Improving sexual and reproductive health in poor and vulnerable populations Using intermediaries to communicate with DFID Kate Hawkins Strengthening research to policy and practice interface Liverpool May 2009

Improving sexual and reproductive health in poor and vulnerable populations Outline of the presentation About us Why communicate with DFID? Policy context Work with intermediaries Lessons learned

Improving sexual and reproductive health in poor and vulnerable populations About us Realising Rights has prioritised neglected or “challenging” areas of sexual and reproductive health and rights Decentralised communications Parliamentarians and the media (MTR civil servants) Role of IDS Approach to communications

Improving sexual and reproductive health in poor and vulnerable populations Why communicate with DFID? DFID ask us to supply research and evidence of impact Accountability Assumption that evidence used by DFID at international and national level – supportive of ongoing communications work within the Consortium Commitment to supporting DFID policy making with relevant research

Improving sexual and reproductive health in poor and vulnerable populations Policy context Messy and grubby Fast paced Broad and disparate evidence based (digestibility) Multiple positions within and outside Multiple processes underway at various levels Political decision making Desire for practical solutions We are a small fish in a large pond

Improving sexual and reproductive health in poor and vulnerable populations Work with intermediaries To amplify voice, the ensure information packaged appropriately, to create multiple pathways to our target audience, to try and create consistency in messaging from a variety of sources, to create legitimacy, to ensure legacy, to bring in skills we do not possess, to build feedback loops, to refine communications approaches. Knowledge intermediaries and policy networks

Improving sexual and reproductive health in poor and vulnerable populations Knowledge intermediaries Research for Development (uploading to site) IDS Knowledge Services (co-creation of online, and printed products, joint dissemination, joint planning and information sharing, learning from our interventions and refining approaches)

Improving sexual and reproductive health in poor and vulnerable populations Policy networks UK Network on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (contributing evidence for advocacy, networking and partnership, sharing intelligence, leadership, co- convening spaces for engagement) All Party Parliamentary Group on Population, Development and Reproductive Health (briefing parliamentarians, help inform agendas, providing evidence to support positions)

Improving sexual and reproductive health in poor and vulnerable populations Lessons Agenda setting – conceptual influence Time intensive and translation heavy Transnational influence Legacy Understanding the potential for negative unintended consequences Negotiating uncertainty Intellectual property and the use of evidence Complexity and the difficulty of attributing impact