Category: Sector

Enhancing Women’s participation in Nigeria

Guest blog written by Adetunde Ademefun, Lois Chinedu, and Suleiman Oluwatosin This team is made up of of experienced Programme, Research and Communication Staff and Assistants who work at the Nigerian Women Trust Fund (NWTF). They successfully completed the 15-week Practice of PDIA online course that ended in December 2018. This is their story. Amazingly, when we…Continue Reading Enhancing Women’s participation in Nigeria

CFI in Cambodia

Guest blog written by Lee Henley, Vann Sokha, Jenny Ciucci, Zoey Henley This team successfully completed the 15-week Practice of PDIA online course that ended in December 2018. This is their story. CFI is a small NGO in a rural part of Battambang Cambodia, we work with some of the most resource poor children in Cambodia….Continue Reading CFI in Cambodia

Why do public policies fail? Categorizing the challenges

written by Matt Andrews Governments—and other public policy organizations—undertake many different tasks, implementing a diverse set of policies and projects. Many of these policies and projects are not considered successful. My recent blog post noted that failure occurs more often than anyone would likely consider optimal. There are many reasons for policy failure, and my…Continue Reading Why do public policies fail? Categorizing the challenges

Can States Promote Game Changing Growth?

written by Matt Andrews This post relates to the working paper, ‘Who Wins in the World Economy and English Football?’ The Question: ‘Can We Get Game Changing Growth?’ Governments are interested in addressing many problems. In our experience at Building State Capability (BSC), the number one problem always centers on the word ‘growth’. However, the problem is…Continue Reading Can States Promote Game Changing Growth?

How often do public policies really fail? A question to help you escape the policy futility trap

written by Matt Andrews Last week I blogged about the ‘public policy futility trap’ in which countries get stuck when a negative feedback loop institutionalizes itself in the public policy domain. Experiences of past policy failure erodes the confidence (of citizens and public officials) to deliver in future, which undermines the potential for positive future…Continue Reading How often do public policies really fail? A question to help you escape the policy futility trap

Implementing Public Policy: Is it possible to escape the ‘Public Policy Futility’ trap?

written by Matt Andrews Polls suggest that governments across the world face high levels of citizen dissatisfaction, and low levels of citizen trust. The 2017 Edelman Trust Barometer found, for instance, that only 43% of those surveyed trust Canada’s government. Only 15% of those surveyed trust government in South Africa, and levels are low in…Continue Reading Implementing Public Policy: Is it possible to escape the ‘Public Policy Futility’ trap?

Bottom-up PDIA and the fishbone diagram – “a tool for life, not just for business”

PDIA Online participant pointing to a fishbone diagram taped to the wall

Guest blog written by Rosie Pinnington and Iana Barenboim In Oxford Policy Management’s DFID-funded MUVA programme, informal female market sellers have been using the PDIA-inspired fishbone diagram to diagnose their own problems. This has helped them identify the factors that limit their businesses’ growth, allowing MUVA to be led by the views and experiences of the…Continue Reading Bottom-up PDIA and the fishbone diagram – “a tool for life, not just for business”

INOVASI’s experience with PDIA to solve the wicked hard problem of basic education in Indonesia

written by Mark Heyward During the first half of 2018, a group of 21 development practitioners from the Innovation for Indonesia’s School Children (INOVASI) program and partners, formed cross-program groups and completed the intensive, 15-week online course conducted by the Building State Capability program at Harvard’s Centre for International Development, called ‘Practice of PDIA; Building…Continue Reading INOVASI’s experience with PDIA to solve the wicked hard problem of basic education in Indonesia

“There is Rubbish Everywhere!”

Guest blog written by Sinit Zeru, Safiatou Diallo, Diaraye Diallo, Himideen Toure and Sophie Tidman Team Guinea successfully completed the 15-week Practice of PDIA online course that ended in June 2018. This is their story.  During a press conference held before his second term, Guinea’s President, Alpha Conde, eloquently summarised our team’s chosen challenge: “there is rubbish everywhere!”  In the…Continue Reading “There is Rubbish Everywhere!”

Team Soedalan’s PDIA Course Journey: High Maternal Mortality in Dominican Republic

Guest blog by Ana de Apraiz, Alberto Nuñez, Eduardo Gomez and Sofia Guillot Team Soedalan successfully completed the 15-week Practice of PDIA online course that ended in June 2018. They are a multidisciplinary team of development professionals with different backgrounds living in Spain. When we were asked to be part of the PDIA course sponsored by CID, most…Continue Reading Team Soedalan’s PDIA Course Journey: High Maternal Mortality in Dominican Republic