Improving Evidence based Policy Engagement in South Asia
description
Transcript of Improving Evidence based Policy Engagement in South Asia
Improving Evidence based Policy Engagement in South Asia
Naved Chowdhury Rijit [email protected] [email protected]
17-21 September, 2007Shimla, India
OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE
• Development Think Tank
• 60 researchers
• Research / Advice / Public Debate
• Rural / Humanitarian / Poverty & Aid / Economics / Policy Processes
• DFID, Parliament, WB, EC
• Civil Society
For more information see: www.odi.org.uk
RAPID Group
• Promoting the use of research-based evidence in development policy
• Research / Advice / Public Affairs & Capacity-building
• Programmes:– Research for Policy– Progressive Policymakers– Parliamentarians– Southern Think Tanks
for further information see: www.odi.org.uk/rapid
Case Studies
• Detailed:– Sustainable Livelihoods– Poverty Reductions Strategy
Processes– Ethical Principles in
Humanitarian Aid– Animal Health Care in Kenya– Dairy Policy in Kenya– Plant Genetic Resources
• Summary– GDN x 50– CSPP x 20– Good news case studies x 5– Mental health in the UK
ODI and Global Civil Society Civil Society Partnerships Programme
Outcomes:• CSOs better understand evidence-policy process• Capacity development to support CSOs’ policy
influencing efforts• Improved knowledge base for CSOs on policy
influencing • Global collaboration and experience sharing about
research/policy/practice linkages
Aim: Strengthened role of southern CSOs in development policy processes
http://www.odi.org.uk/cspp/
CSPP Objectives
Goal
Development policy is more pro-poor
Purpose• Southern CSOs make more use of research-
based evidence to influence the establishment of pro-poor policy
• ODI engages more effectively with southern CSOs and other stakeholders to make more use of ODI’s research-based evidence to influence the establishment of pro-poor policy.
Partnership Activities
Network:• Interactive community
website• Information and knowledge
exchange within and across regions
• General support
Capacity-building:• staff exchanges• visiting fellows to ODI and
Southern institutes, • Southern participants in
global policy events• Training and ToT – for CSOs
and policy-makers• Mentoring support to action
research projects
Dissemination of lessons:• Ongoing learning• “How to do it” guidelines • New research on the
research-policy-practice interface
Collaborative projects:• Small-scale ARPs• Continued support to
existing projects• One new global
collaborative project each year
Global Consultation
• Workshops were held in Africa (Southern, Eastern and West), Asia (South and South East) and Latin America (Southern Cone and Andes) and organized in partnership with local CSOs
• Case studies: – Budget Monitoring (Zambia), – Community Participation in Waste Management (Ghana), – Rice pricing (Bangladesh), – Public participation (Indonesia) etc.– Sub-national elections and journalist capacity building
(Peru)
Civil Society Partnerships Programme
Outcomes:• CSOs better understanding evidence-policy
process• Capacity to support CSOs established• Improved information for CSOs• Global collaboration
Aim: Strengthened role of southern CSOs in development policy processes
http://www.odi.org.uk/cspp/
Activities
• Principles of partnerships etc• Mapping of CSO’s and support
organisations• Regional Workshops• Research, synthesis and toolkits• Small-scale collaborations (internal)• Small-scale collaborations (external)• Identification of long-term partners• Support (and capacity-building)• Collaboration on global projects
Linking Evidence to Policy: Lessons Learnt
• Understanding Policy process means understanding the politics
• Demand led vs Supply driven
• Credibility of CSOs is questioned
• Capacity to use and package research for policy influence is limited
• Donor influence is huge
• Gradual erosion of research capacity in the South
Establishing capacity
• Engagement with policymakers varies
• Varied level of capacity in the south• Retention and recruitment of qualified staff• Role of research in development organization• Lack of training opportunities• More emphasis on policy advocacy• Limited fund for research
• Strong Demand for support ( regional bias)
• Capacity of government institutions also in question
Partnership for Capacity Development
• Equitable
• Long-term commitment
• Intellectual honesty
• Mutual Trust
• Ethical Principle of Partnership
• Contextual ( strong regional variation)
• Capacity is demanded not given!!
