Summary: This case study is the second one produced by the CSPPLA network. Adolfo Garcé has analyzed the influence process by which the 'El Abrojo' NGO -through the use of evidence- influenced in the creation of a specific public policy (the creation of the Social Development Ministry in Uruguay). It presents the lessons learnt in this influence process.

Region: Latin America

Type: Case Studies
Sector: Civil Society Organisations
Theoretical Approach: Policy Engagement

Summary: This Working Paper forms part of ODI’s Bridging Research and Policy project which is seeking to learn more about linkages between development research, policy and practice and promote evidence-based international development policy. The project includes a literature review, the development of a framework paper and three case studies. This paper presents the results of a case study on livestock service reform in Kenya. This case study identifies the critical factors in the evolving livestock service policies in Kenya, and the relevance of evidence of their effectiveness.

Region: Africa

Type: Case Studies
Sector: Agriculture
Theoretical Approach: Learning

Summary: Our paper identifies opportunities and constraints facing a program being undertaken by the UNECA, several regional African policy research networks, and MSU to: (1) improve the skills of African technical and social scientists to use more effectively the wealth of scientific knowledge and experience currently available on the Internet to carry out applied policy research, outreach and training; (2) make the work of Africans more visible to others, thereby fostering south-north and south-south learning; and (3) strengthen learning communities to make food security and food policy research and outreach more effective. The paper discusses a collaborative internet-based tool being developed to achieve these objectives.

Region: Africa

Type: Case Studies
Sector: Agriculture
Theoretical Approach: - N/A -

Summary: This case of study in developing countries is part of the comparative study of political research institutes, published in the previous bulletin and available in the Web site of the network. In the case of the study of CELS the main factors are identified and give account of the influence of this think tank in Argentine policy-making.

Region: Latin America

Type: Case Studies
Sector: Civil Society Organisations
Theoretical Approach: Policy Engagement

Summary: Este artículo, elaborado en el marco del proyecto Comercio y Pobreza en América Latina, discute las formas en las que los TLC pueden impactar sobre la pobreza rural. Como puntos clave, se destacan los siguientes: Como en el Perú la inmensa mayoría de los pobres dependen de actividades agropecuarias, para comprender la relación entre comercio internacional y pobreza es necesario saber cómo influye el comercio en dichas actividades; La evidencia indica que el TLC con Estados Unidos podría producir una ganancia de US$ 575 millones en el Perú urbano pero una pérdida de USD 158 millones en el Perú rural. Esto enfatiza la necesidad de diseñar políticas complementarias para no perjudicar las condiciones de vida de los pobres; El agravamiento de la pobreza rural tendría efectos colaterales como el menor gasto de las familias en educación así como la deserción de miles de niños y jóvenes que tendrían que participar de la actividad económica. El acceso a servicios de salud también podría verse afectado; y En el Perú no conviene subsidiar productos específicos para mitigar los impactos negativos del TLC. Lo mejor sería que programas de transferencias condicionadas -como JUNTOS- se centren en la promoción de oportunidades económicas para los afectados por el TLC.

Region: Latin America

Type: Case Studies
Sector: Poverty
Theoretical Approach: - N/A -

Summary: This paper is a comparative analysis of 50 case studies collected during the first phase of the Global Development Network (GDN) Bridging Research and Policy project. Reducing poverty and meeting the Millennium Development Goals will require improved policies around the world. Research is one way for policy-makers and other stakeholders to identify which policies are most effective and how they can best be implemented in different contexts. Yet there remains no systematic understanding of what, when, why and how research feeds into development policy. While there is an extensive literature on the research policy links in OECD countries, there has been much less emphasis on research policy links in developing countries. A better understanding of how research can contribute to pro-poor policies, and systems to put it into practice, could improve development outcomes.

Region: International

Type: Case Studies
Sector: Poverty
Theoretical Approach: Learning

Summary: Although experimental trials often identify optimal strategies for improving community health, transferring operational innovation from well-funded research programs to resource-constrained settings often languishes. Because research initiatives are based in institutions equipped with unique resources and staff capabilities, results are often dismissed by decisionmakers as irrelevant to large-scale operations and national health policy. This article describes an initiative undertaken in Nkwanta District, Ghana, focusing on this problem. The Nkwanta District initiative is a critical link between the experimental study conducted in Navrongo, Ghana, and a national effort to scale up the innovations developed in that study. A 2002 Nkwanta district-level survey provides the basis for assessing the likelihood that the Navrongo model is replicable elsewhere in Ghana. The effect of community-based health planning and services exposure on family planning and safe-motherhood indicators supports the hypothesis that Navrongo effects are transferable to impoverished rural settings elsewhere, confirming the need for strategies to bridge the gap between Navrongo evidence-based innovation and national health-sector reform.

