Comparative Study of European Aid for Poverty Reduction

About the Project

Background

In May 1995, at a workshop on European aid held in Maastricht, a collaborative research project on EU aid for poverty alleviation was launched by researchers and donor representatives from ten EU Member States. aid and poverty. The heightened profile, and sometimes funding, accorded in recent years by several EU donors to poverty alleviation as an objective of official development assistance supports an independent and comprehensive assessment of different donor approaches towards poverty alleviation and the emerging lessons of experience. The Treaty on European Union (article 130u), which declares poverty alleviation to be one of the four goals of a common European policy approach in the field of development co-operation, has potentially given additional impetus to the campaign against poverty in developing countries.

Objectives

The Comparative Study of European Aid for Poverty Alleviation seeks to assess the contribution of and the relationship between ten EU Member States and the European Commission to the poverty reduction objective, including any evidence of EU-wide coordination or ‘synergy’ in this field. The primary objective of the study is to learn lessons of experience from European donors and to make these available to donor and recipient officials.

The research proceeds in three phases. In the first phase a comprehensive analysis of donor policies, management and approaches to poverty alleviation has been prepared in donor capitals. The second, i.e. the present phase, extends the research into a number of recipient countries in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Latin America. This phase seeks to validate and deepen conclusions emerging from phase 1, to examine the role of in-country donor staff and recipient government approaches and to draw perspectives on aid for poverty alleviation. Phase 3 will comprise of a series of seminars to be held in the 10 aid/foreign affairs ministries, presenting conclusions and lessons of experience.

Methodology

General methodology

Researchers will examine ten EU donors’ policies and management of aid for poverty reduction (PR) and assess their operationalization in recipient countries. Research will centre on the following key issues:

Compare the conceptualisation of poverty by EU donors, their PR policies and objectives, together with an examination of the historical and political influences on the evolution of poverty-focused policies;
What priority is attached to poverty reduction in different donor aid programmes? Is it the ‘core’ objective or one of many?
Examine and compare the organisation and management approach of the chosen donor agencies, both within their headquarters and in the field;
Analyse the recipient government approach to poverty reduction and donor-recipient government relations in five to six country case studies where several EU donor agencies have been involved;
Assess, as far as possible, the effectiveness with which individual EU donors achieved poverty reduction objectives and draw out the lessons of experience;
Examine the role of Commission directives and the Treaty of European Union in shaping EU policies on poverty reduction and, if possible, the influence of individual EU donors on policy formulation within the Commission;
Examine experience of direct poverty reduction measures and the extent to which PR objectives are taken into account in all EU aid interventions.

Country case studies

The purpose of the country case studies is to explore the approach to PR of recipient authorities and the in-country operationalization by EU donors of the policy and management issues raised in Sections 2 and 3.

The studies will also:

seek to further understanding of the contribution of the donor-recipient relationship to effective aid for poverty reduction;
explore the constraints to PR operating on both donors and national authorities;
examine the extent to which donor country programme objectives are reconciled with the recipient approach;
assess the extent of decentralisation of donor operations and its role in increasing the effectiveness of poverty reduction measures:
- professional capacity of donor agencies in the field;
- extent of decentralisation of responsibilities;
- role in improving dialogue with recipient authorities and promoting increased responsiveness to local context.
explore recipient government perceptions of the effectiveness of poverty-oriented aid interventions. Are certain approaches perceived as being more effective?

Efforts will be made to strengthen the research teams by involving local research institutes from each country, with substantial experience in aid and poverty issues. Local researchers might be expected to:

assist in selecting, organising and assessing a sample of donor PR projects;
examine the geographical distribution of poverty and the extent to which donor interventions reflect this;
assess shifts in government and NGO policies and approaches to poverty over past two to three decades.

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