Democratic governance and sectoral work : toward programmatic integration

Emerging evidence of the importance of sectoral issues in this effort led to this study, which seeks to identify the linkages between democratic governance reform and sectoral activities. The overall finding is that clear connections exist between sector priorities and strategies and democratic governance efforts, and that the Africa Bureau"s sectoral divisions are interested in pursuing them further. More specific findings are as follows. (1) The current sectoral strategies of the Africa Bureau"s Sustainable Development Division (AFR/SD) are increasingly demand-oriented, and represent a departure from the supply driven approaches of the past. (2) Connections between democratic governance and sectoral programming occur at two levels. At a strategic level, those engaged in designing and implementing sectorally based programs need to recognize and adapt to the changing political and policy environment resulting from democratization in African countries. At a programmatic level, there is both the opportunity and the need to integrate sectoral programming and broader democratic governance reform efforts. (3) The wide scope for integrated programming is due to the adoption of demand-oriented sectoral strategies that have much in common with democratic governance efforts. A bibliography is appended.