Development aid critique: quick results say little about long-term success

Brigitte Erler’s Tödliche Hilfe (Deadly Aid) was published in 1985 and unleashed a furious public and academic discussion in Germany about the value of development assistance. The book was a forerunner of a debate about aid effectiveness that continues unabated today and has led, among other things, to an emphasis on quick, measureable impacts in the design of development projects. However, quick results say little about the ultimate contribution of such projects. Revisiting some of the projects Erler criticized, now, thirty year later, sheds surprising light on the subject. by Marianne Scholte

In 1983, Erler, then a desk officer in the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), returned from a three-week trip to Bangladesh, where she visited projects supported by the ministry. She immediately quit her job and wrote Tödliche Hilfe, in which she maintained that ‘every single component of the projects implemented under my responsibility made the rich richer and the poor, poorer.’

Erler was one of the first to write a scathing bestseller critical of development aid. She would not be the last. In 2009, the Zambian economist, Dambisa Moyo, wrote a book with a title similar to Erler’s: Dead Aid: why aid is not working and how there is another way for Africa. Echoing Erler, Moyo claimed that ‘Millions in Africa are poorer today because of aid; misery and poverty have not ended but increased.’

In the more nuanced, but no less strident The White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good (2006), William Easterly, the former World Bank research economist, argued that aid has been, for the most part, a colossal waste of money because planners had been imposing ‘big ideas’ from above instead of searching out what might work in a concrete situation. 

This fundamental skepticism towards aid has contributed to a questionable trend in international development cooperation: Today, development projects are increasingly required to use relatively short-term results-based monitoring and evaluation frameworks such as DFID’s 3Es ‘Value for Money’ or the BMZ’s Results Matrix to prove that their positive impact justifies the use of development funds. Some agencies are even experimenting with a cash-on-delivery framework, whereby development aid is only disbursed if the planned results have actually been achieved. 

Critics in the tradition of Brigitte Erler have done a disservice to development aid, as they have ignored the fact that one needs patience for development and development aid to be successful. In this context, it is instructive to circle back and examine some of the BMZ-supported projects in Bangladesh that so exasperated Erler 30 years ago. 

Study: RMG jobs help lower child marriage rate

The life of a Bangladeshi garment factory worker is not an easy one, but the new research by the University of Washington (UW) suggests something else.
The new study indicates that access to such factory jobs improves the lives of young Bangladeshi women, motivating them to stay in school and lowering their likelihood of early marriage and childbirth.
- See more at: http://www.dhakatribune.com/business/2015/mar/29/study-rmg-jobs-help-lower-child-marriage-rate#sthash.uolNcb3g.g9UtovzG.dpuf

he life of a Bangladeshi garment factory worker is not an easy one, but the new research by the University of Washington (UW) suggests something else.
The new study indicates that access to such factory jobs improves the lives of young Bangladeshi women, motivating them to stay in school and lowering their likelihood of early marriage and childbirth.
- See more at: http://www.dhakatribune.com/business/2015/mar/29/study-rmg-jobs-help-lower-child-marriage-rate#sthash.uolNcb3g.g9UtovzG.dpuf

The life of a Bangladeshi garment factory worker is not an easy one, but the new research by the University of Washington (UW) suggests something else.

The new study indicates that access to such factory jobs improves the lives of young Bangladeshi women, motivating them to stay in school and lowering their likelihood of early marriage and childbirth.

- See more at: http://www.dhakatribune.com/business/2015/mar/29/study-rmg-jobs-help-lower-child-marriage-rate#sthash.uolNcb3g.g9UtovzG.dpuf

The life of a Bangladeshi garment factory worker is not an easy one, but the new research by the University of Washington (UW) suggests something else.
The new study indicates that access to such factory jobs improves the lives of young Bangladeshi women, motivating them to stay in school and lowering their likelihood of early marriage and childbirth.
- See more at: http://www.dhakatribune.com/business/2015/mar/29/study-rmg-jobs-help-lower-child-marriage-rate#sthash.uolNcb3g.g9UtovzG.dpuf

The life of a Bangladeshi garment factory worker is not an easy one, but the new research by the University of Washington (UW) suggests something else.
The new study indicates that access to such factory jobs improves the lives of young Bangladeshi women, motivating them to stay in school and lowering their likelihood of early marriage and childbirth.
- See more at: http://www.dhakatribune.com/business/2015/mar/29/study-rmg-jobs-help-lower-child-marriage-rate#sthash.uolNcb3g.g9UtovzG.dpuf

Bangladesh

No “basket case”
Bangladesh is one of the few countries likely to meet almost all of the Millennium Development Goals. The country is still very poor, but it has made spectacular progress.  by Marianne Scholte

http://www.dandc.eu/en/article/bangladesh-development-success-not-basket-case

 

 

Labour relations

“Enforce the law”

 In the eyes of garment workers, Bangladesh’s textiles industry is better than its international reputation. Nazma Akter, one of the country’s leading labour activists, assessed matters in an interview with Marianne Scholte. 

 

http://www.dandc.eu/en/article/bangladeshi-labour-leader-demands-laws-be-enforced

 

 

The needs of the garment workers should have priority

Syed Sultan Uddin Ahmmed, Assistant Executive Director of the Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BILS Projects), discusses compensation for Rana Plaza victims, factory safety and labor unions in Bangladesh. In his view, while a lot of money is being spent for seminars and consultants, little has actually improved for workers in the factories.              by Marianne Scholte

Dhaka, 24 September 2014

Scholte: A lot has happened since Rana Plaza. What is the situation in the readymade garment sector and for its workers and labor unions now?

