1. NICE Voice & Accountability

2. Regional Workshops – January 2016

3. Regional Workshops Morning V&A strategy Group work on three case studies Afternoon V&A capacity development strategy Group work to validate/amend/deepen the proposed strategy

4. A Voice & Accountability Strategy Outline I.V&A in practice in the region (2014-15) II.Objectives of the consultancy III.Fundamentals IV.Sustainable Development Goals 2015 - 2030 V.Social contracts and Multi-stakeholder dialogue VI.Engagement VII.Facilitation VIII.Exposure and recognition IX.Key tools X.2016 – 2020: Expected Results

5. Another guiding principle Nothing is created Nothing is lost Everything transforms itself

6. V&A in practice in the region (2014-15)

7. Objectives of the consultancy The specific objective of the consultancy is to enhance NICE management and staff in voice and accountability initiatives. Specific objectives include: To assist NICE core staff in the development of methods and approaches to strengthen the new focus of NICE on voice and accountability for creating awareness and mobilisation of citizens on issues of democratic governance and of accountability of duty bearers; To provide capacity building to NICE to effectively implement activities that were jointly conceptualised by NICE core staff and the experts that can promote social accountability at all levels of governance in Malawi. To provide technical advice and guidance that will assist NICE in the initial take off stage of the voice and accountability initiative

8. Conceptual Mapping Voice is often understood as the ability of citizens to express their preferences and to be heard by the state [as a primary duty bearer], either through formal or informal channels, in written or oral form (Rocha Menocal & Sharma, 2008). Accountability is a process for holding individual actors or organisations to account for their actions. Accountability requires transparency, answerability, and enforceability between decision makers and citizens (Rocha Menocal & Sharma, 2008). Empowerment is a process through which individuals or organised groups increase their power and autonomy to achieve certain outcomes they need and desire (Eyben, 2011). Empowerment focuses on supporting disadvantaged people to gain power and exert greater influence over those who control access to key resources (DFID, 2011).Eyben, 2011

9. Preamble The proposed Voice & Accountability Strategy is based on the following fundamentals: 1.Democratic Governance issues 2.Social contracts 3.Multi-stakeholders dialogue 4.Sustainable Development Goals and their six pillars 5.Gender equality and women empowerment 6.Development effectiveness - Local development ownership and capacity 7.Communication 8.Partnerships 9.Learning - Capacity development 10.Knowledge management

10. Preamble The proposed Voice & Accountability Strategy is based on the following: 1.Governance issues: Participation and community empowerment, transparency and accountability of duty-bearers 2.Social contracts: a modern vision of the social contract, e.g. “a (tacit rather than explicit) agreement between members of an organised society (or between a community and decision-makers) that defines the relationship and responsibilities of each to the other. As a consequence, terms of engagement between public, private and social spheres are shaped often based on a common socio-political vision

11. Preamble Multi-stakeholders dialogue: Some of the requirements for initiating and coordinating a successful dialogue process are: Capacity to organise a group of people around a shared vision Being perceived as a trusted and honest broker by most stakeholders Awareness of the problem system and appropriate scale Capacity to understand and navigate power dynamics Ability to attract the most relevant actors (in terms of skills/knowledge, credibility and authority) and at the appropriate time Multi-cultural mediation skills bridging divides across languages, cultures, literacy levels and unequal access to Information and Communication Technologies

12. Preamble Sustainable Development Goals and their six pillars People: “We are determined to end poverty and hunger, in all their forms and dimensions, and to ensure that all human beings can fulfil their potential in dignity and equality and in a healthy environment.” Planet: “We are determined to protect the planet from degradation, including through sustainable consumption and production, sustainably managing its natural resources and taking urgent action on climate change, so that it can support the needs of the present and future generations.” Prosperity: “We are determined to ensure that all human beings can enjoy prosperous and fulfilling lives and that economic, social and technological progress occurs in harmony with nature.” Peace: “We are determined to foster peaceful, just and inclusive societies which are free from fear and violence. There can be no sustainable development without peace and no peace without sustainable development.” Partnership: “We are determined to mobilize the means required to implement this Agenda through a revitalized Global Partnership for Sustainable Development, based on a spirit of strengthened global solidarity, focused in particular on the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable and with the participation of all countries, all stakeholders and all people.”

