Chapter 5 | Page 207 poses challenges to recipient States in terms of the amount of time and resources required to negotiate and implement aid programmes.86 While donors often come with their own plans and programmes, recipient governments lack the professional capacity to properly handle the intricacies of these negotiations,87 putting them at a disadvantage. Thus an important element of capacity building in recipient countries is to train local personnel in process of aid negotiation and management. Professional capacity to plan and negotiate development co-operation programmes with bilateral or multilateral donors needs to be strengthened in developing States. Linked to this professional capacity is the transfer of technology and technical know-how of aid management. This includes technical and technological means of implementing needs evaluations in specific human rights areas. 5.3.2 Process challenges There are a variety of challenges to maximising international assistance and co-operation which impact the practice and programmes of such co-operation. These include harmonising aid activities with domestic macroeconomic policy, maintaining a strong donor-recipient relationship, developing the ability to absorb and utilise aid resources, and corruption and rent-seeking in aid and assistance practices. 5.3.2.1 Challenges of harmonising aid with macroeconomic policy By definition, aid contributes to growth, directly benefits the poor, and leads to increased social sector spending.88 For these benefits to be realised, governments must be more disciplined in handling aid programmes and their 86 Homi Kharas and Michael Blomfield, 'Rethinking the Role of Multilateral Institutions in an Ever-Changing Aid Architecture' ibid. 63, 63. 87 Romilly Greenhill, Annalisa Prizzon and Andrew Rogerson, The age of choice: How are developing countries managing the new aid landscape? (Overseas Development Institute, London, 2013), <http://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odi-assets/publications-opinionfiles/8296.pdf>, 14. 88 Morrissey, above n 39, 146.