About the DCED

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Introduction
Many agencies are working to build a vibrant private sector, and to partner with business for development goals. But donor coordination is only possible if agencies share a 'world view' on how to do this most effectively; the Donor Committee for Enterprise Development (DCED) exists to build that agreement.

Since its formation in 1979, the DCED has benefited from the inputs of all major donor and UN agencies active in private sector development (PSD), and today it continues to work to build on this very high level of member participation in all areas of its work.

This includes a wide range of knowlegde-sharing activities, such as management of inter-agency databases at www.Value-Chains.org and www.Business-Environment.org. The three DCED sites (including www.Enterprise-Development.org) attract over 100,000 page views per month. Plans are now being laid to enhance the knowledge-sharing activities of the DCED.

Similarly, plans are now being laid for the DCED to adopt a higher profile for its work, and particularly for the approach of Private Sector Development (PSD) - which still does not enjoy much attention or a clear 'image' in the world's mass media, despite its importance.

The DCED is also engaged in thematic work, in line with the priorities of member agencies. In each case, the work of the DCED is guided by staff of member agencies particularly interested in the theme; these sub-groups typically meet once a quarter.

The plans for 2010 outlined below were approved at the 2009 Annual Meeting in New York. They are being adapted in line with demand and needs during the year, by members and by the Secretariat, under the supervision of the DCED ExCo, or Board.


Reforming the Business Environment

The Business Envrionment Working Group (BEWG) has organised a series of conferences, featuring peer-reviewed Papers, as part of the process of formulating official Donor Guidance.

This document is now availale in English, French and Spanish, and should be available in other languages soon. Country-level pilot reviews are being planned for Rwanda, Kenya and Bangladesh this year, to assess how much influence Donor Guidance has had on the implementation of business environment reform programmes in the field.

In addition to the Conference on Informality (April 2010) and the Paper on the theme by Prof. Zinnes, the BEWG is also finalising a Paper on the political economy of business environment reform.


Measuring and Reporting Results

Pressure to report aggregated achievements in a comparable way is growing - for example as the MDG deadline appraoches. However, although much has been written on the need for impact assessment, and indeed on how to do it, comparable results - or indeed quantified results of any kind - remain rare.

The DCED is therefore developing an approach that is both credible and approximately correct, to generate numbers that are comparable. The concept involves each programme measuring their own results, with an external auditor examining the measurement system, to ensure that it is credible and reasonable.

It also involves a few common indicators for impacts on the poor (disaggregated by gender whenever possible), to ensure that donors will be able to add up their results across country programmes.

The approach requires the specification in a Standard of the essential elements that are required, in order to measure results - and indeed to clarify goals and priorities, in order to be effective. These elements are:

- to articulate the impact logic or results chain
- to define appropriate indicators for each step
- to measure changes using good practice
- to demonstrate attribution of those changes
- to relate the changes in costs
- to report those changes
- to have a measurement system in place

Many programmes and agencies are now piloting the Standard; seminars and a training course are planned during 2010. A range or additional materials are also being developed for publication.


PSD in Conflict-Affected Environments

Many agencies are currently giving high priority to conflict affected situations, because they represent very specific challenges, and there is not yet much agreement on good practice. The DCED has therefore organised an Expert Meeting, featuring a number of debates about differing views of good practice; the arguments made on each side are outlined in the event Report. Building on this experience, the DCED prepared a Review, summarising the literature and practice to date on this theme, with additional support from SDC. The Review is also available in French and Spanish. www.Enterprise-Development.org also contains a full library of the many publications on this topic by other agencies. During 2010, the Steering Group for this theme is preparing an assessment tool, a joint training course and customised results measurement case studies Ensuring effective donor coordination at the country level remains a challenge; the DCED can both share information on how PSD-focused groups function, and support them in their work. A report synthesising the experiences of 11 groups was prepared, and there are now dedicated pages for 16 countries on the website. The DCED remains very keen to hear from country level PSD groups, both to learn, and to provide information and support. During 2010, DCED members have also started working groups on Green Growth and Women's Entrepreneurship Development; they are also maintaining a strong interest in Public-Private Partnerships.