Publication: What Role for Diaspora Expertise in Post-Conflict Reconstruction? Lessons from Afghanistan, and West Bank and Gaza
Date
2006-07
ISSN
Published
2006-07
Author(s)
World Bank
Abstract
The Afghanistan Expatriate Program (AEP)
and the Palestinian Expatriate Professional Project (PEPP)
recruit expatriates through a merit-based system to build
capacity in government departments and agencies in
Afghanistan and West Bank and Gaza respectively. Beyond
individual success stories, both initiatives faced the
tremendous challenge of translating individual inputs into
institutional capacity building and as a result, both
programs could not generate the expected increase in
capacity of the local civil service. Indeed, strengthening
management and technical capabilities of the ministries and
agencies in both projects was achieved only sporadically.
The one real value of the expatriate programs was the
expatriates' knowledge of the local language and
environment and, in the case of the AEP, a single window
funding for short-term consultants. However, such programs
are only stop-gap and unless they build capacity over the
medium term, as donor funding diminishes they are
unsustainable for recipient governments. This dissemination
note aims to capture lessons learned from the AEP and PEPP programs.
Citation
“World Bank. 2006. What Role for Diaspora Expertise in Post-Conflict Reconstruction?
Lessons from Afghanistan, and West Bank and Gaza. Social Development Notes; No. 25. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/c779dcda-12b7-5d7c-8635-cf2952be7b1c License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”