Globalisation and Development Cooperation
Innovation Perspectives in International Development Cooperation: The case of organised civil society
Abstract:
Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are still in the side-lines of the emerging literature on innovation in international development cooperation, although the topic has been gaining prominence since the 2000s, accompanying the wider transformation of the development cooperation field. Innovation perspectives in international development cooperation: the case of organised civil society presents the results of a mixed methods research that involved a broad geographic sample of 20 NGO national co-ordinating bodies through an online survey and semi-structured interviews. The goal was to map and analyse innovation perspectives, motivations, and practices in these organisations, understand their relationship with mainstream views of innovation in the field and uncover their potential to promote inclusive innovation. Results suggest that these actors have potential to promote inclusive innovation practices in the field, since they approach innovation with social change as an end goal, as opposed to having an overly solutionist and problem-solving view of social innovation. The paper also highlights the key role of information and communications technologies, as well as digital tools, as both a reason to innovate and enablers of innovation in these organisations. Finally, the conclusion leaves questions open for further research on innovation in development NGOs.
Quotation:
Silva, A. L. (2022). Innovation perspectives in international development cooperation: the case of organised civil society. Cambio. Rivista Sulle Trasformazioni Sociali. https://doi.org/10.36253/cambio-12283
NGOs and Innovation
Abstract:
Over the past twenty years, and against the backdrop of a profound transformation in the international development cooperation sector, innovation has resurged as a ‘hot’ topic in the field. In the same period, development non-governmental organisations (NGOs) face growing challenges of legitimacy, accountability, and dependence on government funding. Their role as precursors of alternative development models, natural social innovators, and catalysts of international solidarity movements is increasingly being questioned. These challenges have been further exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Existing research on development NGO innovation focuses, like most classic innovation research in other fields, on studying specific, usually successful, innovations; leaving many questions unanswered on topics like innovation failure, processes, culture, funding, motivations, as well as the role of NGOs in innovation for development. This chapter, NGOs and Innovation, by Ana Luísa Silva, gives an overview of the state of the art on development NGOs and innovation, identifying areas that are open for further research. This article is inserted in A Research Agenda for Civil Society, a book by Kees Biekart and Alan Fowler.
Quotation:
Silva, A. L. (2022). NGOs and Innovation. In K. Biekart & A. Fowler (Ed.), A Research Agenda for Civil Society (pp. 127-142). Elgar Research Agendas. Edward Elgar. ISBN: 978 1 80037 814 8
The Routledge Handbook of EU-Africa Relations
Abstract:
This handbook provides a comprehensive overview of the changing dynamics in the relationship between the African continent and the EU, provided by leading experts in the field. Structured into five parts, the book provides an incisive look at the past, present and potential futures of EU-Africa relations. The cutting-edge chapters cover themes like multilateralism, development assistance, institutions, gender equality and science and technology, among others. Thoroughly researched, this book provides original reflections from a diversity of conceptual and theoretical perspectives, from experts in Africa, Europe and beyond. The handbook thus offers rich and comprehensive analyses of contemporary global politics as manifested in Africa and Europe. This handbook will be an essential reference for scholars, students, researchers, policy makers and practitioners interested and working in a range of fields within the (sub)disciplines of African and EU studies, European politics and international studies. The Routledge Handbook of EU-Africa Relations, by Luís Mah (researcher for the Centre for African and Development Studies), Nial Duggan and Toni Haastrup is part of the mini-series Europe in the World Handbooks examining EU-regional relations and established by Professor Wei Shen.
Quotation:
Mah, Luís, Duggan, Nial & Haastrup, Toni (2021). The Routledge Handbook of EU-Africa Relations. Routledge. ISBN 9781315170916.