13. Preamble Gender equality and women empowerment Development effectiveness - Local development ownership and capacity Communication Partnerships Learning - Capacity development Knowledge management

14. Voice & Accountability Strategy The proposed Voice & Accountability Strategy has three components/modus operandi: 1.Engagement 2.Facilitation 3.Exposure and recognition

15. Engagement Work on the demand side: Advocacy Citizen Forum and other mobilization mechanisms Local and national campaigns Use of Media and of Social Media Enlisting member support and building a national constituency Key issues: Quality of basic services Gender equality and women empowerment Budget spending Participation: “Nothing about us without us”: voice of the most vulnerable/disadvantaged groups

16. Facilitation Work on the supply side: Local Political Economy Analysis Social contracts Multi –stakeholder dialogue Capacitation Local Governments/Communities Massive investment in Development Committees Pilot test in 5 districts in 2016?

17. Exposure and recognition Some hints: 1.Re-branding NICE 2.Communication strategy 3.Outreach/external relation strategy (re. strategic partnerships) 4.International, modern Resource Mobilisation strategy

18. Key tools Communication Capacity development - Training tools Political Economy Analysis and Theory of Change Knowledge management Volunteer management M&E system

19. NICE Capacity development strategy The Voice & Accountability Strategy includes an internal capacity development strategy, with the establishment of a pool of accredited NICE trainers, through the implementation of a series of Training of Trainers (ToT) at the national and regional levels. Accredited trainers will then hold trainings at the district level. The total number of participants to the ToT at the national and the regional levels and to the 50 districts workshops is 830.

20. Political Economy Analysis Aims to identify and understand the political, economic and social processes that either promote or block pro-poor change as well as the role of institutions, power and the underlying context for policy processes Contributes to better results by identifying where the main opportunities and barriers for policy reform exist and how stakeholders can use their programming and influencing tools to promote positive change Provides a clear understanding of the political, economic and social processes at work in a given country or sector by – Providing a structured way to address a broad set of questions about development context, processes and options – Focusing on how power and resources are distributed and contested in different contexts, and the implications for development outcomes

21. PEA Key Features Development is not a technical exercise but a political one – Sustainable development, growth and poverty reduction cannot be achieved without capable and accountable governance which is largely dependent on getting the right kind of politics – Development interventions have often not faired very well because development is essentially treated as a wholly rational and technocratic process – …..driven by the assumption that development interventions can mostly rely on universal, dependable ‘best practice’ formulae – PEA’s implication is that the conception of development interventions based on definitive analysis of problems and how to solve them must move towards more iterative cycles of experimentation, discovery, dialogue and adaptive learning – PEA helps to acknowledge that development practice is a process of interaction and discovery

22. PEA Key Features Context for development matters – Reforms or development interventions are more likely to succeed if they are designed based on knowledge and understanding of the local context – Not understanding the institutional, political and cultural context in which development interventions are being implemented is a recipe for outright failure – Grasping the constraints and opportunities created by the political environment is critical because it is not simply a question of what to do but how to do it Development is a collective action problem – Development depends on solving collective action problems which require different interest groups to find ways of cooperating to produce positive sum outcomes, and deliver public benefits – Thus development entails building and sustaining relationships between and among stakeholders who often have sharp differences in commitment, capacity and outlook – Absence of development can often be explained by failure of interest groups to cooperate around common goals

23. PEA Key Features Coalitions are very important for transformative and sustainable development – Imperative because development practice requires working with others who often have radically different and frequently unclear understandings of the context and priorities and how to pursue them – Requires understanding who holds power in society as the basis for forging coalitions and alliances for development and prosperity – It is therefore crucial to identify who are the allies and opponents, how to mobilize the former and how to win the latter around – Leadership, broadly understood, is very critical in the formation of coalitions to pursue institutional and policy reforms but it can also act to destroy institutions or obstruct reforms

24. Knowledge management The first step might be to mobilise two interns, whose function will be to search and index all NICE documents, since its foundation. By doing so, a knowledge base with categories will be constituted. In the meantime, a Data specialist would develop a simple and robust national Content Management System (CMS) to store all NICE content. The CMS should be user-friendly, with a social media interface, which will allow NICE staff and volunteers to submit/upload any relevant information in a central virtual space. The entire NICE to become a learning organisation with tools which allow the indexing of all contents generated: publications, manuals, stories, pictures, videos, etc. Once developed, the CMS would become public through the NICE web site and other social media channels.

