InterCap project has released its Annual PC(S)D Policy paper for 2019. The paper outlines the progress made by the participant countries concerning the establishment of a Policy Coherence for Development (PCD) network at a national level. It is apparent that only a very small minority of countries are actively pursuing PCD, since PC(S)D is a highly political issue. Some partners in their second year of the project continued with their activities through the established PC(S)D networks, some decided to join forces with already existing structures, designed for achieving similar goals, but in some partners the environment was not conducive to the functioning of PC(S)D networks. The paper updates on the different approaches each participant country has taken concerning the PCD and names the similar challenges that they faced for its establishment.
Five of the partner countries Greece, Italy, Malta, Poland and Slovenia, saw the continuation of activities through their respective national PC(S)D networks whereas in the case of Austria, Cyprus, Germany, Lithuania and the United Kingdom a national PC(S)D network has not been established, however, there has been taken the decision to join already existing structures addressing PC(S)D. In the cases of Bulgaria and Croatia, due to the extremely low levels of interest about PC(S)D, no network has been created, and partners focused on raising awareness about the issue without the support of a formal structure.
Partners have reached the following conclusions in year 2 of the project:
- PC(S)D is a political issue that needs strong political will to ensure progress.
- Networks are most successful when members not only share a joint vision, but when joint activities are focusing on the achievement of clearly defined joint outputs.
- External monitoring tools can be a useful point of pressure for Governments to improve their performance, but it is important to ensure that attention is paid both to PCD and PCSD.
- Coherent policies require a strong multi-stakeholder dialogue at various levels: this includes relevant governmental actors, being ultimately responsible to provide relevant policy frameworks as well as different non-governmental actors, contributing their expertise and feedback based on existing needs in a given context. Multiple perspectives (including from different disciplines) can be of great added- value.
- Adequate resources for implementation of PC(S)D are crucial, may it be at the state level or at the level of CSOs.
Read the complete InterCap 2019 PC(S)D Policy Paper here