Key issues for Partnership
• ODI needs to change ( Org and Staff)
• Invest time and resource
• Partnership to accommodate diversity of capacity
• Different modes of Partnerships ( research, networking, advocacy)
Capacity Development in CSPP
• Building a knowledge base of orgs
• Responding directly to CD demand of partners
• CSPP network– Training ( Research methodology, policy
analysis, etc).– Facilitating exchange of information and
knowledge ( Best Practice)– Support institutional development– Collaborative action research projects
Key factors for CSO influence on Policy(Malawi)
Constraints• Lack of capacity• Lack of local
ownership• Translating data into
evidence• Limited data• Donor influence• Crises• Political factors
Strengths• Evidence of the value
of CSO involvement • Governments
becoming more interested in CSOs
• CSOs are gaining confidence
• Strength of networks• Opportunities for
media engagement • Political factors
What do CSOs need to do?
• Define clear roles and responsibilities, especially in networks
• Financial and human resources to facilitate policy influencing – both constructive engagement and confrontational approaches
• Effective communication: develop different materials for different target audiences
• Engage the media
• Engage with donors so that they can develop a more holistic understanding of development challenges
• Consult with policymakers (elected officials and civil servants) from the outset
Group work in regional teams
• What do you understand by the term “policy influencing” or “policy engagement”?
• What are the most important policy processes for CSOs to influence with regard to any sector? – Please give examples at regional and national levels
• How are you trying to influence any policy in your country?
• What are the key opportunities for CSOs and challenges in your country to influence policies?
• Plenary: Opportunities and Challenges for influencing development policies
Merilee Grindle’s Approach
1. Identify the policy reform – the decision to be made
2. Political Interests Map – the actors and “politics”
3. Institutional Contexts Map – the organisations and processes involved
4. Circle of influence graphic – supporters and opponents and their power
5. Policy process Matrix – what needs to be done when
6. Communications Strategy
• Introduction
• Your name
• Your work
• What is your expectation from this workshop?
• 3 minutes!!
The overall framework
• Identify the problem• Understand the context• Identify the audience(s)• Develop a SMART Strategy • Identify the message(s) • Resources – staff, time, partners & $$• Promotion – tools & activities• Monitor, learn, adapt
How?
Who?
What?
Terms and Parameters
• What is policy?
• What explains policy change?
• What is the relationship between researchers and policy makers?
• Tools to understand the political context of policy change
• Tools to influence the policy process
Policy – some meanings
• Label for field of activity/space
• Expression of general intent
• Specific proposals
• Decisions of government
• Formal authority/legislation
• Program
• Output or outcome
• Model or theoryHogwood & Gunn, 1984
Definitions
• Research: “any systematic effort to increase the stock of knowledge”
• Policy: a “purposive course of action followed by an actor or set of actors”
• Evidence: “the available information supporting or otherwise a belief or proposition”
• Evidence-based Policy: “public policy informed by rigorously established evidence”.
Non-linear, dynamic policy processes
• The impacts of research may occur neither at the time of the research, nor in ways that are predictable…or in the direction in which researchers intend. [Rather] it is mediated by the options available to policy makers at a particular time. [There is a] …need for researcher to be both radical and relate to its time and place….to make an impact but also to accord…with existing mores
»(Lucinda Platt, 2003: 2).
Existing theory
1. Linear model2. Percolation model, Weiss3. Tipping point model, Gladwell4. ‘Context, evidence, links’
framework, ODI5. Policy narratives, Roe6. Systems model (NSI)7. External forces, Lindquist8. ‘Room for manoeuvre’, Clay &
Schaffer9. ‘Street level bureaucrats’, Lipsky10. Policy as social experiments,
Rondinelli11. Policy Streams & Windows,
Kingdon12. Disjointed incrementalism,
Lindquist13. The ‘tipping point’, Gladwell14. Crisis model, Kuhn15. ‘Framework of possible thought’,
Chomsky16. Variables for Credibility, Beach
17. The source is as important as content, Gladwell
18. Linear model of communication, Shannon
19. Interactive model, 20. Simple and surprising stories,
Communication Theory21. Provide solutions, Marketing I22. Find the right packaging, Marketing
II23. Elicit a response, Kottler24. Translation of technology, Volkow25. Epistemic communities26. Policy communities27. Advocacy coalitions etc, Pross28. Negotiation through networks,
Sebattier29. Shadow networks, Klickert30. Chains of accountability, Fine31. Communication for social change,
Rockefeller32. Wheels and webs, Chapman &
Fisher
X
‘the interplay between institutions, interests and ideas.’
