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INTERACTION BETWEEN FOREIGN ASSISTANCE PERSONNEL AND LOCAL COUNTERPARTS
Author(s) -
Globerson Arye
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
kyklos
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.766
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 1467-6435
pISSN - 0023-5962
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-6435.1978.tb00800.x
Subject(s) - pace , scarcity , obstacle , seniority , human capital , vocational education , business , political science , public relations , economic growth , psychology , marketing , economics , market economy , law , geodesy , geography
SUMMARY The paper is a result of a research conducted in six African French speaking countries in the years 1962–1975. The objective of the study was to learn about the attitudes of foreign assistance personnel, national counterparts their interaction as agents of development. The major findings obtained were: (a) Foreign experts, particularly of multilateral assistance, experience anxiety concerning their professional and occupational career. They are very critical to the qualities of their counterparts, the envisaged pace of development and their own institutional headquarters. Senior experts are less inclined to invest in counterpart training than are their young colleagues. A high negative correlation exists between seniority of experts and the rate of progress they envisage. (b) Scarcity of capable national counterparts is still an obstacle to many projects. Their major weakness is lack of motivation rather than formal education or vocational training. Preference for multilateral assistance indicates a desire for cooperation with donor which is politically neutral. (c) Most experts (58%) envisaged a meaningful breakthrough of the developing countries in more than 50 years, while majority (79%) of the counterparts foresaw substantial progress within 20 years. Most experts (79%) pointed to human and administrative drawbacks as major obstacles to development, as compared with only 15% of the local counterparts. The majority (76%) of the latter believe that the major obstacles are due to lack of capital and equipment. Nevertheless the vast majority (87%) of local counterparts were of the opinion that the contribution of foreign assistance personnel development is necessary or rather essential, compared within only 34% among experts of a similar opinion.