Memorandum submitted by World Vision
INTRODUCTION
Who is World Vision?
World Vision is one of the world's leading development
and humanitarian assistance agencies, working in nearly 90 countries,
last year helping 85 people million in their struggle against
poverty, hunger and injustice.
What does World Vision do?
World Vision's work is based on both a long
term commitment to help poorer communities through development
programmes and the provision of relief in the immediate aftermath
of disasters.
World Vision's long term programmes are community-based,
sustainable and aimed at delivering transformational development
through improving health care, agricultural production, water
projects, education and micro-enterprise development. One of the
main roles that World Vision play is helping to strengthen civil
society within communities through making them a stakeholder in
their own development.
World Vision also responds to specific crises
such as the famines in Ethiopia and North Korea, floods in Mozambique,
hurricanes in Central America, earthquakes in India and El Salvador
and war refugees in Kosovo, Chechyna, Sierra Leone, Angola and
East Timor. We are currently working to provide humanitarian aid
in the recent food crisis in Southern Africa.
EVIDENCE TO
THE SELECT
COMMITTEE
World Vision's evidence is detailed around two
main issues relating to the 2003 report:
— Use of Direct Budget Support
— DFID policy on Poverty Reduction
Strategies
DIRECT BUDGETARY
SUPPORT
(i) World Vision commends Direct Budgetary
Support for moving away from donor conditionality. However World
Vision is concerned that the expected outcomes relate only to
government systems and the way governments work with donors. Civil
society organisations are not included in the planning or implementation
within the "multi-stakeholder club" that has been set
up to implement the poverty reduction strategies. This causes
gaps within the policy dialogue and the implementation of strategies.
(ii) Direct Budget Support can fail to address
the critical issue of resource allocation based on wrong sectoral
priorities. This policy can lead to contractual arrangements,
which are formed in order to support political aims rather than
genuine participatory poverty assessment priorities. The result
of this can be a shift of resources away from the most vulnerable
even when they are referred to in the Poverty Reduction Strategy
Paper (PRSP). Some governments allocate more funding to both Defence
and the Office of the President than to Education and Health departments.
(iii) NGOs in many countries are tasked
with the role of providing essential services and goods for the
vulnerable populations due to the lack of capacity of governments
to address all critical social development issues. DFID's strategy
for addressing this issue has traditionally been through the support
of civil society and NGOs. However, now that DFID is moving towards
country assistance plans based on the Poverty Reduction Strategies
(PRS) of governments, the role of civil society organisations
has become less clear.
An example of this is DFID's country assistant
plan for Ethiopia, DFID is committed to providing Direct Budget
Support yet has little conception of the role of civil society
in bolstering the Ethiopian government's capacity to deliver its
PRS. DFID have also not outlined how they expect civil society
to monitor the use of DBS towards PRS. For example: "work
is underway to clarify the mechanisms for institutionalising participation
by NGOs, civil society and the private sector, which were not
set out in detail in the SDPRP." (p9 DFID's Ethiopia CAP
Section 34) "The Government (Ethiopian) will need to clarify
how to address the substantial capacity building needs for monitoring
and evaluation, especially at Woreda level, how civil society
will participate in monitoring and evaluation, and how donors
can support these processes." (p9 section 38). In this instance
neglecting to fully address the correct sequencing or providing
its support to both the Government and civil society in Ethiopia
can undermine the role of civil society in the process.
POVERTY REDUCTION
STRATEGIES
In DFID's annual report, the Department encourages
national governments to arrive at national poverty reduction priorities
together with their citizens, including civil society and business
stakeholders through an inclusive consultation process. However,
this approach does not accurately reflect the situation in most
countries of the developing world, where partner governments often
do not have the mechanism nor the political will to adopt a more
inclusive involvement of civil society or wider stakeholders in
the process. Consequently, this framework for poverty reduction,
although internationally agreed by donors, underplays the important
role of civil society. This results in the exclusion of the voices
of the poor that these organisations represent in the process.
POLITICISATION
Moreover, where consultation does occur, it
is our experience that due to the politicisation of this process
civil society organisations are invited to the consultation at
the discretion of the Government. Civil society organisations
strive to create good relationships with government officials
but this can also put organisations in the position damaging their
independent accountability. World Vision Uganda for instance has
observed that this process is unjust. "Consequently, the
invited Civil Society Organisations see this as a privilege and
tend to play `politics of presence' as opposed to `politics of
influence'." (Simpson, Programme Manager, World Vision, Uganda).
This is further observed in the results of the
research that Community Development Resource Network did in collaboration
with Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex
in Uganda on poverty knowledge and policy process. The report
shows a number of gaps in both the development and implementation
of PRSP. The Ugandan Government involved a number of civil society
organisations. However participation in the consultation process
was through invitation only. It was found that through this process
those agencies that have been involved have played a passive role
rather than an active role in policy implementation and accountability.
(Poverty Knowledge and Policy Processes,
a case study of Ugandan national poverty reduction policy. Karen
Brock, Rosemary McGee and Richard Ssewakiryanga, August 2002.
pvii)
RECOMMENDATIONS
Civil society organisations should be instrumental
in the policy dialogue and implementation of poverty reduction
strategies and methods.
NGOs provide a comparative advantage of grassroots
work with the poor and understanding of their issues and the ability
to bring their voices into the policy dialogue.
Civil society have an important role in evaluating
projects on the ground and fulfilling the role of government watchdogs
to ensure money is being spent in the most effective way to reduce
poverty and provide a sustainable future.
Civil society organisations partner with governments
to ensure that effective development is delivered.
The role of civil society should not be underestimated
or ignored within this process of defining PRSs and their implementation.
Therefore capacity building within civil society organisations
is vital to achieve sustainable and effective development.
Following the consultation it is essential that
the civil society be engaged in implementation, monitoring and
evaluation of the poverty reduction strategy. This requires acknowledging
the place of civil society in development and allowing civil society
access to funds.
DFID need to evaluate the process and facilitation
of non-state actors involvement, and develop a transparent mechanism
with government and civil society to address the issues of transparency
and PRS. PRSPs attempted to do this but they were static mechanisms
and what is needed is a dynamic forum.
10 June 2003
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