Resources (download)
About the project
This two-year research programme (2006-07) was commissioned by the Advisory Board for Irish Aid. It was undertaken by a consortium including the Christian Michelsen Institute of Norway and the Economic and Social Research Foundation of Tanzania, with inputs from the German Development Institute, the Centre for Democratic Development of Ghana and researchers in Mozambique, Uganda and Malawi.
The research aimed to clarify the relations between governance and poverty reduction and within this context to explore the contributions and risks associated with new aid modalities (sector programmes and budget support). It paid special attention to Irish Aid programme countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The programme was a mixture of desk work to collect, synthesise and reflect upon existing knowledge, and targeted field research to investigate particular issues that remain contentious or obscure.
The programme’s findings were intended as inputs to the strategic thinking of the Advisory Board and the Government of Ireland during a period in which Irish development assistance is being rapidly scaled-up, posing questions about the absorptive capacity of partner countries and the effects on governance. The research results provide policy guidance on what works and what doesn’t in the field of donor support to better governance and public-sector capacity. They also suggest when, how and with what management and monitoring arrangements it may be advisable to scale-up programmes and move to new modalities.
Several of these concerns are shared by a wide range of international development organisations as well as by applied researchers, consultants and policy advisers. For this reason, the results of the programme are being published and disseminated widely, as journal articles, briefings and a printed synthesis report.
The programme’s interim outputs (Working Papers) are available for download as PDF files from this site along with associated Briefing Papers. The topics to be covered are:
1. Assessing international democracy assistance
2. Neopatrimonial politics and decentralisation
3. Corruption and anti-corruption efforts
4. Regional organisations and incentives to improve governance
5. Measuring governance
6. How different aid modalities affect incentives and accountability
7. Understanding the political economy of sector reform
8. What is new in the new thinking about conditionality
9. A synthesis report
Researchers
The researchers include: David Booth, Kent Buse, Diana Cammack, Julius Court, Verena Fritz, Zainab Kizilbash Aga, Andrew Lawson, Tam O’Neil, Alina Rocha Menocal and Tim Williamson (ODI); Lise Rakner and Ivar Kolstad (CMI); Haidari Amani, Yamungu Mahwago and George Kabelwa (ESRF); Sven Grimm (GDI); E. Gyimah-Boadi (CDD); Liv Bjornstad, Frederick Golooba-Mutebi, Edge Kanyongolo and Gerald Twijuke.
Resources
Final Synthesis Report: Good governance, aid modalities and poverty reduction: From better theory to better practice
(February 2008 )
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ODI Briefing Paper: Aid effectiveness after Accra: How to reform the 'Paris agenda'
David Booth (July 2008)
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Working Paper 1: Democratisation’s Third Wave and the Challenges of Democratic Deepening: Assessing International Democracy Assistance and Lessons Learned
Lise Rakner, Alina Rocha Menocal and Verena Fritz (2007)
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Download CMI Brief vol 6 no. 5
Working Paper 2: Neopatrimonial Politics, Decentralisation and Local Government: Uganda and Malawi in 2006
Diana Cammack, Fred Golooba-Mutebi, Fidelis Kanyongolo and Tam O’Neil (2007)
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Download Background Note PDF
Working Paper 3: Corruption, Anti-corruption Efforts and Aid: Do Donors Have the Right Approach?
Ivar Kolstad, Verena Fritz and Tam O’Neil
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Download CMI Brief vol 7 no. 1
Working Paper 4: Regional Organisations and Incentives to Improve Governance: The APRM Experience, with Particular Reference to Ghana.
Sven Grimm with E. Gyimah-Boadi
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Working Paper 5: Measuring Governance: What Guidance for Aid Policy?
Julius Court and Verena Fritz with E. Gyimah-Boadi ( 2007)
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Working Paper 6: Building Blocks or Stumbling Blocks? The Effectiveness of New Approaches to Aid Delivery at the Sector Level
Tim Williamson and Zainab Kizilbash Agha with Liv Bjornstad, Gerald Twijukye, Yamungu Mahwago and George Kabelwa
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Common funds for sector support: Building blocks or stumbling blocks?
An ODI Briefing Paper by Zainab Kizilbash Agha and Tim Williamson (February 2008)
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Working Paper 7: Donors and the Political Dimensions of Health Sector Reform: The Cases of Tanzania and Uganda
Kent Buse, David Booth with Grace Murindwa and Aziza Mwisongo
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Working Paper 8: What is New in the New Thinking about Conditionality: The Experience of General Budget Support in Ghana and Tanzania
Zainab Kizilbash Agha and Andrew Lawson
Forthcoming 2008
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