Trends in aid architecture

Monitoring how aid works

INTRAC has long been engaged in monitoring the way international aid agencies work individually and together. We focus on aspects of aid policy changes which affect civil society and civil society organisations. We monitor aid flows to CSOs, policies regarding civil society and development, how donors interact with NGOs, and how NGOs interact with each other. We also scan the aid environment for policies which might indirectly affect CSOs. 

The aid effectiveness agenda and civil society

The purpose of the aid effectiveness agenda is to coordinate official development aid delivery and to reorient it to recipient countries' priorities. Although this is a laudable aim, INTRAC is concerned that aid effectiveness - essentially a technical framework to improve the mechanisms of managing aid money without considering development policy or impacts on poverty - sidelines the role of civil society in development.

Read INTRAC's recent paper on how the latest High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness held in Busan, South Korea in November 2011 will impact civil society.

Check out our blog where INTRAC's Executive Director, Brian Pratt and Head of Research, Rachel Hayman discuss their perspectives on the outcomes of the summit for civil society.  

Legitimacy, transparency and accountability 

As part of our ongoing work in this area, INTRAC has produced a paper on the concepts of legitimacy and transparency for NGOs - looking at how and why these concepts have evolved in the development field, and considering how the lack of clarity around them often produces a mismatch between problems and solutions. We also completed a review of recent aid effectiveness and accountability initiatives that focus on CSOs.

NGO Research Programme

INTRAC's NGO Research Programme works with NGOs on many of these issues. The programme brings together staff from European NGOs to review trends, issues and research related to civil society.

To find out more about INTRAC's NGO Research Programme contact research@intrac.org.