IFAD partnership strategy - PowerPoint Presentation

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IFAD partnership strategy

Presentation to informal seminar of Executive Board

12 December 2011

Background and process

C

onsultation document of Eighth Replenishment committed IFAD

to prepare partnership strategyStrategic Framework 2011-2015 reconfirmed the importance of partnerships for IFAD’s work – one of its ‘principles of engagement’Initial work

towards strategy –

Information Note to

Executive Board Sept.

2011, led from NALO

Policy

Reference Group

for strategy established Oct.

2011, met twice to date

Interviews

with

staff and

managers;

meetings

with Resource Mobilisation and Partnerships Office (RMP), with CPM focus group;

research and initial

consultation with IFAD partners;

mapping of

IFAD’s existing

partnerships; review

of key

documentation, including IOE work

The Partnering Initiative

(TPI) – specialised NGO – supporting the in-house work

Presentation of preliminary ideas to Informal Seminar of Executive Board

Dec. 2011

– for discussion and views

Sharing of draft strategy document for comments, and presentation of final version to Executive Board in 2012

Partnerships are integral to IFAD’s work

IFAD

works with many sorts of partners, in virtually all aspects of its work:

Partnerships exist at global/corporate, regional and national/local levels

Many officialised through MOUs, agreements; but also many less formal

IFAD also draws on its experience, reputation and networks to

broker

partnerships

:

Between governments and RPOs/ private sector; for south-south learningGrowing role in increasingly complex and differentiated worldOffers scope to enhance IFAD’s value to governments and other stakeholders

Resource mobilization, scaling upProgrammes and projectsPolicy dialogueKMI, lesson learningCommunicationsAdministrative efficiencyInstitutional representation/ credibility

Member governmentsNGOs / foundationsCivil society / farmers’ organizationsInternational organizations (RBAs, other UN, CGIAR)Bilateral/multilateral devt. organizationsPolicy research institutions/universitiesRegional organizationsPrivate sector

So

why

an IFAD partnership strategy?A rapidly changing external environment:Complex development issues require broad or multi-sectoral expertise, and

new, knowledge-intensive ways of workingNeed for scalable solutions for substantial impact on rural povertyEvolving Aid Effectiveness agenda – Busan focus on partnershipsIn this context, partnerships can enable IFAD to:

Focus on what it is mandated to do and does best

Leverage external resources to complement its own programme of work

Better achieve its strategic objectives

Building on what IFAD already does, a more strategic approach to partnerships can help the organization:

T

o be more selective, and give focus, direction and guidance to development and management of partnershipsTo maximise efficiency and effectiveness of partnerships in achieving its strategic objectives

Definition of partnerships

Partnerships

are defined here as:Collaborative relationships between institutional actors that combine their complementary strengths and resources

and work together in a transparent, equitable and mutually beneficial way to achieve a common goal or undertake specific tasks. Partners share the risks, responsibilities, resources and benefits of that

collaboration and learn from it through regular monitoring and review.

Note

:

Partnerships

are not an end in themselves; rather a vehicle to achieve a defined objective

Not all relationships are partnerships:A contract is not a partnership Collaboration is not necessarily a partnershipSome networks are partnerships, others may not beThe definition includes elements that are useful for prioritising and managing partnerships, less so for classifying them Some ambiguity will remain as collaborations develop and change

Partnership SWOT for IFAD

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats

from research interviews, focus groups meetings, views of external partners, and recent ARRI and CLE evaluation data

Strengths

Weaknesses

High level of co-financing in IFAD country programmes

Strong partnerships with many member countries – particularly from Lists A and C Innovative partnerships – e.g.

PPPs in Uganda, Sao Tome; Spanish loan

Unique partnerships

with

Rural Producers’ Organizations –

Farmers’

Forum, regional and country levelsWith long-term commitment to countries, IFAD trusted as partnership broker by governmentsComparative advantage recognised by potential partners – there is interest in partnering with IFADGood (and improving) rating from IFAD partnersLack of common institutional understanding / vision; ad hoc

, non-strategic development of partnerships; and lack of explicit, coherent management of partnershipsLack of institutional visibility, and inadequate outreach to potential partners (branding, marketing)Partnerships with member states uneven: e.g. insufficient attention to partnerships for List B /

transforming List C member countriesA limited number of IFAD partnerships perhaps bring limited benefits relative to their costsLack of country presence to sustain country-level partnerships

Opportunities

Threats

Learn

from past successes and failures

Build a common institutional

vision and d

evelop pro-active

strategic approach to partnerships

Commitment to strengthening Resource Mobilisation and Partnership Office

Country offices create new opportunities for partnership developmentPotential to expand partnerships with e.g. the private sector, RBAs, List B/ transforming List C member countriesGlobal concern for agricultural production and food securityEvolving Aid Effectiveness agenda leads more RD stakeholders to explore partnering options

Lack of effective partnerships will limit IFAD’s ability to achieve its strategic objectivesLack of partnership incentives at all levels in some other institutions can make partnering difficultIFAD unable to show others that it can be a preferred partner for them – requires results to be achieved, ‘IFAD brand’, partnership approach, as well as marketing of all these Competition from other IFIs and development agencies

Lessons from beyond IFAD

Benchmarking

of good practices elsewhere – and in particular the approaches and practices of IFIs – will provide lessons and shape IFAD’s strategic approach.

