What?

The PRSP Policy Advisory Project provided external scientific support to the Belgian Ministry for Development Cooperation (DGCD) in the adoption of the principles of the new aid approach, for example the adoption of new aid modalities like budget support, and in the implementation of the principles of alignment and harmonization. 
Over the past years, Belgian aid administrators have become increasingly convinced of the desirability of adapting key elements of the new aid approach. The basic question for the Belgian development community seems to be moving from the “if” to the “how” question. The predecessor to the present project, BOS-PRSP, was meant to facilitate just such a shift. 
  
The work of the Research Platform Aid Effectiveness will therefore chiefly focus on the following question: “How can Belgium, with its specificities of (1) a medium-sized donor, (2) that directs a major share of its aid to ‘fragile states’; and that (3) politically and institutionally is still searching for the most effective balance, deliver aid that is increasingly effective, by drawing on the principles of the new aid approach?” The focus thus lies more on the applicability of the new aid approach to particular countries, sectors, and implementation channels. 
  
The project started its activities in March 2009, directly after the end of BOS PRSP, and with an identical team. The promoter is Prof. R. Renard, University of Antwerp. Four senior and two junior researchers from the Institute of Development Policy and Management of the University of Antwerp (IOB-UA), mostly from an economics and political science background, provide scientific support to official Belgian aid managers over a period of four years (2009-2013). The contracting parties are the Institute of Development Policy and Management (IOB) of the University of Antwerp, DGDC and VLIR-UOS.   

The research is focused on the application of the new aid approach to the implementation channels of Belgian development cooperation: bilateral, multilateral and indirect.

These channels are studied from four different angles:

1. the political economy of the new aid paradigm
2. monitoring and evaluation within the new aid instruments
3. fiscal and budgetary aspects of new aid instruments
4. gender

The team engages in background academic work on a number of topics commonly agreed with DGDC, but does so in complete academic freedom. This is to allow the academic unit to further specialize and expand its scientific knowledge and expertise.

On the other hand the team members act as consultants, the contract stipulating the drawing rights (person/days) that DGDC can exercise in any given year. The Research Platform Aid Effectiveness Team can provide different forms of academic support on request:

• Policy research
• Policy advice
• In-house training
• Participation in Joint Donor Meetings, short missions or multi-donor missions
• Support for embassies
• Any other form of support that might be felt a need by DGDC

To find out what the team has done, you can consult our annual reports: 

• Jaarverslag 1, 15/03/2009-14/03/2010 (pdf)
• Jaarverslag 2, 15/03/2010-14/03/2011 (pdf)
• Jaarverslag 3, 15/03/2011-14/03/2012 (pdf)
• Jaarverslag 4, 15/03/2012-14/03/2013 (pdf)

The direct target group of Research Platform Aid Effectiveness consists of actors that can directly formulate requests for policy advisory support to the team:

• DGDC
• Development attachés in the field
• BTC
• Strategy unit of the ministerial cabinet

The indirect target group is invited to seminars and conferences organised by the Research Platform and has access to the publicly available output:

• other Belgian development organisations: NGO’s, Flemish government, etc…
• the South: students of the Master courses and training programmes at the IOB