Region: Africa

Type: Case Studies
Sector: Health
Theoretical Approach: - N/A -

Summary: This paper focuses on lawyers who have shown an interest in the problems of poor people by working as legal aid lawyers in poor communities. The key question we seek to address is: How and under what circumstances can elites bring experiential knowledge about the situation of the poor to bear on policy debates? Two cases are examined and compared: the Legal Resources Centre (LRC) in South Africa and the Uganda Association of Women Lawyers (FIDA U) in Uganda.

Region:

Type: Case Studies
Sector: Human Rights
Theoretical Approach: - N/A -

Summary: This paper belongs to a GDN series that studies the bridge between research and public policy. It analyses the factors that may help in bringing together research and policymaking processes.

Region: Latin America

Type: Case Studies
Sector: Civil Society Organisations
Theoretical Approach: Policy Engagement

Summary: This paper is part of a series of case studies meant to provide systematic analysis of the nature and impact of applied budget work conducted by civil society organizations in different countries, and to draw useful lessons for dissemination to other budget groups. The focus of this paper is an organization called the Uganda Debt Network (UDN), which was established in Uganda in 1996 as a coalition of advocacy and lobbying organizations to coordinate the campaign forwas then gaining momentum at the international level.

Region: Africa

Type: Case Studies
Sector: Economic Development
Theoretical Approach: Learning

Summary: In 2005 the International Budget Project and the Institute for Development Studies initiated a joint effort to study the experience of civil society budget work in six countries around the world where civil society organizations have undertaken that work for a significant period of time. These include: Brazil, Mexico, Uganda, Croatia, India, and South Africa. This report is the study of that experience in Brazil, focusing on the work of one group, the Brazilian Institute for Social and Economic Analysis (IBASE).

Region: Latin America

Type: Case Studies
Sector: Economic Policy
Theoretical Approach: - N/A -

Summary: Este caso de estudio es parte del estudio comparativo de institutos de investigación de políticas en países en desarrollo publicado en el boletín anterior y disponible en el sitio web de la red. En el caso de estudio de FEDESARROLLO se identifican los principales factores que dan cuenta de la influencia de este think tank en la política colombiana.

Region: Latin America

Type: Case Studies
Sector: Civil Society Organisations
Theoretical Approach: Policy Engagement

Summary: Este caso de estudio es parte del estudio comparativo de institutos de investigación de políticas en países en desarrollo publicado en el boletín anterior y disponible en el sitio web de la red. En el caso de estudio del CELS se identifican los principales factores que dan cuenta de la influencia de este think tank en la política argentina.

Region: Latin America

Type: Case Studies
Sector: Civil Society Organisations
Theoretical Approach: Policy Engagement

Summary: This paper lays out CEPA’s proposal to undertake an action research project to monitor the development of Sri Lanka’s National Involuntary Resettlement Policy (NIRP). The policy, whilst having been approved by cabinet, is currently in an embryonic state and is being tested in relation to two large express road developments currently underway in Sri Lanka. There is therefore significant space for CSOs and academic institutions to influence the development of a policy in relation to development induced displacement over the next 18-24 months. CEPA has an important monitoring role in one of the highway projects and therefore has access to many of the stakeholders and key influencers involved in the application of the NIRP. This offers CEPA a valuable opportunity to closely monitor policy influencing efforts and the responses of donors and government departments who drive the policymaking process in this instance.

Region: Asia

Type: Case Studies
Sector: Poverty
Theoretical Approach: - N/A -

Summary: The case study focuses on community-based development initiatives through social mobilization. CIDP enabled local communities to solve their water supply problems by encouraging them to organize themselves in several self-governing Community Organizations (CO) and to establish Community saving funds. COs were able to take stock of their situation, identify needs, set priorities and decide what resources they can contribute towards the solution. They participated in the design of water supply system and its construction. The programme also developed an alternative institutional and organizational model for community-based water supply O&M management, where COs were authorized to autonomously manage, operate and maintain the systems through Community Based Enterprises. Thus, development of communal infrastructure served as an entry point for the promotion of good governance and hence to reduction of poverty.

Region: Europe

Type: Case Studies
Sector: Conflicts
Theoretical Approach: Policy Engagement

Summary: This case of study in developing countries is part of the comparative study of political research institutes, published in the previous bulletin and available in the web site of the network. In the case of the study of FEDESARROLLO the main factors are identified and give account of the influence of this think tank in the Colombian policy.

Region: Latin America

Type: Case Studies
Sector: Civil Society Organisations
Theoretical Approach: Policy Engagement