John P (1998) Analysing Public Policy. London: Cassell.
Identify the problem
Commission research
Analyse the results
Choose the best option
Establish the policy
Evaluation
Implement the policy
Monitoring and Evaluation
Agenda Setting
DecisionMaking
Policy Implementation
Policy Formulation
Policy Processes
Civil Society
DonorsCabinet
Parliament
Ministries
Private Sector
…in reality…
• “The whole life of policy is a chaos of purposes and accidents. It is not at all a matter of the rational implementation of the so-called decisions through selected strategies 1”
• “Most policy research on African agriculture is irrelevant to agricultural and overall economic policy in Africa2”
• “Research is more often regarded as the opposite of action rather than a response to ignorance”3
1 Clay & Schaffer (1984), Room for Manoeuvre; An Exploration of Public Policy in Agricultural and Rural Development, Heineman Educational Books, London2 Omamo (2003), Policy Research on African Agriculture: Trends, Gaps, and Challenges, International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR) Research Report No 213 Surr (2003), DFID Research Review
Evidence
Experience & Expertise
Judgement
Resources
Values and Policy
Context
Habits & Tradition
Lobbyists & Pressure Groups
Pragmatics & Contingencies
Factors influencing policy making
Source: Phil Davies Impact to Insight Meeting, ODI, 2005
Different Notions of Evidence
• Colloquial (Contextual)
• Anything that seems reasonable
• Policy relevant
• Timely
• Clear Message
Policy Makers’ Evidence
Source: Phil Davies Impact to Insight Meeting, ODI, 2005
• ‘Scientific’ (Context free)
• Proven empirically
• Theoretically driven
• As long as it takes
• Caveats and qualifications
Researchers’ Evidence
Policy process
• Agenda setting – why some issues considered by policy makers
• Formulation – which policy alternatives and evidence is considered, why evidence ignored
• Adoption – who is involved in deciding, formal or informal decision-making
• Implementation – who will implement, how will implementers change policy to suit their aims, are implementers involved in decision-making
• Evaluation – whether and why policies achieve their aims
The way policy is initiated, developed, negotiated, communicated, implemented
Policy context
• Situational: change of leadership, focusing events, new evidence, etc.
• Structural: resource allocation to intervention, organization of service delivery – public private mix, etc.
• Cultural: prevailing attitudes to situation of women, technology, equity, tradition, etc.
• International: place of intervention on international agenda, aid dependency, levels and modalities, migration of staff, ideas and paradigms, etc.
Systemic factors which effect policy
Political Context Analysis
• Systematically gather political intelligence associated with any policy reform– Contextual opportunities & constraints– Formal & informal processes through which
decisions made– Identify stakeholder groups– Assess political resources of groups– Understand interests, positions and
commitments of groups
• Systematically assess political palatability of specific policy alternatives
Context Analysis and Policy Mapping Tools
• Policy Process Mapping
• RAPID Framework
• Stakeholder Analysis
• Force-Field Analysis
• Outcome Mapping
• More complex tools:– Drivers of Change– Power Analysis– World Governance Assessment
More Complex Tools
• Civil Society Index (CIVICUS) • Country Policy & Institutional
Assessment (World Bank)• Democracy and Governance
Assessment (USAID) • Drivers of Change (DFID) • Governance Questionnaire (GTZ) • Governance Matters (World Bank Institute) • Power Analysis (Sida) • World Governance Assessment
Practical Tools
Overarching Tools - The RAPID Framework - Using the Framework - The Entrepreneurship
Questionnaire
Context Assessment Tools- Stakeholder Analysis - Forcefield Analysis - Writeshops - Policy Mapping - Political Context Mapping
Communication Tools - Communications Strategy- SWOT analysis - Message Design - Making use of the media
Research Tools - Case Studies - Episode Studies - Surveys - Bibliometric Analysis- Focus Group Discussion
Policy Influence Tools- Influence Mapping & Power Mapping - Lobbying and Advocacy - Campaigning: A Simple Guide - Competency self-assessment
Problem Tree Analysis
• The first step is to discuss and agree the problem or issue to be analysed.
