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INTRAC’s Experience of Working with International NGOs on Aid Withdrawal and Exit Strategies from 2011 to 2016

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Abstract

In recent years, the international development sector has been affected by major new dynamics in the global political economy, with significant shifts in the aid policies of many donor agencies and changes in funding patterns for recipient countries. This article offers insights into what researchers at INTRAC—a not-for-profit organisation which provides capacity building support to different types of civil society organisation around the world—have learned about the interests, priorities and strategies of international NGOs (INGOs) in relation to aid withdrawal and exit processes based on its experiences of promoting debate and supporting organisations over several years. We identify gaps in the evidence base, including the experience of partners, and changes needed in the policy and practice of INGOs to ensure that responsible exit planning becomes the norm rather than an exception.

Résumé

Le secteur du développement international est depuis quelques années influencé par les nouvelles dynamiques de l’économie politique mondiale, entraînant d’importantes modifications des politiques d’aide de plusieurs organismes donateurs et des modèles de financement des pays bénéficiaires. Le présent article donne un aperçu de ce que les chercheurs d’INTRAC — un organisme sans but lucratif offrant du soutien en matière de développement des capacités à divers types d’organismes de société civile dans le monde — ont appris à propos des intérêts, priorités et stratégies des ONG internationales (ONGI) relativement aux processus de retrait d’aide et de sortie, le tout appuyé sur son expérience en tant que militant de nombreux organismes au fil des ans. Nous identifions des manques à gagner dans les données de base, dont l’expérience des partenaires et les changements requis en matière de politiques et de pratiques des ONGI pour assurer que la planification responsable des retraits devienne une norme plutôt qu’une exception.

Zusammenfassung

In den letzten Jahren war der internationale Entwicklungssektor von großen neuen Kräften in der globalen politischen Wirtschaft betroffen, wobei bedeutende Veränderungen in der Hilfspolitik zahlreicher Geberinstitutionen und Änderungen in den Finanzierungsmustern für Empfängerländer zu sehen sind. Dieser Beitrag gibt einen Einblick darüber, was die Forscher bei INTRAC — einer gemeinnützigen Organisation, die verschiedenen Arten von Bürgergesellschaftsorganisationen in der ganzen Welt Unterstützung bei der Kapazitätsentwicklung anbietet — in ihren langjährigen Erfahrungen in der Dialogförderung und der Unterstützung von Organisationen über die Interessen, Prioritäten und Strategien internationaler NROs bezüglich der Einstellung von Hilfeleistungen und der Exit-Prozesse gelernt haben. Wir identifizieren Lücken in der Evidenzgrundlage, einschließlich der Erfahrung der Partner, sowie notwendige Änderungen in den Richtlinien und Praktiken der internationalen NROs, die sicherstellen, dass eine verantwortliche Exit-Planung grundsätzlich und nicht nur in Ausnahmefällen stattfindet.

Resumen

En años recientes, el sector internacional de desarrollo se ha visto afectado por nuevas dinámicas importantes en la economía política mundial, con cambios significativos en las políticas de ayuda de muchas agencias donantes y cambios en los patrones de financiación para los países receptores. El presente artículo ofrece percepciones sobre lo que los investigadores de INTRAC – una organización sin ánimo de lucro que proporciona soporte para la creación de capacidad a diferentes tipos de organizaciones de la sociedad civil en todo el mundo – han aprendido sobre los intereses, prioridades y estrategias de las ONG internacionales (INGO, por sus siglas en inglés) en relación con la retirada de la ayuda y los procesos de salida basados en sus experiencias de promoción del debate y de apoyo a las organizaciones a lo largo de varios años. Identificamos brechas en la base empírica, incluida la experiencia de los socios, y los cambios necesarios en la política y la práctica de las INGO para garantizar que una planificación de salida responsable se convierta en la norma en lugar de en una excepción.

Chinese

近些年来,国际发展领域受到了全球政治经济新动态的影响,且许多捐助机构的援助政策发生了巨大的变化,接受援助的国家的融资模式也在发生变化。本文详述了为全球各类民间社会组织提供能力建设支持的非营利组织INTRAC的研究人员基于多年来推动辩论和支持组织的经验,针对取消和退出援助机制,对国际非政府组织(INGO)利益、关切和战略的见解。我们识别证据基础的差异,其中包括,合作伙伴的经历以及国际非政府组织政策与实践所需的变化,旨在确保合格的退出计划成为一种规范,而非一种特例。

Arabic

في السنوات الأخيرة، تأثر قطاع التنمية الدولية بالديناميكيات الجديدة الرئيسية في الإقتصاد السياسي العالمي، مع حدوث تحولات كبيرة في سياسات المعونة في العديد من الوكالات المانحة والتغيرات في أنماط التمويل للبلدان المتلقية. تقدم هذه المقالة نظرة عميقة حول ما قام به الباحثون في (INTRAC) - منظمة غير هادفة للربح والتي تقدم الدعم لبناء القدرات لأنواع مختلفة من منظمات المجتمع المدني حول العالم - تعلمت عن مصالح المنظمات الغير حكومية (NGOs) الدولية(INGOs) ، أولوياتها وإستراتيجياتها فيما يتعلق للمساعدة في عمليات إنسحاب المساعدة والخروج إستنادا” إلى تجاربها في تشجيع النقاش ودعم المنظمات على مدى عدة سنوات. نحن نحدد الثغرات في قاعدة الأدلة، بما في ذلك خبرة الشركاء، والتغييرات المطلوبة في سياسة وممارسات المنظمات الغير حكومية الدولية (INGOs) لضمان أن يصبح التخطيط المسؤول للخروج هو القاعدة وليس الإستثناء.

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Change history

  • 10 May 2018

    The PDF version of this article was reformatted to a larger trim size.

Notes

  1. In 2011, INTRAC’s NGO Research Programme included the following organisations: Christian Aid, Cordaid, DanChurchAid, ICCO, Norwegian Church Aid and Save the Children Denmark.

  2. WWF-UK is an independent conservation organisation (see: http://www.wwf.org.uk/).

  3. Action Learning Sets (ALS) are a widely used method under Action Learning that help individuals to develop critical reflection. By jointly engaging in cycles of planning, acting, reflecting and learning, researchers and practitioners learn from their actions and experiences and implement changes to organisational and individual practices based on this learning (see Djamankulova et al. 2010).

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all the organisations and individuals whose experiences and reflections have contributed to and shaped INTRAC’s exploration of aid withdrawal to date. Thanks also to Christopher Pallas and Susan Appe for valuable comments on early versions of this article.

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Correspondence to Rachel Hayman.

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Hayman, R., Lewis, S. INTRAC’s Experience of Working with International NGOs on Aid Withdrawal and Exit Strategies from 2011 to 2016. Voluntas 29, 361–372 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-017-9901-x

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