25. M&E system 4 tools will be presented in an Excel format, and used at the district/regional and national levels: MAPI: Map of Activities and Process Indicators ROP: Results Oriented Programme MRI: Map of Indicators of Results RAR: Rapid Assessment Reports

26. Key results/indicators 2016 2016 can be seen as a transitional year, with specific expected results, mostly internal: Finalization of a communication/branding strategy Elaboration of a capacity development strategy and process Elaboration of PEA methodology Establishment of a NICE CMS Establishment of a Volunteer Management programme Elaboration of a national/regional/international outreach strategy Finalization of the resource mobilisation/financial strategy Pilot tests of the axis II (Facilitation: work on the accountability/supply side), in selected districts

27. Key results/indicators 2017-20 2017-2020 will allow the full implementation of the V&A programme, with expected results in terms of: Impact Increased responsiveness of government to citizens’ needs and capacity of duty bearers to deliver services Increased capacity of citizens to hold duty bearers accountable Increased accountability of service providers in the delivery of social services Improved access to information Social contracts Transparency Civic Participation Public campaigns

28. Key results/indicators 2017-20 2017-2020 will allow the full implementation of the V&A programme, with expected results in terms of: NICE Training capacity Knowledge management Volunteer management Coordination & networking of state & non state actors in CE Media exposure Regional/international outreach Resource mobilisation

29. Regional Workshops V&A strategy * Group work on four questions 1.Campaigning for gender equality and women empowerment 2.Lessons learned from the pilot Public Service Charters 3.Creating new sources of funding for NICE 4.NICE V&A work: exposure… and its risks

30. Campaign models Campaigns are based on identifying a problem and finding a solution to that problem. Sometimes they involve creating the political will for change. The relationship between these three elements is depicted in the diagram below:

31. Campaign strategy

32. Voice and Accountability strategy

33. A Capacity Development Strategy I.NICE Priority areas II.NICE Capacity development strategy III.Methodology IV.Objectives and content V.Tools

34. NICE Priority areas 1.Demand side of Governance (Transparency and Accountability) 2.Participation in Public Life 3.Electoral Processes and Voter Education 4.Cross Cutting Issues 5.Knowledge Management, collaboration and networking 6.Institutional Development

35. Expected results Increased responsiveness of government to citizens’ needs Increased capacity of duty bearers to deliver services Increased capacity of citizens to hold duty bearers accountable Improved Knowledge Management Increased accountability of service providers in the delivery of social services Increased coordination & networking of state & non state actors in CE Improved access to information High participation in civic matters

36. NICE Capacity development strategy The Voice & Accountability Strategy includes an internal capacity development strategy, with the establishment of a pool of accredited NICE trainers, through the implementation of a series of Training of Trainers (ToT) at the national and regional levels. Accredited trainers will then hold trainings at the district level. The total number of participants to the ToT at the national and the regional levels and to the 50 districts workshops is 830.

37. Methodology NICE will build through these ToT a complete and permanent capacity development axis, with: 1.The establishment of a training accreditation process a.National ToT: 15 semi-accredited NICE Trainers b.Regional ToT: 15 accredited NICE Trainers and 30 (10 x 3 regions) semi-accredited NICE Trainers District ToT: 30 (10 x 3 regions) accredited NICE Trainers c.Total of 45 accredited NICE Trainers 2.The development of a training corpus and methodology, manuals and resource materials

38. Methodology ToT at central levelToT at regional levelsTrainings atthe district level 1 ToT3 ToT 35 trainings for volunteers 15 trainings for duty-bearers Participants (20 Maximum) Participants (15 Maximum) Selected NICE central staff Regional Officers Selected District Civic Education Officers and Assistant District Civic Education Officers (3-4 per regions) All District Civic Education Officers and Assistant District Civic Education Officers, area coordinators? and selected duty-bearers – Volunteers (ACECs, ZCs & PCEs) Maximum of ? participants DAF Members and duty bearers Maximum of ? participants Facilitation/supervision Two skilled facilitators1 skilled facilitator 5 semi-accredited RO, DCEO and ADCEO in each ToT 1 accredited NICE facilitator Monitoring in selected district by another accredited NICE facilitator Accreditation 15 semi-accredited NICE Trainers 30 (10 x 3 regions) semi-accredited NICE Trainers 30 (10 x 3 regions) accredited NICE Trainers 15 accredited NICE Trainers 30 accredited NICE Trainers Total: 45 accredited NICE trainers Total: 830 participants