• Next the group identify the causes of the focal problem – these become the roots – and then identify the consequences – which become the branches
• The heart of the exercise is the discussion, debate and dialogue that is generated as factors are arranged and re-arranged, often forming sub-dividing roots and branches
SWOT Analysis• What type of policy
influencing skills and capacities do we have?
• In what areas have our staff used them more effectively?
• Who are our strongest allies?
• When have they worked with us?
• Are there any windows of opportunity?
• What can affect our ability to influence policy?
Strengths Weaknesses
Opportunities Threats
•Skills and abilities•Funding lines•Commitment to positions•Contacts and Partners•Existing activities
•Other orgs relevant to the issue•Resources: financial, technical, human•Political and policy space•Other groups or forces
Stakeholder Analysis Approach
• Clarify policy change objective
• Identify all stakeholders associated with this objective
• Prioritise stakeholders according to interest/commitment and power/ assets
• Develop strategy to engage with different stakeholders
Keep Satisfied
Engage Closely and Influence Actively
Monitor (minimum effort)
Keep Informed
High
Power
Low
Low HighInterest
Stakeholder analysis
• Stakeholder: individuals, groups, or organizations that have an interest in the project and can mobilize resources to affect its outcome in some way. Stakeholders are often specific to each policy reform and context, and should not just be assumed.
• Stakeholder analysis: tool used to identify and understand the needs and expectations of major interests inside and outside the project environment in order to plan strategically. It is critical for assessing project risk and viability, and ultimately the support that must be effectively obtained and retained.
Stakeholder interests
Stakeholder Interests Estimated project impacts
Estimated overall priority
Ministry of Environment
Natural resource management
Synergies between land and water policies
Minimum tension with CSOs
High Medium Medium
2nd priority
Actors/Stakeholders
– Identify key governmental, NGO, international, regional, national and sub-national stakeholder groups
– Also identify independent groups/individuals with some influence or potential influence
– Break down categories as far as feasible (one possibility is primary stakeholders, e.g. ministerial advisors, and secondary stakeholders, the minister her/himself; trade union federation vs factor workers directly).
Assessing Stakeholder Power:
• Tangible– Votes– Finance– Infrastructure– Members– Research evidence
• Intangible– Expertise– Charisma– Legitimacy– Access to media &
decision makers– Tacit/implicit
knowledge
Political Assets:
Interests, Position & Commitment
• Interests – what would a stakeholder gain or lose from the proposed reform?
• Interests determine position: supportive, neutral, opposed
• Commitment – importance attached by stakeholder to issue
Type of engagement
Inform Consult Partnership Control Initiation Planning Implementation Monitoring and evaluation
LEVEL OF INFLUENCE
POSITION
Opposed Neutral Supportive
High
Medium
Low
Stakeholder Position Map
Strategies for Policy Engagement
Develop political strategies to change:
• Position: deals to bring about change, horse trading, promises, threats
• Power: provide supporters with funds, personnel, access to media & officials
• Players: change number of actors by mobilizing and demobilising, venue shifting
• Perceptions: use data and arguments to question, to alter perspectives of problem/solution, use associations, invoke symbols, emphasise doability
Bangladesh Integration Example:
• Ministry of Finance• Planning Commission• Prime Minister• Minister of Health• Secretary of Min of Health • Deputy Secretary Ministry of Health• Health reformers in Ministry• Cadre of Family Planning Officials• Medical Association• Donors• Press• Academics• Select service delivery NGOs
LEVEL OF INFLUENCE
POSITION
Opposed Neutral Supportive
High DG FP Min of FinancePlanning CommissionPrime MinisterMinister of Health
Secretary of HealthBMASome DPs (WB, DFID, EC, USAID)
Medium Admin cadreFP cadreClass III/IV employeesPrint press
DGHHealth cadreReformers in MOHFW Secretariat
Low Additional Secretary
Health NGOsFP NGOsAcademia
Some DPs (WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, CIDA, SIDA, GTZ, Dutch Co-operation)
Bangladesh Integration: Pre-2001
LEVEL OF INFLUENCE
POSITION
Opposed Neutral Supportive
High Secretary DG FPFP cadreClass III/IV workersMinistry of FinancePrime MinisterPlanning CommissionMinister of Health
BMA
Medium FP NGOsAdmin cadre? Press?
