So Near and Yet So Far in Ethiopia: Values and Mental ModelsAlong the Aid Chain

Paper for presentation at the DSA Conference, London, 5th November 2010Panel: Poverty Reduction as Development Morality - Theory & Practice

Virginia Williamson

Perception and Practice: Participation, Evaluation andAid Harmonisation in Ethiopia

Perception and practice: among donor staff, regional and local government staff, and local populations (gathered via semi-structured interviews and by textual analysis of donor documents)

what cultural and institutional factors affect participation in evaluation?

what role does participation in M&E play in donors’ development strategies/performance management/organisational learning?

Doctoral research:

What accounts for the variation in forms of participation in evaluation of donor-funded aid programmes?

Shared Mental Models framework

decision-making is governed by uncertainty rather than risk mental models are formed from culture and belief systems (religion and/or ideology) sustained sharing of information permits mutual understanding and thus learning shifts in MM are aided by the plasticity of language significant shifts only occur when A adopts B’s mental model because it explains a

crisis which A’s MM has failed to do.

Underlying approach: Long’s ‘social actor’

Analytical model:Denzau, A. T. and North, D. C. (1994). Shared Mental Models: Ideologies and Institutions. Kyklos. 47 (1), 3-31.

Mental model A(recipient)

Mental model B(donor)

Ethiopia - context (1)

Historical and political context: Foundation myth - Sheba, Solomon, Menelik

(Kebre Negast C14th) Religious syncretism (tho’ 16th Islamic incursion) Meles Zenawi, EPRDF, Revolutionary Democracy 2005 and 2010 elections.

Northern highland regions Well-being and Ill-being in Development, Ethiopia (WIDE, 2003) Trust, individualism v. the collective Tight self-regulation in labour-sharing, burial, self-help, rotating credit or religion-based associations Government has re-categorised mass organisations as CSOs ‘Weak’ civil society

Associational life and ‘civil society’:

Harmonisation in Ethiopia - dialogue architecture (2003-2005)

Participation and evaluation - government-community sphere

Participation

21/22 days ‘contribution’ of labour per year Development activities announced in church compound on Sundays, evaluated on saints days Activities specified by Bureau of Agriculture/DAs, organised and monitored by development group

leaders and then cell leaders; sanctions imposed for non-participation Contribution of ‘ideas’ in meetings Persuasion used to rally consensus; displays of oratory; judicious silence sometimes admired Majority voting increasingly used, but minority “left alone”

Evaluation Cell leaders collect (i) data - agriculture, household assets, (ii) taxes Weekly/fortnightly/monthly evaluation through public self-criticism, thro’ tiers of

government Contrition keeps the subject of criticism within the group

Woreda (district)

Kebele/tabia (large village)

Got/kushet (hamlet)

Development group

Cell

Participation and evaluation - donor perception and practice

ParticipationRange of opinion: Discussion of participation proved difficult, particularly for national staff Conceptions ranged from ‘use of civil society organisations in planning and monitoring PRSP’ to individual empowerment to “We don’t really know

what goes on, but we hope things are improving” Long-term engagement provides greater institutional knowledge but frequent rotations reduced effectiveness; internationals rely on national staff

for institutional memoryPolitical v. Technical: Development is now ‘political’, so role and status of technical experts is reduced More time talking to other donors than to government; need to ‘influence’ and promote agency’s expertise - political skills which had to be learnt Increased reliance on ‘Washington’ for data, and ‘Paris’ for strategy

Evaluation Amount of technical reporting reduced at HQ’s request; more emphasis on political reporting Concern about the logic of PIs and their progress would be ‘mechanistic’; donors should facilitate not interfere, but also

experienced difficulty gaining access. Opinion ranged from dependability of government data to need to collect information from other sources as a ‘reality check’ Donor evaluations rarely undertaken ? obviated by NAA.

Values, profession and identity

Local leader(multiple core identity, shared with others despite contestations)

Metropolitan

Expert

DonorNatio

nal

(Fie

ld)(Embassy)

National donor staff(‘national’ in the embassy, habesha and ‘donor’ in the field)

DONOR COMMUNITY(Some like-minded,some not)

NGOexperience

Technicalspecialist

‘Bureaucrat’

Donor

International donor staff(identity linked totraining and experience)

CIDA >civil servants, differentnationalitiesDCI >former NGO staffSida >senior, technical staff

Congruence, ambiguity and disjuncture

Congruence Disjuncture Ambiguity

Participation:Skilled speechExhortationConsensusKnowledgeable/weak capacity dyadReliance on quantitative data

IdeologyEvaluationProcess

The project of development

Participation:‘contribution’

Social capitalAgency and voice

Values, communication and information

Leading member of international community, committed to harmonisation

Multiculturalism at home, importance of social cohesion (GLOBAL SECURITY)

Development essential part of foreign policy objectives: jobs and prosperity; common security; and Canadian values and culture

Canada

“solidarity with the underprivileged is regarded as a moral responsibility”

Professionally, strong normative drive, self-critical (SOLIDARITY/KNOWLEDGE)

At home: trust, cooperation, equality and moderation important. Associational membership 92%.

Sweden

“at the cutting edge of international development policy” Roman Catholic missionary work provided a “template” for Irish aid “own experience of colonisation, poverty, famine and mass emigration has provided a basis for a

long tradition of solidarity with the poor and dispossessed” (EMPATHY) At home: Strict rules about social actions; importance of consensus; the opinions/wishes of the

individual are unimportant/politically divisive.

Ireland

Spatial and conceptual proximity

Conclusions

Shared Mental Models approach: analyses rate of change identifies areas of congruence, ambiguity and disjuncture as opportunities for

improved communication and therefore learning is inherently reflexive.

Using SMM as an analytical tool: Reconfirmed that donors’ and recipients’ aid policies and relationships are grounded in their

own cultural and political contexts, revealing contradictions in the NAA’s normative framework. Indicated that strength of identity and validity of customary practice reduce uncertainty. The

political and social heterogeneity proffered by NAA and development discourse may threaten this. Mental models are logical to their owners and therefore ‘legitimate’.

Implications/suggestions for DM studies: Donors give aid for ‘enlightened self-interest’ as well as humanitarian reasons. Critique the

relative roles played by empathy, ‘discourse’, ideology and information in policy and practice.

Expand critique of policy and practice beyond the ‘Anglo-Saxon’ boundaries of the NAA, i.e. to other donors in West, South and East.