Difficulties faced by Foreign Aid Agencies in China
Geoffrey York from the Globe and Mail reports the challenges and difficulties faced by Canadian International Development Agency in implementing aid program in China which encompasses local stakeholder involvement into the project process:
Equally interesting are the comments by (predominantly) Canadians on this news report.
"The Canadian International Development Agency has been searching for new justifications for its assistance to China, knowing that Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government has been suspicious of Canadian aid to the world's fastest-growing economy.
Poverty reduction projects have been scaled back. Instead CIDA tries to leverage its money to stimulate Chinese action to improve its environment, governance, legal reforms and human rights. But achieving results in these fields can be problematic - and the project in Inner Mongolia is a classic case.
Bator the herdsman is baffled by the CIDA project. "I heard that Canada built this building," he says, "but I don't feel any benefit from it."
Internal reports obtained by The Globe and Mail reveal that Chinese authorities resisted many of Canada's ideas for the project, which was originally intended to improve China's ability to manage its environment and protect its wildlife.
The Canadian emphasis on community participation was seen by Chinese officials as a "necessary evil," according to a report by a CIDA consultant in 2004, when the project was three years old.
"The Chinese stakeholders did not clearly understand, nor did they necessarily support, the inclusion of a participatory, collaborative and inclusive process," the report states.
The assessment found that the CIDA project had been seriously damaged by two years of delays, misunderstandings, confusion, lack of trust, internal disputes and design errors."
Equally interesting are the comments by (predominantly) Canadians on this news report.
Labels: China, development