Sultan Ahmmed: There have been endless discussions, nationally and internationally, seminars and conferences in New York, in Brussels, Dhaka, everywhere. Enormous resources have been used, but personally, I don’t feel there has been much improvement on the ground.

Scholte: But what about the compensation being paid by the Rana Plaza Claims Administration? What about the factory inspections by the Accord and Alliance, the remediation going on, the new health and safety committees? Over 200 new labor unions have been registered with the government. All this doesn’t constitute progress?

Sultan Ahmmed: To some small degree, yes. But it is not what it should be. Take compensation. Some victims got support from individual donors; some got support from the Prime Minister’s fund, but one year and five months after Rana Plaza, the Rana Plaza Claims Administration has not been able to disburse compensation to the victims. It is terribly late, terribly late.

Scholte: Why has it taken so long?

Sultan Ahmmed: Because of the assessment criteria – they are complicated and took a long time. This is a huge challenge for the committee. And then there is the problem of non-availability of sufficient funds: we have only enough funds to disburse 40% of the calculated amount.

Scholte: But even that 40% has not been disbursed. How much has been disbursed?

Sultan Ahmmed: Only 50,000 taka per person plus 45,000 taka from Primark. So all together 95,000 taka (960 euros) per person has been disbursed. I am a member of the Rana Plaza Claims Administration, so it is also my failure.

Scholte: How long will it take until the compensation is disbursed?

Subcontracting in Bangladesh’s readymade garment industry

Md. Fazlul Hoque, former President of the Bangladesh Employers‘ Federation (2011-2013) and former President of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (April 2004-July 2010) discusses the consolidation of the readymade garment industry in Bangladesh in the post-Rana Plaza era and criticizes buyers, including German firms, who place orders with compliant, green factories with the understanding that their clothing will be made in much cheaper subcontracting factories where the working conditions are poor.          by Marianne Scholte

Dhaka, 15 September 2014

Scholte: I want to begin by asking you about subcontracting. A study by the Center for Business and Human Rights at New York University Stern School of Business[1] claims that subcontracting is the open secret of the RMG industry, also in Bangladesh. Suppliers apparently boost margins and reduce costs by subcontracting to factories that have lower standards than they have and this is where the worst working conditions are found. They also claim that this problem is not being addressed by the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, or the Government of Bangladesh.
Hoque: Subcontracting is not illegal, you know. Everywhere in the world, every industry has subcontracting.

There are three kinds of subcontracting. The first kind is when you are in trouble because you did not get the raw materials on time, you had power outages, there were other delays. Then you hire a good factory to produce 20% of your order, so you can get it out on time. No problem. That is a normal kind of subcontracting.

The second kind of subcontracting is when a buyer places an order and then the supplier secretly turns around and subcontracts to a factory that does not have the required standards. This happens, but not very much, because normally buyers can estimate the production capacity of the supplier they are working with. Last year, after Tazreen Fashion and before Rana Plaza, we had another fire – Smart Fashion – where some 23 people were killed. That was such a case.

Then there is a third kind of subcontracting that is going on, and this is the biggest problem right now in the Bangladesh RMG industry. Buyers sign a contract with a factory that has good social and environmental standards – and use this in their public relations to polish their image – all the time knowing that the goods will actually be produced by two to three subcontractors who are much cheaper. You know, some of the discounters are offering such low prices that no good factory will produce for them.

Scholte: How widespread is this practice?

Hoque: Of course there are no statistics, but I believe that it is 10-15% of RMG business in Bangladesh at the moment.

Scholte: German companies, too?

Hoque: Yes…

A huge competitive advantage for the garment industry of Bangladesh

  
Interview with Rob Wayss, Executive Director, Bangladesh Operations, the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh  by Marianne Scholte  

Dhaka, 23 September 2014

The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh has been criticized for closing readymade garment (RMG) factories in Bangladesh, failing to provide finance for necessary repairs and threatening the livelihoods of garment workers. Responding to these criticisms, Rob Wayss, the Executive Director of the Accord’s Bangladesh Operations, asserts that, rather than being a threat, the work of the Accord is a tremendous opportunity for the industry and for its workers and labor unions.

Scholte: How are the inspections 
coming along?  
Wayss: We just finished our initial inspections a week and a half ago. We inspected around 1100 factories, and we still have about 300 to deal with – common facilities with the Alliance. It has been a heavy schedule of inspections: we have been going non-stop for eight months.

Scholte: Of those 1100 initial inspections, how many factories had to be shut down, and of the ones that had to be shut down, how many have been reopened?

Wayss: We requested the government to evacuate 17 of the buildings we inspected. Nine were immediately reopened after some aggressive weight removal and load management measures – they had to remove stock, drain water tanks, partially or fully evacuate floors, etc. 

We had another four where the building had to be completely evacuated and it will never reopen. But those factory owners were able to immediately relocate all of the workers and all the production to other facilities they have.

And then we have four that were closed and remain closed. In two of those, the remediation, including the remediation financing discussions, are underway and we are hopeful that they will reopen. And then there are two tough cases where it remains to be seen whether the factory will reopen or not. In one of these cases, the factory owner filed a lawsuit against the Ministry of Labour and Employment Review Panel, of which the Accord is a defendant.

Scholte: Four out of 1100 factories inspected where the workers are presently not working. That is a relatively small number. But what about wages for workers in the closed firms?

Wayss: We are getting a fair amount of grief on the wage issue, but the problem has been substantially overstated. We have only a couple cases where the workers have not been properly paid. Under Article 13 of the Accord, the brands are required to make sure that the factory owner is paying wages during factory closures or partial closures due to our inspections. We are working with the brands, the owners and the labor colleagues now to determine to what extent the Accord has been violated, and we will work to rectify found violations.