Expanding the evidence base: policy recommendations from recent research

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Expanding the evidence base policy
recommendations from recent research

• Ben Page (UCL)
• Claire Mercer (University of Leicester)
• Martin Evans (University of Leicester)

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• Small diaspora associations should
• Elect development officers
• Work with local counterparts in Africa
• Make applications to funders
• Strategically select, monitor and evaluate local
  projects
• Use the leverage they achieve through their
  development contribution to extract benefits for
  their UK-based members from African governments
• Smaller organisations should register with ADVAD
  and ADVAD should provide real tangible services

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What are the associations studied in Africa?
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What are the associations in the UK? (not just
London)

• Cameroon
• Hometown Associations
• Bali Cultural and Development Association (BCDA)
• Bali Womens Association
• Manyu Elements Cultural Association (MECA-UK)
• Mamfe Central Development Association (MACENDA)
• Manyu Womens Association
• Various small clan/village groups
• Umbrella or other associations
• Cameroon Young Professional Network
• (National Union of Cameroon Students (defunct))
• The Millennium Group (TMG)
• Cameroon Forum

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What are the associations in the UK?

• Tanzania
• Small Local Associations
• Watanzania Tuinuane, 12 families
• Umoja Society (Slough)
• Afro-Culture Association (Leicester)
• Numerous informal social groups
• Umbrella/Other Associations
• Tanzania Womens Association
• Tanzania Association
• Zanzibar Welfare Association

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Different types of association favour different
types of developmental engagement
SEEDA Supporting Entrepreneurs and
Enterprise Development in Africa
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• What development work do these small
  local/hometown associations already do?
• Diaspora Associations in UK US
• Sending school text books (Manyu Bali)
• Re-equipping local rural clinics (Bali)
• 7,000 towards rehabilitating the Childrens ward
  at Mamfe General Hospital (1999-2002)
• Sending a computer to the Fons palace,
  preserving culture.
• Equipping schools with computers (Tanzania)
• Participating in health fairs (qualified
  doctors returning to Africa to give free
  consultations) alongside American colleagues
• Supplying public libraries (Bali US)
• Constructing Internet Cafe and Mortuary (Manyu
  diaspora in US)
• Associations in Africa
• Constructing secondary schools (Tanzania)
• Constructing water supplies, town halls,
  mortuaries, classrooms, toilets (Cameroon)
• Renovating government offices and equipping local
  police (Cameroon)

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The main findings from our four case studies were
that their existing development interventions
were

• generally welcomed by local people, though were
  not always high profile projects
• generally useful in relation to development, but
  not always appropriate
• generally fairly small scale
• rarely part of a co-ordinated development
  strategy
• rarely part of a joint project with other
  diaspora organisations
• rarely monitored or evaluated
• not always effectively delivered, completed or
  successful

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Development interventions were a higher priority
for associations in Africa than in the
UK However other activities (such as welfare of
members, cultural activities, socialising) are
often important and sometimes compete with
development It is entirely up to the
associations to decide whether they are
interested in development work or not
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Undoubtedly there is considerable potential for
delivering development projects through community
groups such as these small local associations or
hometown associations who have so much local
knowledge.
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IF they want to
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Key actors in policy network

• Hometown associations
• Small/local associations
• National umbrella organisations
• Pan-African umbrella organisations
• African Governments (and their UK High
  Commissions and Embassies)
• UK Government (Department for International
  Development, Home Office, Foreign Office,
  Department for Communities and Local Government)
• International Development NGOs

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• Existing work on developing a policy to tap this
  potential amongst these actors
• General IoM Report No 22 (2006)
• DFID Moving out of Poverty, Connections for
  Development (Murray, 2007)
• African Governments IoM Migration Report No. 26
  (2007)
• Pan-African Umbrella Groups AFFORD website
  provides up to date, clear advice for diaspora
  groups
• Development NGOs (de Haas, 2006)
• Notwithstanding the work of AFFORD and ADVAD,
  relatively limited attention has been paid so far
  to developing recommendations for hometown
  associations/small local associations themselves

