Reconceptualizing Multilateral Aid Networks in Pakistan and Afghanistan

• In Event: Networks and the Effects of Mergers, Joint Negotiations, and Multilateral Aid (Virtual Session)

Abstract

This qualitative empirical study analyzes international development assistance from a relational lens to reveal power dynamics, comparing exogenous and endogenous interventions in fragile contexts. Integrating a conceptual and methodological framework of social capital theory, social network analysis (SNA), and qualitative narrative comparisons, the research examines stakeholder relationships among prominent active and recently closed rural development programs in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The study incorporates a mixed methods design, applying qualitative fieldwork (over 170 field interviews completed between 2017-2019) and data collection (archival research from relevant institutions and stakeholders), alongside SNA and qualitative narrative comparisons. World Bank development programs are located in two distinct regions of Pakistan, the Sindh Province and the Former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), alongside a prominent example in Afghanistan. Comparisons of interventions critically evaluate the conditions in which global development policy networks operate in the fragile and crisis-affected areas. Structural properties of power, social capital and social cohesion translated from external networks, are examined as critical conditions toward program sustainability. The paper further explores the potential challenges for international development organizations on “localization” in post-pandemic era. It provides recommendations for the emerging challenges for impact assessment in fragile, conflict-affected and war-torn contexts, and the future value of multilateral and bilateral engagement in the region. Network evaluation approaches to analyzing development effectiveness will remain vital in areas of great uncertainty and complexity, for generating a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities among relevant stakeholders, and on achieving the intended objective of locally-owned and locally managed processes and outcomes.

Author

• Elsa Talat Khwaja, American Councils for International Education