Too little information is currently available on how Dutch development aid is being spent, the head of Leiden University’s Africa Study Centre says in newspaper De Volkskrant.
“It is shocking that people are still not being informed in an honest and complete fashion”, Professor Ton Dietz says. “It’s very hard to find out, for example, how much money the Netherlands is sending to Kenya. And if I actually succeed in finding out, I get some PR story. This is really bad.” Companies, too, provide patchy information about their projects, Mr Dietz maintains.
Development euros
The current climate discourages open discussion in a field which is seeing a lot of experiments and, consequently, a lot of mistakes.
“The current climate creates the illusion that every development euro should be 100 percent successful - and in the shortest time possible.”
In the era of social media, aid organisations and companies must urgently disclose their activities, Mr Dietz stresses:
“What happens exactly with all that money? Tell us. Enable local partners to use blogs or any other media to explain what they get and how they use it.”
Knowledge policy
In a journal for development aid cooperation, Vice Versa, Mr Dietz recently published a manifesto calling for a better knowledge policy that benefits the development community. In Holland, he argues, that policy is still inadequate. And no funds, he warns, are likely to be made available any time soon to disclose that knowledge in a more productive way, when all the parties involved in development aid cooperation are agreed they would benefit from it.
A better knowledge policy can help prevent that private aid groups and professional aid organisations should have to reinvent the wheel over and over again.
“It's essential to learn from what we already know about the way money is actually being used.”
(cl/hs)
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We are a small Dutch non profit based in Amsterdam, trying to create a culture to foster learning among development partners. I think that it is very difficult to create a knowledge policy in the absence of a culture that is willing to share mistakes or lessons from the field. For those who are interested, please find us on Twitter: @brilliantf, or visit the initiative: http://www.briljantemislukkingen.nl/awardOS/EN which is an award to celebrate the best learning moment in development cooperation.
It is distinguished from humanitarian aid by focusing on alleviating poverty in the long term, rather than a short term response. Good thing that plans are being created for this project to become successful. I will pray for it's success.
Self-help is the best development aid.If you need extra help you may ask for it; but rely on your own will,stamina and energy to get a better life.
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