Talks with civil society representatives to help identify specific issues for national dialogue. The working documents will be prepared by the dialogue participants, the government and civil society representatives.
PARTICIPATION ACTION PLAN June 2000
Assessment of the Current Status of Participation
This technical note provides a useful tool for assessing participation by visualizing the connections between stakeholders and public processes. The template in Table 1 will help government determine how stakeholders can best be linked to government processes at each stage of the participatory PRS process at both national and local levels.
Conducting a Stakeholder Analysis
Consultations in the community and with the poor will be different, as explained in the Community-led Development chapter, the Poverty Diagnostics chapter and section 3.3. When selecting participants for intra-governmental consultations, it is important to include government officials at both the state and local levels. More detailed civil society profiles could be sought by commissioning a specific analysis or from existing donor files, academic sources or network / apex / umbrella organisations.
The types of civil society organizations expected in the three types of countries are presented in Table 2. What are the activities in which civil society organizations (CSOs) and community-based organizations are involved. Using advice from staff most familiar with civil society in the country;.
In most cases, the international private sector has already established some presence in that country's decision-making processes.
Guiding questions for the Participation Plan
Consider broadening the participation of civil society (through a participatory approach) and the general public (through governance structures) (see sections 3 and 4). Consider deepening the involvement of local communities by consulting them (see section 3.3 and the Community-led Development chapter). Guiding question 4: Participation in poverty monitoring. We have little experience with participatory approaches, except at local level in relation to donor-funded projects.
We have experience of regular consultation with civil society organisations, central and line ministries and the donor community, but this rarely goes beyond a series of occasional meetings to get comments on our draft budget. Consider extending the consultation process to key line ministries and regional and district centers (see section 3.4). Consider a public awareness campaign (see section 3.4). We had extensive consultations in the capital, with
Consider broadening the consultation process to include more stakeholder groups at local level (see section 3.3).
Costing of the Participatory process
The number and intensity of these participatory processes will depend on the context and design of the participatory process. In a Type I country, one may find that many of these processes may have been initiated and costs already incurred. There are also likely to be more resources available from other donors who already support similar processes.
In a Type III country, limited finances may limit participation activities to evaluation, coordination, a Voices of the Poor consultation, limited national consultation and some information sharing.
Ensuring that Participatory Processes include Women
Women are not informed. Use women's networks or umbrella groups to represent women's voices at the national level. Use trusted or respected facilitators Women's views are not heard at national level • Develop new gender inclusive consultations.
Designing a Participation Plan
An initial priority might be to identify capacity to consult the poor from neighboring countries, if not available locally, and utilize this expertise to conduct the consultation and to train local facilitators. In addition, there may be a need for national training for the government and external technical advice may be necessary. Training in influencing government processes and negotiation techniques for key government and civil society stakeholders – possibly funded by donors.
Integrating research and information management into policy influence, including access to information, information sharing among allies, and analysis of information and context; Developing market research skills to test public opinion and assess the impact of initiatives to influence policy;. The activity brought together a complementary group of international experts, including UDN's expertise in debt lobbying, GWIP's expertise in constituency planning, training and construction, and IDASA's expertise in mainstreaming gender into national budgets.
Participants came from 15 civil society organisations, including a women's network and information centre, the Uganda Manufacturers' Association, the national NGO Forum, the National Farmers' Association and the National Organization of Trade Unions.
Measuring progress in participation
One approach would be to ensure that the weakest and most powerless group is given the opportunity to participate in policy formulation. The quality of the resulting policy: in terms of how fair, forward-looking and sustainable its effects are. Inclusiveness of the participation process: consultation and inclusion in negotiations of all the different perspectives and priorities on a particular issue.
Broad-based ownership: achieving widespread ownership of and support for the policy in the country and throughout the population;. Capacity building: improved capacities of various stakeholder groups and public agencies to enable participation in future policy work.
