Development co-operation

iSPO and international development co-operation

Planning and managing development co-operation projects poses a variety of challenges for the parties in charge:

Intercultural awareness: Development co-operation projects are conducted across national and cultural borders. It is therefore crucial that project managers have a high level of intercultural competence as well as intimate knowledge of the partner country. Equally important, but often neglected, is the necessity to adjust methodological toolboxes to culture and context-specific requirements.
Complexity: Development co-operation projects can present considerable challenges as they are planned, managed and conducted within complex networks rather than within organisations with clearly-defined hierarchies.
Methodological diversity: Many international development agencies apply their own methodological standards and specific sets of planning and management tools. This diversity further increases since implementation takes place in different countries with different systems of governance.
Results-oriented approach: While a results-oriented approach to project management should be used as a matter of course in all sectors, it was pioneered in development co-operation. Therefore, results-oriented planning, monitoring and evaluation mechanisms are more wide-spread and sophisticated than in many other sectors and involve high methodological requirements.

iSPO supports you through every phase of your project to help you to meet these challenges successfully.