Niels Keijzer PCD focal points meeting OECD, 9 February 2012 Promoting Policy Coherence for Development Exploring new opportunities for measurement

2007: Joint-evaluation of EU mechanisms promoting Policy Coherence for Development What impact of mechanisms? changed sector policies, improved reporting on PCD, increased levels of awareness…no common view In the absence of a clearly stated view of what type and level of impa ct is realistic to seek to achieve, it wil l be hard to formulate clear result- oriented action plans and progress wi ll continue to be hard to measure. A blast from the past? Page 2

…PCD objectives. Existing objectives are process- instead of result-oriented (i.e. taking into account,creating mechanisms, …) What is needed is managing expectations: Baseline: what are the effects of policy X on developing countries today? Objectives: how should the effects of policy X have changed by year Y? Next step: how to know whether this happens? (i.e. defining indicators and information needs) One can only measure progress to PCD objectives if one has…: Page 3

Setting PCD objectives and then measure effects? Or measure first to be able to better define objectives? … low investments in research and measurement partly explain the limited progress in clarifying objectives Some issues worth further exploring for measurement relate to what is measured, how it is done, and who does it Chickens and Eggs? Page 4

Inputs (actions, opportunities): direct actions and inputs, e.g. a decision to review a policy, a new mechanism [e.g.: review of the EUs fisheries policy] Outputs (changes in policies): actual changes in policies, or changes at the policy implementation level [e.g.: stricter human rights conditions in fisheries agreements] Outcomes (effects in developing countries): what has 'changed' in developing countries and does it have anything to do with the policies? [e.g.: decreased overfishing in LDCs] Once objectives are set, indicators could be formulated at these levels What to measure? Page 5

1.Before (Ex-ante): analysing economic, environmental and social effects of proposed policy, outlines potential synergies and trade-offs 2.After (Ex-post): evaluations addressing PCD, either commissioned by the leading ministry or as part of development cooperation evaluation 3.Continuous (programming and monitoring): Country Strategy Papers for development cooperation can identify key policies, monitoring can be done at HQ and/or field level How to measure? Types and timing Page 6

Theory-based, or use existing data, or gather new data Data can be quantitative or qualitative Currently insufficient research, hence (?) discussions on PCD mainly stress themission impossible aspect Causal chains are complex (a change in policy in an OECD country having something to do with well-being of farmers in country X), best use a mix of methods Better operationalisation of development objectives also needed (what is contributing to poverty reduction?) How to measure? (2) Page 7

Ongoing: preparation of the OECD strategy on development, exploration of country case studies by the DAC, and attempts to make progress at national level (SE, NL, IE) EC has made tentative progress in impact assessments looking at effects of policy options on developing countries (e.g. agriculture, fisheries) The CDI has been active since 2003, NGOs like Fairpolitics EU invest in case studies ECDPM is doing a study for BMZ and DGIS to explore next steps for PCD monitoring and comparisons between countries Who does the measuring? Page 8

Getting the overview: which countries have invested in specific studies or are trying to get a national monitoring process going? Who (pays)? Line ministries (referee + player?), development ministry (PCD police?), independent evaluation body (e.g. UK or SE)? Unclear PCD results: how do OECD members justify investments? Can the DAC peer-reviews be improved to ensure a more detailed analysis of the results of PCD efforts (now process-oriented), e.g. in the field studies? Busan outcome document: will the new Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation work on this? Questions for discussion Page 9

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