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Seeing the Combined Effects of Aid Programmes

Date: May 2022
Author(s): Richard Burge, Rachel Nadelman, Rosemary McGee, Jonathan Fox and Colin Anderson
Publication type:
Published by: Institute of Development Studies

This Policy Briefing, co-authored by ARC’s Rachel Nadelman and Jonathan Fox, is based on research into aid-funded governance programs in Mozambique, Nigeria and Pakistan that aimed to enhance state accountability to citizens. The research explores the interactions and combined effects that happen when multiple aid agencies try to support change in the same places, at the same time, and with similar actors. The research found three distinct categories of ‘interaction effects’: synergy, parallel play, and disconnect. The authors explore how using an ‘interaction effects’ lens in practice could inform aid agency strategies and programming.

Richard Burge is an independent consultant and was formerly a partner at ITAD. Rachel Nadelman is a Scholar-in-Residence and Research Fellow at the Accountability Research Center at American University. She has worked in international development for 15 years with a range of organisations including the World Bank, the German Development Agency (GIZ), American Jewish World Service, and the Institute of Development Studies. Rosemary McGee is Senior Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies.

Jonathan Fox is a professor at the School of International Service at American University, where he directs the Accountability Research Center. He works with a wide range of public interest groups, social organizations, private foundations, and policymakers to learn from transparency, participation, and accountability initiatives. Colin Anderson is a research officer at the Institute of Development Studies, working on what drives changes in citizen-state relationships.