KEY UNDERLYING ISSUES
National strategies versus donor strategies.Since effective local leadership is essential for successful policy reform,donors must unite around a single coherent national development strategy. This is preferred to a situation in which line ministries participate in specific but isolated donor agendas. Unfortunately, the policy priorities and organizational imperatives of various donors often make this integrated approach difficult. A donor's willingness to fund particular policy reforms may be tied to the adoption of a specific institutional change. This can inhibit openness and it pre-empts national or local leadership in the reform process. More seriously, when donors have different visions of the appropriate reform goals and strategies, resulting pressures on host-country policymakers are generally counterproductive.