International assistance organisations are crucial to helping governments increase their capacity to perform essential functions during post-conflict recovery. This book, from the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), examines the challenges of restoring effective governance in crisis and post-conflict countries. Because the challenges facing these countries are complex and varied, governments and international organisations cannot rely on universally applicable approaches to restoring governance.
Since restoring governance often requires complex reforms that take time to implement, initial efforts should focus on strengthening capacity to address the most urgent needs. These include establishing safety and security, strengthening constitutional government, reconstructing infrastructure and restoring services, stabilising and promoting the growth of the economy, and strengthening justice and reconciliation organisations. In countries where governments suffer from long-term institutional deficiencies, donors may improve governance capacity by using parallel approaches or bypassing government altogether. In the long run, however, such approaches will not be sufficient to restore effective governance. Using parallel or partnership approaches does not obviate the need to strengthen government capacity.
The approaches that international assistance organisations use most frequently to restore governance and strengthen government for post-conflict reconstruction are:
- Substituting for weak or yet to be constituted governments – this is most frequently carried out by creating transitional governance authorities, international assistance coordination agencies or international aid trust funds;
- Assisting governments directly with financial and technical aid – donors can provide financial and technical support for specific ministries or projects, provide general budget support or staff and supplement government ministries;
- Supporting public-private partnerships – donors encourage private investment in government-sponsored projects, the creation of build-operate-transfer (BOT) arrangements and outsourcing of services to the private sector; and
- Assisting through non-governmental organisations – donors often attempt either to support social investment funds as social service wholesalers or strengthen civil society organisations as parallel suppliers of social services.
International assistance is only likely to be effective if donors assess the appropriateness and feasibility of alternative approaches in preparing aid plans and programmes. International assistance organisations can more effectively plan and implement programmes for restoring governance and rebuilding trust in government by:
- Taking account of specific conditions in post-conflict countries – this involves understanding the country’s stage of transition, the status of its government and the conditions of conflict resolution;
- Formulating approaches that meet country needs – assistance should reflect an understanding of strategic conditions and needs, recognition of potential obstacles to reform and assessment of an approach’s feasibility;
- Resolving potential dilemmas – donors must balance conflicting tendencies, such as quick results versus sustained commitment, control versus coordination, assistance versus dependence and building capacity versus imposing burdens; and
- Delivering appropriate assistance at the right time – this requires planning for a long-term transition, modifying and adapting approaches over time, and determining priorities and sequencing reform.
