4.3.1 Demand-drivenness and ownership
The NPT programme is supposed to be demand-driven as was clearly indicated in the international education policy framework. But whose demand drives the projects generated in the context of this programme? The set-up of the NPT programme is clear about the need for NPT projects to support the sectoral development needs identified for Netherlands development cooperation in the country in question. Besides, the NPT programme can only function in a country if the RNE agrees to it. These conditions determine that the demand that drives NPT projects is in the first place one that is perceived by the RNE. This is not necessarily bad. After all, the sectoral development interests looked after by the RNE result from discussions with the beneficiary country. They also find their place within the framework of the ongoing conversation among members of the donor community about who does what. However, the needs thus identified are not necessarily perceived in a similar way by the beneficiary institution, which could have implications for ownership building, motivation and dedication. Notwithstanding the fact that the RNE has the first say in determining demand, in all three field investigations it was found that the local key stakeholders felt that their demands were being recognised.
Also in Vietnam this feeling was expressed, although the demand of the institutes is moderated by the centralised government structures (see also section 3.2). In Uganda and Tanzania participatory processes have been followed to select the institutes for NPT support. In both countries, all major stakeholders were involved in a comprehensive demand identification phase (see also the box below). In that respect, the identification process has been demand-driven from the South.
At the level of the individual institutes it was also found that they feel ownership for the NPT projects and that the activities dovetail with their strategic plans. The split between the outline development by the southern institute on the one hand, and the proposal preparation by the Dutch partner on the other hand, as well as the involvement of the southern institute in the Tender Evaluation Committee (TEC) have positively contributed to creating this ownership. Moreover, the decision to open the NPT programme also for commercially operating training and consultancy firms as well as the larger share that Universities of Professional Education have acquired, may also have contributed to the demand drivenness of the programme. A greater demand from the South for more practically oriented support can now more easily be supplied by the Universities of Professional Education and consultancies than was possible in the past.
Demand identification for decentralisation in Tanzania
In December 2003 Tanzania was added to the list of NPT countries. During the first Nuffic mission to Tanzania in March 2004, Nuffic and the RNE agreed that decentralisation would be one of the themes to receive NPT support. It turned out to be difficult, however, to focus the NPT support for
decentralisation, since it is a broad theme, cross-cutting different sectors. It was therefore difficult to identify capacity constraints and relevance of institutes within this theme. Nuffic and the RNE had decided that the President’s Office for Regional Administration and Local Governance (PO-RALG) should be given the role to identify potential NPT institutes with the support of a local consultant. At the end of August 2004, PO-RALG, however, indicated that it did not have the necessary capacity to play the envisaged role. The consequence was that an external consultant needed to be hired for an identification study. Based on the advice of the RNE, Nuffic hired a consultant and in December 2004 the assignment commenced.
During the second Nuffic mission to Tanzania in January 2005, the stakeholders workshop for decentralisation was organised in close consultation between Nuffic, RNE, PO-RALG and the Ministry of Science, Higher Education and Technology. This workshop was hosted by PO-RALG and facilitated by the consultants who prepared the needs identification study. A summary of the draft study was sent to the organisations that were invited to the stakeholders workshop (e.g. representatives of LGRP, Ministry of Science, Higher Education and Technology, Public Service Commission, Temeke Municipal Council). The consultants presented their findings in the workshop and a prioritisation of themes was made, being financial management, human resource management and planning. Based on this prioritisation of themes, the meeting also resulted in a shortlist of the following institutes for NPT support:
1. Tanzania Institute of Accountancy (TIA): finance 2. Institute of Finance Management (IFM): finance 3. Mzumbe University: HR and planning
4. Institute for Rural Development Planning (IRDP): planning 5. Tanzania Public Service College (TSPC): planning
6. National Council for Technical Education (NACTE): quality control Source: Field investigation Tanzania (see annex)
In Vietnam, the institutes mentioned that current procedures constitute an improvement when compared to the predecessor modalities. There is thus increased perceived relevance on their part. Comparing their experience under NPT with alternative experiences under programmes offered by other donors, they frequently comment that collaboration with The Netherlands allows them to have a greater say and more flexibility in defining what a project is going to look like. The possibility to take responsibility for financial management of a portion of the project’s resources, though still used only to a limited extent, is also identified as an improvement. Having such responsibility translates into a sense of enhanced autonomy within the partnership.
It should be noticed however, that although most stakeholders are involved in identifying the relevant needs, this does not guarantee ownership of the NPT projects throughout the organisation. For instance, the NPT project on Strengthening capacity of prisons and
police training institutions in Uganda will have far reaching impacts on the functioning of future policemen, since it means a whole new approach of police work. Logically, this means that the whole police organisation must be committed to the project. For the moment, this is seen as a challenge by the project leader yet to be realised.
Lack of ownership in Ghana
In 2005, most projects were on track. A general issue noticed concerned the lack of a full and complete sense of ownership at the project level. Often representatives of institutions talked about decisions being dictated to them by Dutch partners. Inaccurate information provided by some of the Dutch partners – very often, allegedly brought in as Nuffic rules and regulations – weakened the position of some of the recipient institutions during preliminary negotiations and prevented them from clearly expressing their own views and desires on how the project should be implemented.
Source: Deskstudy Ghana
Another problem for the local ownership of the NPT projects, which was in particularly found in Vietnam, is that outlines often give only a vague idea of what is needed and even after inception there is still considerable room for improvement in project design. If serious local ownership is to be developed, then more attention must be paid to including in project implementation a component that creates capacity in project design and management.
A complicating factor when looking at ownership is that the ambitions of an institute in the South - as formulated in the project outline – can be more than the institute
realistically can handle. In these cases, the project aims need to be made more realistic during the inception phase. For instance, some of the interviewed persons indicated that it turned out that the Iringa University College in southern Tanzania (NPT/TZA/099) did not have the capacity to develop a real MBA programme, which was one of the objectives in the outline. Moreover, the demands of the southern institute may not always be the most crucial in terms of impact on poverty reduction. For instance, it was also mentioned that for the Iringa University College questions could be raised whether the development of an MBA is at this stage the most urgent need for the local business community in the Southern Zone of Tanzania.
4.3.2 Type of contractual agreements
The type of contractual agreement that is chosen can also contribute to a sense of
ownership by the southern institute. Although Nuffic indicates that they preferably like to sign a contract with the southern organisation, this happened only one time so far. By far, most projects are two-party agreements between Nuffic and the Dutch organisation.
Table 4.2 Type of contractual agreements
Type of contractual agreements Number
Number of projects with two-party agreements with southern organisation 1 Number of projects with two-party agreements with Dutch organisation 74 Number of projects with three-party agreements 30
Total 105
Even though Nuffic prefers to enter into a two-party agreement with the southern institute, the southern institute does not necessarily have the same preference. They may be hesitant to take the financial management upon their shoulders due to limited capacity or they may be reluctant due to other reasons, like for instance a lack of confidence that project funds will remain reserved for project purposes. In that case everyone is better of with one of the other contractual options, although each option has its own advantages and disadvantages. The two-party agreements with the Dutch organisation can be implemented quite easily but undermines in essence the role of the southern institute and the principle of demand-driveness. Tri-party agreements are actually more like parallel contracts. This open triangle contract - because there is no formal link between the Dutch institute and southern institute - may cause problems if there is no agreement between the two parties. In some cases, Dutch institutes have indicated that they have experienced difficulties in their relationship with the southern institute because of this.