Monthly Highlights from ECDPM's Weekly Compass Update, GREAT Insights, Volume 2, Issue 4 (May-June 2013)
Lessons learnt and recommendations in mediation and dialogue, Weekly Compass, No 147, 17 May 2013
The European Union has a long history and rich experience as an actor in mediation and dialogue from its recent high-level work regarding Kosovo-Serbia to supporting grassroots work in the Philippines. In two reports for the European External Action Service, ECDPM addresses lessons in EU mediation and dialogue and reviews the one-year pilot project by the EEAS Conflict Prevention, Peacebuilding and Mediation Instruments Division, to follow up on the Concept on Strengthening EU Mediation and Dialogue Capacities. The reports address the EU experience of a ‘glass half full’ and outline recommendations to take the work of EEAS Mediation further by making the most of partnerships and moving from ad hoc approaches to international best practice.
The dilemmas of Policy Coherence for Development, Weekly Compass, No 146, 26 April 2013
It has long been recognised that developing countries are affected by a mixture of aid, development policies and non-development policies. The promise to “development proof” these non-development areas by promoting Policy Coherence for Development (PCD), remains undiminished. Yet, a new ECDPM Discussion Paper comparing 6 EU Member States' PCD systems makes for sobering reading. The paper, originally commissioned by the Danish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, notes that political leadership is often lacking and that too little investment is made to bring PCD into the day-to-day business of government – particularly where it concerns research on the impact of other donor policies on developing countries.
How can developing countries deliver better services?, Weekly Compass, No 145, 19 April 2013
Many developing countries are failing to provide adequate delivery of services in areas such as health, transport and sanitation. ODI believes the problem is that practitioners do not have clear guidelines on how to improve in these areas. Their new report on “the politics of delivery” suggests there is too much focus on ‘macropolicy’ rather than ‘downstream’ delivery issues. Sectoral aid and programmes don’t address the incentives faced by frontline service providers who have control over the provision of goods and services, says ODI. The way forward is to create a toolbox using diagnostic tools, conceptual frameworks and empirical research.
EU support to private sector in developing countries could be improved, Weekly Compass, No. 144, 12 April 2013
Over the period 2004-2010, the European Commission contracted, on behalf of the EU, €2.4bn of support to private sector development (PSD) in developing countries. The EU has developed a set of instruments for its PSD support that allow it to address comprehensively the range of PSD needs in different regions. There were however some weaknesses in terms of complementarities and synergies between different mechanisms and little coordination between bilateral programmes and regional programmes and investment facilities according to an evaluation published by the European Commission’s Development Directorate this week.
This article was published in Great Insights Volume 2, Issue 4 (May-June 2013)