DGH Some DPs (WB, DFID, EC, USAID)
Low UNFPA CIDASIDAGTZAcademiaHealth NGOs
Some DPs (WHO, UNICEF, Dutch Co-operation)
Positions Oct 2001-May 2003
Group work:
Questions: a) Who are your stakeholders? b) How powerful are they? And what
accounts for their power? c) What are their interests? Are these
likely to differ across different stages in the policy cycle?
d) What type of engagement is recommendable at different junctures in the policy cycle?
A peer assist is a method whereby participants are invited to reflect on the ideas of their peers based on their experiences, insights and knowledge early on in a project
Peer Assist
• targets a specific technical or commercial challenge;
• gains assistance and insights from people outside the team;
• identifies possible approaches and new lines of inquiry;
• promotes sharing of learning with each other; and• develops strong networks amongst people involved
Policy Mapping Tool 2
Effective Evidence-based policy influencing:
The RAPID Approach
Political context - key findings
• The design of political institutions or regimes matter in that they channel the flow of ideas in particular ways and create different sets of incentives
• New regional / transnational policy spaces present new opportunities and challenges
• Volatility of political contexts
• Time-bound windows of opportunity
Evidence – key findings
• Research quality matters
• Research quantity matters (body of work culminating in a tipping point)
• Triangulation of research methods is important – Quantitative– Qualitative– Experiential – Participatory
Linkages
• Intent to shape policy matters“The hard evidence of many cases supports the claim that intent matters. It matters precisely because the confusions, tensions and accidents of the policy process itself turn out to be so complicated and unpredictable…Research will only have a reliable influence on policy if it can survive…” (O’Neil, 2005: 762).
• Credibility of messenger may be as important as the message; this depends on social/institutional positioning and policy entrepreneurship skills
An Analytical Framework
The political context – political and economic structures and processes, culture, institutional pressures, state-civil society relations, pol-econ history.
The evidence – credibility, the degree it challenges received wisdom, research methodology, message clarity, how it is packaged etc
External Influences Socio-economic and cultural influences, donor policies etc
The links between policyand research communities – networks, relationships/ trust, power, competing discourses
A Practical Framework
External Influences political context
evidencelinks
Politics and Policymaking
Media, Advocacy, Networking Research,
learning & thinking
Scientific information exchange & validation
Policy analysis, & research
Campaigning, Lobbying
Political Context: Key Areas• The macro political context (democracy, governance, media freedom; academic freedom)
• The sector / issue process (Policy uptake = demand – contestation) [NB Demand: political and societal. Power.]
• How policymakers think (narratives & policy streams)
• Policy implementation and practice (bureaucracies, incentives, street level, room for manoeuvre, participatory approaches)
• Decisive moments in the policy process (policy processes, votes, policy windows and crises)
• Context is crucial, but you can maximize your chances
Evidence: Relevance and credibility
• Key factor – did it provide a solution to a problem?
• Relevance:– Topical relevance – What to do? – Operational usefulness – How to do it? :
• Credibility: – Research approach– Of researcher > of evidence itself
• Strenuous advocacy efforts are often needed
• Communication
Links: Coalitions and Networks
• Feedback processes often prominent in successful cases.
• Trust & legitimacy• Networks:
– Epistemic communities– Policy networks– Advocacy coalitions
• The role of individuals: connectors, mavens and salesmen
External Influence
• Big “incentives” can spur evidence-based policy – e.g. PRSP processes.
• And some interesting examples of donors trying new things re. supporting research
• But, we really don’t know whether and how donors can best promote use of evidence in policymaking (credibility vs backlash)
The Key Questions
The external environment:
• Who are the key actors?
• What is their agenda?
• How do they influence the political context?
Links:
• Who are the key actors?
• Are there existing networks?
• How best to transfer the information?
• The media?
• Campaigns?
