Excerpt from the Introduction and Background
"The Action Learning Program (ALP) on Participatory approaches at macro level, particularly in context of programmatic lending and PRSP, is an initiative of the Social Development Department of the World Bank. The program learns from Bank and non Bank initiatives on participatory approaches being implemented at the macro level in various contexts, documents various innovations and approaches and encourages learning and action in the context of Bank operations.
One of the key outputs of the ALP was a workshop held in April 2001 on Voices and Choices at a Macro Level: Participation In Country-Owned Poverty Reduction Strategies. Innovations and institutional application of participatory approaches at the macro-level were introduced and shared at the workshop. The workshop centered on designing a participatory process at the macro level which moves from inputs to outputs to outcomes to impact using the four building blocks. The workshop contributed to introducing outcome-oriented participatory approaches and towards building institutional capacity within country governments and civil society to use them at the macro level.
This report shares the knowledge and learning accumulated at the ALP workshop about the range of participatory approaches being applied and tested all over the world at the macro level in poverty diagnostics, public expenditure management, macroeconomic policy formulation and implementation, and monitoring and evaluation. The report records an overview of the participatory approach, its outcomes, country case examples, and challenges as prepared for and presented by experienced practitioners at the workshop. Other significant outputs from the ALP are also listed.
This report is organized into six sections and three appendices. The remainder of this first section provides an overview of the ALP workshop in more detail. Sections 2-5 focus on application of participatory approaches at the macro level using country case studies to demonstrate the context, process and outcomes; section 2 presents participatory approaches and their application inpoverty diagnosis; section 3 elaborates on participatory approaches and their application in public expenditure management; section 4 details participatory approaches in macroeconomic reform; and section 5 describes participatory processes in monitoring implementation and results of policies."
How can participatory approaches for monitoring implementation and policy lead to poverty reduction outcomes?
"Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation (PM&E) can lead to improved poverty reduction outcomes through greater transparency and accountability. The PM&E process begins with negotiation to reach agreement about what will be monitored or evaluated. Through the process, agreement is also reached on when data will be collected and analyzed, what the data actually means, how findings will be shared, and who will take action in response.
Successful PM&E processes establish institutional mechanisms to facilitate negotiations between stakeholders and disseminate information and feedback. In Malaysia, the Sustainable PenangInitiative (SPI) is facilitating a more responsive and effective local government through a citizens'initiative. This involves using roundtables that institutionalize a process for identifying and monitoring holistic development indicators. The SPI offers a practical example of how representatives of government, business and civil society can find common ground and produce relevant and practical inputs to the development planning process.
Case experiences suggest that feedback from monitoring key poverty actions, public actions and outcomes be widely disseminated through mechanisms tailored to different groups of society. In some cases, experience shows that multiple media interests can be leveraged to increase awareness and information flows on the feedback about the performance and impact of variouspoverty actions and public actions in the country. In Bangalore, India, for example, a civil society-led public information center conducts in-depth service-delivery surveys and disseminates the results to decision-makers and the general public through its own publications and the media."
Click here [1] for the Report by section in PDF format.
Contact pshah@worldbank.org [2] for more information.
Excerpt from the Introduction and Background
"The Action Learning Program (ALP) on Participatory approaches at macro level, particularly in context of programmatic lending and PRSP, is an initiative of the Social Development Department of the World Bank. The program learns from Bank and non Bank initiatives on participatory approaches being implemented at the macro level in various contexts, documents various innovations and approaches and encourages learning and action in the context of Bank operations.
One of the key outputs of the ALP was a workshop held in April 2001 on Voices and Choices at a Macro Level: Participation In Country-Owned Poverty Reduction Strategies. Innovations and institutional application of participatory approaches at the macro-level were introduced and shared at the workshop. The workshop centered on designing a participatory process at the macro level which moves from inputs to outputs to outcomes to impact using the four building blocks. The workshop contributed to introducing outcome-oriented participatory approaches and towards building institutional capacity within country governments and civil society to use them at the macro level.
This report shares the knowledge and learning accumulated at the ALP workshop about the range of participatory approaches being applied and tested all over the world at the macro level in poverty diagnostics, public expenditure management, macroeconomic policy formulation and implementation, and monitoring and evaluation. The report records an overview of the participatory approach, its outcomes, country case examples, and challenges as prepared for and presented by experienced practitioners at the workshop. Other significant outputs from the ALP are also listed.
This report is organized into six sections and three appendices. The remainder of this first section provides an overview of the ALP workshop in more detail. Sections 2-5 focus on application of participatory approaches at the macro level using country case studies to demonstrate the context, process and outcomes; section 2 presents participatory approaches and their application inpoverty diagnosis; section 3 elaborates on participatory approaches and their application in public expenditure management; section 4 details participatory approaches in macroeconomic reform; and section 5 describes participatory processes in monitoring implementation and results of policies."
How can participatory approaches for monitoring implementation and policy lead to poverty reduction outcomes?
"Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation (PM&E) can lead to improved poverty reduction outcomes through greater transparency and accountability. The PM&E process begins with negotiation to reach agreement about what will be monitored or evaluated. Through the process, agreement is also reached on when data will be collected and analyzed, what the data actually means, how findings will be shared, and who will take action in response.
Successful PM&E processes establish institutional mechanisms to facilitate negotiations between stakeholders and disseminate information and feedback. In Malaysia, the Sustainable PenangInitiative (SPI) is facilitating a more responsive and effective local government through a citizens'initiative. This involves using roundtables that institutionalize a process for identifying and monitoring holistic development indicators. The SPI offers a practical example of how representatives of government, business and civil society can find common ground and produce relevant and practical inputs to the development planning process.
Case experiences suggest that feedback from monitoring key poverty actions, public actions and outcomes be widely disseminated through mechanisms tailored to different groups of society. In some cases, experience shows that multiple media interests can be leveraged to increase awareness and information flows on the feedback about the performance and impact of variouspoverty actions and public actions in the country. In Bangalore, India, for example, a civil society-led public information center conducts in-depth service-delivery surveys and disseminates the results to decision-makers and the general public through its own publications and the media."
Click here for the Report by section in PDF format.
Contact pshah@worldbank.org for more information.