How can we ensure that gender equality is central to development and poverty reduction? This paper, by the United Nations Fund for Women (UNIFEM), suggests that the new aid effectiveness agenda, set out in the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, can be harnessed to speed up implementation of gender equality commitments. It argues that gender equity concerns and women’s ...» more
Technical assistance
OECD DAC Development Co-operation Report 2005
The year 2005 was billed as the ‘year of development’, but how did it turn out? This OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) report for 2005 reviews achievements and failures and discusses key future challenges for aid effectiveness.Development issues received an exceptionally high profile in 2005 – a year punctuated by a catalogue of humanitarian crises, with summits of ...» more
Capacity Development and State Building: Issues, Evidence and Implications for DFID
What historical lessons in state building can be transferred from developed to developing countries? Can there be a general theory of capacity building that can provide a basis for policy guidance in development? This paper for the Department for International Development (UK) explores these questions, concluding that capacity development is difficult but not impossible to ...» more
Capacity Development Practice Note
What are the core capacity issues in a development context? How can external partners support countries’ efforts to build on these to achieve development goals? This Practice Note, written by the United National Development Programme (UNDP), addresses these issues, drawing on examples from a range of developing countries. It sets out key entry points for UNDP and other external ...» more
The Challenge of Capacity Development: Working Towards Good Practice
Despite being on the agenda for decades, evaluations show that sustainable capacity development remains one of the most challenging areas of international development practice. What lessons have been learned? How can good practice become common practice? This paper from the Development Assistance Committee synthesises the importance of capacity and the mixed record in achieving ...» more
Evaluation of the Technical Assistance Provided by the International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Technical Assistance (TA) aims to develop the productive resources of member countries by improving the effectiveness of economic policy and financial management. This involves strengthening capacity to formulate effective policy and assisting in the design of these policies. This report from the IMF's Independent Evaluation Office ...» more
Between Naivety and Cynicism: A Pragmatic Approach to Donor Support for Public Sector Capacity Development
How can capacity development and change in public sector organisations in poor countries be stimulated? What are the alternatives to traditional practices that have not delivered convincing, lasting results? This paper from Danida presents a results-oriented approach to capacity change (ROACH) to help developing country practitioners and donors to work with capacity development ...» more
Technical Assistance in Danish Bilateral Aid: A Policy paper
Major restructuring of Danish aid was carried out in 2003, decentralising responsibility for aid programming, execution and reporting to country offices. As part of a move towards aligning aid more directly behind the development aspirations of partner countries, this policy paper sets out Danida's strategy on the provision of Technical Assistance (TA). It emphasises ...» more
A Vision for the Future of Technical Assistance in the International Development System
What is the future of Technical Assistance (TA) in the International Development system? What are the advantages and characteristics of a procurement perspective? What are the obstacles to its implementation? This report, produced by Oxford Policy Management, presents a vision of the future of TA that is focused on moving away from regarding TA as an instrument of donor policy, ...» more
Developing Capacity through Technical Cooperation
Financial aid was originally intended to close resource gaps, whilst technical cooperation (TC) was intended to compensate for skills. However the real target of TC is broader: the development of the capacity to manage. This book by the United Nations Development Programme outlines trends and issues in capacity development, and the role that TC has played in achieving it in six ...» more
Legal and Judicial Reform in German Development Cooperation
What are the German government’s priority areas for development activities in legal and judicial reform? This paper identifies two key criteria and intervention categories: the rule of law and legal certainty. It describes methods of assistance and different regional programmes, and outlines future priorities, including translating legal principles into legal practice and ...» more
The Pooling of Technical Assistance: An Overview Based on Field Experience in Six African Countries
The move to pooling is part of a broader process of change in development cooperation towards more country ownership and control. Under what circumstances is pooling Technical Assistance likely to be effective? This report from the European Centre of Development Policy Management reviews the pooling of technical assistance (TA) in the context of sector-wide approaches (SWAps). ...» more
