Nuffic-SIU donor harmonisation conference
28 nov 2011
Two years ago Nuffic and its Norwegian counterpart SIU initiated an international initiative in order to harmonise university development cooperation. In this short interview Nuffic’s senior policy officer Ad Boeren brings us up to date about the latest developments, following the second Donor Harmonisation Conference in Bergen (Norway) in September 2011.
Where does this initiative originate and what are its main goals?
The initiative forms part of the international agenda to improve aid practices and effectiveness laid down in the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness (2005) and the Accra Agenda for Action (2008). Central to this agenda is that all countries and donors should improve their management of resources to achieve better, verifiable development results, guided by a commitment to mutual accountability.
When our Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Netherlands set up a new cooperation programme in higher education (NICHE) it was stressed that the programme should show results in terms of alignment with national priorities in partner countries and in coordination with national governments and other donors.
Nuffic, as administrator of this programme, took up the challenge and proposed to initiate a network of organisations which administer capacity building programmes in higher education in developing countries. The aim of the network is to develop a system of information exchange and to explore the areas and scope of joint activities.
Where do you see the main challenges?
The interest among the administrating organisations and donors for this initiative is considerable. Everybody recognises the need to avoid overlaps and competition, and sees the benefits of complementarity of interventions and the harmonisation of procedures.
However, there exists a considerable gap between theory and practice. The programmes differ considerably in terms of governing policies, aims, interests, eligibility of partners and countries, delegation of administrative responsibilities, financial accountability rules, programme duration and programme management.
As long as these differences persist, the room for coordination and harmonisation is rather limited. This means that the network is bound to be modest in its ambitions.
After the second harmonisation seminar which took place in Bergen, what do you think are the main activities which should be carried out during the next months?
During our first meeting (Scheveningen, 2010), the participants were well aware of this gap between aspirations and feasible results and decided on a step-by-step approach with a short agenda of concrete activities. The network wanted to establish an interactive ICT platform for the exchange of information and documents, and a simple ‘database’ with basic information on the programmes.
In Bergen, we continued on that path with plans to set up ICT platforms where the network can establish 'Communities of Practice' on topics of mutual interest. The databases will be expanded and updated. An agenda of exchange visits of staff between organisations is envisaged.
This interview is taken from www.acup.cat/en/entrevista/ad-boeren and republished with kind permission.