The Future of the UN Development System

A new book from the co-Director of the Future of the UN Development System (FUNDS) project (can't believe they didn't call it the "FUN" project). Mark Malloch-Brown (former UN deputy-secretary-general and UNDP administrator) says;

"There is no better compilation of insights about the UN’s lack of cohesion, growing turf battles, declining capacity, clumsy implementation, and cooptation by bilateral and private interests of the family of organizations that calls itself—somewhat awkwardly—the UN development system."

Ouch.

One of the inputs to the book is a global perceptions survey of the UN system, summarised thus:

Four views emerge across the survey: 

• The UN’s development functions are less crucial than such other functions as security, humanitarian action, and setting global norms with teeth. 

• The UN’s development organizations are still mostly relevant, but some are not particularly effective. 

• The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF consistently receive the highest rankings among operational agencies; regional commissions receive the lowest rankings. 

• The UN faces two major institutional challenges: poor internal organization and the predominance of earmarked funding.

What the survey misses, and what is really crucial, is that what we should care about is not just the effectiveness of organisations but the cost-effectiveness, or value for money. Houses in London are "effective" at keeping people dry, but they aren't exactly great value for money from a cost per square metre perspective. 

Important Research Funding Opportunities: Quantifying the economic impact of Shakira (for UNICEF)

"Shakira Mebarak, world-famous singer and songwriter, is a devoted advocate for children. The singer, known professionally as Shakira, was appointed a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador on 24 October 2024."

Which is all very well and everything, but surely what we all really care about is exactly how valuable is she to the UNICEF marketing team? And what is it about her that makes her valuable? Are singers more or less valuable than actresses? Blondes or brunettes? Men or women? Does fundraising value depreciate over time with age? If you've always been fascinated by important research questions like these, well do UNICEF have the RFP for you (sadly I think the quantitative celebrity fundraising research and analytics team at my office is busy right now, so I'm generously passing this on. You're welcome). Thank god UNICEF is taking evidence-based decision-making seriously where it really matters.

"Quantitative Research: Identifying the Right Celebrities for UNICEF Partnerships & Public Attitudes towards Celebrity Partnerships 

The purpose of this Request for Proposal (RFP) is to seek proposals from qualified agencies to provide quantitative research (using System 1 approach) for identifying the right celebrities for UNICEF partnerships & Public Attitudes towards Celebrity Partnerships."

Goldin on Global Governance

Almost as scary is his insider’s view of international organisations’ lack of readiness to deal with such threats. He questions the future effectiveness of the UN, and the legitimacy of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, created at the 1944 Bretton Woods conference. “The picture of global governance today is one of duplication, ambiguity, overlap and confusion,” he concludes. Tax-free salaries and comfortable career paths encourage entrenched views and organisations out of step with modern working practices. 

Pretty damning, from the FT review of Ian Goldin's new book.

Bad Graphics

This is a guest post by Sean Fox at the LSE

This infographic, which came to my attention a few weeks ago on International Women’s day, has been on my mind because it is one of the WORST visual presentations of data I have seen in years: 

So what? Well, it contains information on an interesting and important topic (attitudes about domestic abuse) in a UN report. It should inform. Instead it confuses and distorts the facts. It violates almost every rule outlined in the bible of infographics, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information by Edward R. Tufte. Let me just name a few.

1. It looks like a quasi-pie chart. As such it implicitly suggests to the viewer that the slices represent portions of a whole. They do no such thing. They represent survey responses from a relatively small and arbitrary selection of countries around the world. 
2. The sizes of the ‘slices’ do not correspond to the numbers they purportedly represent. Just compare the Rwanda slice to the Vietnam slice. Huh?? 
3. It uses multiple colours. This is a great way to pack more data into a small space, but in this case the colours actually contain no information at all. They’re just randomly assigned. More visual confusion.
4. It uses a lot of ink to represent a small amount of data. Rule number 1 of good info graphics is to maximise the data/ink ratio. Less is more. 

