Walk before you run

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Better Governance through Thought and Action Walk before you run A WBI Brown-Bag Lunch Presentation November 18, 2004

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Walk before you run. A WBI Brown-Bag Lunch Presentation November 18, 2004. Governance relationships. Traditions. Civil Society. Private Sector. media. Cultures. Values. Government. History. Walk before you run. Government to Citizen Communications - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Transcript of Walk before you run

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Better Governance through Thought and Action

Walk before you

run

A WBI Brown-Bag Lunch Presentation

November 18, 2004

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Governance relationships

ValuesValues

CivilCivilSocietySociety

PrivatePrivateSectorSector

GovernmentGovernment

mediamedia

TraditionsTraditions

HistoryHistory

CulturesCultures

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Walk before you run

Government to Citizen Communications Latvia & 6 Eastern European countries CIDA & UNDP

Strengthening Social Policy Partnerships Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,

Thailand & Canada CIDA

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Government to Citizen Communications

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Principle

Sound communication between government and citizens is fundamental to democracy

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Project objectives

Support healthy two-way flow of information between government & citizens by: assessing current status identifying challenges & opportunities making recommendations to

governments

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Approach

national and international experts selected

preparation of research literature review interviews with stakeholders consultations or focus groups reports & recommendations

sharing of findings among experts reports submitted to governments

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Participating countries

Estonia Hungary Lithuania

Latvia

Poland Slovakia Slovenia

Others...

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Common challenges

Democracy is young Political structure Citizen distrust/alienation Civil service evolving Role of civil society

unclear Constrained resources Influence of media

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Common opportunities

Priorities require coordination Desire to improve

government/citizen communications Outside support Commitment to change Youth & energy

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Overview of common recommendations

Separate political and administrative roles Create awareness at political &

administrative levels See communications as a policy tool Provide adequate resources Foster central coordination Encourage networking Promote direct contact with citizens Use plain language

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Selected effective practices

Estonia Government press workers code of

ethics Electronic communications e.g. Public

Internet Access Points

Hungary Civic initiative: Tele-cottages Cross-government coordination in early

stages

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Selected effective practices

Latvia Workshops for Cabinet & senior

officials Approved communications policy Coordination mechanisms established Communications integrated into

policy development Legislation on consultation

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Selected effective practices

Lithuania Existing communications directives Communications efforts by Foreign

Affairs re NATO

Poland Bulletin of Public Information (BIP) ‘Friendly Administration’ program

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Selected effective practices

Slovakia Regular media analysis High quality government internet

information

Slovenia Political will & operational readiness Signs of increased resourcing

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What next?

Share results and value added Introduce program elsewhere Research effective practices

Promote diagnostiques & professional development on: importance of government

communications strategic planning & coordination communications internal to government

for elected and appointed officials

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Walk before you run

Government to Citizen Communications Latvia & 6 Eastern European countries CIDA & UNDP

Strengthening Social Policy Partnerships Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,

Thailand & Canada CIDA

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Strengthening Social Policy: Lessons on Forging Government - Civil Society Policy Partnerships

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Principle

Policies are stronger, more responsive and more successful when civil society is engaged in their development

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Goals, Objectives and Approach

of Project

The Case Studies

Overall Results

Key Lessons Learned

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Goal

More effective government - civil society policy partnerships

Social policy

Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Canada

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Key objectives

Build a network linking civil society organizations to key policy officials

Learn how civil society organizations can affect government decisions, and

Build more effective state-society policy partnerships

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Our approach

Local researchers [Jan 2003] Draft case studies completed [Sept 2003] Researchers meeting: Bangkok [Oct 2003] Case studies completed [March 2004] Regional meeting of government and civil

society representatives: Kuala Lumpur [June 2004]

Dissemination

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Project partners Canadian International Development Agency

Indonesia: Dr. Joe Fernandez Malaysia:Dr. Denison Jayasooria Philippines: Dr. Francisco Magno Thailand: Dr. Juree Vichit-Vadakan; Dr.

Kanokkan Anukansai Canada: Mel Gill, Synergy Associates Institute On Governance: project leader &

facilitator

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Case study topics

Thailand - prostitution, maternity leave Indonesia - participation of women in

local government, trafficking of women Malaysia - children’s rights, women’s

rights, consumer rights Philippines - indigenous people’s rights,

children’s rights Canada - children’s rights

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Overall results

Network emerging

Case studies on successful “partnership” between government and civil society

Common social issues, common lessons

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Lessons learned (1)

Understanding partner’s context critical government context: policy-making

process, decision-making and accountabilities

civil society context: representation, governance and decision-making

different time-frames and time horizons

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Lessons learned (2)

Importance of leaders and champions key individuals and relationships

crucial to moving an issue ahead the right champion can be found or

converted to the cause

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Lessons learned (3)

Structures and processes help lobbying, public education, advocacy,

and participation in consultations and demonstrations

role of informal mechanisms times for collaboration & times for

working separately

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Lessons learned (4)

Progress slow and incremental Relationships, context can change over

time Know when to push (and not to push)

for more

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Lessons learned (5)

Gap between policy formulation and implementation policy impact can be weak because of

poor monitoring, enforcement and implementation

government needs to create a space to engage civil society post policy-development

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Other lessons

Timing Role of media Influence of international

agreements, organizations Challenges of collaboration between

civil society organizations Impact of public attitudes and

beliefs

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What next?

Further dissemination

Possible future work: research on policy implementation,

monitoring and evaluation building governance capacity of civil

society organizations exploring representation in civil society

organizations

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Concluding thoughts

Democracy depends on citizens and governments respecting each other

citizens must understand their role and hold governments accountable

governments must explain their actions

both have a role in policy development and implementation

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For More Information

www.iog.ca

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Questions?