Commitment 3.1: We contribute to systemic change.
Compliance Indicators
Compliance with the Commitments will be assessed against the following Compliance Indicators. All of the applicable Compliance Indicators must be met by every ACFID Member to be considered compliant with the Code. Each of the Compliance Indicators has one or more compliance Verifiers. Verifiers are the description of evidence that is required to substantiate compliance with each Compliance Indicator. Guidance is also provided.
3.1.1 Members design initiatives considering the root causes of poverty and inequity.
Design or planning framework, tools, templates which require, or approaches which consistently show, analyses of the causes of poverty and inequity. Â
Guidance
Your approaches could include: an investment of time and resources into deep contextual analysis prior to designing an initiative; seeking the perspectives and experiences of primary stakeholders directly impacted by poverty or inequality; creating initiative designs which respond holistically to a range of structural, social, cultural or other causes of poverty or inequality.
Your design or planning framework, tools and templates could include: explicit sub sections or prompts in the design document template relating to causes of poverty and inequality; a design appraisal tool or set of criteria that includes an assessment of the adequacy of contextual analysis and whether the design or theory of change addresses the causes of poverty or inequality.
3.1.2 Members work with local systems, structures and institutions, such as civil society, community structures and authorities (where appropriate) to support and strengthen people and systems.
Development and humanitarian initiatives consistently show evidence of working with and supporting local systems and structures.Â
Guidance
Your approaches could include: undertaking good contextual and stakeholder analysis so you can identify the key local organisations and stakeholders and the relationships between them that contribute to or can break down poverty and inequality; vulnerability, risk and capacity for each stakeholder group; identification of key groups marginalised through vulnerability; investing resources in and creating opportunities for local organisations and/or primary stakeholders to discuss and agree on their own priorities for development; create opportunities for local organisations and/or primary stakeholders to fully contribute to the design and planning of initiatives that affect them.
Your design or planning framework, tools and templates could include: explicit sub sections or prompts in the design document template; a design appraisal tool or set of criteria that includes an assessment of the adequacy of contextual analysis, the role of local organisations and/or primary stakeholders in contextual and stakeholder analysis and the degree to which local organisations and/or primary stakeholders have fully contributed to the design and planning of initiatives that affect them.
It could also include: jointly identifying with primary stakeholders their existing strengths, risk/vulnerabilities and capacity gaps and their own priorities for capacity strengthening, and jointly developing actions and providing resources to build their capacity through for example, formal training or academic courses, mentoring, exchange visits, the provision of educational or functional resources.
Where possible and appropriate, work with local systems and structures rather than establishing new or parallel systems and structures which may not be sustainable or undermine existing systems and structures. Working with or mobilising government or other authorities can be an effective strategy towards sustainable and systemic change.
This could include: supporting partners or your own agency to work with government ministries or departments at the national, provincial or local levels, working in alignment with or supporting the development of government policies, strategies or priorities, working with or supporting indigenous NGOs or civil society organisations, supporting established (but perhaps not fully functioning) community structures such as village development committees or farmers’ groups, working through or supporting local church structures (where appropriate to your organisation or the context).
3.1.3 Members that undertake advocacy and/or campaigning support initiatives that are evidence-based, accurate and reflect the perspectives of primary stakeholders.
This indicator and verifiers are relevant only to members which undertake advocacy and/or campaigning.Â
Policy, statement or guideline document that covers the following:Â Â
- Advocacy does not do harm or increase the level of risk facing affected groups.Â
- Advocacy is evidence-based and accurate.Â
- Advocacy messages reflect the perspectives of the affected population.Â
Design or planning framework, tools, templates or approaches which show evidence of the analysis of risks associated with advocacy initiatives, with a particular focus on the safety and rights of primary stakeholders.Â
Guidance
Having a formal document which outlines your approaches to advocacy helps to establish your organisations commitment to responsible and effective advocacy practices and ensures a shared understanding amongst your staff and other stakeholders.
Your policy, statement or guidance document could include: an outline of the principles underpinning your organisations approaches to responsible and effective advocacy; an outline of the procedures or practices required to ensure the following: analysis of potential risks to primary stakeholders associated with an advocacy campaign; the importance of evidence based advocacy and how this evidence will be sought; and the methods to be used to seek the perspectives of primary stakeholders and (where appropriate and safe) how their voices will be enabled through the campaign.
Your design or planning framework, tools and templates could include: explicit sub sections or prompts in the design document template relating to analysis of the potential risks to primary stakeholders associated with an advocacy campaign, the evidence base informing the advocacy messages and how primary stakeholders perspectives have been sought and (where appropriate and safe) how their voices will be enabled through the campaign.
Good Practice Indicators
The following Good Practice Indicators describe a higher standard of practice than that set out in the Compliance Indicators. While Members do not need to meet the Good Practice Indicators to be considered compliant with the Code, they will self-assess against these indicators once every three years. This provides a clear pathway for Members to strengthen and improve practice over time.
