Summary of ASK_TRISP e-discussion |
Influencing policies
Looking for institutional ‘ways in’: Getting knowledge taken up into policies and practice is often time-consuming and requires a commitment to work with the individuals and institutions that design and implement the policies. These often lack capacity, and practical support (e.g. working alongside staff) is often welcomed (bdeoja, Nepal). Attention should be paid to implementation of policies as well as their design and approval (otherwise they might not result in actions) and the structure of the organisations that are charged with policy formation and approval (e.g. one transport ministry responsible for both urban and rural infrastructure (Giselle Xavier, Brazil). Citing internationally recognised pieces of work can support your arguments (Gary Taylor, IT Transport), and the more participative a piece of work, the more likely the outcomes are to be pro-poor (Gary Taylor).
‘Enthusiasts’ within government structures are often the ‘way in’ to transforming information into practical policies. Where they don’t’ exist, there needs to be a system of ‘carrots and sticks’ that will encourage personnel to look for and use evidence and good research to make good decisions (bdeoja, Nepal). Another way to make policymakers listen and even take action, is to get the support of an external ‘influential’ e.g. the World Bank (Giselle Xavier, Brazil).
Policies detached from local people: Local people’s knowledge is mostly overlooked by policy makers: where it is used it is rarely credited. There are opportunities for NGOs and others to amplify these voices, e.g. by bringing different stakeholder groups together ( ); by tapping into communications projects such as the Open Knowledge Network; by providing discussion documents in local languages etc. Projects and feasibility studies often overlook communities that are very remote (e.g. seven days’ walk away from the road in Nepal), and their needs are therefore rarely met by national programmes of work (Saroj Basnet). More attention should be paid to ways of getting local people’s voices directly heard by policymakers, rather than having their opinions represented by others (Tanzarn Nite, Uganda University).
In countries that have decentralised government structures in place, and with it decentralised infrastructure planning, there are more likely to be ongoing processes that ‘listen’ to the people e.g. PEAP in Uganda (their equivalent of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Process PRSP) and Nepal ("bdeoja" bdeoja@wlink.com.np).
The power of politics: Priorities for infrastructure development can be made for political ends especially where road development can win votes e.g. Nepal. Politicians can prefer those projects that produce large visible benefits e.g. spot improvements over road construction (Cheikh Amadou Bamba Thioye, Senegal NGO). Information is often generated, not to be useful to the government institutions responsible for infrastructure, but to satisfy the donors funding the investment ("bdeoja" bdeoja@wlink.com.np).
Complicated and contradictory planning processes: Theoretical
‘bottom up’ planning doesn’t work sometimes because
of the contradictions in the planning process, e.g. where village development
committees are expected to produce their own 5-7 year plans based on local
needs, but these have to ‘fit’ with nationally agreed priorities
and budgets (3-5 year cycle), and local authorities can only fund less
than 5% of their planned activities.
The value of different media in turning information into practice
Workshops and international conferences provide good opportunities to access and engage with new sources of knowledge, to deepen understanding of existing knowledge, and to make valuable networking contacts that can be used in the future (Giselle Xavier, Brazil). They take up time, however, and can be little more than ‘talking shops’ (Upali Pannilage, Sri Lanka NGO), although this is sometimes because of inadequate facilitation, bad planning, or inadequately skilled personnel. They enable people to actively engage with information rather than be passive recipients, and this is more likely to lead to learning.
Newsletters can be used to promote the views and share the knowledge of ordinary people (Upali Pannilage,), though this is relevant only in societies with high rates of literacy (Tabi Karikari, Ghana). If targeted at policymakers, this can be a way of bridging the gap between the two communities, with little intervention or editing.
There are inadequate translations of key documents, and little funding available for translation (Phil Fouracre UK Technical Advisor). Where these are made locally rather than by the authors themselves ( ) their existence is not widely publicised.
Web-based information is useful in a further education teaching environment (Tanzarn Nite, Uganda), where documents can be downloaded and copied for students who often don’t have their own access, and couldn’t afford to be on-line for long. Even though most of the information found has been written by ‘outsiders’, it is possible to filter this information using local knowledge (Nite). The World Wide Web is often the first place people with Internet-access go when researching topics, but it is time-consuming to filter out irrelevant information, and it doesn’t tend to include the useful mistakes and failures that personal conversations reveal (Paul Starkey, UK). ‘The miracle of the Internet’ (Vero Razafintsalama, Madagascar NGO) is invaluable for non-english speakers, who can turn translate and ‘repurpose’ information for their constituencies e.g. rural people.
