A Strategic Approach to Sustainable Development throughOfficial Development Assistance

Antonios Balaskas, Eduardo Lima, Tyler SeedMay 2009

A B T SE L

STABLE

IntroMethodsResultsDiscussionConclusion

OUTLINE

INTRO

• Over 50 years wealthy countries have donated financial resources to recipients for the purpose of development and poverty reduction.

• Amount of resources: 100 billion dollars per year.

Global sustainability challenges• Climate crisis leading to migration movements• Conflicts motivated by natural resources depletion• Diminished ecosystem services• Rising of commodities prices, etc.

Official Development Assistance

History of Official Development Assistance (ODA)

Official Bilateral Donors

Private Donors

Other Donor

Countries

Regular contributions

Specificfunds

• Technical cooperation

• Emergency

• Projects and Programs

Multi-purposeInternational Organizations

Sector or thematic

International Organizations

Recipient Countries

Adapted from The World Bank 2008, 14-15

MultilateralChannel

Bilateral Channel(through agency

or similar) Implementation

Development Assistance

Types

• Debt Relief

Development Assistance Architecture

Official Bilateral Donors

• Technical cooperation

• Projects and Programs Recipient

Countries

Bilateral Channel(through agency

or similar)Development

AssistanceTypes

Scope of the Research

• Need for recipient country ownership.• Aid fragmentation.• Aid conditionality and its sometimes undermining

effect on normal democratic processes.• Aid dependence.• Gap between donor commitments and expenditure

(predictability).

ODA Effectiveness Challenges

• Millennium Development Goals a set of 8 goals related primarily to poverty reduction

• Paris Declaration focused on improving the quality/effectiveness of cooperation and coordination between donors and recipients– Ownership– Alignment– Harmonization– Managing for results– Mutual accountability

MDGs and Paris Declarationrepresent efforts to address the challenges.

“It is increasingly understood that global poverty, economic

development, social aspects and environmental concerns need to be seen in a broader and holistic

perspective.”

(Progress on EU Sustainable Development StrategyFinal Report, 2008)

In what ways can application of the SSD approach support bilateral donor country agencies in orienting official development assistance to best foster sustainable development in recipient countries?

Research Question

• Secondary questions:1. How would a donor agency work to foster and stimulate

strategic development towards sustainability in recipient countries?

2. How do donor agencies currently plan and make decisions related to sustainable development in recipient countries?

3. What are the gaps between the hypothetical model and current ODA donor agency approaches to sustainable development?

METHODS

PreliminaryAnswers to

Primary Research Question

• 30 experts (professors, high-level staff from agencies and multilateral organizations, recipient countries representatives, NGOs workers, consultants and researchers).

• What we sent:o Intro to SSD: FSSD, backcasting, four SPs;o Initial FSSDA model: how FSSD would be used in the ODA;o Detailed questions (based on initial answers for the research questions –

based on the literature review and analysis of the agencies).• Feedback was organized.

Preliminary FSSDA

Expert Feedback

Revision of the

FSSDA

Agencies´ info into

5LF

Assessment of Agencies

against FSSDA

Literature Review

Formulation of Final

Answers to the Primary Research Question

Addressing Secondary Research Question 1

Addressing Secondary Research Questions

2 and 3

• International agreements related to ODA;• Agencies´ materials;• Reports and evaluations by multilateral organizations;• Peer-reviewed articles;• Inputs from independent research centres and universities;• Refamiliarization with published SSD literature.

• Explains how the FSSD could be used by ODA agencies.• A result of the authors' initial research and understandings of the ODA system and SSD.

• FSSDA: to support ODA agencies in using aid to foster strategic development towards sustainability.

• USAID, CIDA, EC-DGD, SIDA, DFID, NORAD, BMZ and Dutch MFA;• Policies, strategies, goals and practices were reviewed and organized into a

generic 5LF.

• The organized policies, strategies and goals were evaluated against the model provided by the FSSDA

How would a donor agency work to foster and stimulate strategic development towards sustainability in recipient countries?

2. How do donor agencies currently plan and make decisions related to sustainable development in recipient countries?

3. What are the gaps between the hypothetical model and current ODA donor agency approaches to sustainable development?

In what ways can application of the SSD approach support bilateral donor country agencies in orienting official development assistance to best foster sustainable development in recipient countries?

