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SL Advocacy and
Lesson Learning by Infrastructure and Urban Development Dept
(DFID)
(Rachel Roland: IUDD (DFID) & CRDT (Univ Wolverhampton))
16 August 2000
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Since March, 2000, DFID's Infrastructure and Urban Development
Department (IUDD) has part-time contracted a consultant from CRDT, the
University of Wolverhampton to work with engineers and urban planners, in order
to facilitate the implementation of SL approaches in projects and programmes.
The work entails liaising with many different groups - within IUDD, the
engineering group, the SLSO, different advisory departments and country desks,
DFID partners and consultants - to ensure a coherent contribution by IUDD to SL
approaches in action.
The core of the work is advocacy and lesson learning to build on IUDD's
experiences of using SLAs to date. Examples of work done during this
consultancy to date are:
- contributions
to Chapter 7 of the SL Guidance Sheets by way of case studies of IUDD
experience;
- contacts made
with country desk advisers and their consultants; discussions held on how to
build on their work;
- participating
in the work of the SLRG - meetings, proof-reading material for livelihoods
connect, etc;
- organising
sessions with SL lessons at Engineering Group's annual conference;
- establishing a
programme of work with the International Food Policy Research Institute's
(IFPRI) on rural-urban links. This will improve understanding of the situation
of how nutrition is experienced in the urban as well as rural poverty
situation, what factors influence this and in particular what different links
exist and what part they play, in modifying livelihoods between the rural and
urban environment;
- keeping up to
date with other work IUDD has commissioned and their SL aspects and impact;
and
- helping to
organise and take part in DFID-sponsored SL Consultants' Fora.
A diverse set of
activities is planned for the next 6 months to carry forward the completed and
on-going work.
An Innovative approach to lesson-learning
So far, IUDD is the only advisory group to take the opportunity to detail an
individual to support the implementation of SLAs. Whilst good lesson-learning
can and does go on through the more traditional means of seminars and
evaluative papers, this work also enables a greater possibility of
'face-to-face' contact. The flexibility exists to work directly in a programme
or with project managers; to encourage consultants and providers to move
forwards and to provide necessary training and facilitation.
Criteria of achievement:
Whilst lesson learning is the focus of the work, the ultimate indicator for
success is that the lessons are incorporated into new work. This in turn is
only possible in practice, if decision-makers can see the importance of the
holistic and multidisciplinary approach of sustainable livelihoods and that
practical systems for running programmes and projects can be agreed. The change
in orientation required both by DFID staff and its partners is likely to ensure
that this process is lengthy and needs much support. The consultancy post in
IUDD is likely to be on-going in nature.
(Rachel Roland) |
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Contribute: |
Send your
insights, experiences and views to the Post-it Board by email to: livelihoods-post-it@ids.ac.uk
Please mention your name, tel, fax, and institutional affiliation in your
contribution and give it a short title. If you wish to comment on an existing
item or theme please also mention its title in your contribution. If you think
there should be a new theme, tell us.
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