So, how should it have been presented? There are many better ways, but a very simple one, which took me about 5 minutes in Excel is this:



While the first figure confuses the brain and obscures the significance of the data, this simplified version immediately throws up all kinds of interesting questions. Why do the women of the post-Soviet nations of Serbia, Georgia and Kazakhstan seem to have some of the lowest tolerance for domestic abuse in the world? How is it that the women of Jordan, which has a relatively liberal and modernising king and a female role model in the politically active and globetrotting Queen Rania, seem to largely accept domestic violence? What accounts for the wide gap in attitudes between women in the East African nations in Ethiopia and Rwanda? Is it due to “culture” or government policy and discourse?

These are interesting and important questions that are revealed by a simple improvement in the presentation of the data.

Come on, UNICEF. You can do better.

Tax and development hypocrisy watch

New rule - people who don't pay tax are not allowed to lecture anyone else about the importance of paying tax for development. This includes UN Assistant Secretary-Generals writing op-eds critical of multinational companies engaging in legal tax avoidance.

"An effective tax policy that ensures adequate domestic revenue is a crucial determinant of a country’s ability to pursue development policies. But tax revenues in most developing countries are low, impeding progress toward more balanced, inclusive, and sustainable economic development that can improve public health and raise standards of living." -- Jomo Kwame Sundaram

Genuine question - is there actually a good reason that I am just unaware of that the UN shouldn't pay tax?

IAEA is hiring a cosmetics sales clerk, €30k tax free salary

...aaaaaaand back to your regularly scheduled programming of pointing and staring in slack-jawed, wide-eyed disbelief at something crazy that the UN has done. I don't know whether to laugh or cry or scream.

For some bizarre reason, UN staff, including it seems the till person at the UN shop, are considered to be diplomats or something, and so don't have to pay any tax. On anything. So in addition to their tax-free salary, they get a special tax-free shop to do their shopping in. (Which is pretty great in Juba when you can sneak in with a friend and they have all sorts of amazing delights specially flown-in that you can't buy anywhere else in town).

Well. The International Atomic Energy Agency, in Vienna (perhaps not the world's worst hardship station), apparently has its very own cosmetics shop. And they need someone to stock the shelves and run the till. For thirty thousand tax free euros. That's more than I make. Clearly I'm in the wrong career. Don't bother with university kids, you only need high school to get a job in the UN shop. To be fair, it does sound quite stressful though.

"the incumbent actively sells the products in the Commissary sales areas, replenishes shelves and works at the cash register: all these tasks are physically strenuous since they involve long hours of standing, walking around the shop floor, bending and lifting of boxes and products."

I'm quite impressed with myself that I've made it this far with no profanity.

Apply here: Sales Assistant, Cosmetics (G-3)

Blattman on Cameron and the UN

Well worth a read in full if you haven't already:

This is a big leap for the UN. Cameron is trying to haul them into the 1990s. He’ll get a lot of credit for that. You’ll forgive me, though, for wishing we didn’t live in a world where we’re delighted when our global government is just 20 instead of 40 years behind the times.

I also liked a line that a friend told me on Friday:

But this "golden thread" just isn't really a "thread." It's just a list.

What do Africans think about the UN?

There is an interesting paradox here: the people (e.g., Mozambicans) who know least about the UN give it the highest rating, whereas people who seem relatively well informed (e.g., South Africans) have far more mixed opinions.

I'm not sure that paradox is the word they are going for there.... from Afrobarometer. 

How to get a job at UNDP

Apparently don't bother doing anything as absurd as actually applying for one on their website. From the DevEx LinkedIn forum:

SK: Is there anyone in this group who was successful in getting an assignment by applying in the UNDP website? 

GP: Not so far. I was working in Kabul earlier this year, and was then invited to fill out the paperwork to join a pre-approved list of consultants. 

