Many aid agencies advocate approaches to development which are people-centered, participatory, empowering, and gender-fair. This volume of essays explores some of the middle ground between such values-based approaches and the methods and techniques that the agencies adopt. The selection offers critical assessments of fashionable tools such as Participatory Rural Appraisal and Logical Framework. It demonstrates how these are linked (conceptually and in practice) to the wider ideological environment in which they are used, and shows how they depend upon the skills of the fieldworker and/or organisation applying them. Contributors argue that tools and methods will contribute to a values-based approach only if those using them have a serious commitment to a social agenda which is genuinely transformative.

Culture has been defined as the sum of all the resources, be they material, intellectual, emotional, or spiritual, that people draw upon to give meaning to their lives. All models of development are essentially cultural in that they reflect perceptions of and responses to the problems faced by human societies. Yet despite international recognition of their inter-connectedness, represented by the 1995 report of the World Commission on Culture and Development, published by UNESCO, most development policies and interventions are based on an assumption that 'modernization' in the Western sense is the ultimate goal. Culture is therefore regarded either as an impediment to progress, or as something to be kept outside the economic and political spheres and consigned to the areas of religion and ritual. This anthology, written by a variety of aid practitioners and scholars, shows the need to go beyond viewing culture merely as an important dimension of development, to seeing development itself as a cultural expression, and culture as the basis upon which societies can develop through self-renewal and growth.

Agricultural development research aims to generate new knowledge or to retrieve and apply existing forms of knowledge in ways that can be used to improve the welfare of people who are living in poverty or are otherwise excluded, for instance by gender-based discrimination. Its effective application therefore requires ongoing dialogue with and the strong engagement of men and women from poor marginal farming communities.

This book discusses opportunities afforded by effective knowledge pathways linking researchers and farmers, underpinned by participatory research and gender analysis. It sets out practices and debates in gender-sensitive participatory research and technology development, concentrating on the empirical issues of implementation, impact assessment, and institutionalisation of approaches for the wider development and research community. It includes six full-length chapters and eight brief practical notes and is enhanced by an annotated resources list of relevant publications, organisations, and websites adding to the portfolio of approaches and tools discussed by the contributors. Most of the 33 contributing authors work in the specialised agencies that form part of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).

This book was published as a special issue of Development in Practice.

A powerful international agenda has defined what constitutes good governance, democracy, and the proper role of the state and civil society in advancing development. As public spending has declined, NGOs have secured a measure of financial security by taking on service-delivery. At the same time, NGOs are a convenient channel through which official agencies can promote political pluralism.But can NGOs play these roles simultaneously? Can they both facilitategovernments' withdrawal from providing basic services for all and also claim to represent and speak for the poor and the disenfranchised? Are NGOs legitimate political actors in their own right?Jenny Pearce introduces papers that describe some of the tensions inherent in the roles being played by NGOs, and asks whether NGOs truly stand for anything fundamentally different from the agencies on whose largesse they increasingly depend.

The prime purpose of Oxfam and similar development agencies is to assist poor men and women in changing their situation and exercising their right to participate in the development of their societies. However, aid agencies that ignore peoples existing strengths may create dependency, and so make people more vulnerable than before. This book examines the concept of capacity-building and why it is such an integral part of development. It considers specific and practical ways in which NGOs can contribute to enabling people to build on the capacities they already possess, while avoiding undermining such capacities."Capacity-Building" reviews the types of social organization with which NGOs might consider working, and the provision of training in a variety of skills and activities, for the people involved and for their organization. The particular importance of using a capacity-building approach in emergency situations, and the dynamic and long-term nature of the process, are emphasized.

Agricultural development research aims to generate new knowledge or to retrieve and apply existing forms of knowledge in ways that can be used to improve the welfare of people who are living in poverty or are otherwise excluded, for instance by gender-based discrimination. Its effective application therefore requires ongoing dialogue with and the strong engagement of men and women from poor marginal farming communities. This book discusses opportunities afforded by effective knowledge pathways linking researchers and farmers, underpinned by participatory research and gender analysis. It sets out practices and debates in gender-sensitive participatory research and technology development, concentrating on the empirical issues of implementation, impact assessment, and institutionalisation of approaches for the wider development and research community. It includes six full-length chapters and eight brief practical notes and is enhanced by an annotated resources list of relevant publications, organisations, and websites adding to the portfolio of approaches and tools discussed by the contributors. Most of the 33 contributing authors work in the specialised agencies that form part of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). This book was published as a special issue of Development in Practice.

