IDLGroup

VISIT FRR

Governance

Our Approach

If development is to be pro-poor, then institutions and political systems must work in the interest of all citizens, including poor people.  Achieving pro-poor change requires good governance: legitimate and accountable rulers, an active civil society and a responsive and capable public administration. It also requires an understanding of the less formal political structures and practices that can enable or prevent poor people exercising their voice and realising their rights.

Our approach to supporting better governance goes beyond simply building technical capacity. We seek to facilitate processes through which poor people’s voices are amplified, their political representatives and service providers are held to account, and coalitions for change are supported. For this approach to be successful there has to be a sound understanding of the political economy to inform a locally-owned transformation of policies, administrative and political institutions and incentives.

THE WAY WE WORK

Over the past 15 years theIDLgroup has sought to provide pragmatic approaches that can help leaders within governments and government agencies to realise their ambitions for reform and change.  All our work is grounded in the national and regional context and a realistic understanding of the processes of and possibilities for change. Based on these ‘grounded’ assessments and working closely with clients and stakeholders, we provide practical yet innovative approaches to change strategies, evidence-based public policy making and institutional reform. Our work in Governance, Institutional Reform and Political Economy focuses on five core areas:

 

Applied political analysis

Politics is central to development. Yet politics is messy and complex and therefore often gets pushed to the margins of development planning. Increasingly, however, we find that high quality political analysis is essential if the opportunities for reform are to be seized, and if governments and donors are to work together more effectively. A better understanding of politics helps to identify, create and nurture opportunities for pro-poor change. A growing body of experience and academic literature has provided new insights into the significance of elite groups, the power of civil society organisations, and the roles of foreign aid in domestic politics. theIDLgroup draws on these to provide clients with robust and relevant analyses, that can be used in the design and implementation of initiatives in order to effectively meet their intended objectives.

  • Analysis of the Political Economy of Growth in Ethiopia (DFID)
  • Strategic Governance and Corruption Assessments (SGACA) Pakistan, Ethiopia and Zambia (Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
  • Drivers of Change analysis exploring citizen voice, state accountability and the socio-political dynamics of change in Ethiopia, Sierra Leone and Papua New Guinea (AusAID, DFID)
  • Strategic analysis and policy options on the links between natural resources, conflict and poor governance (DFID)
  • Rapid socio-political assessments in conflict zones: Sierra Leone, Liberia and Cote D’Ivoire (World Bank)
  • Development of an analytical framework for expanding Drivers of Change analysis to include analysis and engagement at sub-national levels (DFID)
  • Analysis of the role of political will and institutional capacity in achieving the gender and education Millennium Development Goals (Oxfam)
  • Analysis of the political economy of private sector policy formation in Zambia (DFID)

VOICE AND ACCOUNTABILITY

If states are to work effectively for citizens, they must be able to engage with a diverse range of actors and balance a wide variety of expectations and demands. To balance those demands in the way that maximises pro-poor benefit, non-state actors need to be empowered to engage with government at all levels, helping to shape policy and hold elected leaders to account. theIDLgroup works with both “supply” and “demand” side governance, building confidence and capacity of both state and non-state actors for more effective citizen-government engagement. 

  • Advisory support to develop a UK strategy for strengthening civil society in the Balkans (DFID)
  • Capacity Development for improving accountability and voice in local service delivery in Eastern Europe, the Balkans and the CIS countries (UNDP)
  • Co-management of the Civil Society Strengthening Facility (CSSF) and the Rights and Voice Initiative (RAVI) in Ghana – both funding facilities designed to enhance citizen engagement with the state (DFID)
  • Civil Action for Socio-economic Inclusion (CASI) – enhancing citizens demand in claiming natural resource governance. (CARE)
  • Review of the Enabling States Programme in Nepal (DFID)
  • Improving the accountability and transparency of the Productive Safety Nets Programme in Ethiopia (World Bank)

PRO-POOR GOVERNANCE REFORM

theIDLgroup has considerable experience in the areas of policy and institutional reform, sector reform, and organisational change management. We have developed a reputation for fostering successful processes of pro-poor organisational change at local, national and international levels. These change processes have contributed to progress in creating more effective and accountable community-based and non-government organisations, local governments, line ministries, parliaments and regional and international institutions.

  • Design of the Basic Services Fund in Sudan to ensure that services reached the poor
  • Developing a change management framework for the Government of Rwanda’s poverty reduction programme (Government of Rwanda/World Bank)
  • Supporting legislative and institutional reforms for poverty-focused rural development in Cambodia, Ghana, India, Malawi,  Mozambique and Uganda (various clients)
  • Support to the Ghanaian Parliamentary Select Committee on Lands and Forestry, which has contributed to greater transparency in concessioning and bidding, law and regulation processes. (DFID)

 

SECTORAL GOVERNANCE AND TRANSPARENCY

The equitable and efficient use of resources can often provide a focal point for both national and international attention on governance issues. The first step towards improving resource use for pro-poor development can be improved transparency around amounts, allocations and employment of resources and revenues. theIDLgroup has experience of working on some of the key international initiatives to improve transparency on use of natural resources through building dialogue and trust.

  • Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) Validations in Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon
  • Design of the pilot of the Construction Sector Transparency Initiative (CoST) for Vietnam and Annual Review of CoST
  • Quality assurance for the review of the Medicines Transparency Alliance (MeTA)
  • Facilitation and support to the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Voluntary Partnership Agreements negotiations in Ghana, Liberia and Gabon (DFID/EU)
  • Design of an M&E framework for Making the Forest Sector Transparent in Peru, Guyana, Ghana, Liberia and Cameroon (Global Witness)
  • Design and review of multi-stakeholder forest governance facility in Cameroon (DFID)

 

AID EFFECTIVENESS

In the past decade, significant progress has been made on the governance of aid and design and delivery of development assistance. The aid effectiveness agenda has been at the heart of this progress, particularly through the Paris Declaration and the Accra Agenda for Action.  theIDLgroup has worked with development and country partners to improve the ownership, alignment and harmonisation of development assistance and to design innovative multi-donor aid instruments.

  • Worked with budget support donors in Zambia to improve dialogue around good governance and to develop governance indicators (Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs/DFID)
  • Conducted a thematic study on the applicability of the Paris Declaration to fragile situations and conflict affected areas for the September 2008 Accra High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (OECD)
  • Worked with the Joint Donor Partnership in South Sudan to identify the optimum Aid Instrument Mix to support the transition from recovery to development  (2008-11) (Joint Donor Partnership)
  • Keynote speech for the launch of NORAD’s 2008 Annual Evaluation of Norwegian Development Cooperation on the Political Economy of Aid Effectiveness.
  • Working with the Somalia Secretariat and international community to improve the coordination and harmonisation of donor engagement in Somalia (UN)