SK: Ya that's what I thought. I don't think anyone ever gets a job through that website. It is such a ripoff. The World Bank is far more transparent and fair in employing consultants. 

TN: I feel that a proportion of the advertised roles are already filled by the previous incumbent. It is possible that their contract is up for renewal and UN rules require that the position be advertised. I hope I'm wrong, but this process puts an awful lot of people to an unnecessary inconvenience, and for nothing. 

SK: Also they need a minimum number of application to go through the process. I'm told that sometimes people do get through the website. So do apply, except that it is such a laborious process. 

JE: I think it is a waste of time and energy applying for many of these postions with UN and ADB as well. People are already in place and the advertisement is to provide the appearance of an open selection process. Unless 'invited' to apply for a specific postion, I personally won't waste my time. 

JML:  I worked as a Programme Officer for UNDP Timor-Leste for 3 years and then had a short-stint in the regional office in Bangkok. I then took a break for motherhood and for the past year have been applying to get back in the game. It is hard. I agree with TN’s post and sadly know it is the case for some of the vacancies. 

SM: I agree to the comments, UNDP must think of refining the process,if they want to keep the already working people, at least they must not waste others time and resources. 

This a double tragedy that they raise a hope for jobless, waste their time and unnecessiarly to show fairness,which in reality .....................they may tell it better. 

SK: Thanks for your responses. I recently wrote to UNDP to highlight some of the anomalies in the application process. For example a lot of jobs will ask for a financial proposal, except that there is no scope in the application format to provide one. The motivation section does not accept more than 1000 characters!

Nice one Hilda!

Hilde Johnson (Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for South Sudan and head of the UN Peacekeeping Mission) said yesterday

“I remind the parties to the conflict of their obligation to abide by international human rights and humanitarian law, take all measures not to harm civilians, and guarantee the safety of international aid organizations and United Nations personnel and assets,”

Hilda! Why didn't you remind them sooner! That Omar al-Bashir is so forgetful, he's always forgetting about the whole "not allowed to kill civilians" thing, like the time he did all the crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur that the ICC wants to arrest him for. And his generals are always forgetting that they aren't supposed to bomb civilians or United Nations bases, like the time when they did that last week. 

The Sudan Air Force actually seems to be really forgetful. Below is a spreadsheet, compiled by Eric Reeves, of bombing attacks between June and September 2011. There 73 separate attacks. Maybe we should help them set up a daily email reminder or something?