Portugal e o Bazar Africano: Mapeando trocas comerciais, fluxos de investimento e de ajuda ao desenvolvimento
Abstract:
Authored by Luís Mah, Portugal e o bazar africano: Mapeando trocas comerciais, fluxos de investimento e de ajuda ao desenvolvimento (with Rodrigo Ferreira do Amaral and Tcherno Baldé) is the fifth chapter of the e-book “Política Externa Portuguesa e África: Contextos e Tendências Contemporâneo” by A, Raimundo. In recent decades, Africa has gone from a ‘hopeless’ continent to an attractive and potential frontier market. The rapid economic changes in the region have benefited from new patterns of global engagement, involving emerging economies such as China or India. These developments have promoted increasing South-South cooperation, with several African countries seeking greater integration into the world economy. This chapter begins by analysing the current African economic context. Next, it explores how Portugal has developed its economic presence and cooperation on the continent since the mid-1970s, considering three indicators: trade, investment and development aid. Finally, the article assesses the challenges and opportunities for Portugal’s economic relations with Sub-Saharan Africa.
Quotation:
Mah, Luís (2019). Portugal e o bazar africano: Mapeando trocas comerciais, fluxos de investimento e de ajuda ao desenvolvimento (com Rodrigo Ferreira do Amaral e Tcherno Baldé) Em Política Externa Portuguesa e África: Contextos e Tendências Contemporâneo editado por António Raimundo, Lisboa: Centro de Estudos Internacionais, ISCTE-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa. ISBN 978-989-781-168-5. Cap. 5. pp. 121-139.
Contributo para uma leitura sobre práticas de cooperação para o desenvolvimento. O Projeto PAIPA implementado na Guiné-Bissau.
Abstract:
Contributo para uma leitura sobre práticas de cooperação para o desenvolvimento. O Projeto PAIPA implementado na Guiné-Bissau refers to an evaluation work of the Project to Support the Intensification of Food Production (PAIPA), a development cooperation project in the field of agriculture, included under the scope of Portuguese cooperation with Guinea-Bissau. The main objective was to construct an Evaluation focused on the intervention methodology designed for the implementation of the project, analysing the pathways, actions and resources mobilized to achieve the central objective of promoting the transition from traditional family-based agriculture in Guinea-Bissau to cash crop agriculture. The project documentation was analysed, interviews were conducted in Portugal and Guinea-Bissau with technicians and cooperation agents, local informants and PAIPA beneficiaries in the regions where the intervention took place. PAIPA was considered a successful project because it is based on respect for local specificities and is committed to the involvement of the target populations.
Quotation:
Frias, Sónia, (2019), “Contributo para uma leitura sobre práticas de cooperação para o desenvolvimento. O Projeto PAIPA implementado na Guiné-Bissau” in Alvarez, Teresa, Teresa Joaquim e Teresa Pinto (org.) Estudos sobre as Mulheres – conhecimentos itinerantes, percursos partilhados, Estudos sobre as Mulheres 1. Lisboa. CEMRI/UAberta. ISBN 978-972-674-863-2.
Futuro(s) da Cooperação: Continuidades e rupturas
Abstract:
At a time when a new strategy for Portuguese Cooperation is being defined and profound changes are taking place at the global level, ACEP and CEsA have decided to mark their years of experience in the sector with a document that is intended as a contribution towards evaluating the path of Portuguese Cooperation policy and setting the course for possible futures. In Futuro(s) da Cooperação: Continuidades e Rupturas, in addition to our vision and questions about the policies of Portuguese and European cooperation and the role of civil society, we have also included other voices of partners and specialists, particularly from Africa, which run through the whole document and give it a more plural, multidisciplinary and multi-geographic character. This document was prepared by the ACEP team, within the framework of an advocacy and political influence project, developed in partnership with CEsA (CSG/ISEG/ULisboa), with the support of Camões – Instituto da Cooperação e da Língua. Alongside the rescue of principles and values – in speech and in practice – a serious and uncomplicated discussion must be started on power relations and the ‘delocalisation of aid’, laid bare by the pandemic crisis. This debate, already on the agenda in countries like the United Kingdom, is still absent in Portuguese Cooperation. An approach to the localisation of cooperation as a process of autonomisation implies a process logic, without a fixed time, in which non-financial resources are valued, which allows for a subjective space/time for growth and which lasts beyond this or that funding or project.