E-discussion groups are good because you can post questions, although the same people tend to contribute. A number of contributors invited others to join existing discussion groups around similar issues (River Transport in Colombia reply to saramaryoriacostasierra@yahoo.com.mx; IFRTD co-ordinated Waterways and Livelihoods ruralwaterways-subscribe@yahoogroups.com).
On-line newsletters, whilst a good idea, are often difficult to download and therefore are not read: printed copies are more useful where Internet connections are unreliable (Tanzam Nite).
Video conferences can be used where the technology is available, for bringing together people who are physically in different parts of the world to discuss and debate areas of mutual interest (Erik Caldwell Johnson, World Bank).
Printed documents, e.g. academic publications are invaluable for research and consultancies, and ‘How to’ documents for project design and evaluations. But written information is often not what we need: instead “we need someone that stays with us for sometime, understands what we are doing, and tries to find a solution together with us” (Projeto Pedala Floripa).
Networks provide a valuable role in both keeping a community of practice informed of new knowledge and exposing members to the experiences and expertise of fellow network members in a ‘friendly environment’ (Giselle Xavier).
Development publishers e.g. CTA have good schemes that make users aware of new information products (summaries of new publications by email), and enable them to choose a limited number of full publications using a ‘points’ scheme that encourages users to be selective.
The channels used for disseminating information should be carefully selected so that they are suitable for the target audience (Sara Maryori Acosta Sierra, Colombia University).
Current frustrations in accessing information
Lack of reliable, up-to-date, national data
About one fifth of the e-discussion focused on the difficulties of getting
hold of reliable, up-to-date data on a country’s rural infrastructure
that is traditionally provided by its government. Gathering data first-hand
(e.g. by interviewing rural households) is often the only way to find
information about rural conditions (Saroj Basnyet, Nepal), although if
locally elected councils cannot win the confidence of the people there
is little chance that an ‘outsider’ researcher will be able
to (Simon Done, technical advisor UK).
Most government information is either outdated, or comprises statistical data that is not reliable (Sara Costa, Colombia), either because of human error in its collection and/or interpretation or political influence. The data collected from the people may also be misleading e.g. because they exaggerate their circumstances during a road building feasibility study because they desperately want the road to be built (Saroj Basnet, Nepal).
National data is often regarded as ‘secret’ and you need the co-operation of top officials to access it (Dr. A.K.Sarkar, India). Even those working in government confirm that information is not released freely ‘because (it) may be misinterpreted and used for other gains by interested parties especially political gains’ (Tabi Karikari). Where local data is collected and available from local government, they tend not to make it easily available (e.g. publish it on the Internet), and often you cannot get hold of the right member of staff who can dig out the files for you (Sara Maryori Acosta Sierra, Colombia). It may be that data is not available simply because it is not considered a priority by governments (Mamoeketsi Ntho).
Lack of capacity in government departments to respond to information demands, partly explains the lack of data, along with inadequate retrieval and storage systems (Mamoeketsi Ntho). Decentralisation in India has delegated power to local authorities and made access to information easier: NGOs working on rights to information has helped the situation.
The value two-way dialogue to fill information gaps was demonstrated by the e-discussion as a request for information on national transport activities (Peter Roberts, World Bank) was met with responses within a week from Senegal,
Language issues
Information is often published in a language that makes it inaccessible
to ordinary people, who cannot then be informed by it, or influence it
(Saroj Basnet, Nepal).
Subject ‘gaps’
There is a lack of theoretical information on transport to complement
the dominant practical information needed to make ‘good decisions’
(Tanzarn Nite, Uganda). Information about the social and environmental
aspects of transport are not easy to find, especially in french (Cheikh
Amadou Bamba Thioye, Senegal NGO). Information from the private sector
is often missing, especially where demand for services if weak in rural
areas and there is little incentive for private operators to reveal their
charges etc. and no brokers operating to provide comparative information
services. (Peter Roberts, World Bank). There is a lack of tools to evaluate
the impact of information and communications activities, and this hinders
further investment and support for these valuable components of transport
programmes.
Support for recommendations to the World Bank
Only a few people told us which of the recommendations to the World
Bank they supported. The largest number supported more participative research
(the Bank to involve users and policy makers in generating and sharing
information); followed by increasing the availability of useful information.
One participant said International Financing Institutions (IFIs) should
invest more in training the ones who are already in the field –
capacity building of municipal planners and active members of civil
society. IFIs should talk to each other and converge support to projects,
making it continuous – in field work, making a project “survive”
is sometimes the most important aspect.” (Giselle Xavier, NGO Brazil).