Key	Source	Lat/Long	Village/payam	Vicinity	County/Locality	Date	Type	Casualties
			(v) denotes vicinity
1	OHCHR	29°43'E   11°01'N	Al Massani	Kadugli Locality	South Kordofan	06-Jun-11	bombing	unknown
2	OHCHR	29°39'E   11°55'N*	Shivi	Dilling Locality	South Kordofan	08-Jun-11	bombing	2 killed
3	HRW	30°31'E   11°05'N	Kauda	Kauda Locality	South Kordofan	14-Jun-11	bombing	unknown
4	HRW	30°31'E   11°05'N	Kauda	Kauda Locality	South Kordofan	19-Jun-11	bombing	unknown
5	HRW	30°03'E   11°01'N	Um Sirdeeba	Kadugli Locality	South Kordofan	19-Jun-11	bombing	10 total casualties
6	HRW	30°31'E   11°05'N	Kauda	Kauda Locality	South Kordofan	22-Jun-11	5 bombs	1 killed
7	HRW	30°31'E   11°05'N	Kauda	Kauda Locality	South Kordofan	24-Jun-11	bombing	unknown
8	OHCHR	29°33'E   11°41'N	Julud	Kauda Locality	South Kordofan	25-Jun-11	2 bombs	unknown
9	HRW	30°03'E   11°01'N	Um Sirdeeba	Kadugli Locality	South Kordofan	26-Jun-11	bombing	2 total casualties
10	HRW	30°06'E   11°02'N	Kurchi	Kadugli Locality	South Kordofan	26-Jun-11	bombing	33+ total casulties
11	Amnesty International	30°15'E   11°15'N*	Tangale	Kauda Locality	South Kordofan	29-Jun-11	6 bombs	3 injured
12	Radio Dabanga	30°03'E   11°01'N*	Alahmeir	Kadugli Locality	South Kordofan	29-Jun-11	bombing	unknown
13	Radio Dabanga	30°03'E   11°01'N*	Abu Hashim	Kadugli Locality	South Kordofan	29-Jun-11	bombing	unknown
14	Radio Dabanga	30°06'E   11°02'N	Koroji	Kadugli Locality	South Kordofan	29-Jun-11	bombing	unknown
15	Radio Dabanga	30°03'E   11°01'N*	Um Sirdiba	Kadugli Locality	South Kordofan	29-Jun-11	bombing	unknown
16	Radio Dabanga	30°03'E   11°01'N*	Alhamra	Kadugli Locality	South Kordofan	29-Jun-11	bombing	unknown
17	Radio Dabanga	30°03'E   11°01'N*	Elatmor	Kadugli Locality	South Kordofan	29-Jun-11	bombing	unknown
18	Radio Dabanga	30°03'E   11°01'N*	Alabo	Kadugli Locality	South Kordofan	29-Jun-11	bombing	unknown
19	Radio Dabanga	30°03'E   11°01'N*	Tibla	Kadugli Locality	South Kordofan	30-Jun-11	bombing	unknown
20	Radio Dabanga	30°06'E   11°02'N	Koroji	Kadugli Locality	South Kordofan	30-Jun-11	bombing	unknown
21	Amnesty International	30°31'E   11°05'N	Kororak	Kauda Locality	South Kordofan	01-Jul-11	2 bombs	1 killed
22	Radio Dabanga	24°27'E   13°29'N*	Tibra	Kabkabiya Locality	North Darfur	Jul-11	bombing	unknown
23	HRW	30°06'E   11°02'N*	Saraf Jamus	Kadugli Locality	South Kordofan	02-Jul-11	bombing	4 total casualties
24	Amnesty International	30°15'E   11°15'N*	Tunguli	Kauda Locality	South Kordofan	08-Jul-11	6 bombs	1 killed
25	AFP	25°12'E   12°38'N*	Abu Hamara	Shearia Locality	South Darfur	09-Jul-11	bombing	3 total casualties
26	Radio Dabanga	25°16'E   12°38'N*	Mnoacy (v)	Shearia Locality	South Darfur	13-Jul-11	bombing	unknown
27	Radio Dabanga	25°16'E   12°38'N*	Marshenq (v)	Shearia Locality	South Darfur	13-Jul-11	bombing	unknown
28	Radio Dabanga	25°16'E   12°38'N	Khor Abeche (v)	Shearia Locality	South Darfur	13-Jul-11	bombing	unknown
29	Radio Dabanga	25°16'E   12°38'N*	Hamada (v)	Shearia Locality	South Darfur	13-Jul-11	bombing	unknown
30	Radio Dabanga	24°27'E   13°29'N*	Kerubino	Kabkabiya Locality	North Darfur	14-Jul-11	bombing	unknown
31	Radio Dabanga	24°27'E   13°29'N*	Abouhmrh Linda	Kabkabiya Locality	North Darfur	14-Jul-11	bombing	unknown
32	Radio Dabanga	24°27'E   13°29'N*	Abokora	Kabkabiya Locality	North Darfur	14-Jul-11	bombing	unknown
33	OCHA	29°45'E   11°01'N*	Miri	Kadugli Locality	South Kordofan	25-Jul-11	bombing	unknown
34	OCHA	30°31'E   11°05'N*	Moro	Kauda Locality	South Kordofan	26-Jul-11	bombing	unknown
35	HRW	30°03'E   11°01'N	Um Sirdeeba	Kadugli Locality	South Kordofan	Aug-11	bombing	3 injured
36	Radio Netherlands Worldwide	29°39'E   12°03'N	Koleli	Dilling Locality	South Kordofan	Aug-11	3 bombs	2 killed
