• Analyse the interplay of aid rhetoric, policy, management, practice and impact in relation to development aid interventions.
• Outline and assess the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability - the 5 DAC evaluation criteria - of various types of private sector development interventions.
• Apply and assess analytical tools of development aid management, including planning, implementation and evaluation.

The course aims to provide students with a conceptual and theoretical overview of the discourse in international development assistance, policies, guidelines and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It will introduce students to a range of more practical analytical tools, types of interventions and experiences with development interventions. Within the contemporary context of international development policies the course emphasizes in particular market and business sector driven development, including interventions in support of local business development and poverty alleviation. The course covers international development assistance strategies, analytical tools, experiences from various approaches and models. It draws upon practical and theoretical experiences of course faculty.

The course covers four overall and interrelated topics:

The first topic consists of an introduction to the trends in international development assistance with particular emphasis on the evolution of policy aims, themes and strategies of donor countries in relation to recipient countries. It will examine the overall context of development interventions including current trends and the newly lanched UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While the focus will mainly be on OECD country-based donors, we will also look at the role of non-traditional donors that are increasingly important for developing countries.

The second topic is concerned with methodologies and tools for planning, implementing, evaluating and communicating development interventions. It draws on examples from developing countries and focus on management tools such as the Logical Framework Analysis (LFA), Theory of Change and evaluation methodology.

The third topic is business sector or Private Sector Development (PSD) programmes. We will discuss, outline and assess the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability - the 5 DAC evaluation criteria - of various types of private sector development interventions. 

The fourth and final topic will address the cross cutting questions of impact of aid including on poverty alleviation and  pro-poor development interventions emphasising the potential impacts of development interventions on poverty reduction and recent initiatives to combat world poverty, i.e. the overriding objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Literature list will be available on Learn