Strategic Allocation of Development Projects in Post-Conflict Regions: A Gender Perspective for Colombia

Raphael J. Nawrotzki, Verena Gantner, Jana Balzer, Thomas Wencker and Sabine Brüntrup-Seidemann
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Raphael J. Nawrotzki: German Institute for Development Evaluation (DEval), 53113 Bonn, Germany
Verena Gantner: German Institute for Development Evaluation (DEval), 53113 Bonn, Germany
Jana Balzer: German Institute for Development Evaluation (DEval), 53113 Bonn, Germany
Thomas Wencker: German Institute for Development Evaluation (DEval), 53113 Bonn, Germany
Sabine Brüntrup-Seidemann: German Institute for Development Evaluation (DEval), 53113 Bonn, Germany

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 4, 1-26

Abstract: We know little about the general geographic allocation of development projects in post-conflict regions, and specifically of gender-focused projects. In this study, we explore whether donor agencies prefer to work in “safe” places or dare to operate in conflict-affected zones. Using Colombia as a case study, we combine data on battle deaths from the UCDP Georeferenced Event Dataset (1994–2004) with georeferenced information on the location of development projects from the Colombia AIMS dataset (2006–2013) and manually geocode data for German-funded development projects (2012–2018) with gender as a significant objective. Using count models (N = 1120), we find a statistically strong and positive relationship: an increase in battle deaths increases the number of development projects (with and without gender-focus) in a municipality. Interaction models further reveal an amplification of this relationship for regions with a large proportion of female-headed households, as well as a high number of formally employed and literate women. A context-sensitive interpretation of our findings suggests that (1) development projects in general, and German-funded gender-focused projects in particular, dare to operate in post-conflict settings; (2) women may play an active role as community leaders and mobilizers to influence the allocation of development programs to certain regions.

Keywords: conflict; post-conflict; gender; development cooperation; Colombia; geocoding (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:4:p:2304-:d:751985

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