The evidence:
• Is it there?
• Is it relevant?
• Is it practically useful?
• Are the concepts new?
• Does it need re-packaging?
The political context:
• Is there political interest in change?
• Is there room for manoeuvre?
• How do they perceive the problem?
Childhood Poverty in Ethiopia
Political context
•Govt weariness/suspicion of civil society
•Some media access
•PRSP consultation period
•Limited capacity of social policy ministries
External influences
•WB, donors encouraged research-based policy recommendations
•UN Convention on Rights of the Child
•Consultants to Ministry of Finance and Economy
Evidence
•National hh surveys
•Young Lives survey on childhood poverty
•Good practice from other countries, esp. indicators
•Qualitative research
Linkages
•National NGO umbrella orgs
•Save the Children Alliance
•Policy entrepreneurs
•Ethiopian Dev’t Research Institute
•PRSP technical committee
•Dept of Children and Youth
•Regional state govt officials
What you need to do – group work
What you need to know
Broad action steps Possible strategies
Political Context:
Evidence
Links
• Who are the policymakers?• Is there demand for ideas?• What is the policy process?
• What is the current theory?• What are the narratives?• How divergent is it?
• Who are the stakeholders?• What networks exist?• Who are the connectors,
mavens and salesmen?
• Get to know the policymakers.• Identify friends and foes.• Prepare for policy
opportunities. • Look out for policy windows.
• Work with them – seek commissions
• Strategic opportunism – prepare for known events + resources for others
• Establish credibility• Provide practical solutions• Establish legitimacy.• Present clear options• Use familiar narratives.
• Build a reputation• Action-research• Pilot projects to generate
legitimacy• Good communication
• Get to know the others• Work through existing
networks.• Build coalitions.• Build new policy networks.
• Build partnerships.• Identify key networkers,
mavens and salesmen.• Use informal contacts
Group Work
• Specific examples from South Asia
• Country Case studies
• Application of RAPID to South Asian case studies
• Presentation and Plenary Discussion
Advocacy RulesAdvocacy Rules
(Or how to influence (Or how to influence people to make changes ....)people to make changes ....)
What are the changes you are trying to bring about?
• Use the problem tree or some other tool to identify problems, impact of the problem and root causes
• Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-Bound (SMART) objectives
Who are you advocating/communicating to? Who are you advocating/communicating to?
Who needs to make these changes?
Who has the power?
What is their stance on the issue?
Awareness, Knowledge, Attitude, Behaviour
Targets and influence
Mapping where decisions happen
Analyse the outcome and then decide.
Who are you working together with? Who are you working together with?
1. Who do you need to work with?
2. Identify your ‘niche’ (SWOT)
3. Stakeholder Mapping
4. Structures for collaborative working
5. Skills needed in teams
6. Benefits and pitfalls of collaborations
Why do you want to make the changes?Why do you want to make the changes?
Why should things change (or what is the evidence to support your case?)
How to make sure that the evidence is credible and ‘legitimate’?
The evidence : accurate, credible, well researched, authoritative…
What the target audience wants to hear....
Advocacy StatementAdvocacy Statement
A concise and persuasive statement that captures What you want to achieve, Why, How and by when?
Should ‘communicate’ with your target audience and prompt action
Think about language, content, packaging, and timing
Persuasive
How will you communicate your messages and evidence?
How to target and access information?
Who is a trusted and credible messenger?
What is the most appropriate medium?
How will you package your information?
Role of the media
Where and when to
advocate/communicate?
Creating opportunities (campaigns, public mobilisation, formal and informal lobbying etc.)
Influencing existing agendas
Piggybacking on other agendas
Skills of (pro-poor) policy entrepreneurs
Storytellers
Engineers
Networkers
Fixers
Policy Entrepreneurship Questionnaire
• Rank responses• Add scores• Don’t worry about specifics
Bangladesh CSO Policy Entrepreneurs
>44 = Low
<23 = V. High
<30 = High
• Day 3
Strategies and Organizational factors for linking Evidence to Policy
• How strategies are made?
• What organizational factors matter?
Why communicate?
