1. Networks of Public Accounts Committees: Approaches to Capacity Building Mitchell O’Brien Governance Specialist Team Lead – Parliamentary Strengthening Program World Bank

2. What is a Parliamentary Network? o Parliamentary Network = Formal associations of parliamentary institutions characterized by a set of relationships, personal interactions, and connections among participants. o There is an emphasis on information flow and helpful linkages. o A Parliamentary Network is the term used in the parliamentary community to describe what, in other fields, are called Communities of Practice (CoP) or learning networks.  Parliament is a practice, not a science o Learning networks made up of a community of practitioners are able to collect both tacit (informal) and explicit (formal) knowledge from individual experts from diverse sources and from, potentially, remote locations, in order to benefit the learning community.  NAPAC is a Community of Practitioners o The parliamentary community has embraced this approach as it facilitates PACs from multiple jurisdictions learning from each other.

3. Outline 1.Common Design Features of Networks 2.Examples of Capacity Building Techniques 3.Discussion 4.Working Groups

4. Recurring Qualities/ Design Features of Successful Learning Networks

5. Common Design Features There are recurring qualities/ design features that can be grouped around the following attributes:  Size (number of members)  Purpose or objective (achievement of a mutual goal)  Degree of formality (informal ↔ formal)  Level of members’ commitment  Leadership (the degree of sustained leadership by members, for instance if the CoP is based on distributed leadership in which multiple core members serve as leaders)  Self-organizing vs. sponsored

6. Moving from Inception to Implementation  What does NAPAC do now?  How does NAPAC do it?

7. Examples of Capacity Building techniques used by other PAC Networks

8. Capacity Building Techniques-A Institutional and organizational support to network secretariats to assist them in stewarding learning networks and communities Examples: o Network working groups focused on specific topics, or network organizational issues such as communication strategies/ operational elements (ARAPAC) o TA to network Secretariat to enhance know-how on using social learning methods in Network activities South-South & South-North Exchange - Learning between networks Examples: o NAPAC and other PAC networks o NAPAC and other national, regional, or global networks such as AFROSAI Knowledge exchange activities within the network guided through a membership mapping Examples: o Bringing together NAPAC champions and PACs that have identified a similar capacity constraint

9. Capacity Building Techniques - B Peer exchange/assist Examples: o EAAPAC Pilot Peer Assist for South Sudan o SADCOPAC Clerk Attachment process Structured learning around technical areas in order to enhance operational effectiveness Examples: o Targeted training for Clerks at the end of larger network gatherings Integrating networking and community strengthening elements as part of traditional knowledge exchange and structured learning activities Examples: o Surfacing common topics of interest/ concern during knowledge exchange activities; and helping to design community learning responses to build and share experience (Good practice development process)

10. Capacity Building Techniques - C Action-orientated planning/ Value creation Examples: o Convening PAC Members, Committee Clerks and other parliamentary institutions, to collaboratively develop approaches to performance challenges Participatory knowledge capture techniques Examples: o Using Wikispaces during knowledge exchange and structured training activities, to create a shared memory and understanding as to technical content and experience shared.

11. Discussion?