RESULTS

Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development

Assistance (FSSDA)

Answering secondary question #1:How would a donor agency work to foster

and stimulate strategic development towards sustainability in recipient

countries?

System Level:• Society within the biosphere, including the

ecological and social laws/rules/norms.• The key structures, institutions, relationships and

tools relevant to the ODA System.• The key structures, institutions, cultural aspects and

capacity of the governance system in recipient country as well as the needs, beliefs and attitudes of the people within that country.

• Perceived root causes of the poverty at the individual, societal, international and global levels.

FSSDA

Success Level:Sustainability Principles

+ Principles for an Attractive Society

=Vision (an attractive and sustainable society)

• Society within the biosphere, existing in compliance with the conditions for socio-ecological sustainability.

• Positive Principles for an Attractive Society: the definition of principles affirmatively defining an attractive future society should be a product of dialogue between donors and recipients (involving all possible stakeholders).

FSSDA

Strategic Guidelines Level:• Guidelines for Strategic Planning

– Backcasting (ABCD/Prioritization Considerations).– Political consensus: e.g. relevant international agreements

(MDGs, Paris Declaration, etc.).– Inclusion and cooperation of all parties and stakeholders, etc.

• Guidelines for Behaviour: donor agencies possess behavioral guidelines for working with recipients– Ensuring participation;– Maintaining transparency and honesty;– Guaranteeing responsibility and accountability;– Communicating effectively through dialoguing;– Building capacity and developing leadership: strengthening the

social fabric.

FSSDA

Actions Level:• General mechanisms of execution: budget support,

NGO cooperation, Civil Society cooperation, implementation, grants, technical assistance, inter-agency cooperation, etc.

• Sectors of implementation: Rural development, territorial planning, agriculture and food security; Energy security; Trade and regional integration; Infrastructure, communications and transport; Democracy, good governance, human rights, rights of children and indigenous peoples, gender equality; Political consensus building; etc.

FSSDA

Tools Level:Support the actions (level 4) and strategy (level 3) to achieve success (level 2) in the system (level 1).• International agreements that apply to ODA effectiveness and

strategy;• Country strategy papers (like National Sustainable Development

Strategies, Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers);• Evaluation methodologies,;• Indicators and statistics;• Etc…

FSSDA

ODA Agencies AssessmentAnswering secondary questions:

#2: How do donor agencies currently plan and make decisions related to sustainable

development in recipient countries?#3: What are the gaps between the

hypothetical model (FSSDA) and current ODA donor agency approaches to

sustainable development?

• Five Level Framework to organize information.• FSSDA to analyze operation and organization.• Agencies analyzed:

– US: USAID,– Canada: CIDA, – European Union: ECDGD, – Sweden: SIDA, – UK: DFID, – Norway: NORAD, – German: BMZ,– Netherlands: Dutch MFA.

ODA Agencies Assessment

System Level:Agencies differ widely in the expression and scope of their system understandings. But can be understood to exist along a spectrum of comprehensiveness.• Generally lack recognition of society's place within the

biosphere, or principles, rules and laws governing the biosphere.• Specific social forces or trends like globalization, lack of

democracy, are identified as the causes of poverty, inequalities, or environmental unsustainability (does not reflect a holistic perspective).

• Several of the examined agencies exhibit a growing awareness of the importance of interdependence, either between society and biosphere, or between different sections of global society.

ODA Agencies Assessment

Success Level:More often than a vision of success, agencies identify directions in which progress should be made.• No agency identified the ultimate target of development as

the creation of sustainable societies.• For the most part agencies are oriented towards lessening

poverty and hunger, and promoting economic growth (MDGs).

• Those few agencies that recognize the need to live within environmental limits do not identify those limits concretely.

• Some specifically mention the importance of promoting donor country values.

ODA Agencies Assessment

Strategic Guidelines Level:• Planning strategies vary widely but none currently bear strong

resemblance to a backcasting methodology of the kind recommended by the FSSDA.

• Common to several agency behavioural guidelines are: the importance of maintaining transparency, effective participation, knowledge sharing, supporting local drivers and capacity.

• Efforts to balance economic, social and environmental considerations in development.

• Possess a very wide range of prioritization support.• Recognizes downstream problems rather than framing

upstream causes of socioecological unsustainability.

ODA Agencies Assessment

ODA Agencies AssessmentActions Level:• General mechanisms of execution: budget support,

NGO cooperation, Civil Society cooperation, implementation, grants, technical assistance, inter-agency cooperation, etc.

