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(iv) Giving as much attention to the implementation of
policy reform as to programme design
Donors often tend to concentrate on the design issues of policy reform and
spend far less time on addressing implementation issues. This issue is not
just of relevance for the substantive feasibility of implementing the targets
that have been agreed upon, but also affects the administrative and political
feasibility of reform programmes. Technical assistance and capacity building
are thus essential ingredients of policy reform programmes and of donor
support to these programmes. So are efforts to strengthen the public’s understanding
of the ultimate benefits of reform programmes.
(v) Strengthening domestic ownership and, thus, the sustainability
of policy reform by strengthening the self-help aspect of reform
The record of the 1990s shows an inverse relationship between financial
dependency on donors and ownership of the policy reform programme.
Where national ownership was reduced, there has been a corresponding
reduction in programme sustainability. The key is for donors to ensure in
the development policy dialogue that the recipient country’s own financial
contribution to the development increases over time, and that it does not
decrease, as it did so precipitously in Zambia in the 1990s:
Table 3. Zambia: dependency on external assistance
1990 1999 2000
Macro-economic dependency
External assistance as per cent of GDP
Net external assistance as per cent of gross
10 13 …
domestic inv.
Fiscal dependency
35 62
Per cent of all expenditures financed by donors 32 34 34
Economic sectors 62
Social sectors
Per cent of capital expenditures financed by
49
donors
Per cent of public investment financed
69 90 90
by public savings 81 5 …
Source: van der Heijden, Hendrik, 2000.
93