Overcoming Constraints
Private Sector Participation in PRS Process
Workshops methodology
Methods for Consulting the Poor
In Indonesia, the urban poor depended largely on local community-based institutions and private sector agencies that provided microcredit such as private banks, moneylenders, and pawn shops. The rural poor rely on a greater variety of community-based informal institutions and village government officials and obtain their in-kind loans from local shops. The poor also appreciate being consulted about the forms of aid they should receive.
They trust an institution that is transparent, fair, keeps its promises and trusts the poor in return. Rural women are consistently excluded from village councils and government poverty alleviation programs when institutions are ranked by importance and effectiveness. However, both men and women in rural and urban areas agreed that they could not influence government programs at all.
According to them, this is the main reason why government programs have so little impact on poverty.
Can the Poor Influence the Budget? – Case of Uganda
Typical agency doing field work. Government advisors; local and international NGOs; academic institutions; independent consultants and firms. Create the mandate of the Plan for the Modernization of Agriculture to focus on the poor farmer. Raising awareness of local and central government politicians and civil servants and refocusing the poverty dialogue in terms of the poor man and the poor woman.
Use personal judgment and align stakeholder involvement to the overall political, social, economic and institutional environment of the country. There is no planning approach to the timing of the involvement of stakeholders in the political dialogue. The quality and follow-up of workshops will affect the impact of the PPA and the relationship between participating stakeholders.
Work with institutions (universities, networks of social scientists, etc.) already doing social research to ensure that research is not duplicated and that PPA becomes part of social knowledge.
Participatory Policy Formulation and Implementation: Poland Pension Reform
The campaign highlighted the long-term bankruptcy of the current system and the necessity of comprehensive reform. The Office of the Plenipotentiary was officially dissolved in April 1999, but some of its employees continued to work for the Ministry of Labour. Focusing on opinion leaders to educate key audiences, Lewicka traveled to eight of the largest cities outside Warsaw in May and June 1999.
Additional focus groups indicated that people realized that pension funds provide subjective and general information and that information from the Office of the Commissioner is considered more reliable than ZUS. The support of opposition deputies was essential for the approval of key aspects of the first pillar law. Important concessions made to build support will significantly increase transition costs, but do not undermine the essential goals of the reform.
The media played a key role throughout the reform process and one of the most effective investments of government resources was in media outreach and education.
Participatory Monitoring of Public Services: Indonesia
The government built support outside its own governing coalition, which was crucial to sustaining reforms. The government effectively reached out to trade unions and business associations before finalizing the legislation to parliament. The broad consensus that was carefully built during the reform process slowed down the pace and content of the reform, but contributed significantly to its implementation.
The loss of early retirement opportunities and other professional privileges and a decline in pension levels compared to 1994 levels are a major blow. But there was an assessment that the relatively exceptional circumstances of the mid-1990s were not sustainable in the long term and that the unions are now a full partner in the new system. Polls from the time showed that the percentage of people who thought their information was adequate or improved had risen from less than half at the end of 1998 to almost 80 percent.
Community-Based Monitoring of Social Safety Net Programs
Definitions
Consultation - two-way flow of information between the coordinators of the consultation and the public and vice versa. The quality of participation the depth and diversity of views expressed, the incorporation of these into strategy formulation, consensus building, building partnerships for the delivery of the strategy and information sharing between the stakeholder groups involved. Civil society organizations (CSOs) include both local and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), community-based organizations, grassroots organizations, business and professional associations, chambers of commerce, groups of parliamentarians, media, policy development and research institutes.
The following chart shows some of the different types of CSOs found in each of these categories. Representative authorities: refers to elected bodies of government, for example national and state level parliaments and assemblies, district and local councils and elected councils and elected community leaders. Those directly affected by the policies being discussed, such as individuals and families, indigenous groups, women's groups, and so on, who will feel the impact of the policies immediately.
Those indirectly affected by the policies under discussion, such as the private sector, which may have more or fewer clients as a result of the policy, religious groups, community associations and networks and local NGOs.
RESOURCE LIST
Key Documents
