Practice Lab Events

The nature of security and rule of law programming in fragile settings is changing in response to a variety of external and internal drivers, going beyond institutional capacity development to consider empowerment and ways to foster accountability and influence policies through engagement with new sets of actors. To bring about the changes we wish to see, we need to understand better the problems at stake, the environments interventions are embedded in and the assumptions that underpin implementers’ decisions. This is where analytical tools for adaptive programming come into play. This workshop brings together practitioners and policy-makers who will share and discuss good practices of using analytical tools for program adaptation. You are invited to put forward your experience by presenting a pitch. Participants will further discuss in groups with a focus on more effective, evidence-based policies and programming. To encourage an open, interactive discussion, the event takes place under Chatham House Rules. Please find the full programme here. Featured speakers NIMD will present its newly developed and tested Political Economy Analysis (PEA) framework with country examples from Jordan and Iraq. The framework will be presented by Edin Elgsaether, Nic van der Jagt and Violet Benneker. Edin Elgsaether is a Knowledge Advisor with NIMD and lead the process of developing a purpose-built PEA framework for the organization and country programmes. She is a governance specialist with experience from developing, transitional and conflict-affected countries. Nic van der Jagt is Learning and Evaluation Advisor at NIMD, where he is responsible for results measurement strategy, evaluation and learning in the field of democracy. Nic is an international development professional with 20 years of experience in monitoring and evaluation of youth employment, enterprise development, and governance programmes. Violet Benneker is a Knowledge Advisor with NIMD. She is an expert on trust-building for inclusive political dialogue and on the role of formal and informal rules in political decision-making in fragile and conflict-affected states. IDLO will present insights from a 5-year Project in Mali, which aims at strengthening the criminal justice chain in North Mali. The project’s approach to adaptive programming will be presented by Namizata Méïté, a French National lawyer, who joined IDLO in 2003. As Program Coordinator for Africa, she is currently responsible for coordinating the respective project in Mali. In particular, Namizata has extensive experience in Program implementation with expertise in human rights, legal services, legal training and Intellectual Property (IP). She designs and delivers programmes on various topics including HIV Health Law, Economic and financial criminal law. CARE Netherlands will focus on Gendered Political Economy Analysis (GPEA) and Advocacy After Action Review. A GPEA explicitly examines how gender and other social inequalities shape people’s access to power and resources. An Advocacy After Action Review is an action-oriented monitoring and learning tool that helps practitioners to review their advocacy strategies and adapt to changing opportunities and challenges throughout the life of the programme. CARE’s approach will be presented by Lori Cajegas, who is CARE Netherland's Programme Manager for the “Every Voice Counts” programme, which aims to contribute to inclusive and effective governance processes in fragile settings. For over 15 years, Lori has worked with and supported civil society organizations in Asia and Africa in designing and implementing lobby and advocacy programmes. Her current passion is to inspire and motivate colleagues and individuals to approach power analysis more practically and learn from what works and what does not work - all small but strategic steps to effectively address changes in the political and social contexts.

Political governance is one of the domains of change that shapes the current partnerships supported by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) under the theme of Security and Rule of Law (SRoL). The SRoL’s current theory of change (ToC) describes change in this domain as referring to the “strengthened national and local level governance structures that are inclusive and accountable to their constituencies, and that are – together with societies at large – able to effectively prevent and resolve conflict in a non-violent and inclusive manner”. The workshop will engage with underlying assumptions that guide and drive programme ToCs, focusing on assumptions conceptualizing women’s political participation (WPP) as a pathway towards achieving inclusive governance. By discussing different tools and ways of testing ToC assumptions and taking stock of evidence, the workshop aims to explore how reviews of ToC assumptions can guide decisions related to adjusting programme interventions. Participants are encouraged to identify ‘blind spots’, where evidence is required to further test assumptions related to WPP, as well as opportunities for learning collaborations between policy-makers, practitioners and researchers, to enable learning from ToC assumptions in the fields of WPP/political governance. Speakers Eunike Spierings, M&E specialist, at the European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM) who is responsible for the Centre’s monitoring and evaluation. Angela Rodriguez, the Executive Director of NIMD's programme in Colombia, will share practical experience and examples from Colombia. Agenda 13:00  Welcome & introduction, Megan Price, KPSRL 13:15  Presentation & discussion of recent CARE NL studies related to WPP Social Inclusion in Fragile Settings: Pathways towards inclusion of women and girls in local governance processes - presentation of key findings of global study on Social Inclusion, Berlinda Nolles, CARE Netherlands    Norms and Practices of Public Authorities in Conflict-& Post Conflict-affected Contexts - presentation of key findings of global study on Norms and Practices, Katie Whipkey, CARE Netherlands Plenary Q&A 14:00  Coffee break 14:15  Roundtable Discussion: Learning from ToC Assumptions, Edin Elgsaether & Angela Rodrigues, NIMD, Koen Faber, Cordaid, Lori Cajegas, CARE Netherlands and Eunike Spierings, ECDPM Plenary Q&A 15:30  Plenary Discussion: Future learning collaborations and way forward  16:00 Wrap up & closing, KPSRL Background The workshop is part of KPSRL’s practice-lab series, which deals with adaptive programming in fragile settings. The event series explores pathways for collaborative and creative action in learning for a better knowledge uptake, aiming at building learning partnerships and reflecting on scaling up and action. Bringing together practitioners, researchers and policy makers, this workshop particularly focuses on testing assumptions that guide and drive programme ToCs and interventions. Registration For further information and registration, please contact Karoline Eickhoff, KPSRL ([email protected]). Download the PDF invitation here.