37	Confidential source	29°59'E   10°18'N	Jau	Kadugli Locality	South Kordofan	10-Aug-11	8 bombs	unknown
38	Confidential source	29°59'E   10°18'N	Jau	Kadugli Locality	South Kordofan	11-Aug-11	bombing	unknown
39	HRW	30°06'E   11°02'N	Kurchi	Kadugli Locality	South Kordofan	14-Aug-11	bombing	unknown
40	HRW	30°06'E   11°02'N	Kurchi	Kadugli Locality	South Kordofan	19-Aug-11	3 bombs	unknown
41	Radio Dabanga	29°39'E   11°55'N*	Kajora	Dilling Locality	South Kordofan	21-Aug-11	bombing	unknown
42	Radio Dabanga	29°39'E   11°55'N*	Karko	Dilling Locality	South Kordofan	21-Aug-11	bombing	unknown
43	Radio Dabanga	29°39'E   11°55'N*	Mendel	Dilling Locality	South Kordofan	21-Aug-11	bombing	unknown
44	Radio Dabanga	29°39'E   11°55'N*	Toy	Dilling Locality	South Kordofan	21-Aug-11	bombing	unknown
45	Radio Dabanga	29°39'E   11°55'N*	Sepoy	Dilling Locality	South Kordofan	21-Aug-11	bombing	unknown
46	HRW	30°06'E   11°02'N	Kurchi	Kadugli Locality	South Kordofan	22-Aug-11	bombing	2 injured
47	Sudan Tribune	30°22'E   10°38'N*	Wirni	Talodi Locality	South Kordofan	Sep-11	4 bombs	1 killed
48	Radio Dabanga	30°22'E   10°38'N*	Warenne	Talodi Locality	South Kordofan	01-Sep-11	17 bombs	unknown
49	Radio Dabanga	29°58'E   10°35'N	Torgi	Kadugli Locality	South Kordofan	13-Sep-11	bombing	1+ total casualties
50	Radio Dabanga	29°58'E   10°37'N	Al Buram	Kadugli Locality	South Kordofan	13-Sep-11	bombing	unknown
51	Radio Dabanga	29°45'E   11°01'N	Kadugli	Kadugli Locality	South Kordofan	13-Sep-11	17 bombs	unknown
52	Radio Dabanga	29°45'E   11°01'N*	Ilbati	Kadugli Locality	South Kordofan	13-Sep-11	bombing	unknown
53	Radio Dabanga	30°03'E   11°01'N	Umser Dibba	Kadugli Locality	South Kordofan	13-Sep-11	bombing	unknown
54	USAID	30°33'E   11°02'N	Kauda	Kauda Locality	South Kordofan	19-Sep-11	4 bombs	3 injured
55	Radio Dabanga	30°27'E   11°39'N*	Cody	Kadugli Locality	South Kordofan	19-Sep-11	bombing	3 total casualties
56	OCHA	34°17'E   10°33'N	Kurmuk	Kurmuk County	Blue Nile State	21-Sep-11	bombing	unknown
57	USAID	34°17'E   10°33'N	Kurmuk	Kurmuk County	Blue Nile State	23-Sep-11	bombing	unknown
58	OCHA	34°17'E   10°33'N	Kurmuk	Kurmuk County	Blue Nile State	24-Sep-11	bombing	unknown
59	OCHA	34°17'E   10°33'N	Kurmuk	Kurmuk County	Blue Nile State	25-Sep-11	bombing	unknown
60	Sudan Tribune	28°15'E   09°58'N	Kajama	Abyei Locality	South Kordofan	25-Sep-11	96 bombs	unknown
61	OCHA	29°45'E   11°01'N	Kadugli (v)	Kadugli Locality	South Kordofan	26-Sep-11	bombing	unknown
62	OCHA	29°45'E   11°01'N	Kadugli (v)	Kadugli Locality	South Kordofan	27-Sep-11	bombing	unknown
63	Radio Dabanga	30°03'E   10°50'N*	Umm Durain (v)	Kadugli Locality	South Kordofan	27-Sep-11	bombing	1 killed
64	Radio Dabanga	30°27'E   11°51'N*	Abri	Kadugli Locality	South Kordofan	28-Sep-11	5 bombs	10 total casualties
65	Radio Dabanga	30°27'E   11°39'N	Korgy	Kadugli Locality	South Kordofan	28-Sep-11	2 bombs	unknown
66	Confidential source	30°27'E   11°51'N*	Tongoli	Kadugli Locality	South Kordofan	28-Sep-11	2 bombs	unknown
67	John Ashworth	30°27'E   11°51'N*	Sabat (v)	Kadugli Locality	South Kordofan	30-Sep-11	bombing	unknown
68	Radio Dabanga	30°27'E   11°39'N	Korgy	Kadugli Locality	South Kordofan	01-Oct-11	6 bombs	unknown
69	Radio Dabanga	30°15'E   11°15'N*	Tengil	Kadugli Locality	South Kordofan	01-Oct-11	3 bombs	unknown
70	Radio Dabanga	29°58'E   10°37'N	Al Buram	Kadugli Locality	South Kordofan	01-Oct-11	1 bomb	unknown
71	AFP	34°17'E   10°33'N*	Sali	Kurmuk County	Blue Nile State	Sep-11	bombing	1 injured
72	AFP	34°17'E   10°33'N*	Maiyas	Kurmuk County	Blue Nile State	Sep-11	bombing	6 killed
73	ACJPS	34°21'E   11°46'N	Al Damazein	Ad Damazin District	Blue Nile State	03-Sep-11	bombing	unknown

