THE INFLUENCE OF DONOR-RELATED ORGANISATIONAL, RELATIONAL, AND INDIVIDUAL-LEVEL FACTORS ON AID COORDINATION IN THE TANZANIAN HEALTH SECTOR
Abstract
Weak aid coordination is generally assumed to restrict aid effectiveness and has
remained a critical issue in international development for several decades. However,
few systematic attempts have been made to understand the barriers to improved
coordination that are related to donor organisations and their staff. To contribute to
filling this gap, this thesis examines how donor-related factors influence aid
coordination and how they interact with each other. It uses the Tanzanian health sector
as a case study and draws on primary data collected between 2014 and 2015 in the
form of 27 semi-structured interviews with 30 representatives of donor organisations
and the Government of Tanzania, as well as participant observation of 18 coordination
meetings. 21 reports and strategy documents were analysed as supplementary data.
The thematic analysis was facilitated by using NVivo 12.1 software for qualitative data
analysis. An analytical framework based on Gulrajani’s 2013 framework for
improving aid effectiveness policies was used and adapted to include complexity
theory to interpret the findings.
The findings show that aid coordination in the Tanzanian health sector was influenced
by donor-related organisational, relational, and individual-level factors. Specifically,
the aid ideologies of donor organisations had a strong and pervasive effect on
coordination. Moreover, the aid dependence of the Tanzanian health sector and
thematic priorities of donor organisations weakened the Tanzanian government’s
ownership of their health policies. Finally, the findings illustrate that the interpersonal
relationships of donor staff and their professional interests and values strongly affected
coordination practice.
The findings indicate that non-developmental interests of donor governments, such as
increasing pressures to justify aid budgets and use them to support national interests,
will likely amplify coordination challenges. Improving aid coordination would require
reconciling these competing agendas, aligning to local priorities, and harnessing
personal relationships and local knowledge to provide tailored and partner-oriented
support.