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• So
• The aim here is to make these hometown
  associations/small groups the focus of our policy
  proposals
• With recommendations for other actors that could
  help enable the hometown associations/small
  groups to achieve their goals
• Ultimately the aim would be for these groups to
  be in a position to make a bid for the DFID Civil
  Society Challenge Fund (or some variant of it)

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• Recommendation 1 Hometown Associations/small
  associations should elect development officers
• Existing officials are too busy to take on added
  role
• Opportunity for development champions to push
  these issues within meetings
• Role would be to invest time in understanding
  existing opportunities/requirements (e.g. log
  frames, MDGs, fundraising, government and
  voluntary sector bodies providing training and
  advice)
• Role would include co-ordinating development
  activities, both with other diaspora
  organisations and to ensure worthwhile projects
  that dont duplicate effort and share resources
  within recipient communities in a fair way

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How could other actors support this
recommendation? AFFORD already provide
information and training for representatives from
African associations. The challenge is
identifying the individuals who need this
information and training DFID could provide
incentives for development officers in the form
of publications or training to help understand
the Departments aims, obligations, language,
strategies and funding mechanisms International
NGOs could provide internships for these
Development Officers
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What would the incentive be for the diaspora
organisation? Potential access to the experiences
of others, potential access to policy makers,
potential access to funding Improve the quality
of their development interventions What would be
the incentive for the individual who became
development officer? Relevant role doing a
significant job, increase their own professional
capacities and understanding, possible new
transferable skills, increasing their network.
Potential attractions might include airfare to
return home to carry out needs assessments or
project evaluations
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• Recommendation 2 Hometown Associations/small
  associations should work with local counterparts
  in Africa
• This is what is unique about diaspora
  associations their local contacts and knowledge
  about what is required and what will work locally
  
• There need to be clear local partners which might
  either be home branches of HTAs or local NGOs or
  CBOs
• There needs to be clear transparent communication
  between partners in UK and Africa

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How could other actors support this
recommendation? DFID should maintain the
criteria that UK-based diaspora groups should
work with local counterparts in Africa in order
to be eligible for the Civil Society Challenge
Fund African governments could make tax breaks
for diaspora groups development projects
dependent on their forming links with local civil
society groups
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What would the incentive be for the UK-based
organisations? Potential for delivering more
sustainable poverty alleviation interventions
building a relationship over time will bring
benefits in terms of shared capacity, skills and
knowledge Accessing new lines of funding in the
UK and in Africa What would be the incentive for
the local association in Africa? Potential for
delivering more sustainable poverty alleviation
interventions building a relationship over time
will bring benefits in terms of shared capacity,
skills and knowledge potential access to more
sustainable source of funding
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• Recommendation 3 Hometown Associations/small
  associations should make applications to a range
  of funders
• The small UK diaspora groups that we have studied
  are not taking advantage of opportunities for
  advice, support, and funding currently offered by
  organisations such as AFFORD, Ethnic Minority
  Fund etc
• IF they want to be more active in development,
  their development officers could research the
  opportunities available.

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How could other actors support this
recommendation? DFID could adopt a more flexible
approach to formal/legal requirements from UK
diaspora groups and their partners in Africa when
vetting applications to the Civil Society
Challenge Fund AFFORD/ADVAD website could give a
higher priority to up-coming funding deadlines
and opportunities National diaspora umbrella
groups could lead on training to help funding
applications, support with legal advice or could
lead on applications themselves
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What would be the incentive for the UK-based
organisations? Enable them to deliver more
substantial development projects, IF that is
what the organisations want What would be the
incentive for UK government? Enable them to
deliver on the aspirations set out in documents
like Moving out of poverty both by supporting
migrants in the UK AND those in Africa What
would be the incentive for umbrella
groups? Enable them to provide tangible benefits
to their members, and justify further funding for
themselves
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• Recommendation 4 Hometown Associations/small
  associations should strategically select, monitor
  and evaluate their projects
• Projects should be carefully selected on the
  basis of systematic prioritisation (in terms of
  alleviating poverty, for example) in a given
  area, rather than undertaken on an ad hoc basis
• Progress should be monitored and finally
  evaluated by the local NGO/CSO in Africa and/or
  by the development officer in the UK

