ODIs Civil Society Partnerships Programme and beyond

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ODIs Civil Society Partnerships Programme and
beyond
Theres nothing a government dislikes more than
being well-informed, because it makes the
business of decision-making more
difficult.(J.M. Keynes attributed by Geoff
Mulgan)
A.Hudson_at_odi.org.uk Alan Hudson
www.odi.org.uk/cspp
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ODIs Civil Society Partnerships Programme

• To strengthen the capacity of CSOs to contribute
  to pro-poor national and international
  development policies
• Helping CSOs to understand how to use
  research-based evidence
• Enabling CSOs to access support for
  evidence-based policy work
• Enabling CSOs to participate in policy networks
• Making ODIs knowledge accessible to CSOs
• Changing ODI so it works better with CSOs

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ODIs CSPP Activities and findings

• Activities Research, mapping, workshops,
  toolkits, collaboration
• Initial findings
• Evidence matters (eg. Tanzania Essential Health
  Interventions or, conversely, HIV/AIDS)
• Demand and supply donors/governments and CSOs
• Opportunities, evidence use and access (eg.
  Malawi and Zambia budget monitoring)
• Internal and external barriers

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CSO influence in Malawi

• Opportunities
• Evidence of the value of CSO involvement
• Governments becoming more interested in CSOs
• CSOs are gaining confidence
• Strength of networks
• The media
• Political factors

• Barriers
• Lack of capacity
• Lack of local ownership
• Donor influence
• Lack of data
• Translating data into evidence
• Crises
• Political factors

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Main barriers to CSO-Policy (Kenya)

• CSOs do not have enough funds
• CSO staff do not have sufficient capacity
• Policymakers do not see CSO evidence as credible
• Policymakers tend to be corrupt
• CSOs lack knowledge about policy processes
• Policy processes are not open to CSOs
• CSO staff do not have enough time

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A Practical Framework
political context
Politics and Policymaking
Media, Advocacy, Networking
Research, learning thinking
evidence
links
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CSO Matrix

• 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

• Who are the policymakers?
• Is there demand for ideas?
• What is the policy process?

• Establish credibility and legitimacy
• Provide practical solutions
• Present clear options
• Use familiar narratives.

• Build a reputation
• Action-research
• Pilot projects to generate legitimacy
• Good communication

• What is the current theory?
• What are the narratives?
• How divergent is it?

• Build partnerships.
• Identify key networkers and salespersons.
• Use informal contacts

• Get to know the others
• Work through existing networks.
• Build coalitions.
• Build new policy networks.

• Who are the stakeholders?
• What networks exist?
• Who are the connectors and salespersons?

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Beyond the CSPP

• Context/Evidence/Links framework, but
• Politics matters most for evidence and its
  use
• Transforming the politics of policy processes
  whilst seeking to work within existing processes
• More attention to the politics of policy
  processes
• Working with parliaments and policymakers
• Evidence, accountability, policy processes and
  politics