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- Convenors:
-
Emma Mawdsley
(University of Cambridge)
Brendan Whitty (University of St Andrews)
Olivia Taylor (University of Sussex)
Sarah-Jane Phelan (University of Sussex)
Jo-Anna Russon (University of Nottingham)
Jessica Sklair (QMUL)
Send message to Convenors
- Discussant:
-
Paul Gilbert
(University of Sussex)
- Format:
- Experimental format
- Stream:
- Politics in and of Global Development
- Location:
- BG01
- Sessions:
- Friday 28 June, -
Time zone: Europe/London
Short Abstract:
For-profit consultants and contractors of development services compete in a peculiar market, subject to high levels of scrutiny and often contradictory political narratives and directions. This session examines the interplay between the FCDO and its for-profit suppliers in the development ‘market’.
Long Abstract:
For-profit consultants and contractors (or suppliers) of development services compete in a peculiar market for fund management, programme delivery, back office support, and much more besides. More so than in most other parts of the public sector, suppliers are subject to particular moral panics and/or strategic projections of highly contested values (e.g. doing good, empowerment, peace-building); to higher than usual levels of scrutiny by parliamentary, civil society and watchdog organisations, even as transparency is limited in private sector value chains; they are subject to competing and often contradictory political narratives and directions; and often work in multidimensional and highly politicised environments. The ‘development market’ shapes how the diverse ecology of for-profit firms engage with it, on what terms, and with what impacts and outcomes. This session will present findings near to the conclusion of a large three-year ESRC research project. These will be presented in short format (5 mins each) with lots of time for discussion and analysis within the room. Topics covered will include:
• Procurement, tenders, evaluation: understanding supplier market governance and its impacts.
• Consultant and contractor/supplier ecologies, cultures and geographies: nuancing theory and argument in critical development studies
• Following the money, methodologies and reflections on supplier value chains, tracing aid into the private sector black box and / or to end use;
• The interplay and contestation of development versus private sector expertise and profit motives / logics in ‘Aidland’.
• Challenges of defining and outsourcing risk in the complexity of development programming
Accepted contributions:
Session 1 Friday 28 June, 2024, -Jo-Anna Russon (University of Nottingham) Emma Mawdsley (University of Cambridge)
Contribution short abstract:
In this presentation we provide an overview of key thematic trends in the evolving role of consultants and contractors in UK aid.
Contribution long abstract:
In this contribution we explore the changing nature and dynamics of consultants and contractors (C&Cs) in UK aid over time, and the corresponding policy environment which helped shape the place and role of C&Cs. Drawing on our policy-based documentary analysis and a series of interviews we trace their evolving role from sector specialists pre-1997 through to the current turbulent policy period in UK aid. During this time C&Cs have been increasingly woven into the DNA of UK aid. We see how ICAI, the IDC and other actors served as a counterforce and system of checks and balances to the use of consultants and contractors. What is clear is that whilst the aid and policy landscape has changed over time, many of the concerns regarding the use of consultants and contracts have been remarkably consistent. We explore some of the implications for the wider ecology of C&Cs in ‘Aidland’ in the presentations that follow.
Paul Gilbert (University of Sussex) Olivia Taylor (University of Sussex)
Contribution short abstract:
An outline of methodologies we have been developing to 'follow the money' through aid transparency infostructures, public accounts, and proprietary datasets; and an examination of the particular challenges involved with tracing aid flows through private sector implementation chains
Contribution long abstract:
In this contribution we present an outline of methodologies we have been developing to 'follow the money' through aid transparency infostructures, public accounts, and proprietary datasets. We highlight the particular challenges involved with tracing aid flows through private sector implementation chains. The open data infrastructures established in response to the aid transparency agenda of the 2000s are increasingly inadequate for illuminating contemporary UK aid flows, for several reasons: ‘non-aid’ government departments such as the Home Office never operated fully within the remit of open aid data and are handling a rising proportion of the aid budget; plus a rising proportion of UK aid is awarded to for-profit contractors, some disappearing into opaque ‘implementation chains’ across multiple territories. Following the money through these new ‘aid’ pathways has required engagement with open data infrastructures, proprietary datasets, and experimentation with freedom of information requests and scrutiny of government and corporate accounts.