*Wide range of authors and contributors, drawn from a variety of backgrounds and countries including Cuba, Ecuador, India, Italy, the Netherlands, Peru, Tanzania, and the UK*Includes annotated bibliography of current and classic titles on the subject, which constitute an essential reading list on the topic of 'development and cities'*Includes specially commissioned introductory overview by David WestendorffApproaches to sustainable development in cities of the South have focused too exclusively on narrow technical aspects of environmental protection, and have not benefited the large majority of urban residents in cities and peri-urban areas. However, in many countries of the South, the disengagement of government along with budgetary constraints, a reliance on cost-recovery mechanisms within structural adjustment packages, and increasing disparity between poor and rich, further reduce access by the poor to even the most rudimentary services. "Development and Cities" focuses on the political, social, and economic viability of new or alternative approaches to urban management in the South that best increase access to adequate levels of basic services and healthy living and working conditions for all. Case-studies include cities from Argentina, Cuba, India, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. Contributors include Adrian Atkinson, Diego Carrisn, Karina Constantino-David, Jaime Joseph, W. J. Kombe, Amitabh Kundu, Darshini Mahadevia, Fernando Murillo, Cesare Ottolini, Geoffrey Payne, and Hilhne Rivihre d'Arc.

Most major development NGOs dedicate significant resources to advocacy. Many also work to inform and shape public opinion, whether through advertising or fundraising or through education programmes. They argue that fundamental change is not achieved until the policy environment is right and cannot be sustained without a groundswell of support for reform. In recent years, however, advocacy work has come under increasing criticism. NGOs are challenged on the grounds of: Legitimacy - Whom do they represent, and to whom are they accountable? Effectiveness - What practical impact does high-level advocacies have on the lives of people living in poverty and who is to judge this? Role - Should NGOs try to combine funding and advocacy or do these demand different kinds of South-North relationship? Strategy - Are NGOs seduced by agencies like the World Bank or by the corporate sector to readily? When does constructive engagement with these powerful bodies turn into co-option by them? As international grassroots advocacy is becoming more vocal thanks to new communication technologies; what is the appropriate role for Northern NGOs?

Non-government organisations working in the humanitarian and development sectors won official approval in the 1980's and 1990's but there are signs now that they are losing favour. The NGO sector stands accused by some of complacency and self-interest on the one hand and of being ineffectual and irrelevant on the other. NGOs are increasingly challenged to demonstrate their legitimacy as representative voices of civil society. NGOs themselves are taking a hard look at their mandates, their core values and their role on a changing international stage. Contributors to this volume reflect on what kind of development will eradicate poverty and what types of agency are best suited to the task. Leading representatives of NGOs, development think-tanks and civil-society organisations, as well as scholars and activists, ask: What model of international co-operation can deliver social and economic justice? And what does this mean for NGOs in the future?

This Working Paper reproduces articles and essays which first appeared in the quarterly journal Development in Practice. The first part features papers by scholars, agency representatives, practitioners, and policy-makers on the ethical and legal dimensions of humanitarian endeavour. The second part comprises a collection of original essays which were commissioned from some of the highly experienced practitioners in the field of development and conflict who attended the 1996 Symposium entitled Building Bridges in Southern Africa: Conflict, Reconstruction, and Reconciliation in Times of Change, which was co-sponsored by the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR) and Oxfam's South Africa Office. The two sections address conflict-related themes from a range of perspectives, and together paint an informative picture of the moral and practical complexities of crisis and intervention.Contributors include Michel Chossudovsky, Jenny Pearce, Hugo Slim, Juan Somavia, and Derek Summerfield. The paper concludes with an annotated bibliography, listing current and classic publications on the subject of development work in the context of crisis and armed conflict.

Writing from diverse locations, the contributors to this volume examine some of the key terms in current development discourse. Why should language matter to those who are doing development? Surely, there are more urgent things to do than sit around mulling over semantics? But language does matter. Whether emptied of their original meaning, essentially vacuous, or hotly contested, the language of development not only shapes our imagined worlds, but also justifies interventions in real people s lives. If development buzzwords conceal ideological differences or sloppy thinking, then the process of constructive deconstruction make it possible to re-examine what have become catch-all terms like civil society and poverty reduction, or bland aid-agency terms such as partnership or empowerment. Such engagement is far more than a matter of playing word games. The reflections included here raise major questions about how we think about development itself.The 30 contributors to this volume include Cassandra Balchin, Srilatha Batliwala, Robert Chambers, Neera Chandhoke, Ben Fine, Shalmali Guttal, Pablo Alejandro Leal, Islah Jad, Thandika Mkandawire, John Samuel, John Toye, and Peter Uvin."

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This handbook is the product of the experience of Oxfam UK and Ireland in its work in over 70 countries around the world. It offers an expression of Oxfam's fundamental principles: that all the people have the right to an equitable share in the world's resources, and the right to make decisions about their own development. The denial of such rights is at the heart of poverty and suffering. This reference work analyzes policy, procedure and practice in such fields as health, human rights, emergency relief, capacity-building and agricultural production.

This handbook is the product of the experience of Oxfam UK and Ireland in its work in over 70 countries around the world. It offers an expression of Oxfam's fundamental principles: that all the people have the right to an equitable share in the world's resources, and the right to make decisions about their own development. The denial of such rights is at the heart of poverty and suffering. This reference work analyzes policy, procedure and practice in such fields as health, human rights, emergency relief, capacity-building and agricultural production.