Capacity Building for Policy Influencing Networks and Capacity: Experience from the Civil Society Pa

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Capacity Building for Policy Influencing
Networks and Capacity Experience from the
Civil Society Partnership Programme

• Naved Chowdhury
• n.chowdhury_at_odi.org.uk

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Overseas Development Institute

• Development Think Tank
• 8m, 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
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RAPID Programme

• Research
• Literature
• GDN Case Studies
• ODI Case Studies
• Advisory work
• Projects
• Organisations
• Workshops and Seminars
• Think Tank Programme

for further information see www.odi.org.uk/rapi
d
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The linear logical model

• Identify the problem
• Commission research
• Analyse the results
• Choose the best option
• Establish the policy
• Implement the policy
• Evaluation

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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 ignorance3

1 Clay Schaffer (1984), Room for Manoeuvre An
Exploration of Public Policy in Agricultural
and Rural Development, Heineman Educational
Books, London 2 Omamo (2003), Policy Research on
African Agriculture Trends, Gaps, and
Challenges, International Service for National
Agricultural Research (ISNAR) Research Report No
21 3 Surr (2003), DFID Research Review
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Influencing PolicyDifferent Notions of Evidence

• Colloquial (Contextual)
• Anything that seems reasonable
• Policy relevant
• Timely
• Clear Message

• Scientific (Context free)
• Proven empirically
• Theoretically driven
• As long as it takes
• Caveats and qualifications

Source Phil Davies Impact to Insight Meeting,
ODI, 2005
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A Practical Framework
political context
Politics and Policymaking
Media, Advocacy, Networking
Research, learning thinking
evidence
links
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CSPP Log Frame

• Not a major change but
• Recognition of external and internal objectives
  (purpose)
• 4 external outputs
• Facilitating the network
• Capacity development
• Collaborative action-research projects
• Research
• 3 internal outputs
• ODI Communication Capacity
• Capacity to work with CSOs
• Orientation towards CSOs

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Narrative Summary

• Super-Goal
• Poverty reduced in developing countries
• 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, and
• ODI engages more effectively with southern CSOs
  and other stakeholders to make more use of ODIs
  research-based evidence to influence the
  establishment of pro-poor policy.

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Narrative Summary

• Network
• Interactive community website
• Information and knowledge exchange
• General support
• Capacity-building
• staff exchange,
• visiting fellows to ODI and Southern institutes,
• Southern participants in global policy events
• Training and ToT
• Research (lessons disseminated)
• Ongoing learning
• How to do it guidelines
• New research
• Collaborative projects
• Small-scale ARPs
• Continued support to existing projects
• One new global collaborative project each year

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Global Consultation

• Workshops were held in Africa (Southern, Eastern
  and West), Asia ( south and South East) and Latin
  America ( Argentina and Bolivia) and organized in
  partnership with local CSOs
• Case studies on various issues Budget
  Monitoring( Zambia), Community Participation in
  Waste Management ( Ghana), Rice pricing (
  Bangladesh), Public participation ( Indonesia)
  etc.
• Research
• Global Project (FFA)

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Building Capacity for Policy Influencing Lessons
Learnt 1

• Understanding Policy process means understanding
  the politics
• Lack of trust between CSOs and government
• Demand led vs Supply driven
• Capacity to use and package research for policy
  influence is limited
• Donor influence is huge
• Gradual erosion of research capacity in the South
• Proposals by CSOs should be feasible and
  practical

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Lessons Learnt 2

• 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

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What the CSOs need to do to influence Policy?

• Use (research-based) Credible evidence to
  influence policy
• Timely, relevant and reliable information
• Understanding the Politics
• Conflict to Sustained Engagement
• Long term
• Demand Driven research
• Strength in numbers
• How best to build capacity?

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What the CSOs need to do? 2

• Effective communication develop different
  materials for different audience
• Choosing roles and responsibilities
• Financial and human resources
• Using the media
• Engaging donors
• Inviting policymakers from the outset

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An Action-Research Network

• A network of northern and southern national,
  regional and global individuals and organisations
  learning about and helping others to use
  research-based evidence to promote pro-poor
  policy.

• Research
• National action-research (how to do it)
• Global action-research policy-advocacy
• Capacity development
• Information sharing
• 20 Core members in Asia, Africa and Latin America

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CSPP Network The progress so far

• Research Working Papers, Briefing Papers, book
  chapters, articles
• Lots of CD activities have taken place ( TOT,
  Website, Newsletter, Action Research Projects,
  Placement, CSPP LA network, participation in
  external events, etc)
• Lots of enquiry about the network ( IDRC,
  Hewlett, AKF, NBD, ICCDA- Inter regional
  Co-ordinating Committee for Development
  Associations etc)
• Substantial external demand for support involving
  partners ( CEF), Transparency International,
  Infodev
• Partners sharing information and knowledge-
  Zambia DBS, FAO, Australia
• Interactive Network website
• Newsletter

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Action!
Field trip to CEF partner project, Bangladesh
Presentation at regional workshop, Malawi
Discussing case studies, Sri Lanka workshop
Field trip to Naamacha Secondary School,
Mozambique, to test context analysis tools
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6 Key Functions 11gt2
Facilitators
Community builders

• Filters

Investor/providers
Amplifiers
Convenors
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How we can make it work?

• Strategic thinking and dynamic leadership
• Harnessing knowledge and fostering identity
• Empowering members and putting in incentives to
  co-operate
• Managing tensions
• Mobilizing and managing human and financial
  resources
• Undertaking collaborative tasks
• Adaptive capacity
• Facilitating participation
• Technical Expertise

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Impact and Governance

• Too early to say whether having big impact on the
  work of the partners.
• Still hugely ODI Led.
• Interaction among partners have been limited.
• Do we need to define levels of network
  membership?
• Should CD be only for Core partners?
• How do we find the balance between investing in
  core partners and in broader network members?
• Capacity is demanded not given!!

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Network model of Capacity Development The
Challenges

• Function of the network- Contextual ( strong
  regional variation)
• Face to face interaction?
• Consistent communications?
• Model of governance Equitable Partnership
• Incentives for members CD Diverse but Flexible
• How to build ownership?
• Funding how to avoid being a donor?
• Measuring Impact?
• Maintaining momentum?

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CD The Questions

• Do we provide support for long term institutional
  development?
• How to involve partners in One-off /
  Consultancy support on policy advocacy and
  engagement ( Ethiopia, Vietnam, Bangladesh,
  Malawi)?
• Shallow and wide or deep and few?
• How to systematically network with other similar
  orgs ( IIED, IDS etc)?
• How to monitor capacity development for policy
  advocacy? What are the indicators?

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How can we work together?

• Research What are the issues youd like to know
  about?
• Capacity Development What else could we do that
  would be useful?
• Information What other information might be
  useful?
• Policy engagement What are the issues you are
  interested in?
• What else could we do?

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Further Information

• ODI Working Papers
• Bridging Research and Policy Book
• Meeting series Monograph
• Tools for Policy Impact
• RAPID Briefing Paper
• RAPID CDROM
• n.chowdhury_at_odi.org.uk
• www.odi.org.uk/rapid