Rakiya Mamman (National Open University of Nigeria) Oluwakemi Olayinka (Redbridge Multiservices International Limited)
Contribution short abstract:
This contribution analyzes the role and impact of UN consultants and contractors in Nigeria, focusing on their engagement with UN Agencies in Nigeria- UNDP, UN WOMEN. It examines the challenges and opportunities of working as a UN consultant or contractor in a complex and politicized environment.
Contribution long abstract:
The UN is one of the major actors in the development sector, coordinating various development programmes in Nigeria. However, the UN also relies heavily on the services of consultants and contractors, who are hired to perform specific tasks or deliverables for the UN agencies. These consultants and contractors are often subject to terms and conditions, expectations, and accountabilities than the UN staff. This contribution aims to critically analyze the role and impact of UN consultants and contractors in Nigeria, drawing on the author’s experience of working as a consultant for the UNFPA, UNDP and UN Women, such as M&E, CPE, and Audit. The contribution will address the following questions : What are the motivations and incentives for working as a UN consultant or contractor in Nigeria? What are the challenges and opportunities, especially in relation to the UN agencies, the government, the civil society, and the beneficiaries? How do they contribute to the development outcomes and impacts of the UN programmes? How they navigate the complex environment of development in Nigeria, in relation to the issues of social justice, gender, and climate change? How can the UN improve its engagement with consultants and contractors in Nigeria, to ensure more transparency, accountability, and effectiveness?
The contribution will contribute to the panel theme by providing empirical evidence and critical insights on the role and impact of for-profit consultants and contractors in UN and its agencies. It will offer recommendations for improving the design and implementation of development interventions in Nigeria and beyond.
Brendan Whitty (University of St Andrews) Sarah-Jane Phelan (University of Sussex)
Contribution short abstract:
We analyse DFID/FCDO procurement decisions and its intended and unintended effects on the contractor market. Situating the procurement relationship within wider political and market dynamics, we develop a critical procurement analytical lens to understand market and project outcomes.
Contribution long abstract:
In this presentation, we draw on a critical analysis of DFID/FCDO procurement decisions and supplier market governance and its effects on the contractor market. We examine the FDCO/DFID procurement and supplier management at three interlocking levels – procurement policy, pipeline and supplier management decisions, and organisationally distributed project management decisions. We show how DFID/FCDO have increasingly split the supplier market in two by setting tendering conditions that are so demanding they are driving out small and medium organisations. A turbulent aid policy period and loss of strategic direction in the UK have created an increasingly competitive arena, incentivising providers to emphasise low prices and managerial expertise over technical expertise. We suggest that these evolving dynamics and their impacts across and within development contractors are in part unintentional. In doing so, we develop a critical procurement lens which expands on critical theorisations of public sector use of consultants, situating framings of procurement policy within broader political and market dynamics.
Jessica Sklair (QMUL) Emma Mawdsley (University of Cambridge)
Contribution short abstract:
This paper explores how ‘development’ is conceptualised by private consultants and contractors in their work across the UK’s aid sector, examining how consultants frame and legitimise the specific forms of technical expertise they offer.
Contribution long abstract:
In this contribution we draw on our research among private sector development consultants and contractors, working across different organisations from large multi-sector professional service firms to smaller dedicated development consultancies. We explore the different ways in which professionals in these firms understand, frame and speak about the process and practice of ‘development’, in relation to both thematic areas of global intervention (health, education, agriculture, economic growth, etc) and to cross-cutting sectors for consultancy work (diverse forms of public sector tendering, private sector markets in ‘emerging economies’, etc). In parallel, we explore how different organisational cultures and ecologies influence ideas about the aims of development and its effective practice, and how firms draw on their unique histories and market positions to legitimise claims to specific forms of technical expertise.