Addressing the underlying causes of inequality and exclusion requires donors to engage with political processes. Alliances involving state and society must be strengthened and donors must play an active role in them. This report from the Department of International Development (DFID) reviews the application of rights-based approaches through the concept of active citizenship in a middle-income country context, drawing on the Peruvian experience. For the first time it tackles questions of legitimacy, potential and accountability of donor engagement from a donor’s perspective.
The success of rights-based approaches depends on a combination of factors such as an enabling context and a willingness on the donor’s side to take opportunities for action as they emerge. Also, supporting state and society, both separately as well as in a co-ordinated manner, requires acknowledging the political nature of development. Questions regarding the legitimacy, potential and accountability of donor engagement are raised. Although there are no easy answers, DFID’s experience in Peru suggests that this approach can be a driving force for social change. It successfully combines the strengthening of participatory democracy at the local level and representative democracy at the national level. This is a risky position for a donor to take and one that very few are willing or able to adopt.
It is early to judge the overall impact of DFID’s strategy in Peru, but the experience so far suggests that there are various lessons to be learned from it:
- Staff expertise and a clear understanding of local political processes and of the conceptual debate surrounding donor involvement in them, can enable the development of a sound country strategy.
- Reflective learning linking the rights and citizenship theory with a comprehensive strategy oriented to strengthening state-society relations can promote deep changes with limited resources.
- Active involvement with all stakeholders can make formal democratic institutions more politically inclusive and committed to tackling poverty.
- Reform, in particular changes in political culture, take time. Local and national level actors need to be involved.
- Political parties are key actors that must become more responsive to wider society. Political will and citizen involvement are essential to facilitate change in this sphere.
Although DFID has withdrawn from Peru the lessons learned there remain relevant for donors working in this specific context or in other middle-income countries. Key policy implications are that donors need to:
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Co-ordinate efforts behind a common agenda developed jointly with the local state, addressing issues of citizenship, rights and accountability.
- Recruit high quality national staff and adopt a historical view on development to improve understanding of local issues and the adequateness of their policies.
- Work systematically and openly with both state and society, and on relations between the two, to allow for a richer approach to development.
- Support and participate in alliances to bring about pro-poor change as part of a strategy with political underpinnings. This in turn requires donors to become accountable both to the local state and society.
