Breakout 2K: Donor policies that affect systemic practice

Donor agencies are often decentralised, granting autonomy to country-level missions or embassies to design and manage programmes, all while rolling out a steady flow of new policies, strategies and priorities from HQ to field offices. Many donor policies result in surface-level compliance exercises that do not meaningfully impact development practices. And yet a select few do make a significant impact.

This breakout explores donor policies that have succeeded in influencing practice in missions/embassies, as well as project implementation. What do these examples teach us about the conditions and factors that led to ‘success’ in policy implementation? How can we then apply those lessons to critical areas affecting the implementation of systemic approaches? (e.g. results measurement, staffing)

Mike Klassen will provide the main technical framing for this session and introduce two case studies from two donor agencies:

• Rens Twijnstra (standing in for Marleen van Ruijven) will explain the objectives for PADEO - a systemic approach, and how these were envisioned by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Bram Elmer van Opijnen will present the case of the Ghana Embassy and how PADEO became a mechanism for reorganising and transforming the embassy’s programming.
• Keith Dokho will explain the policy context for USAID’ PSE Policy and some of the associated implementation levers and initiatives. Andrew McCown will reflect on the policy’s uptake in two different missions - Honduras and Kenya- and what this means for policy implementation in a decentralised donor agency.