2003年-世界发展银行全球_Conflict_Prevention_and_Reconstruction_4页_184kb

Summary of "SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT NOTES CONFLICT PREVENTION" - No. 14 / December 2003

Core Content

This document discusses the challenge of capacity building in post-conflict countries, emphasizing the need for sustainable development and institutional strengthening. It outlines various options for capacity creation, the importance of aid management agencies, and six key lessons for effective capacity building in such contexts.

Main Contexts of Post-Conflict Capacity Building

• Instability: Post-conflict environments are inherently unstable, with winners and losers and potential for renewed conflict.
• Low Absorptive Capacity: Immediately after a conflict, the country's ability to absorb aid is low, but increases significantly over the next seven years.
• High Expectations: The population expects immediate results from peace, which are often unrealistic.
• Donor Pressures: Donors also push for quick outcomes, but their lack of understanding of local processes can lead to ineffective aid delivery.
• CNN Effect: International attention wanes when the country is most capable of absorbing aid, leading to underfunding and neglect.

Options for Creating Capacity

1. Build Capacity: Develop local institutions and human resources.
2. Buy Capacity: Contract services to private or international firms.
3. Build Temporary Capacity: Use short-term advisors or managers to kick-start reconstruction.
4. Bypass Weak Government Capacity: Directly provide aid without involving local institutions.

The document argues that bypassing local capacity is often more costly and less effective than building it. It suggests that buying capacity can be useful in emergencies but should be limited to medium-sized firms with specialized skills rather than large ones.

Aid Management Agencies

• These agencies are often established to coordinate donor efforts and manage aid effectively.
• Examples include the Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR) in Lebanon and the Afghan Assistance Coordination Authority (AACA).
• However, they may become entrenched or corrupt as local institutions develop.
• Sunset provisions are essential to ensure that these agencies transition to local ministries as capacity improves.

Six Key Lessons for Capacity Building

1. Leadership Matters: Strong leaders are crucial for institutional development. They must have vision, accountability, and the ability to attract talent.
2. Incentives Matter: Fair pay, merit-based selection, and anti-corruption measures are necessary to retain motivated staff and support reform.
3. Build on What Exists: Institutions that survived conflict may be more resilient and can be restructured rather than rebuilt from scratch.
4. Arrange Learning Activities In-Country: Training should be on-the-job and just-in-time, avoiding overseas training that may slow down reconstruction.
5. Training Should Be Strategic: Learning should align with the reconstruction and development strategy of the government, focusing on core functions and reducing inefficiencies.
6. Leverage International Partners' Comparative Advantages: Capacity building should be tailored to the strengths of international partners, ensuring coherence and effectiveness.

Conclusion

• Rebuilding institutions is more complex than rebuilding infrastructure.
• Country ownership is critical for sustainable capacity building.
• Coordination among donors and strong leadership are essential for success.
• The international community should support local leadership and institutional development rather than imposing external solutions.

Further Reading

• Rohland, Klaus, and Sarah Cliffe. 2002. The East Timor Reconstruction Program: Successes, Problems and Tradeoffs.
• Mckechnie, Alastair J. 2003. Humanitarian Assistance, Reconstruction and Development in Afghanistan: A Practitioner's View.
• CPR Unit. 2002a. Rebuilding the Civil Service in a Post-Conflict Setting: Key Issues and Lessons of Experience.
• Schiavo-Campo, Salvatore. 2003. Financing and Aid Management Arrangements in Post-Conflict Situations.
• Collier, Paul, and Anke Hoeffler. 2002. Aid, Policy and Growth in Post-Conflict Countries.
• World Bank. 2003. Breaking the Conflict Trap: Civil War and Development Policy.
• PREM. 2003. Recent Bank Support for Civil Service Reconstruction in Post-Conflict Countries.

This document is part of the CPR Dissemination Notes series by the Conflict Prevention and Reconstruction (CPR) Unit of the World Bank, aimed at promoting good practices in post-conflict capacity building.