Trusting in a vulnerable sector?

I spent my train journey coming home from work today reading the new report Vertrouwen in een kwetsbare sector? which was published on 6 April - so it is hot off the press. It has been written by the 'Commissie Draagvlak en Effectiviteit Ontwikkelingssamenwerking' and was commissioned by KIT, ICCO and SNV.

The Commission had four main research questions divided into the two themes 'Verantwoording' and 'Draagvlak en communicatie' focusing on the development cooperation sector in the Netherlands:

1. Aan wie een waarover dienen gesubsidieerde particuliere OS organisaties verantwoording af te leggen? (To whom and about what should subsidized, private development cooperation organisations give account?
2. Wat is hierein de rol van resultaatmeting? (What is the role of measurement of results in this?)
3. Is er maatschapelijke draagvlak voor OS? (Is there support for development cooperation within [Dutch] society?
4. Hoe en met welke informatie dienen OS organisaties met de samen leving te communiceren? (How and what information should these organizations communicate to [Dutch] society?)

Based on these research questions, the Commission has reached a number of interesting conclusions on, for example, the need for transparency and for development organizations to become learning organizations. Most interestingly I thought, the report emphasizes that oversimplification does not facilitate understanding of the complex issues of development cooperation by the general public or by key opinion leaders. There is not enough space to do the report justice here but I'm going to make a few quotes which I particularly enjoyed:

Bij een sterke focus op controleren en verantwoording, wordt niet de informatie verkregen die nodig is om te leren en verbeteringen aan te brengen in werkwijze. (A strong focus on control and giving account means that information necessary for learning and improvement of practices is not available.)

Als er te veel belang wordt gehecht aan resultmeting, bestaat het risico dat organisaties alleen dat werk gaan doen dat ook meetbaar is en tot zichtbare resultaten leidt. (If much emphasis is placed on results measurement, the risk exists that organisations will only do work that is measurable and will lead to demonstrable results.)

Although the report doesn't focus specifically on the role of knowledge, it does refer on a number of occassions to the potential role of modern ICTs, particularly the Internet, in facilitating more open, more honest and more frequent communication.

(Please note that the report is currently only available in Dutch. The translations here are based on my own interpretation of the text. Draagvlak is particularly difficult to translate but it means something like public support.)

Congratulations Julie and Mark!

Although Enrique Mendizabal (see previous post on 24 March) argues that blogs will change development, I think they are already changing the way people exchange news with each other. The first intimation of the arrival of Julie's new baby was a message on her blog: 'We may have some news for you sometime soon', followed by an entry a few days later informing the world - and friends and family - that baby Emile was born on 6 April.

I think the message 'We may have news for you sometime soon' must have caused an enormous amount of anxiety among those waiting for news. I did try to check Julie and Mark's blog frequently in the day following the 'sometime soon' message but then got caught up in preparations for Sacha's feestje (children's party) which was extremely stressful this year - and this is an understatement!

Well, many congratulations Julie and Mark on the birth of your gorgeous baby, and let me echo Camilo by saying that I wouldn't be at all surprised if his first words aren't 'knowledge sharing'!