EuropeAid Pre-Assessment and Assessment for Parliamentary Development Promoting domestic accountability: engaging with parliaments EC support to governance in partner countries – with a focus on the African continent – July 4 – July

EuropeAid Assessment Framework - Overview Stages of the assessment In the Reference Document we recommend a two stage approach: 1.Pre-assessment Are the basic pre-requisites for parliamentary support met? Normally carried out by the Delegation to determine whether to proceed with a full assessment 2.Full assessment Normally carried out by a dedicated team including national and international experts Contains three stages: desk information gathering, discussions and interviews with key actors, and analysis and recommended programme EC support to governance in partner countries – with a focus on the African continent – July 4 – July

EuropeAid Pre-assessment phase Determining whether a parliamentary support programme should be developed o Basic political economic context o Basic rights and institutional legitimacy o Parliamentary make-up and functioning o Relationship with other branches of government o National and institutional commitment to parliamentary development o Capacity and commitment of Delegation EC support to governance in partner countries – with a focus on the African continent – July 4 – July

EuropeAid Preparatory Stage i) Establishing the assessment team Process belongs to the parliament and their active participation is an early indication of institutional commitment Normally important to include both national and international experts Parliament should normally have a representative The assessment team should report to a cross-party instance of parliament EC support to governance in partner countries – with a focus on the African continent – July 4 – July

EuropeAid Preparatory Stage ii) Desk information gathering It is important to understand the historical context of parliaments development and the institutions role in an emergent democratic system Identify where is the pressure for parliamentary reform – for example from the parliamentary leadership, from MPs, from civil society, and/or from the international community During the context analysis relevant document should be processed and the key actors to be interviewed identified EC support to governance in partner countries – with a focus on the African continent – July 4 – July

EuropeAid Interview Stage iii) Assessing parliamentary performance Questions to be addressed are organized into four main domains Legislation Budgetary responsibilities Oversight Representation Factors to be explored are divided into five aspects Constitutional power Procedural clarity Capacity and resources Experience and expectations Political forces EC support to governance in partner countries – with a focus on the African continent – July 4 – July

EuropeAid Legislation What role does parliament have in drafting and amending legislation? What capacity has parliament to debate legislative proposals and to identify weaknesses and problem areas? What ability does parliament have to scrutinise, amend and approve the final versions of legislation? Does parliament play a role in developing the budget? Does parliament have sufficient time, resources, and capacity to analyse the budget? What powers does parliament have to amend the budget? What powers does parliament have in budget oversight and audit, and does it have the capacity to use those powers? EC support to governance in partner countries – with a focus on the African continent – July 4 – July The budgetary function Interview Stage

EuropeAid Oversight Does parliament have the powers to carry out effective executive oversight Does parliament have the resources and political will to hold government to account? Does parliament receive timely and accurate information from the executive? EC support to governance in partner countries – with a focus on the African continent – July 4 – July How do parliamentarians communicate and dialogue with their constituents? Do parliamentary committees consult with experts and civil society in their deliberations? In what ways does parliament communicate its work with the wider public and interest groups? Does the make-up of parliament reflect the diversity of the population? Representation Interview Stage

EuropeAid Analysis and Design phase iv)Commitment to reform? o Who are the key stakeholders inside and outside parliament and what is their attitude to the reform project? o Is there common recognition of problems in parliament and agreement about the nature of change needed? o How will the stakeholders be engaged in the project? o What structures and processes exist to ensure that the programme benefits the institution and democratic governance more widely, and is not captured by sectional interests? EC support to governance in partner countries – with a focus on the African continent – July 4 – July

EuropeAid Analysis and Design phase v.Programme design o Which areas of parliamentary functioning should be prioritised based on the Matrix analysis? o Which support activities are indicated and what is the programme theory underpinning selection of these activities to achieve desired outcomes? o What timeframe of support will be required o What support modalities will best address these issues and what kind and scope of resources will be required? o Are other actors involved in supporting parliament, and how will efforts be coordinated? EC support to governance in partner countries – with a focus on the African continent – July 4 – July

EuropeAid Analysis and Design phase vi.Monitoring and evaluation o How can programme impact be measured (may require measurement before and after programme)? o What risk analysis has been conducted and what strategies are in place for responding to unforeseen circumstances? o How will programme outcomes be captured and communicated and fed into future programmes in- country and elsewhere? EC support to governance in partner countries – with a focus on the African continent – July 4 – July