Technical Assistance to CIS Countries: Performance At Stake

In this recent publication part of the CASE Network Studies and Analyses series, the authors begin by outlining the determinants and distribution patterns of technical assistance (TA) in CIS countries before proceeding to an analysis of the performance of technical cooperation (TC) on the basis of a survey of TC stakeholders in Belarus and the Kyrgyz Republic.  Because these two countries stand as completely different examples in terms of amount of TA received and political openness, they are taken to represent the CIS at large.  Accounting for the interests of different parties involved in the TC process is found to be the main source of problems affecting its performance. 

Indeed, the nature of technical assistance and the timing at which it is delivered are not always relevant to the needs of its beneficiary.  TA recipients are hesitant to prioritize certain issues over others as this might well prevent them from receiving technical assistance from donors that present different priorities.  The effectiveness of technical cooperation is also dubious in the face of lengthy administrative procedures on the donors’ side and an over-concentration of TC at the central government level on the beneficiary’s side.  The over-concentration of TC at one level of government tends to create absorption difficulties and exacerbates the lack of sustainability of technical assistance, as recipients must cope with retaining civil servants trained by that same support.  While many efforts have been made to coordinate actions of donors in recent years, the survey illustrates that some countries are supplied with more technical assistance that can be absorbed simply because their declared political agenda is driven by market economy and democratic values, while other countries, which have room to absorb additional technical assistance, are not provided with it for lack of sharing certain political values.

Among some of the ways suggested by the authors to improve the performance of technical cooperation in the Commonwealth of Independent States is an invitation to all stakeholders to (1) work on the basis of an open agenda, i.e., one in which all’s priorities and interests are clearly spelled out, (2) to co-finance TC activities in order to ensure their relevance and sustainability, (3) to diversify TC delivery channels so as to permit its absorption at different levels of government and in different organizations of civil society, and (4) to implement TC monitoring systems resembling those currently used to evaluate the impact of aid programmes and thus reduce information asymmetry between stakeholders.

READ CASE Network Study and Analysis No. 369: Technical Assistance to CIS Countries