New Research Project maps Development Actors’ Involvement in New EU Member States

With the participation of nine research institutes and think tanks based in the new EU member states, a EuropeAid funded research project is now advancing its study of the roles and activities of various development actors in new donor countries. Addressing Millennium Development Goal Eight on building global partnerships as well as prominent international declarations on improving aid effectiveness such as the Accra Agenda for Action and the Busan Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation, the project’s point of departure is that involving non-state actors in the planning, implementing and monitoring of development projects is key to their effectiveness.

Focusing on countries that have emerged as donors with their accession to the European Union, the research asks to what extent and in what ways are the private sector and civil society organizations (CSOs) contributing to more efficient strategy-making, constructing new donor networks and establishing sound development practices. Beyond creating extensive databases of private companies and CSOs involved in Official Development Assistance recipient countries, the research draws on a large set of stakeholder interviews, as well as surveys directed at the three subfields of enquiry: actors engaged in Aid for Trade, private companies trading with aid recipient countries, and Non-Governmental Development Organizations (NGDOs) based in the new member states.

Together, the collected information will outline a comprehensive picture of the development sectors of emerging donors, thereby grounding the project’s advocacy aspect: to build networks among and within new member states through which best practices can be exchanged and cooperation patterns between governmental and private and civil society actors can be improved.

Participating research institutions:
Center for Policy Studies (Hungary)
Center for Economic Development (Bulgaria)
Centre for Public Policy PROVIDUS (Latvia)
Institute of Public Affairs (Poland)
Institute for Public Policy (Romania)
SLOGA Slovenian NGDO platform
Slovak Foreign Policy Association PRAXIS
Center for Policy Studies (Estonia)
PASOS (Czech Republic)

For more information on the project, click here.

In case your organization has not yet been contacted, but you would like to be involved, please let us know here.

Information provided by Anna Selmeczi, Center for Policy Studies