World Bank GN-PBO Community Assembly, Ottawa How to write MP friendly reports Balancing Accessibility and Rigor By The Uganda Delegation Parliamentary Budget Office June, 2015

The Uganda PBO at glance Date of establishment: 2001 by the Budget Act, Section 20 Mandate: To provide Parliament and its Committees with objective and timely analysis required for economic and budget proposals PBO Structure: Two Divisions - Economic Analysis and Fiscal Affairs Division; and 6 Sections Staff: 17 Employees

PBO Briefs Typically, the briefings are through Written Reports and PowerPoint Slides. Contents are well researched, analysed and communicated to guide legislative decisions Technical reports are presented to Committees in an in-camera session PBO staff present reports to Committees and presentations are followed by questions and answers The findings in reports form part of the concerns that Parliament seeks further clarity from the Executive

So what is Accessibility and Rigor? In our context: Accessibility means easy to understand or appreciate Rigor means thoroughness and exhaustiveness

How do we achieve balance? Know your audience or clients Structure your report appropriately Use appropriate language keeping in mind the length of the message

So the balance is key…..

Knowing your Audience Over time, we have learned to ensure that our reports are written with the pre-determined target audience in mind. MPs have diverse perceptions based on their life experiences, income levels, educational backgrounds, political affiliations, etc. MPs are busy people and have little time for reading. MPs are Politicians and would wish that you respect their space

Knowing your Audience……. Our reports generally take the following into consideration: What do they already know? What is their level of understanding? What do we want our audience to know or do? What format or layout will appeal to the audience? What medium will support the message the best — a physical report or a power point presentation report, etc?

The Report Structure Our reports have evolved into four main components: The Title of Report – Relevant to subject matter The Executive Summary – Short description of findings The Main Body of the Report – Analysis and Salient Issues/Findings The Appendix – Additional supporting information

The Report Structure…….. The key guiding principles we have adopted are: To ensure the report flows in a logical manner To ensure that the contents are accurate, factual, relevant, evidence-based and informative. The report is visually appealing - by breaking up the text into sections; using diagrams, graphs and tables to display information To ensure quality control, peer-review is paramount

The Language and Message Length In our experience we have ensured that the language is less technical and the length of MP reports are usually not more than 10 pages. We have been guide by the following: The choice of language should be understood by most (preferably all): The language should be professional (avoidance of Jargon) and not too technical; The language should also be simple and to the point; our clients have limited time to read Short sentences and short paragraphs and to a single idea; NB: It is important to re-read each paragraph and ask yourself “so what?” if it is not obvious what the paragraph is trying to say, rewrite it or delete it.

Conclusion Writing MP friendly reports is a process that can take a long time and it literally entails changing the language of your Parliament Rigor should not be sacrificed for accessibility – the balance should be achieved The approaches are about editorial process and dissemination but anchored in the organizational mandate and the needs of parliamentarians.

Thank-you…… The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak ……Hans Hofmann