Technical Co-operation: How does it benefit the poor?
DFID
gives about 17% of our budget (2003/4 figure) - nearly £700 million - to developing countries in the
form of technical co-operation. What
is technical co-operation?
There remain some disagreements among rich countries about how to approach technical co-operation (TC) - sometimes referred to as technical assistance (TA). There is a broad consensus that it needs to be reformed.
DFID supports:
1. Procurement reform by partner governments, to enable them to procure untied goods and services using their own systems. See procurement pages
2. Strengthening of efforts to improve donor coordination. DFID is increasingly pooling its funding for technical assistance with other donors
3. Only funding international consultants when there is a clear demand from partner countries for this, and there are no nationals in the public service who could provide the service effectively at a lower cost.
It's clear that technical co-operation has huge benefits for developing countries. Below are some brief points on what TC has achieved recently, or you can read more detailed examples
Examples in brief
Rwanda: The Revenue Authority has increased revenue by 40% over 2 years, allowing spending on health and education to double;
Uganda: Supporting a radio station in northern Uganda which has become a major force in conflict resolution. By publicising offers of amnesty, the station has encouraged a large number of combatants including child soldiers to return home
Malawi: In the justice sector, advice has reduced the proportion of prisoners on remand from 50% to 22% of the prison population
India: The country's National AIDS control programme mapped high-risk groups, so that resources could be targeted where they are most needed;
India: We have helped Indian farmers to test out new varieties of drought-resistant seeds
The Caribbean: Helping Caribbean countries to negotiate trade arrangements on bananas and sugar
South Africa: Helping provincial education departments to reform their curriculum and provide in-service training for their teachers
Lesotho: Assistance to the government in developing a new constitution and hold free elections in 2002, after the coup in 1998;
Grenada: Financing a forestry expert to help reforestation after storms hit the island (Hurricane Ivan, September 2004) See press release on aid to Grenada (19 Oct, 2004)
Zambia
Technical
co-operation has helped to bring about significant improvements in reading and
writing levels and primary school leaving examination performance after
assisting the Ministry of Education in the development of a new literacy and
numeracy programme for Grades 1 - 7.
The Government of Zambia considers this to be the most successful quality intervention in their education system in recent years.
Mozambique
In
1994, revenue collection had virtually collapsed following the civil war, partly
due to high levels of customs fraud and evasion. Almost half of all Mozambique
traders surveyed had been solicited to pay fees that were not required by law.
In 1996, the Government selected Crown Agents to manage customs operations, train staff and provide other support. Results so far:
- 130 staff charged with serious offences
- Goods cleared 40 times faster and Maputo is now one of the most efficient terminals in Africa
- 80% road imports and 62% sea imports cleared within 24 hours
- Customs revenue increased by 38.4% in the first two years.
(
World
Bank Global Economic Prospects, 2005)
China
A
2003 report conducted by IDS on DFID's influencing activities in China stated
that: "DFID staff and consultants are key interlocutors in providing access
to new ideas and knowledge. We noted strong feelings among our Chinese
respondents in this regard.
"The quality of the people DFID provides is probably the single most
important factor in its capacity to influence pro-poor policy and practice in
China. Good, long-term relationships are particularly valued."
Report on an Approach to Influencing for DFID in China, Institute for
Development Studies, May 2003
India
At
the British Consultants and Construction Bureau 2004 International Expertise
Awards in November 2004, three DFID-funded projects were short-listed as
finalists and two received awards.
One of these was IPA Energy Consulting, which provided strategic support to the Government of Madhya Pradesh, with the aim of reducing the state financial deficit by commercialising the power sector. Ultimately, it is hoped to make the power sector a net contributor to state revenues.
At the start of the DFID programme, over 46% of the state deficit was attributable to the power sector, severely constraining the ability of the state government to fund essential social sectors, such as primary education and healthcare to the poor.
Through the programme, the financial losses of the state owned electricity sector has been reduced from £244 million in 2001 to £18 million in 2003. This represents tremendous return - DFID's programme funding was £10m.
Nepal
The
Nepal Safer Motherhood Project has been an example of effective use of
consultancy (Options Consultancy Services) and has assisted the Nepal Government
to enhance services and increase access to essential obstetric care (EOC) in 10
districts, covering 15% of the population.
Technical advice obtained for this project contributed to the following achievements:
- The legislation of abortion allowing for safe abortion
- Expanding the nurses and paramedics to provide emergency obstetric care
- Ten fully equipped and functioning hospitals
- The establishment of a national essential obstetric care monitoring system
- The development of several new training courses for Maternal and Child Health Workers (MCHWs), nurses and doctors.
