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This article reviews the expercences of the development assistance donor agencies with the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of their projects in developing countries. First, the concepts and definitions of monitoring and evaluation are discussed. Then the article traces the donors' early efforts to develop appropriate methodologies and procedures for M&E of development projects, and reviews the problems and issues that emerged during the 1970s. The final section discusses how these lessons from experience are leading to new M&E initiatives and reorienta tions among the donor agencies in the 1980s.

This study sought to examine bilateral aid agency actors and their aid policies as they might be affected by political changes in Cambodia as a recipient country to examine processes of globalization in terms of policy convergence or divergence in relation to the two dominant sociological theories in the field of comparative education: Neo-Institutional Theory and Systems Theory. Policy documents, aid agency press releases, and wider media coverage were analyzed to test these two theories. It was found that Asian aid agencies did not converge in aid policy with Western aid agencies which have sought to reduce aid and limit trade with Cambodia as a result of the 2017 changes in the Cambodian political system. The Asian aid agencies do not display isomorphic convergence as predicted by Neo-Institutional Theory, and conversely prioritized their own geopolitical context in formulating aid policy with economic and political dimensions which reflected broader international relations considerations as predicted by Systems Theory. Further research will be required as these aid directives are translated into actual policy and project implementation to examine these theories in the next stage of this research project.

The paper reports an empirical study of the factors affecting burden sharing among OECD's 22 DAC members in 'bankrolling' the multilateral aid agencies. These are the UN agencies, World Bank's IDA and non-IDA programmes, regional development banks, European Community, and other multilateral agencies that include the Global Environmental Facility and the Montreal Protocol on environment. Annual data over 1970-2000, pooled across the donor countries, form the basis for the empirical estimation of each donor's share in the ODA aid receipts for each multilateral agency. Our findings suggest the existence of reverse exploitation, i.e., the financial burden of the agencies is disproportionally carried by the smaller donors. The study also finds that factors such as inherent donor generosity, donor concern for domestic egalitarianism, and the extent to which donors are pro-poor in their bilateral aid policies have an impact on their readiness to support multilateral agencies financially. Size of the donor government and its budgetary balance positively influence burden sharing of contributions to other multilateral agencies. But neither the phase of economic cycle nor the rate of economic growth affects the burden-sharing responsibility of donors. It was also observed that contributions by EU members to the EC do not appear to crowd-out their contributions to other multilateral aid agencies and that right-wing donor governments are generally more parsimonious with regard to financial assistance to multilateral aid agencies. The preferred alternative, particularly among EU member countries, appears to be the EC.

Purpose– This paper aims to analyze the potential and limitations of donor-financed management tools that seek to promote corporate social responsibility (CSR) in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries. Drawing on key insights from three streams of literature relating to institutional theory, critical perspectives on CSR in developing countries and the literature on CSR and SMEs in the developing world, the potential and limits of donor-financed management tools aimed at promoting CSR in developing country SMEs are analyzed.Design/methodology/approach– Using official UN and Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development lists of all multilateral and bilateral donor agencies, 38 donors that might have produced such CSR tools were identified. The authors contacted them via e-mail and/or telephone, and conducted an extensive Internet search with the aim of identifying whether they had developed management tools aimed at promoting CSR in SMEs in developing countries. The authors then scrutinized the contents of the 11 tools identified and examined the extent to which these tools accord attention to contextual differences and specific peculiarities of institutional environments in developing countries; the extent to which these tools account for the silent or sunken aspects of CSR which have been prominently highlighted in the SME – CSR literature; and the extent to which these tools accord attention to the paramount concern for poverty alleviation in developing countries.Findings– Overall, the analysis testifies to the continued predominant orientation of these tools to the context of larger firms in developed countries, with insufficient tailoring or customization to the specific realities of SMEs in the South.Research limitations/implications– In-depth interviews with aid agency personnel, SMEs, workers or community members were not conducted. Hence, this study should be seen as an initial, exploratory desk study of the potential and limits of management tools aimed at promoting CSR in SMEs in the developing world.Practical implications– It is suggested that donor agencies could develop such tools in a bottom-up fashion by first mapping the silent CSR practices of SMEs in developing countries and then use this as a basis for strengthening existing CSR activities in SMEs instead of trying to impose new priorities from the outside. This might enhance the local relevance and applicability of these management tools.Originality/value– The study is likely to be the first analysis of the potential and limits of management tools that are developed by donor agencies with the aim of promoting CSR in SMEs in developing countries.

