNG.This to a lesser extent happens in the coastal areas of the country. In trying to understand PNG (highlands) politics, one has to have a better understanding of the culture of the people. PNG society is predominantly a communal society where everybody takes part and share the wealth (pigs, taro etc...). So the national election campaign is liken to the hosting of a village feast where the 'big man' shares his wealth amongst his people.

Interesting post Stephen. I think your example of Australian aid assisting Indonesia to increase its tax revenue is a good one — there's plenty of scope for aid to Indonesia to try to address some of the growing inequality that is emerging in the country as its economy (and middle class) continues to expand. For example, assisting in the development of social welfare structures or healthcare safety nets for the poor, financed by the tax system and the country's growing tax base, could have a big impact on the most marginalised. I think these kinds of innovations are often overlooked in debates on aid, with the focus instead falling on more direct forms of assistance (schools, medical, disaster relief, etc). The technical assistance provided to governments by Australian aid can significantly improve the lives of people living in poverty when it is delivered effectively. Aid is also about transferring knowledge and expertise, not just cash.

John, I haven't had a chance to read through the full report in detail as I intend to but before this post moves off the radar I wanted to pose a question to you. In scanning through your summary of other's views of failed states it seems to me that the role of the community in contributing to strengthening failing states or rebuilding failed states is ignored. If we are to see the strength of the state as being dependent upon a functional social contract between the governed and those that govern then surely our contribution should equally be focused upon building the capacity of the governed to, for example, hold those in government to account, to develop lobbying capacity etc. This is more than a glib call for civil society which usually gets included in every report and some chump change allocated to NGOs, its a question as to fundamentally what are we doing in stabilization efforts? Do we build a state as an end in of itself regardless of its functionality or is the state apparatus only as good as the community understands how to utilize it for its purposes? As I noted in an earlier post on this blog there are too few community strengthening projects around, the CAP in Iraq and NSP in Afghanistan being the only two worth mentioning. That their approaches don't appear as headers in any of the strategies of the groups you summarized is I would suggest a reason for our continuing failures in preventing state failure or in state building efforts. Again, apologies if this is covered in detail in your report as I haven't had the chance to go through it all.