Abstract
Development may be defined as a human enterprise, an interactive inter-cultural process which seeks to actualise the highest potentials of human life (Casmir, 1991; Korten, 1986). The failure of development assistance programs over the past fifty years to promote long term development has led to an increasing concern with the efficiency and effectiveness of aid delivery.Development literature refers to a range of dimensions which characterise the changing approach to the effective and efficient delivery of development assistance programs in the 1990s. The most popular of these dimensions appear to be: sustainability, empowerment, participation, good governance, democracy and human rights. An historical review of development assistance over time and an analysis of each of these dimensions shows that there are some fundamental aspects of development assistance which have not changed over time: the need for effective communication; and equity, particularly gender equity.
To improve the effectiveness and efficiency of aid delivery, it seems that development workers need to focus on the fundamental elements of the development relationship and be trained as competent cross-cultural and gender sensitive communicators who are able to establish synergistic and equitable relationships with aid beneficiaries, and use a range of communication channels and implementation methodologies to do so.
| Date of Award | Jul 1998 |
|---|---|
| Original language | English |
| Supervisor | Murray Keith Redman (Supervisor) |