This Policy and Practice brief from TPP Director Gareth Williams discusses Issues-Based Programming (IBP), a development approach which mobilises stakeholders to drive change around locally defined issues. This paper examines its application in several countries through case studies of UK-funded projects and assesses IBP's effectiveness, highlighting successes and failures.

The nine success factors for IBP are:

1. identifying tangible, tractable and feasible issues,
2. clustering and building on issues,
3. having a vision for transformational change,
4. linking analysis to action,
5. facilitating locally led and self-motivated stakeholder engagement
6. mobilising the right combination of skills,
7. ensuring effective programme leadership,
8. using grants sparingly and strategically, and
9. enabling flexible and adaptive programming.

Gareth argues that while IBP presents challenges, it has already demonstrated positive results including in difficult political contexts. The approach warrants further investment linked to experimentation, research and evaluation.