Across the world, development aid projects play an important role in helping individuals and societies transition out of poverty and towards a more sustainable standard of living. Oftentimes, aid programs are exclusively viewed through the lens of either the donor, financial auditors, or the implementing agency. However, civil society organizations (CSOs) can often play an important role in monitoring the implementation and evaluating the effectiveness of aid programs.
When a CSO is highly specialized in a certain topic or field, it can conduct and elaborate impartial third-party monitoring, evaluation, and impact assessment of a project run in that specific topic or field. As you will learn later in the article, by timely exposing corruption and irregularities, a CSO can turn a ‘failed’ project back onto a successful path.
Since the second half of the XX-th century, the primary focus for development aid projects was on outputs and inputs, and assessing their outcomes and impact often took a back seat. However, over the past few decades or so, there has been a growing shift toward ensuring that development projects provide “value for money,” are implemented effectively, and take feedback from beneficiaries and the local community into consideration. This shift in focus reflects both an increased austerity in many donor nations’ foreign aid budgets as well as a growing awareness that effective and impactful projects are needed in order to achieve the UN 2030 Agenda sustainable development goals (SDGs), thus driving a more rigorous and results-oriented approach to the conception, financing, and implementation of all development aid projects.
CSOs can play a critical role in this process by providing donors and implementing agencies with independent oversight, feedback, and greater accountability.
CSOs also can work to bridge the gap between donors and recipients by delivering insights into the impact of projects, advocate for improvements, when necessary, and enhance the overall accountability of development aid efforts.
Why is monitoring and evaluation important?
Although all development aid comes from a genuine intention desire to improve the lives of recipients, there is, unfortunately, a track record of well-intended projects having unexpected, ineffective, or even harmful impacts. As such, timely and impartial monitoring, assessing, and evaluating projects (in short – M&E) is now a critically important component of aid programs, and civil society organizations (CSOs) contribute to this effort.
As donor agencies have learned, the impact of successful monitoring, analysis, and evaluation in development projects is multifaceted.
- Firstly, M&E leads to improved project outcomes via a process of identifying challenges and opportunities in real-time, which results in timely course corrections.
- Secondly, monitoring and evaluation enhances trust and accountability by demonstrating to all stakeholders that money and resources are being used effectively, which fosters future support for other development aid efforts.
- Lastly, M&E generates valuable data and feedback that can be applied by donors toward creating, tweaking, and implementing evidence-based policies and practices, thus contributing toward the broader development community in achieving the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
The role of civil society organizations (CSOs) in monitoring aid projects
The term “civil society organizations” (CSOs) is a catch-all term that refers to non-governmental organizations (NGOs), charities, and nonprofit entities, which share in common an autonomy from both the government as well as the private sector. CSOs are usually involved in social activities to address issues in the community as well as promoting the common good.
Right from the start of the modern era of development aid (post-World War II reconstruction), CSOs played a role alongside state and international efforts to rebuild war-torn Europe, resettle refugees, and provide basic necessities such as clean water, food, and shelter. Originally, CSOs often worked in parallel with these state and international-led efforts, but over time, a greater synergy has emerged, and today, many CSOs are invaluable implementation partners of development projects. Through their efforts, CSOs have gained recognition for their local connections, flexibility, and capacity for adapting to local needs and conditions, thus giving CSOs a contributing role in shaping and implementing development projects and policies.
Some of the key functions that CSOs play in monitoring and evaluating development aid projects:
- Advocacy and improved awareness
- Data collection, analysis and feedback
- Accountability and transparency
- Community engagement and communication
Real examples of CSOs impacting aid projects
One real-world example of the role that CSOs can play in monitoring and evaluating development projects is the involvement of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) with the Padma Bridge project that now connects the less developed southwestern region of the country to the more industrialized northern and eastern regions.
Opened for combined rail-road traffic on June 25, 2022, the Padma Bridge project was initiated in 2014 but soon ran into issues of widespread allegations of corruption and mismanagement, which cast doubts on both the effectiveness of using foreign aid funds for its construction as well as local public support for the project.
Thankfully, TIB stepped up to the plate, bringing its credibility as a prominent anti-corruption CSO to play a critical role in monitoring and evaluating the Padma Bridge project. TIB launched a campaign across traditional media, social networks, and community fora to ensure transparency and good governance and conducted independent assessments as well as scrutinizing the procurement process and monitoring financial flows and decision-making mechanisms.
TIB’s reports brought to light numerous irregularities and identified several weak points that were vulnerable to potential corruption. Through these actions as well as the filing of a public interest litigation that got the judiciary to intervene, legal and political pressure was leveraged against the government to address a number of outstanding issues.
The result was that several government officials were held accountable for their actions, corrupt practices were exposed, leading to restored public trust in the project as well as increased donor confidence. Ultimately, TIB’s vigilance and grassroots efforts led to the successful construction of this vital infrastructure link for Bangladesh and set a precedent for increased accountability for all development projects across the country and the wider region.
Another example showcasing the CSOs role in monitoring aid projects are some of the journalistic investigations that reveal irregularities in development aid management. From exposing corrupt officials to potential abuse in aid awarding systems, journalists play a critical role in monitoring aid effectiveness and transparency.
The Padma bridge case in Bangladesh, and many more like it, underscores the essential roles that CSOs can play in monitoring development aid projects as they are being implemented as well as improved effectiveness of donor funds and efforts, increased transparency, and greater “value for money” for contributing stakeholders.