- Training on the principles of sustainable development is provided to key personnel and partners.Â
- The extent to which initiatives lead to durable and lasting change is evaluated.Â
- Commitment to durable and lasting improvements is promoted to the public and external stakeholders.Â
- Diverse stakeholder groups are brought together to engage on change management processes.Â
- Collaboration with other organisations on intersecting issues is undertaken at national and international levels.Â
- Periodic reports are provided internally and to relevant primary stakeholders on the outcomes of advocacy work.Â
- Activities are undertaken to strengthen the capacity of marginalised groups to participate in multi-stakeholder processes.Â
Good Practice Guidance
Here are some practical suggestions for your organisation to further deepen and improve practice over time.
Context Analysis
- Develop a full understanding of the program’s context including the impact of national and community-level political, social, economic, cultural and environmental factors, as well as the enablers and the barriers to social change
- Seek the perspectives and experiences of primary stakeholders directly impacted by poverty or inequality
- Carry out an analysis of the key relationships that will impact the project, how that impact will occur, and how those groups or people can be positively engaged
- Train staff in how to carry out power analyses as a basic step in the preparation of any development activity
- Periodically review the context as it changes over time as part of regular monitoring activities and reflect any changes by adapting project plans and approaches.
Stakeholder Analysis
- Ensure program guidelines explicitly outline the importance of identifying the needs and expectations of all key stakeholders, including potential differences in interests and points of view.
- Use stakeholder analysis tools in project design so that you can identify: the key local organisations and stakeholders and the relationships between them that contribute to or can break down poverty and inequality; vulnerability, risk and capacity for each stakeholder group.
- Identify key groups marginalised through vulnerability.
- Conduct research to identify the enabling factors and barriers for participation of local people.
- Invest resources in and create opportunities for local organisations and/or primary stakeholders to discuss and agree on their own priorities for development and to fully contribute to the design and planning of initiatives that affect them.
- Assess the level to which primary stakeholders have been involved in the initial planning of the program and the level of consultation and engagement with various community groups and the local government.
Capacity Building Approaches
- Invest time and resources in your partners’ broader mandate and strategy and capacity beyond specific projects considering for example non-project grants for training, systems development, etc.
- Host staff secondments from and between partner organisations.
- Jointly identify with local partners their own priorities for development, their existing strengths and capacity gaps, and jointly develop actions and provide resources to build capacity through, for example, formal training or academic courses, mentoring, exchange visits, the provision of educational or organisational resources.
Strengths Based Approach
- Utilise tools and methodologies that identifies the existing strengths, abilities and assets of primary stakeholders. This is sometimes referred to as Asset Based Community Development or taking a ‘strengths-based approach’.
- Use a wide range of community engagement tools to draw on as broad as representation of community members as possible to build a community vision and plan.
- Support primary stakeholders to monitor their own progress in achieving their vision and plan.
- Provide training to staff and partners on the difference between a needs based approach and a strengths based approach to development.
Systems Approach
- Recognise that most development challenges involve multiple stakeholders and processes that interact together in a system, and also impact on multiple systems.
- Recognise that solutions to development challenges are usually multi disciplinary
- Dedicate reasonable resources and expertise to understanding the systems that interact with a development challenge in order to identify the most appropriate and effective development intervention
- Bring together stakeholders from a diverse range of environments to better understand development challenges
- Collaborate with many different actors, across sectors and across all parts of the system.
- Experiment with interventions on a small scale, and continue to adapt them in response to continuous learning and analysis.Â
Organisational Advocacy
- Create and document a policy that defines advocacy, sets out your organisation’s advocacy objectives, and outlines the principles that your organization will be bound by when undertaking advocacy.
- Set performance targets at a strategic or organisational level related to advocacy and ensure progress against these targets is tracked overtime. This could be through the development of an Advocacy Plan that is reviewed on an annual basis.
- Appoint a person within your organisation with expertise in advocacy.
- Include an overview of the organisation’s approach to advocacy in the induction of all new staff.
- Document a toolkit and guidelines to support staff in undertaking advocacy.
- Provide formal training for relevant staff on how to undertake advocacy effectively
- Promote your advocacy activities on your website and in newsletters or similar.
- Monitor, review and report internally and externally on your advocacy achievements; this includes reporting of performance against key advocacy indicators.
Advocacy Initiatives
- Collaborate with organisations that focus on and have expertise in advocacy
- Use rigorous research methodologies and processes to inform advocacy activities.
- Consider confidential representation and diplomacy as a mechanism to persuading decision makers and opinion leaders to act in the interests of vulnerable people
- Consider public forms of advocacy such as information and education campaigns.
- Assess the potential for advocacy to bring your organisation into conflict with authorities, organisations or individuals and the consequences of this potential conflict on your organisation, your partners and primary stakeholders.
- Undertake risk assessments to ensure they advocacy initiatives do not create undue risk to partners and other stakeholders
- Where there is any risk of harm to primary stakeholders, ensure that those stakeholders are fully informed and consent to the advocacy activities and create mitigation strategies to protect primary stakeholders.
- Support the active participation of partners and community members in planning, decision-making and undertaking advocacy activities where appropriate to do so
- Assist partners to develop their own advocacy policies and plans.