Anne Fromont

Aid effectiveness from Rome to Busan: some progress but lacking bottom-up approaches or behaviour changes.

The Busan partnership adopted at the 4th High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness at the end of last year is a significant step forward towards the improvement of aid quality and the promotion of development. In particular, the inclusiveness achieved in Busan and the shift in discourse from ‘aid effectiveness’ to ‘development effectiveness’ are emblematic. However, key challenges still remain. Firstly, decision‐making should be more bottom‐up, finding ways to take into account the populations’ needs and experiences and to enhance self‐learning dynamics during the policy process. Today, it is particularly necessary to define what ‘development’ means at country level, according to the aspirations of particular categories of people and meeting operational and local expectations. Secondly, changes in language should be followed by a real change in mindset. Development stakeholders should further adapt their procedures to the reality of complex systems in which development interventions are being dealt with.

Exploring the validity of scores from the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) in Burundi: A multi-strategy approach

The present study aimed to validate the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) in Burundi, through a multi-strategy approach used in cross-cultural studies. Respondents were 906 health workers (men = 56%; caregivers 60%). They responded to a bilingual version of RSES. We utilised Confirmatory Factorial Analysis (CFA) with structural equation modelling and a back translation test to explore the structure of the RSES and the reliability of scores from the scale. Data from an independent sample were analysed for the reliability of scores assessment. CFA results suggested that the global RSES factor was likely contaminated by a method-effect; mainly associated with negatively worded items. Internal consistencies and a back-translation test demonstrated that the negatively worded items were unsuitable in this context. The independent sample study confirmed poor reliability and internal consistency of scores for both alternative language versions of the RSES. Our data suggested that an overall cultural effect, rather than a merely specific language effect, may undermine the cross-cultural transportability of the Western scale.