Synopses & Reviews
Rapid and profound changes are taking place in international development. The past two decades have promoted the ideals of participation and partnership, yet key decisions affecting people's lives continue to be made without sufficient attention to the socio-political realities of the countries in which they live. Embedded working traditions, vested interests and institutional inertia mean that old habits and cultures persist among the development community. Planning continues as though it were free of unpredictable interactions among stakeholders. This book is about the need to recognise the complex, non-linear nature of development assistance and how bureaucratic procedures and power relations hinder poverty reduction in the new aid environment. The book begins with a conceptual and historical analysis of aid, exposing the challenges and opportunities facing aid professionals today. It argues for greater attention to accountability and the adoption of rights based approaches. In section two, practitioners, policy makers and researchers discuss the realities of power and relationships from their experiences across sixteen countries. Their accounts, from government, donors and civil society, expose the highly politicised and dynamic aid environment in which they work. Section three explores ways forward for aid agencies, challenging existing political, institutional and personal ways of working. Authors describe procedural innovations as strategic ways to leverage change. Breaking the barriers to ensure more inclusive aid will require visionary leadership and a courageous commitment to change. Crucially, the authors show how translating rhetoric into practice relies on changing the attitudes and behaviours of individual actors. Only then is the ambitious agenda of the Millennium Development Goals likely to be met. The result is an indispensable contribution to the understanding of how development assistance and poverty reduction can be most effectively delivered by the professionals and agencies involved.
Synopsis
* Argues that, to be successful, development must be understood and approached as a complex system* Presents case studies that demonstrate the power that all actors have to make a difference* Essential reading for all aid and development practitioners, scholars, policymakers, and donorsRapid and profound changes are taking place in international development. The past two decades have seen a rise in the ideals of participation and partnership and attempts to enable the voices of the poor to be heard. Yet embedded traditions, vested interests, and bureaucratic inertia mean that old behaviors persist and planning continues as though free of chaotic interactions among stakeholders. Inclusive Aid exposes the need to recognize the complex, nonlinear nature of development assistance and how bureaucratic procedures and power relations hinder poverty reduction in the new aid environment. A host of academics, policymakers, and practitioners, expose the challenges and opportunities facing the aid community today and argue for greater attention to issues of accountability and the adoption of rights-based approaches. They reveal the highly politicized and dynamic aid environment in which they work, and challenge existing political, institutional, and personal ways of working. Crucially, the book shows how translating rhetoric into practice relies on changing the attitudes and behaviors of individual actors.