Quotation:
Oliveira, A. F., Proença, F., Cavaco, R. (2021). Futuro(s) da Cooperação: Continuidades e rupturas. Lisboa: ACEP e CEsA.
Inovação e mudança nas Organizações Não-Governamentais de Desenvolvimento (ONGD) Portuguesas
Inovação e mudança nas Organizações Não-Governamentais de Desenvolvimento (ONGD) Portuguesas by Ana Luísa Silva and Renata Assis focuses on innovation for development in the context of Portuguese NGDOs. Given the diversity of interpretations that the concept of innovation itself raises, the study began by mapping the perspectives, practices and culture of innovation of the actors under analysis. In this way, we sought to ascertain what is innovation for Portuguese NGDOs? What priority do they give to innovation? What obstacles do they face? And what reasons lead Portuguese NGDOs to wish (or not wish) to innovate?
Abstract:
This study focuses on innovation in the context of International Cooperation for Development (ICD) – innovation for development – from the perspectives of Portuguese Non-Governmental Development Organizations (NGDOs). Given the diversity of interpretations that the concept of innovation can present, any analysis on the subject must begin by identifying the perspectives and practices of the actor(s) under analysis. In this way, the analysis is guided by the questions: what does innovation mean for Portuguese NGDOs? What priority do you give to innovation? What obstacles do you face? What types of innovation do they develop and implement? What reasons lead Portuguese NGDOs to want (or not want to) innovate? As this is the first wide-ranging study on innovation in Portuguese NGDOs, we sought to map the culture, capacity, existing innovation support structures in Portuguese NGDOs and also identify obstacles/constraints to innovation in these organizations. The study was carried out through an online questionnaire survey, which received responses from 46 organizations in the period from November 9 to 26, 2021. The sample included organizations with a wide variety of organizational structures, according to the diversity of the universe of 163 Portuguese NGOs. The survey results show that innovation is very present in the agenda, strategies and priorities of the NGDOs surveyed: for the vast majority (88%) it is a “High” or “Very High” priority in the scope of their work. Respondents show broad and multifaceted perspectives in defining innovation. However, for the NGDOs that responded to the survey, innovation is mainly seen as a tool to improve processes, increase the efficiency and impact of their work. Potentially disruptive innovations capable of leading to systemic change are infrequent in the identified examples. In addition, although they consider themselves innovative, the NGDOs surveyed also identify important obstacles to innovation, namely in terms of funding and available human resources – 73% say they do not have any kind of budget available for innovation. The study ends with a set of reflections and identifies possible ways to help build a context more conducive to innovation for development, particularly in Portuguese NGDOs. It is important that innovation is seen and approached as an approach to building social and systemic change, which is why it is essential to invest in partnerships and joint work. Among the possible paths presented, the creation of a multi-actor working group dedicated to the theme, the creation of a fund to finance innovation projects for development and the commitment to training and training NGDO employees stands out.
Quotation:
Silva, Ana Luísa e Renata Assis (2022). Inovação e mudança nas Organizações Não-Governamentais de Desenvolvimento (ONGD) Portuguesas. Lisboa: CEsA – Centro de Estudos sobre África e Desenvolvimento/ISEG
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A Rede Cáritas em Portugal e a Resposta à Covid-19
Resumo:
A Rede Cáritas em Portugal e a Resposta à Covid-19 analyzes the importance of the social action of the Cáritas Network in Portugal in an unexpected and health emergency context, by documenting the organization’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. An analysis is made of the continuity actions, but also of the innovations that emerged during the first year of the pandemic. With a presence that covers all the districts of Mainland Portugal and Islands, the Cáritas Network in Portugal developed, for the first time, a National Program of direct support to families in the form of goods and food stamps, as well as occasional and urgent financial support intended for payment of basic needs such as rent, health and electricity expenses, to a considerable number of beneficiaries (10,444 people, 3,205 families). The study shows that the Cáritas Network in Portugal was able to continue the food support activities and occasional support that it was already developing, given a greater demand from families: 60% of people who sought support from Cáritas in this period had never resorted to this kind of help.