• To disseminate our research results
• To provide information
• To aid our research process
• To engage with specific groups
• To facilitate (public) discussion
• To lead to change
But…
more communication
≠ more change
Key communication skills
More communication ≠ more change• But better communication can lead to
change.
Key skills: • to understand, • to inspire, • to inform, and • to learn.
Communications Toolkit
• Planning Tools• Packaging Tools• Targeting Tools• Monitoring Tools
Communications Toolkit
• Planning Tools– Stakeholder Analysis – Social Network Analysis – Problem Tree Analysis – Force Field Analysis – National Systems of
Innovation (NSI) – How to Write a
Communications Strategy • Packaging Tools• Targeting Tools• Monitoring Tools
Key skill:to understand
The overall framework
• Identify the problem• Understand the context• Identify the audience(s)• Develop a SMART Strategy • Identify the message(s) • Resources – staff, time, partners & $$• Promotion – tools & activities• Monitor, learn, adapt
How?
Who?
What?
Audience• Who needs to make these changes?
• Who has the power?
• What is their stance on the issue?
• Who influences them?
• Identify targets and influence
(use stakeholder & context mapping tools)
Message• Why should things change (or what is the
evidence to support your case?)
• How to make sure that the evidence is credible and ‘legitimate’?
• What the target audience can hear.... frameworks of thought
• Language, content, packaging, and timing
Messenger (Promotion)• How to access information and target?
• Who is a trusted and credible messenger?
• What is the most appropriate medium? (campaigns, public mobilisation, formal and informal lobbying)
• How will you package your information?
• Role of the media?
Persuasion
• Separate people from problem
• Focus on interests, not positions
• Invent options for mutual gain
• Insist on using objective criteria.
• Manage human emotion separately from the practical problem
• Highlight the human need to feel heard, understood, respected and valued.
Lobbying
• Be an authority on the subject• Include all group in the work• Be positive in your approach• Be aware of the agenda and language
on the government in power• Identify and target politicians• Time your input• Use the Media to lobby
Targeting: Writing Effective Policy Papers
Providing a solution to a policy problem
• Structural elements of a paper– Problem description– Policy options– Conclusion
• Key issues: Problem oriented, targeted, multidisciplinary, applied, clear, jargon-free.
[Source: Young and Quinn, 2002]
A peer assist is a method whereby participants are invited to reflect on the ideas of their peers based on their experiences, insights and knowledge early on in a project
Peer Assist
• targets a specific technical or commercial challenge;
• gains assistance and insights from people outside the team;
• identifies possible approaches and new lines of inquiry;
• promotes sharing of learning with each other; and• develops strong networks amongst people involved
Peer Assist
What you know in your context
What I know in my context
"...the politics accompanying
hierarchies hampers the free
exchange of knowledge. People
are much more open with their peers. They are
much more willing to share and to
listen”
What weboth know
What’spossible
?
ActionMultiplying Knowledge
What is KM & Learning?
“… keeping track of people who ‘know the recipe’….
“…every time we do something again we should do it better than the last time…”
Goals ResultsActivities
Learnduring
Learnafter
Learnbefore
External networks; Colleagues; Information assets; Own knowledge
Different learning styles…
Reflector
Theorist
Activist
Pragmatist
Different forms of knowledge
StartHas it been articulated?
Can it been articulated?
Explicit Tacit
Implicit
Y N
Y
N
KM Toolkit
• Strategy Development• Management Techniques• Collaboration Mechanisms• Knowledge Sharing and
Learning Processes• Knowledge Capture and
Storage
Knowledge Audit for CSOs
• What are the core tasks?• What do the people doing them need
to know?• How is the knowledge generated?• How is it stored and accessed?• Any problems?• What are the relationships between
producers and users?• How could it be improved?• Any leadership issues?• Any incentive problems?
Policy Influencing Tools
Tools– Identifying the forces for and against
change and developing the strategy
Force field Analysis
• Specific Change
• Identify Forces
• (Identify Priorities)
• (Develop Strategies)
Force Field Analysis
• Think about:– Who needs to change– Who can support and who can resist change
• Do not confuse strength of force with importance of force
• Look out for:– VERY strong forces– Priorities– Nested FFA (you might have to re-think your
problem)
What are the problems we face while monitoring for policy impact?
