Citizen Engagement
The challenge of connecting citizen voices with the
governments and other agencies that serve them can sometimes suffer from the
Kiwi Effect, hairy on the surface but juicy sweet on the inside. Concerns about
how to engage citizens, how to get donors and government to then respond and
address the issues voiced, and how to make this a continuous process can make
for a seemingly hairy situation on the surface.
However, the fruit of creating a harmonious system where
citizens voice needs and feedback on projects and both government and agencies
then respond to and address the issues is vibrant and delicious. Delicious enough
to entice a number of countries to participate in the Open Government
Partnership which is bringing
civil society and government to the same table.
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| Screen shot from data.pe |
Just last Thursday, the Global Development Professionals
Network held a
live chat debating the use of technology to support such vibrant citizen-led
development and some of the hairy issues that need tweezing. Meanwhile, on
TechPresident, La Fractura discussed
their successes and failures in trying to create a system for citizens to
report on transportation issues in Lima, Peru. They quickly learned that
incorporating government response is necessary in sustaining use and trust in
the system.
Things could get a bit hairy for Chinese
officials who are being challenged by their citizens via social media to
swim in their polluted rivers. But things are looking sweet for open data
believers with the launch of ‘Exploring
the Emerging Impacts of Open Data in Developing Countries’ research project
which will take a look benefits, unintended consequences and strategies in open
data through case studies in 14 developing countries.
Aid Effectiveness
There have always been debates about the best way deliver
development assistance. Just this week, Prime Minister David Cameron comment
about taking
funding from the aid budget to support the military in combating conflict
received a lot of backlash. Oxfam Scotland said aid should be spent on schools
on soldiers.
While it’s largely agreed that aid benefits peacekeeping
efforts, and peacekeeping efforts benefit aid, many point out the necessity
for aid workers to appear neutral for security. Others point out clear
differences between the purpose of the two agencies, and the how
muddled this tactic could become.
Other policy debates this week included the View From the
Cave blog remarking how the “Trade Not Aid” agenda is wrong in making aid
and trade mutually exclusive. Can’t aid and trade work together? And over
on the CGD Rethinking Foreign Assistance Blog, the Millennium
Challenge Corporation’s tactics were analyzed to try and answer the
question of whether there is a space in development for conditionality.
Weekly updates are written
by Taryn Davis of Development Gateway; email her your
tips for next week's update to get a shout-out in the post.
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