Citação:
Pais Bernardo, Luís, Ana Luísa Silva, Renata Vieira de Assis e Luís Mah (Coord.). 2021. “A Rede Cáritas em Portugal e a Resposta à Covid-19”. Estudo Cáritas / CEsA-ISEG. Lisboa: Cáritas Portuguesa. Agosto.
Inovação para os objectivos de desenvolvimento sustentável
Inovação para os objectivos de desenvolvimento sustentável by Luís Pais Bernardo is a guide to perplexity. Innovation for Development is the subject of reports, studies and international conferences. Laboratories, centres and initiatives multiply. Innovation models, innovation at scale and the impacts of innovation are discussed. But the fundamental questions remain. What is Innovation (for Development)? What is it for? How is it done? And is it worth doing? These are the questions that the entire international development community has been asking, without pause, for a decade. This report is a guide that does not aim to discover the origin of the practices and discourses of Innovation for Development. Nor do we intend to draw up a compendium of innovations. Our ambition is somewhat more pragmatic: to provide concrete answers to immediate questions and to help build a stronger debate on development, development cooperation and innovation in development cooperation. Where necessary, we explore important questions that are reflected in innovation practice: for example, Innovation for Development is an answer to the problem of ODA effectiveness and a priority of the 2030 agenda. Why does this matter? Because it has implications for the financing, practice, impact, scale and evaluation of development cooperation.
Abstract:
What is Innovation for Development? What is it for? How is it done? And how does it differ from innovation in other sectors? This report is an answer to those questions. Between 2015 and 2030, the Sustainable Development Goals are the great global challenge. Innovation for Development emerged in response to a complex debate on aid effectiveness. Today, the questions are different: how can we innovate to achieve the SDGs? In this report, we focus on clarifying basic terms: innovation, scale and impact. We discussed the need to structure Innovation for Development around five components: learning, creating, organizing, leading and collaborating.
Quotation:
Bernardo, Luís Pais (2020). Inovação para os objectivos de desenvolvimento sustentável. Lisboa: CEsA – Centro de Estudos sobre África e Desenvolvimento/ISEG. URL: https://www.repository.utl.pt/handle/10400.5/20052
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Sector privado, inovação e ODS
In Sector privado, inovação e ODS, Luís Pais Bernardo explores the reasons why companies can and should adopt business models aligned with the SDGs, in partnership with international cooperation actors. Partnerships are key to this transformation; today, business economic activity tends to move along global value chains in which the intervention of international cooperation for development, around the 2030 Agenda, will have an increased impact. In this context, the inclusive and responsible management of the procurement of services and products on a global scale by companies becomes increasingly important. Partnerships, global value chains and procurement of goods and services are the three areas explored in this report.
Abstract:
The central role of the private sector in international development cooperation is one of the innovations of the 2030 Agenda. In 2014, UNCTAD estimated the annual funding gap for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at US$2.5 billion. Following the Busan summit and the conclusions of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the capabilities, resources and skills of the private sector are no longer viewed with suspicion, but are seen as central to achieving the 17 SDGs. Innovation, as a pillar of the private sector in the 20th century XXI, is the new paradigm. In this report, we explore the reasons why companies can and should adopt business models aligned with the SDGs, in partnership with international cooperation actors. Partnerships are key to this transformation; today, business economic activity tends to move along global value chains in which the intervention of international cooperation for development, around the 2030 Agenda, will have an increased impact. In this context, the inclusive and responsible management of the acquisition of services and products on a global scale by companies, assumes an increasing importance. Partnerships, global value chains and procurement of goods and services are the three areas explored in this report.
Quotation:
Bernardo, Luís Pais (2020). Sector privado, inovação e ODS. Lisboa: CEsA – Centro de Estudos sobre África e Desenvolvimento/ISEG. URL: https://www.repository.utl.pt/handle/10400.5/20053
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