It follows that external agencies must recognise the importance of considering the cultures of the countries in which they are operating and of the target groups of people whose development they are supporting. A case study on the management of Dutch project aid provides an opportunity to address this question. The study was part of an evaluation of the Netherlands bilateral aid programme in Mali. It was commissioned in 1991 by the Directorate General for International Cooperation of the Dutch Government. This case study reveals that theory and practice diverge strongly.
Dutch organisations dominate the interactions and relationships with Malian counterparts.
Projects are conceived, executed, monitored and evaluated primarily according to the official and informal objectives of donors. Before reviewing the evidence, it should be emphasised that that aim of the author is not to pour scorn on Dutch aid to Mali or to join the army of people who are simply negative and cynical towards development assistance. On the contrary, the evaluation demonstrated that Dutch priorities largely reflected those of the Malian authorities, that the programme had a generally positive impact, and that the behaviour of Dutch people was appreciated in Mali. It is easily forgotten that project identification, appraisal, approval, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation is undertaken by individuals, each belonging to an organisation with its own culture. This culture determines the motivations and behaviour of its staff and typically gives rise to a whole series of unofficial objectives entering the project.