• The problem with attribution– Multiple actors and factors contribute – Unintended results are often ignored– Influence shifts overtime (indirect
relation)– Impact of our interventions occurs further
down the development chain
The problem with attribution
CEF
National Gov
Family
Local Gov
GRO
USAID
Church
CSO
DFID
Why do we face these problems?
• Because the responsibility for achieving results ultimately depends on the actions of our partners as influenced by the contexts in which they work
• Focusing on downstream impact increases programming bureaucratisation and is inconsistent with our understanding of develpment as a complex process.
Monitoring ex-ante
• … ex-post is sometimes too late
• A short introduction to OUTCOME MAPPING
What is OM?
• OM is a dynamic methodology useful in the development of planning, monitoring and evaluation mechanism. OM:– Provides the tools to think holistically and
strategically about how it intends to achieve results
– Focuses on Outcomes instead of impacts– It deals with Contribution instead of attribution– Forces us to limit our planning and evaluation to
our sphere of influence– Deals with changes in the behaviours of our
direct partners
Outcome Mapping
OUTCOME MAPPING:Building Learning and Reflection into Development ProgramsSarah Earl, Fred Carden, and Terry Smutylo
http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-9330-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html
The 3 Stages of OM
• The intentional design stage: helps answer 4 questions: 1) Why? (developing a vision statement); 2) Who? (identifying the primary partners); 3) What? (specifying desired outcomes and relevant progress markers); and, 4) How? (articulating the mission and a portfolio of strategies).
• The outcome and performance monitoring stage: provides a framework for a continuous monitoring of the initiative as a tool to achieving its outcomes. The program uses progress markers, a set of graduated indicators of behavioural change, identified in the intentional design stage to clarify directions with its primary partners and to monitor outcomes.
• The evaluation planning stage: helps identify the evaluation priorities assessing the strategy at greater depth than the performance monitoring stage.
Intentional design
• Boundary Partners– Individuals, groups and organisations with
whom the programme interacts directly to effect changes.
– Those that you are trying to encourage to change so that they can contribute to the vision? With whom will you work directly?
– We must try to group similar partners according to the type of behavioural changes sought. Boundary partners are different from strategic partners.
Boundary partners
= Program`s Partners
Program
Intentional design
• Outcome Challenges– The changed behaviours (relationships,
activities and/or actions) of the boundary partner and how they would be behaving if they were contributing ideally to the vision.
– Imagine that in 3-5 years PartCom has been extremely successful. What would our boundary partners be doing to contribute maximally to the vision?
– Outcome challenges are about the boundary partner, not the programme.
Intentional design
• Progress markers– Step by step progressive changes that one
expects to see (short run), would like to see (medium to long run) and love to see (very long run) –keep it simple, 15 max!
– Are about CHANGES IN BEHAVIOURS OF BOUNDARY PARTNERS
– Are linear but NOT static– Must be revised– Help monitor the effectiveness of the strategy
Intentional design
• Strategy Map– Outlines the programmes approach in working
with the boundary partners– How will the programme contribute to the
achievement of the outcome challenged over the next X months/years?
– Use force field analysis
The three stages of OM
Discussion
• How will we design and deliver training on Evidence based Policy Advocacy?
Summary
– Evidence-informed policy challenging– Policy about interests, institutions & ideas– Variety of tools to understand these factors -
range in sophistication/complexity and ease of use
– Tools to use the understanding to engage in policy processes – less well developed
– Extent to which the tools are helpful depends on creativity, tenacity, inside knowledge – advocacy coalitions useful
– You can get more info at …
Further Information
Mapping Political Contexts:http://www.odi.org.uk/RAPID/Publications/Tools_Political_Context.html
Tools for Policy Impact:http://www.odi.org.uk/RAPID/Publications/Tools_Policy_Impact.html
Best Practice in Policy Making:http://www.policyhub.gov.uk/policy_tools/
Understanding Policy Process:
Further Information / Resources
• ODI Working Papers • Bridging Research
and Policy Book• JID Special Issue• Meeting Reports• Tools for Impact • www.odi.org.uk/cspp• www.odi.org.uk/rapid
Closing comments
1. Was this useful?
2. What will you do different from now on?
3. How can we help you?
Action Planning