The success of building self-reliant states is directly tied to the effective management of complex development partnerships. ISE’s work on development and foreign aid focuses on how those partnerships can be maximized, taking into account lessons from past cases. ISE’s work draws on the experiences of practitioners in the field as well as policy experts to redefine development partnerships that build capacity, leverage existing assets, foster context-specific policies, and support country-led strategies. Additionally, our Development Practice Note series presents new and innovative practitioner-focused ideas across a variety of fields in development.
Over the past twenty years, the international community has agreed again and again that traditional aid effectiveness practices – which often drain local capacity, fragment projects, and spurn national strategies – are not working, but have made little progress at improvements. ISE’s Re-examining the Terms of Aid (RTOA) project is reviewing components to develop an operating model to more effectively implement these commitments. ISE is taking stock of its own experience and research, conducting interviews in Rwanda, Colombia, Afghanistan, and Somalia, along with engaging host governments, donor agencies, civil society, and the security sector to examine best practices, analyze incentive structures, and bridge the gap between country-level implementation and international frameworks. Read the full report here.
Background Research Paper Submitted to the UN High Level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda The High Level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda set the key task for global development to end extreme poverty…
Governments can most successfully manage their natural resources when they understand the potential of these assets set against the larger economic, social and environmental goals of the country. They can then seek to nurture a…
Mozambique is now one of Africa’s fastest growing economies. What were the key steps in its path from Civil War, through one party state system and centrally planned socialist economy, to multiparty constitutional democracy? How…
This paper develops scenarios for possible Syrian transitions. It identifies relevant peace building lessons from the past, outlines recommendations for members of the international community and pinpoints issues for articulating and implementing a transitional agenda.…
The story of how Spain transitioned from a military dictatorship to a situational monarchy with a Parliamentary democracy is widely known. This paper scrutinizes the deeper process: how Spain developed its national institutions to build…