39. ToT at central level – 10 days

40. ToT at regional levels – 10 days

41. Implementation of the trainings at the district level Two types of trainings will be implemented: 1.Volunteers (ACECs, ZCs & PCEs) 2.DAF Members and duty bearers Total: 30 (10 x 3) accredited NICE Trainers

42. Implementation of the trainings at the district level

44. Tools A series of tools must be developed in order to implement such a plan: i.A training calendar (plan and resources), for 2016-2017 ii.Agenda and facilitation notes for the national ToT workshop, the regional ToT workshops and the districts workshop (for volunteers and for DAF and duty-bearers) iii.Short supporting manuals and resource materials (the manuals will be no longer than 10 pages each).

45. Capacity Development and Drafting Committees It is proposed to establish two committees: 1. A Capacity Development Committee Composed of representatives from NICE Board, NICE Management and Academia. Maximum: 6 members. The Capacity Development Committee will oversee the programme implementation, establish the training contents and the ToT methodology. 2. A Drafting Committee Composed of representatives from NICE Board, NICE Management and Academia. Maximum: 10-12 members. The Drafting Committee is responsible for the manuals and resource materials (each member will commit to draft two manuals). The Capacity Development Committee will sign off all manuals and resource materials. The two Committees will be assisted by the Capacity Development team (Programme Manager and assistants, lead facilitator)

46. Political Economy Analysis and Theory of Change (all) Social contracts and PSC (all) Participatory Monitoring (budgeting and tracking) - Score card approach and other methods (all) Stakeholder & opportunity mapping (for volunteers) Leadership and Mediation skills (all) Project planning and management (all) Gender and disability mainstreaming (all) Campaign and advocacy - Communication and public relations (all) Financial strategy (all) Knowledge management (all) Volunteer management (all) Monitoring & Best Practices (all) Facilitation Skills (all) Manuals and resource materials Background of NICE Trust (volunteers) Civic Education (Civic disposition; knowledge; Skills; Engagement) (volunteers) Democratic Governance - Social accountability and transparency (all) Decentralisation (Roles & Planning Processes) (all) Rights based approach (all) Networking and partnership building - Revenue mobilisation (Duty-bearers) Results based management (Duty-bearers) Needs Assessment (for volunteers) Community empowerment and mobilisation - Facilitation of citizen forums (all) Participatory and sustainable development SDGs and MGDs (all)

47. Project implementation A project management tool will be established at the inception, to monitor the implementation of all phases of the project. Those are: Phase 1: Establishment of the Capacity Development and the Drafting Committees Phase 2: Drafting training methodologies and all manuals and resource materials Phase 3: National and Regional ToT workshops Phase 4: District training workshops Phase 5: Documentation and reporting

48. Project implementation 2016 NICE Capacity DevelopmentProject implementation (12 months) PhasesPhase 1Phase 2Phase 3Phase 4Phase 5 Months123456789101112 Administration Build strategy and proposalsx Identify donorsx Identify the NICE internal Capacity Development Team x Team Programme manager xxx xxxxxxxx Lead facilitator x x xxxx Programme assistant (s) xxx xxxxxxxx Capacity development committee ToR committee xx Identify and contract members xx Drafting the ToT methodologies (agenda, facilitation notes) xx x Accreditation process xxx xxxxxxx

49. Project implementation Drafting committee ToR committee xx Identify and contract members xx Drafting the manuals xx x ToT and districts trainings National ToT x Regional ToT xx Districts training xxxx Communication & publications Media work xxx xxxxxxx Publications visual identity and lay-out work xxx x Promotion materials (leaflets, notebooks, pens, etc) xxx xxxxxxx Enquire on building a printing facility xx Printing all publications (11600) xxx M&E and reporting M&E x xx xxx Reporting x x Documentation xxx xxxxxxx

50. Conclusion With such a V&A capacity development strategy, NICE would: a.Develop a V&A training corpus and methodology, with manuals and resource materials b.Establish an internal trainers’ accreditation process c.Train and accredit 45 NICE trainers, and train 830 individuals d.Establish a permanent capacity development axis (tools and processes) at NICE e.And perhaps, build a printing facility at NICE!

51. Regional Workshops Afternoon V&A capacity development strategy * Group work on three case studies: -Overall ToT programme -Accreditation process -Manuals and resource material

52. Thank you! Henri Valot - Kizito Tenthani