New FCDO Political Economy Analysis Guidance published
Laure-Hélène Piron and Alina Rocha Menocal contributed to this Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) guide on applied political economy analysis (PEA) which updates the UK Department for International Development's 2009 original guidance.
This guide provides an overview of PEA and explains how analytical work should be planned and completed. Applied PEA is a set of concepts, questions and research techniques, developed over several decades. PEA provides a clearer picture of the country, region or sector in which development assistance is being provided. It does this by systematically exploring the underlying issues behind policy, and decisions, including those elements that are counter-intuitive. The PEA approach aims to identify a more realistic response which is politically feasible and technically sound.
This is a joint guide from the FCDO and the Thinking and Working Politically Community of Practice (TWP-CoP). The TWP-CoP is a global network of practitioners and researchers in development and global affairs committed to promoting more politically aware to approaches to how change happens and why. The TWP-CoP Secretariat has been hosted by the University of Birmingham with support from FCDO.
The guide also provides an introduction to techniques and concepts used by FCDO governance experts, when designing and implementing related UK aid programming. It aims to inform development professionals, and it summarises different approaches, from very light-touch to more in-depth.
Financial Times article on 'how to rethink climate change'
TPP Director Neil McCulloch’s book Ending Fossil Fuel Subsidies: the politics of saving the planet was featured in the Financial Times (paywalled) as one of three good books on ‘How to rethink climate change’.
A Policy Brief summarising the book's main messages is available here.
New blog from Laure-Hélène Piron and Alina Rocha Menocal with Kate Byom - What does politically smart support to democracy and human rights look like?
Duncan Green has published this blog to coincide with a webinar on “Making a difference: How Applied Political Economy Analysis contributes to impact through better informed decisions” on Wednesday 24 May. It shares the findings of a Learning Review on the use of PEA in three USAID-funded human rights projects under the Human Rights Support Mechanism, which is led by Freedom House with the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative and Pact as core consortium partners.
GovEnable clinics in Islamabad, Kinshasa and Nairobi
During May 2023, Laure-Hélène, TPP Director, and Ben French, TPP Associate, are delivering workshops in Islamabad, Kinshasa and Nairobi to introduce government officials and World Bank staff to a new way of designing and implementing public financial management reforms - based on participatory diagnostics and action planning.