IFAD’s Approach to Policy Engagement

IFAD’s Approach to Policy Engagement

• 1.
  IFAD’s Approach to Policy Engagement 23June 2015 Assessing the Impact of Policy Engagement: RIMISP / IFAD Learning Event
• 2.
  Defining policy andpolicy engagement for IFAD  Policy is the set of national & sub-national laws, regulations, institutional approaches and practices which shape the economic context in which rural poor people attempt to overcome poverty  Policy engagement for IFAD means working with governments and other national actors to create, reform, implement or monitor policies  Direct – IFAD itself  Indirect – IFAD-supported projects and grants
• 3.
  Why engage?  IFADis shifting from an exclusive project focus to one that can make a broader contribution to poverty reduction  Thus, engaging in policy is critical to achieving IFAD’s mission  Central to scaling up agenda  Helps maintain / increase IFAD’s value added
• 4.
  How does IFADengage?  IFAD’s interest, above all, is enabling government and stakeholders to reflect on policies  IFAD can engage with governments on policies at all points of the policy cycle:  Identification and creation  Negotiation and approval  Implementation, review and assessment
• 5.
  How much CLPEat present?  A recent review of policy engagement practices reveals IFAD is doing a substantial amount of policy work  Pursues this work through COSOPs, projects, grants, CPMs’ efforts  Engages in many different depending on national and regional context
• 6.
  Policy within COSOPs,projects and grants  Results to date  30% of COSOPs articulate policy as a priority  Half of projects mention policy  A third of projects have policy component or sub-component  20% of grants have a policy focus  Examples:  Creating space / capacity for dialogue  Scaling up of successful models within public policy frameworks  Strengthening government capacity to formulate policy  Operationalization of national policies at local level  Finance for policy analysis / technical assistance
• 7.
  Focus on policywithin projects Inclusion of policy engagement in project design documents 28% 53% 28% 25% 29% 23% 18% 30% 15% 9% 51% 71% 58% 40% 38% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% APR ESA LAC NEN WCA % projects with component or subcomponent on policy % of projects with reference to policy engagement Total policy focus as % of projects
• 8.
  M&E of policyengagement  Current IFAD approach to M&E of policy engagement is relatively weak  M&E is done in an ad hoc way:  Country programme issue sheets, portfolio review, project review sheets  RIMS (limited applicability)  Project completion reports for projects with significant policy component  Country programme evaluations
• 9.
  Better M&E forCLPE?  Embed M&E of policy engagement into project M&E units  Generate RIMs indicators to ensure that some options are available for projects / COSOPs with significant policy agendas  New tools (designed by ODI) for IFAD staff and consultants to help with methods for M&E of policy