water reservoir destroyed

Why UNMIS failed

Not gonna lie, I opened this because I thought it was about social protection (cash transfers), but hey, a nice summary of what went wrong with the UN mission in South Sudan, based on fieldwork in Jonglei by Simon Harragin.

Opinions on UNMIS, on the rare occasions when local people expressed them, were often based on things heard on the radio or on seeing UNMIS convoys passing by in the distance. People noted that UNMIS acted in an ‘observer’ capacity without actively engaging with the problems they faced on a daily basis (particularly insecurity) ...

local people’s expectations that armed peacekeepers would defend them during periods of insecurity were not met. Time and again the presence of peacekeepers has been shown to be mainly symbolic ...

One of the biggest failures of UNMIS was that soldiers did not leave their bases in the State Headquarters to set up permanent bases in the Counties

British MPs on UNMISS

This comment from Tom is worth repeating:

It's worth quoting the whole of the section of the executive summary of the Commons International Development Committee on South Sudan: "UNMISS...has been slow to produce a peacebuilding strategy. UNMISS is also a hugely expensive operation, costing the UK taxpayer £60 million in its first year—two thirds of DFID’s annual development and humanitarian budget. UNMISS does not currently provide value-for-money and its resources have not been deployed most effectively. The UK Government should press the UN for an urgent review of UNMISS’s cost, mandate, assets and operations."

Here is the link to the full report.

UNDP is hiring an international fitness instructor for its Juba staff

Update: Samer Abu Hawilih states in the comments that this is "not funded by UNDP or donor funds. This is a staff-led initiative, through the Staff Association and Wellbeing Office." Thanks for the clarification Samer.

"international personnel are placed in non-family posts in South Sudan under hardship conditions, displacing them from their culture and normal support networks. 

All personnel are struggling to cope with the chronic stress of working within a post-conflict environment in which few counseling, social support, and other support and recreational services are available. Of particular concern is the need to help staff deal with traumatic stress, chronic stress, communication and resolution of interpersonal conflicts, multi- and cross-cultural diversity, and alcohol and substance abuse education. 

