Don’t swamp the SWAp
Frans Bieckmann | February 05, 2025In the late 1990s, the so-called sector-wide approach (SWAp) became a fashionable new method for handling development aid. It was part of an international quest for more efficient and effective aid delivery that would truly contribute to poverty reduction. Donors agreed to start coordinating their funding: for example, the health sector in, say, Zambia would be guided by a single policy and expenditure programme instead of by a myriad of programmes and projects. And the responsibility and leadership would be squarely on the Zambian government.
What has come of this approach? This question has been the subject of a debate at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a summary of which can be found under the title 'The Dutch treatment'. The Broker invites its readers to join the discussion.
The starting point is the insightful paper by Ellen van Reesch, Ten years into the sector-wide approach: did we do what we intended to do? In December 2008, this paper was included in A Rich Menu for the Poor, the sourcebook published by the Policy Analysis and Advice Division (DEK/BA) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which discusses a range of topical and practical issues in development cooperation.
Evaluations show that sector-wide support has resulted in a significant increase in public spending for social services. However, has this also led to better services and, consequently, improved living conditions for the poor? It is the issue of efficiency versus effectiveness that is at stake. Of late, donors have had a strong tendency to focus on aid efficiency, rather than development effectiveness. In the case of SWAps, this has led to a strong emphasis on donor harmonization, the role of central government and the ‘supply side’ of public service delivery – a focus that has clearly had its downsides. Van Reesch argues that attention to the participation of local governments and civil society in policy formulation and implementation has been lacking. And so has sensitivity to political processes and to accountability to citizens from politicians and service providers. Contrary to the good intentions, it is not evident that sector approaches focus on addressing the structural causes of poverty and inequality.
Some participants in the debate argue that the notion that civil society can provide checks and balances in the sector approach, or participate effectively in consultation processes, was politically naïve from the start. Many CSOs simply lack the capacity or the will to play that role. On the other side of the argument are those who point the finger at the SWAp itself. They claim it has essentially become a mechanistic approach, which can never achieve the ‘systems transformation’ that is ultimately needed to achieve true development. You are welcome to join the debate.
- A Rich Menu for the Poor
- Ten years into the sector-wide approach: did we do what we intended to do?
International Association of Humanitarian Studies (IAHS)
International Association of Humanitarian Studies (IAHS) On 6 February 2009, the International Association of Humanitarian Studies (IAHS) will be launched. The IAHS is a response to the growing academic interest in the causes, politics, dynamics and effects of humanitarian crises, and in how people and institutions react to these crises. Academics from a wide range of disciplines - including international relations, international law, development studies, anthropology, conflict studies and migrant studies – share these interests. But so far there was no venue for them to meet and discuss their different insights and understanding of humanitarian crises. The secretariat of the IAHS will be based at the department of Disaster Studies in Wageningen and will be launched during the World Conference of Humanitarian Studies in Groningen, 4-7 February 2009. (Visit the Humanitarian Studies website for more information.)
For more information contact Thea Hilhorst, professor of humanitarian aid and reconstruction.
Photo credit main picture: Roberto Trm