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How could other actors support this
recommendation? International Development NGOs
could share experience in project selection,
monitoring and evaluation techniques DFID/AFFORD
(or other funding bodies) could provide specific
guidelines on monitoring progress and evaluation,
bearing in mind the need for flexibility African
governments regional development agencies could
present project proposals to diaspora
groups DFID country officers in Africa could
include diaspora projects in their independent
evaluations
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What would the incentive be for the UK-based
organisations? Increase likelihood that
potential problems are dealt with early
on Maximise potential to learn from
experience Increase likelihood that projects
succeed Increase likelihood of securing further
funding What would the incentive be for
DFID? Securing best value for the British
tax-payer when funding through civil society
channels
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• Recommendation 5 Hometown Associations/small
  associations should use the leverage they achieve
  through their development contribution to extract
  benefits for their UK-based members from African
  governments
• In return for development efforts, African
  governments could be lobbied on issues such as
  dual citizenship, voting rights, property rights,
  access to ID cards, portability of pensions
• Cameroon could replicate the Tanzanite account
  (CRDB) work abroad, save at home
• Remove duty on imported goods for development
  projects

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How could other actors support this
recommendation? Some African governments
recognise the value of diaspora investments but
they should recognise this is a process that can
be fostered through incentives. The greater the
contribution the diaspora makes the more leverage
it has to make demands of African
governments British government officials in
Africa can use meetings with African government
ministers to raise the profile/interests of the
African diaspora in the UK
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What would the incentive be for the UK-based
diaspora organisations? Easier travel Better
citizenship and investment rights in
Africa Cheaper remittances What would the
incentives be for African governments? Increased
remittances directed towards development
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Recommendation 6 Smaller organisations should
register with ADVAD and ADVAD should provide real
tangible services

• Small diaspora groups AND national umbrella
  groups should look at best practice in other
  parts of the UK voluntary sector
• There are large networks of environmental groups
  in the UK which, like HTAs, are small, voluntary,
  and struggle at times with problems of
  organisation, membership and stable funding flows
  but they are supported by national charities
  (British Trust for Conservation Volunteers,
  Friends of the Earth)
• These charities offer tangible benefits for
  registration (BTCV 35/year, FoE free) such
  as cheap insurance, subsidised/free training,
  information and advice on publicity, bookkeeping
  and fundraising (and sometimes small grants) and
  clear networking opportunities

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What could other actors do to support such
goals? As things stand, there is a disconnect
between AFFORD (which offers some good services)
and ADVAD (through which groups register but
which apparently offers only vague future
promises of support) Based on the current ADVAD
survey ADVAD/AFFORD could act as the supplier of
tangible benefits for smaller, less formal
organisations whose capacities wax and
wane AFFORD/ADVAD could seek to benefit from the
experience of other groups (e.g. BTCV and FoE) of
working with small informal groups
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What would be the incentives for small
organisations?

• Helps them to build their own capacity

What would be the incentives for umbrella
organizations?
Gain a larger constituency, greater legitimacy,
more potential members, and better contact with
the grassroots
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• Hometown Associations/small associations should
• Elect development officers
• Work with local counterparts in Africa
• Make applications to funders
• Strategically select, monitor and evaluate local
  projects
• Use the leverage they achieve through their
  development contribution to extract benefits for
  their UK-based members from African governments
• Smaller organisations should register with ADVAD
  and ADVAD should provide real tangible services