UNDP South Sudan recognizes that counseling services and recreational facilities and activities should be part of the staff wellbeing initiative. Resolving problems, exercise and dealing with personal and work issues is an important part of a staff member’s wellbeing. Therefore, we are seeking to recruit a fitness Instructor to assist in providing exercises as part of the wellbeing of staff in order to ensure work/life balance, which is another important referral service for staff members."

UNDP Jobs (HT: TvV)

I have no words (at least none that it would be prudent to express here).

Compare and contrast with Oxfam deciding not to use its Nairobi swimming pool because of worries about media and public opinion back home in the UK. Spot the difference. 

Ugandan billboard of the day

The UN has declared that internet access is a human right. So we’re [MTN] giving you that access for free.

 via Brian Swartz

More on a Division of Labour for Aid, and Violence in Sudan

Thinking about division of labour depends on comparative advantage - who is (relatively) best at doing what. If there is something which only one organization can do, then they are likely to have a pretty strong comparative advantage in that area, and a pretty weak comparative advantage in any other areas.

So for example when Owen Barder makes recommendations about aid transparency, he suggests that the creators of data focus first on simply releasing the raw data and forget about doing fancy visualizations, because they are the only people who can do that part. Similarly more generally, there are good reasons for governments to focus first on providing public goods (and private goods that have large positive externalities), because the private sector will tend to underprovide those goods. Eventually the government might also want to get into providing some private goods, but there are strong arguments for it to first focus on those things that only the government can do.

When Nemat Shafik proposes a division of labour for aid, she says that 

"No other organisation has the legitimacy that comes from universal membership. This makes the UN uniquely placed to be the leading agency on politically sensitive issues like conflict, peace and security, humanitarian matters, peacekeeping and peace-building ... The UN has many able competitors in the delivery of more conventional development programmes."

 This doesn't mean that the UN should necessarily not do education or capacity-building programs within countries, just that to the extent that the UN is uniquely placed to do certain activities, it should focus on those activities first, before it gets to the other stuff. So a bit more competition in education is fine, but as there is not much competition in peace-keeping that should be a higher priority.

Finally, when citizens are being slaughtered in Sudan right now and UN peacekeepers are standing by idly, it gives this whole theoretical debate a rather real and immediate urgency.

A division of labour for aid

Outgoing DFID Permanent Secretary Nemat Shafik proposes a division of labour for the major actors in foreign assistance; sounds pretty sensible to me.

United Nations: No other organisation has the legitimacy that comes from universal membership.  This makes the UN uniquely placed to be the leading agency on politically sensitive issues like conflict, peace and security, humanitarian matters, peacekeeping and peace-building.  In those contexts where national governments are often weak, the UN has to play an important role in coordinating the activities of international actors (such as through the cluster system in humanitarian crises). Its universal membership also makes it an ideal place to agree many global norms and standards (maritime rules, global health standards, etc.).   The UN has many able competitors in the delivery of more conventional development programmes. 

World Bank and the Regional Development Banks: The international financial institutions are best positioned to lead on large scale development finance in states that can afford to borrow and have the capacity to manage programmes on their own.  They could be the major source (along with private capital markets) of funding for middle income countries with major poverty issues (such as India, Brazil, Indonesia) as well as well-performing low-income countries (Ghana, Vietnam, Tanzania).  The regional banks have a unique role to play on regional integration issues. 

Bilateral Agencies: Grant financing will remain important to supporting delivery of basic social services in many low income countries for many years ahead.  Bilateral donors who face strong taxpayer pressure to deliver tangible results have a comparative advantage in funding education and health services in the poorest countries, particularly in fragile states where they can work alongside the UN.  For now, new bilateral donors are likely to focus on aid financing facilitation of commercial links and  technical assistance (such as China’s tradition of sending doctors to Africa or Brazil’s sharing of its experience on treating HIV or managing cash transfers) where their recent experience is often more relevant to their partners.  Most bilateral agencies will be the repository of national support for global problem solving such as funding for climate finance, global health or conflict prevention, reconstruction and stabilisation. 

