Power, politics, and change: how international actors assess local context

In the recent past, donor governments and international organizations have come up with frameworks and tools to assess governance, conflict, and fragility. This report argues that these assessment tools are fraught with a multiplicity of contradictory objectives underpinned by deep unstated assumptions. This is because different agencies define the problems using their own perspectives, institutional tools and biases.

The report finds that experience with assessment tools has produced mixed results as far as impacts on decision making, planning, and programming are concerned. It adds that while it is important to produce good quality analysis, the extent of an assessment’s influence is rarely, if ever, solely determined by the content or quality of analysis. The report pinpoints the following key factors as determinants of the use of assessments:

• Clarity of purpose: The purpose and expectations of the assessment should be clearly established from the outset to ensure that the choice of tool and process are appropriate
• Timing and time-frames: Timing appears to be a significant determinant of whether and how the results of an assessment are used and the assessment should take advantage of the window of influence when the opportunity presents itself
• Interests and incentives: Individual and institutional interests and incentives have a significant impact on how effectively assessments are conducted, as well as how the results of the analysis produced by them are used
• People and competencies: Expertise, communication, leadership, and facilitation skills are valuable in generating an assessment that can be easily understood and effectively used
• Linkage between assessment and planning: Adequate attention ought to be paid to how assessment tools fit into broader strategic planning processes.

The report offers the following conclusions and recommendations based on the foregoing findings:

• Be realistic about what assessments can accomplish: The use of assessments has to be situated within the broader universe of political analysis that informs decision making, much of which is done informally
• Ensure that assessments are linked more consistently to an overarching planning cycle: Assessments should inform planning and implementation, followed by robust monitoring and evaluation of impact, with the ability to make mid-course corrections or respond to new opportunities or constraints posed by in-country developments
• Shift the focus from tools to developing a culture of analysis: International actors should not focus on the tools themselves at the expense of streamlining political analysis throughout development-agency thinking.