One of the key lessons to have emerged from RHVP's Regional Evidence Building Agenda (REBA) is that social protection initiatives have a much better chance of success and sustainability if they are nationally designed, developed and owned - and respond to the felt needs of the actual beneficiaries - than they do if they are donor-driven or externally-imposed. More general evidence to support this finding emerges from Professor William Easterly's paper on Planners vs. Searchers in Foreign Aid in which he emphasises the role of 'searchers' - groups throughout the world who are experimenting with piecemeal interventions and altering them in response to feedback. The message is that it is time for searchers, rather than planners, to be in the forefront of the development of social protection in southern Africa.

To read Professor William Easterly's paper on Planners vs. Searchers in Foreign Aid, go to
http://www.adb.org/Economics/speakers_program/easterly.pdf

To read more on the Asian Development Bank's Distinguished Speakers Program, at which Prof Easterly presented his paper, and to view his presentation, go to http://www.adb.org/economics/speakers_program/easterly.asp

Source: Asian Development Bank