Foundations: Private philanthropists can afford to take risks that public funders cannot. They have a huge comparative advantage in being the “venture capitalists” who invest in development innovation.  This can include technology (such as the Gates Foundation’s investments in new vaccines) but can also include innovations in delivery mechanisms, accountability, and programme design. 

Civil Society: In all countries, civil society groups have a unique role to play in holding governments and, increasingly, the private sector to account.  In many contexts they empower disadvantaged groups to demand and exercise their rights.  They also deliver essential services where states cannot operate or where governments choose to deliver services through them. 

UN Security Council reduces growth, democracy, and press freedom

Compared to countries not on the Security Council, countries on the Security Council experienced lower economic growth, became less democratic, and were less friendly to the press for several years after being elected to their two-year term. This pattern was largely confined to nondemocratic regimes and casts doubt on the wisdom of providing generous aid to such regimes.

Bueno de Mesquita, B. & Smith, A., “The Pernicious Consequences of UN Security Council Membership,” Journal of Conflict Resolution (forthcoming).

via Kevin Lewis at Boston.com

UNINVOLVED IN AFRICA

This is surely staged…

The Other Brain Drain

Guest post by one of my partners in crime: Sceptical Bandit.

There’s been a lot here recently about the gains from Africa’s Brain Drain to the developed world.

But here’s asking a different question: what of the brain drain within Africa by the UN and international agencies? Working here within the government, it’s now pretty much routine to see the most efficient staff, especially at junior levels, being picked up by the UN or the World Bank or the zillion other agencies in Juba. These staff typically enter the organization with no experience and few skills, use a year (or two’s) experience to beef up their employability, and then scoot - most often without notice and using paid leave to look for a job! When they go, they leave gaping holes because they haven’t arranged a proper hand-over or given any time to hunt for replacements (which are hard to find in the first place).

I’m not against people getting better jobs. My problem is with a) them sneaking off without warning and b) this ensuring that the government NEVER quite has adequate capacity. At least over the next 15 years, even if all goes well, the UN presence will remain. By which time the process of leaching away all the skilled employees will have set in place an institutional path based on only the least skilled remaining staff. That’s what the face of the government would be like for decades at least. And before you think of it, training people on-the-job in government is not a solution; the more you train them, the more employable they become elsewhere. The only equilibrium is to ensure the skills of your own staff are as mediocre as the general population!

I’m not asking for a ban on UN hiring GOSS employees. But perhaps if they could at least ensure that the government employer knows about the arrangement, and if the government and the UN could ensure that nobody is hired to start before the end of their notice period (3 months or 6 months), at least organizations could plan a bit better. And some institutional knowledge at least could survive - even though you can't stop the drain, you can minimize the damage it does. These aren’t harsh conditions of employment - similar conditions are pretty common-place in employment contracts worldwide. And just because contracts are difficult to enforce here is hardly a reason to destroy the public sector.

Roving Bandit’s conscience is troubled by this scheme. He doesn’t think the government has any business curtailing employment opportunities for individuals. I disagree (obviously). What do you think?

The Hitchhiker's Guide to Sudan

Juba has something of a shortage of affordable public transportation. This means that for many, hitchhiking around town is a pretty good alternative to relying on matatus or expensive boda-bodas ($2 a trip). You often see the back of an SPLA truck packed with a whole class of kids in their school uniform.

So giving lifts on my way to and from work seems like a natural way of paying back lifts received in the past, and building up some karma points. Except apparently the UN has guidelines against giving lifts, especially to kids, because of sexual abuses by peacekeepers in the past. And I was always told never to accept lifts from strangers. So am I then encouraging a habit which could ruin someone’s life?

What’s more important: the direct tangible benefit of aid, or the potential for future unintended consequences?