The Sierra Leone peace process following the country's 1991–2002 civil war between the Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL) and the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) benefited immensely from the energetic involvement of an eclectic mix of donors. Traditional inter-governmental financial institutions and relatively new private funding foundations all channelled aid money and technical expertise through various multilateral and bilateral mechanisms for rebuilding the country. Without a doubt Sierra Leone's recovery from the debilitating 11-year war would not have come to pass in the time and manner it did without the robust intervention of such funders. Based on fieldwork conducted in Sierra Leone at the height of the peacebuilding process, this article outlines the role played by international donors in rebuilding post-war Sierra Leone. It posits that understanding the modus operandi of the assorted mix of donor agencies in creating the country's aid architecture is key to grasping the nuances of the Sierra Leone peace process. This is partly because the aid largesse, though well intentioned, was injected into a barely functioning system that lacked a coherent recipient regime. The article concludes that though donors were critical to Sierra Leone's rebuilding efforts, their lack of emphasis on a needs-centred funding mechanism created an inadequate model to address the country's complex post-war reconstruction challenges.

SummaryWith growing uncertainty over the value and impact of traditional bilateral foreign aid to advance development in poor countries, there is disquiet about the future of national public agencies and ministries with responsibility for managing and delivering international assistance. Growing reputational damage to foreign aid has triggered a lively discussion in development policy circles about the best structural configuration for organizing and governing international development functions within donor countries. To date, public administration scholars with expertise in questions of bureaucratic design and performance have yet to weigh in on this debate. This article is an attempt to present current controversies about donor governance and offer guidance for resolving current dilemmas by exploring the potential contributions of public administration. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

AbstractThis review of country‐level performance assessment in donor agencies is primarily based upon the experiences documented by bilateral donors to developing countries. The review suggests that four emerging themes can be identified in the literature on country‐level performance review: ownership, decentralisation and leadership, accountability and learning and complexity. The review considers the implementation of 'results‐based' approaches used by a number of international agencies and examines their relationship with 'evidence‐based' approaches. A key challenge, in the development of performance assessment, is bringing in a stronger evidence‐based approach into the planning and evaluation of donor country‐level programmes. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This paper seeks to explain the formulation of education policy discourse of bilateral aid agencies in Japan, South Korea, and China to examine theories of globalization of education with Cambodia as a case study. A further effort was made to explore the potential of post-structural theory to examine processes of globalization in terms of policy convergence or divergence in relation to the two dominant sociological theories in the field of comparative education: Neo-Institutional Theory and Systems Theory. Policy documents and interviews with government officials were analyzed to test these two theories against a post-structural approach. It was found that Asian aid agencies display tendencies toward both convergence and divergence in their aid policy discourse. There is a tendency for the agencies to practice self-referentiality in an effort to strengthen their political influence in international relations. Further research will be required to examine how project implementation may confirm or challenge the interpretation of the aid policy discourse in relation to post-structural discourse analysis.

This paper seeks to explain the formulation of education policy discourse of bilateral aid agencies in Japan, South Korea, and China to examine theories of globalization of education with Cambodia as a case study. A further effort was made to explore the potential of post-structural theory to examine processes of globalization in terms of policy convergence or divergence in relation to the two dominant sociological theories in the field of comparative education: Neo-Institutional Theory and Systems Theory. Policy documents and interviews with government officials were analyzed to test these two theories against a post-structural approach. It was found that Asian aid agencies display tendencies toward both convergence and divergence in their aid policy discourse. There is a tendency for the agencies to practice self-referentiality in an effort to strengthen their political influence in international relations. Further research will be required to examine how project implementation may confirm or challenge the interpretation of the aid policy discourse in relation to post-structural discourse analysis.