Seeking Balanced Ownership in Changing Development Cooperation Relationships

Abstract

The year 2019 marks the 50th anniversary of the 1969 landmark report ‘Partners in Development’ by the Pearson Commission of International Development. This report first acknowledged the importance of ownership and partnership as guiding principles for international development cooperation, which since feature centrally in the international development policy debate. Current trends show that promoting ownership today remains as challenging as it was back then. During 2005-2008 strong political momentum was generated by an international aid effectiveness agenda that revolved around the principle of ownership and emphasised direct support to nationally determined plans. This ‘government ownership’ agenda has in recent years slipped to the side-lines. As a contribution to this ongoing debate in Sweden and beyond, this study assesses the continuing relevance of ownership as a guiding principle for development cooperation in today’s world. Today’s global development narrative has become more inclusive and broader in terms of subject-matter, the actors involved and the interests that drive them. Crucially, today’s agenda broadens the focus beyond national development challenges towards greater emphasis on cross-border challenges that countries may only successfully face when addressing these together. Contrary to this recognition, current geopolitical realities and the encompassing pressure on multilateral institutions lower the prospects for such cross-border challenges to be engaged with effectively. Finally, recent years show both a shrinking and changing of the space and agency of civil society that weaken prospects for broad-based ownership of development.

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