We kindly invite you to a Food Security and Stability Community of Practice meeting, co-organised by F&BKP and KPSRL. The meeting focuses on learning partnerships for adaptive programming, more specifically to support food security and agricultural development programs in settings of fragility and protracted crisis. We will look at how learning for adaptation takes place with and between partners in consortia. The meeting will feature the following three cases. When signing up for the meeting, please select the two of these cases which you would like to discuss more in-depth in the two rounds of breakout sessions that will be held. PRIME - Pastoralist Areas Resilience Improvement through Market Expansion, Ethiopia - Presented by Mercy Corps Operating in three regions in Ethiopia through ten consortium partners that collocate in eight offices under five technical areas, PRIME is structured to respond to complex and dynamic realities on the ground in its efforts to build resilience in pastoralist areas using a facilitative market systems approach. How can a large complex project be adaptive, flexible, inclusive and responsive? BRCiS Consortium - Building Resilient Communities in Somalia - Presented by NRC A humanitarian consortium (NRC, Concern Worldwide, Save the Children, IRC, Cesvi) that takes a holistic approach to supporting Somali communities in developing their capacity to resist and absorb minor shocks without undermining their ability to move out of poverty. The communities co-lead the design and the implementation. How did the consortium and the communities balance long-term goals and short-term emergency needs? BBB - Building Bridges in Burundi - Presented by Help a Child The program focuses on the creation of social and economic capital and assets among young people, aimed at reducing persistent poverty, unemployment and insecurity caused in part by increasing competition and tensions over arable land. The program has a component aiming to strengthen technical, professional and agrifood skills. How is this realized in communities exposed and vulnerable to inter-ethnic & political tensions, insecurity and violence, and to poverty and wider social & economic marginalization?   Please register and select your cases of choice through this form by Wednesday 27 May 12.00. Selecting a case beforehand is necessary for organizing the breakout groups online. A more detailed program, including the Zoom link, will be sent to you shortly before the meeting. In case you have any questions, please email Jacqueline Vrancken Jacqueline at [email protected] or Messina Laurette Manirakiza at [email protected] Please click here for an outline of the event.

Download the full concept note here. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted not only the health and economic systems of countries, but also the nature and effectiveness of the systems of governance. COVID-19 is a test of global social and political systems, and how we react now has implications for longer-term impacts. The Ebola crisis has taught us that it is the political, economic and social processes – and not the virus itself – that shape the governance systems that respond to an epidemic. As a global health crisis, COVID-19 indeed shocked democratic institutions and offered governments a stimulus to use emergency powers, curtailing individual and collective political rights in the short- and potentially long-term. In Africa, critics consider COVID-19 a threat to the whole of society that requires a response involving the whole of society. They warned that “trying to move fast without having a cooperative public in tow is a recipe for failure”. Indeed, one of the most pressing governance worries of the time is: What could happen to state-society relations and the functioning of states once the pandemic has been brought under control? How will the unprecedented actions governments are now taking impact state-society relationships in the long-term? As a critical juncture, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to better understand the opportunities as well as the threats to political governance in order to push for much needed reforms, support innovations, and address the long-term threats to political and democratic governance. The Knowledge Platform on Security and Rule of Law and CARE Nederland invite you to an online brainstorming discussion with development practitioners (DSH-partner INGOs and CSOs), key researchers, and policy experts engaged in governance. The objective of the session is to jointly reflect and share insights on the opportunities and threats COVID-19 presents from a governance perspective and on how development actors can support more effective governance. This online discussion intends to inform: adaptations including integration of governance in the COVID-19 response of DSH partners; dialogues with donor agencies on the importance of remaining “politically smart” and sensitive to local dynamics in building back better in the long-term; and a research agenda that will help shape long-term responses to the governance impacts of COVID-19. Download the full concept note here. *Correction: This event will be taking place on Friday June 12th, not Thursday as previously incorrectly written.  

Conducting a Political Economy Analysis (PEA) is one tool that can be utilized to understand and support the design and implementation of politically feasible programs, by setting informed objectives of what can be achieved, over what timescale and the risks involved. IDLO and KPSRL are organizing an Implementer Dialogue to learn from experts and organizational pilot initiatives about the relevance and importance of engaging with the PEA for security and rule of law strategies and programs, as a continual and iterative process. The ID will deconstruct how, when, why and with what purpose the PEA can be used as an analytical tool and framework for program design and implementation, identifying key challenges, opportunities, experiences and risks. The dialogue will provide an opportunity to share IDLO’s experience of engaging with its own institutional guidelines on PEA, which were recently piloted and applied in Somalia and Morocco.                                                       This ID aims to convene development practitioners, implementers and policy makers in order to disseminate expert knowledge and practical experience on adaptive programming, with a specific focus on engaging with the PEA as an analytical tool to formulate high-impact and high-quality security and rule of law programming.  The following questions will be addressed: PEAs as an iterative process: How to determine the right timing and the right strategy to feed into program design, planning, reviews or other decisions? How to make sure that PEA is a living and breathing process woven into everyday practice?  How do we ensure that the PEA remains relevant in the environment of constant political change - and therefore also how do we ensure that programs remain relevant? Download the full concept note here.