• Sectors of implementation: Rural development, territorial planning, agriculture and food security; Energy security; Trade and regional integration; Infrastructure, communications and transport; Democracy, good governance, human rights, rights of children and indigenous peoples, gender equality; Political consensus building; etc.

ODA Agencies Assessment

Tools Level:• International agreements that apply to ODA effectiveness and

strategy;• Country strategy papers (like National Sustainable Development

Strategies, Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers);• Evaluation methodologies,;• Indicators and statistics;• Etc…

• Pursuing socio-environmental sustainability as solid base from which to build lasting and sustainable economies and societies.

• Allowing for a great deal of flexibility and creativity in recipient-led development tailored to the needs and wishes of recipients themselves.

• Approaching environmental unsustainability and barriers to people being able to meet their needs as root causes of poverty.

In what ways can application of the SSD approach support bilateral donor country agencies in orienting official development assistance to best foster sustainable development in recipient countries?

Answering the main research question

• Providing decision-making support in pursuing poverty reduction from a holistic systems level perspective.

• Providing an integrated approach to tackling global sustainability threats such as climate change while minimizing other unforeseen negative sustainability impacts.

• Balancing economic and social considerations while maintaining progress towards a sustainable society.

• Providing a fairer basis for aid conditionality grounded in four sustainability principles.

• Placing sustainability as the fundamental goal of development provides context for various proximate development goals (such as the Millennium Development Goals) and the FSSD's decision-making support allows them to be aligned with each other towards success.

DISCUSSION

Barriers and challenges:• ODA agencies are governmental departments subject

to the foreign policies of donor country.• Lack of administrative and technical capacity in

recipient countries.• Internal or external political, economic, social and

environmental threats including corruption, ethnic tensions, resource scarcity, etc.

• Sustainability initiatives are often seen as limiting to economic growth.

• Suspicion based on past donor behavior.

Factors affecting the likelihood of future adoption of an SSD approach in ODA agencies

Opportunities:• Donors officially recognize the need for improved aid based on a

holistic perspective.• Sustainability is already being addressed in the agencies´ agenda.• Experts recognize the value of an FSSD type of model to apply to

ODA.• SSD is simultaneously flexible and concrete enough to promote

recipient ownership and ease donor/recipient alignment.• Sustainability principles can be taught as a basis for dialogue

concerning the ultimate aims of development in a given country• Scientific law is a more neutral, universal and demonstrable

foundation for bilateral negotiation than political, economic, and social theory.

Factors affecting the likelihood of future adoption of an SSD Approach in ODA agencies

What donors can do?• Maintain transparency.• Assist recipients in understanding sustainability as

the only firm basis for development.• Demonstrate willingness to lead by example.

Factors affecting the likelihood of future adoption of an SSD Approach in ODA agencies

CONCLUSION

• ODA represents an enormous potential force for positive change and progress towards sustainability.

• SSD approach such as is outlined in the FSSDA could realize the potential of ODA, and improve the efficacy of development assistance.

• The FSSDA can facilitate development assistance planning towards sustainability.

• Conditions are in place for acceptance of the new paradigms necessary to building the resilience our global society will need as it faces the challenges to come.

Thank you!

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon: “Dangerous social and political fuses have been lit. Facing crisis on many fronts, the world is coming to grasp the need for a transition -- to sustainable development, to new levels of cooperation...” (Ki-moon 2009)

The end!

Discussion: Feedback from experts

• Mix of positive and negative answers.• General impressions:

– Holistic approach is strong– Model should be more flexible– SP 4 is considered “problematic”– Could create a common ground for donors and

recipients– Concerns to the practical implementation might

be difficult– Backcasting was seen as a useful planning method

• Based on useful critiques, we reviewed our model.

Several possibilities of the FSSD/SSD application to a new field - Official Development Assistance:

• National Sustainable Development Strategies;• PRSP (Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers);• Poverty reduction assessment – exploring the links

between poverty and sustainability;• The Millennium Development Goals;• Private donors organizations.• Implementation of the FSSDA by a donor agency

Further research

Discussion

• Limitations:– No case studies– Time constraints– The difficulty in explaining the SSD in 5 pages

• How we dealt with this:– Feedback with a large number of experts– Several agencies were analyzed