Preliminary lessons from other organizations about harnessing and managing partnerships for strategic impact include the following:

Strategy:

Of the

main IFI’s (WB and RDBs),

only the

AfDB

has any form of partnership strategy, though this is limited to a statement of objectives. AsDB has a series of documents for specific partnership types. Elsewhere, partnership strategies have been developed by UN agencies (UNICEF) and CGIAR centres (ILRI). Structure: All main IFIs have an office with responsibilities for formal, financially-based partnerships and resource mobilization. Most large corporate players have a dedicated partnership unit.Practice: WHO partnership agreements include a requirement to review the partnership performance, its value to WHO, and continued demand for/alternatives to it. UNESCO’s simple, compelling

World Heritage Sites programme has offered strong opportunities for partnerships with governments and private sector. In corporate sector, strong brand management underpins partnership efforts.

Rationale and objectives of a strategic approach paper

The rationaleIFAD works with so many different partners, for so many different purposes, that a single organizational strategy may add little value

Instead, a strategic approach paper would provide guidance for different types of partnership, yet not seek to impose single partnership model

The

objective

of the strategic approach paper will be to assist IFAD to be more selective in its partnerships, and enable managers

and staff

to develop and

manage partnerships more effectively and efficiently, so as to better achieve IFAD’s overall strategic objectives. It will provide greater clarity about:Why IFAD should enter into specific partnershipsWhat it wants those partnerships to achieve Which organizations to partner withHow to develop and manage the partnershipsWho in IFAD is responsible for these activitiesWhen partnership isn’t the right option

Proposed typology of partnerships

Partnership types

Examples

Levels

of partnerships

Main partners

Programmes and projects

(CMR 1-3)

Private sector

devt., climate change, KMI, nat. level policy dialogue, scaling-upNational, regionalMember governments, RPOs, NGOs, private sector, development partners, UN agenciesGlobal policy dialogue (CMR 8)

Food price volatility, CFS, Global Donor Platform on RD, genderGlobal, regionalInternational organizations, research organizations, member governmentsResource mobilization

(CMR 10)Replenishment, Supplementary funds, Spanish loanGlobalMember governments, foundationsOrganizational efficiency (CMR 4-7)RBA joint procurement, UN joint pension plan

Corporate

IFIs, UN agencies

Partnership types defined relative to IFAD’s Corporate Management Results, considered critical to

achieving IFAD’s overall strategic priorities

The strategic approach paper will

use

the following

descriptive

typology

to aggregate IFAD’s

partnerships;

activities will be prioritised under

each type:

The

paper

will also highlight the following:That while there are vastly different sorts of partnerships with a wide variety of partners, under all four partnership types:

Focus needs to be on development impact for rural poverty reduction, as defined in the Strategic Framework 2011-2015 Scaling-up is a priority: it will be central to expanded impact

Issues

of knowledge management and

innovation – of learning –

are

critical

IFAD can offer substantial value added acting as a broker/facilitator of partnershipsThere is need to review new and renewed partnerships for their contribution to IFAD objectives, and discontinue those whose costs outweigh the benefitsIt is important to strengthen IFAD’s capacity to effectively manage partnerships

Strengthening IFAD’s capacity to effectively manage partnerships

RESOURCE

EXAMPLE

Tools/Instruments

Develop

c

riteria for partnership assessment

and

selection (shared objectives,

clear agenda, capacity of partner, value for money, etc.)SystemsDefine e.g. institutional responsibilities for developing, managing, monitoring and reviewing partnerships; the role of RMP; incentives for partnership developmentProcesses

Internalise partnerships in business processes, in e.g. project design or HR competenciesTrainingStrengthen skills of key staff in partnership management, partnership brokerage

LearningIntegrate review and capturing lessons from partnerships, evaluating the strategyThe strategic approach paper will provide guidance to IFAD on how to effectively manage partnerships, with attention given to the following areas:

Questions to Executive Board members

What partnership experiences can you share that would be helpful to IFAD?

What do you see as the key challenges and opportunities of partnerships for IFAD?Is the proposal to develop a strategic approach paper an appropriate one

?What do you see as its key elements?