what do we mean when we say 'partnership?'

In the development field it is becoming quite popular and beneficial to label relationships between donor agencies and countries as partnerships. This implies that there is mutual giving and receiving occuring during the development process; it levels the playing field and makes the relationship equal. While the idea in itself is great, one can't help but wonder what is really going to happen to this terminology. Will this lingo really change a norm or will it simply become the new way to disguise old colonial practices? In today's paper The Daily Star featured an article about the seminar held yesterday in Dhaka by the Swiss government. The seminar was entitled 'Bangladesh: On Road To Progress: Swiss contribution to Development organized by Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). Come on now, lets not toot our horn too much shall we? During this seminar Bangladeshis' were calling upon donor agencies to view their relationship as a parternish and not as an aid agency. The Swiss Ambassador's response to this request was simple and expected: "We will not only give you something but also learn something from you." Dr. Dora Rapold stated that Switzerland is supporting development initiatives in Bangladesh and that the country is making progress on its own. Did Dr. Dora Rapold mention anything that her country has learned from Bangladesh? What initiatives has the Swiss government started that mimick initiatives here in Bangladesh? Please, save us the party line.

People are quick to file in line. The term 'partnership' in development has become the new 'be all' method, and while I think it a wonderful idea in theory, i'm afriad it is going to be skewed as most things are. Is it going to become governements new false fairy-tail face utilized to get what they want when they want? I hope not. But it's hard not to notice how this partnership will not be seen as valuable in wealthy countrie's eyes as it will in poorer countries. The imbalance is hard to miss.

"We may not have wealth, but we have ideas and enormous potential," Mahfuz Anam, seminar monitor, said "on our part we need to become more self-confident." I just hope people really see the value in these ideas, in the great knowledge that can be acquired when people share information cross-culturally. It can be a beautiful thing. Lets just hope it gets there in practice.