PEI Progress and Challenges

1
PEI Progress and Challenges

• A rapid review of seven PEI Africa Country
  Programme self-evaluations
• June12th 2007 Steve Bass, IIED

2
Overview

• Self-evaluation a good approach at this stage!
• Much progress preparatory assessments, plans
• But even higher aspirations p/e
  implementation
• PEI is 1) important, 2) difficult, 3) innovative,
  4) brave!
• 3 lessons selected per country much convergence
• Common challenges for discussion
• focus the agenda what poor people and envt
  really need
• improve influence its a political process
• use/build capacity its an institutional change
  process

3
Most countries

• 1. Pov/env integration is a long-term process
  with many drivers, not achieved by one
  project/plan. Do we understand and use this
  background process/drivers?
• 2. Civil society and business are major forces
  shaping the environment more than govt. Is PEI
  working enough with civil society, business,
  investors?
• 3. PEI faces many constraints mostly govt /
  UN procedures. Is this the complete picture?!
• 4. PEI has begun to tackle the planning gap,
  but must bridge the implementation gap. Is the
  set of PEI activities right?

4
5. Progress is made by linking local/national
actors and systems How can PEI best help?
Improve national policy, capacity and
procedures
Improve local voice, Information and action
5
Kenya

• Communications is a top priority for widespread
  p/e awareness, but is costly. Have we unleashed
  the full capacity of the media to help?
• Economic studies can influence big corporate and
  govt drivers of development. Do PEI economic
  studies really challenge and change them?
• Env mainstreaming is an art, and professional
  exchange can help develop it. Can we develop a
  PEI exchange programme, and e.g. with gender?

6
Mali

• Working with the PRS (CSLP) is key, but PEI has
  far fewer resources and staff. Can we identify
  other sources of p/e influence, and use them
  better?
• Much effort has gone into local site selection.
  How will the sites influence neighbours, field
  orgs, policy?
• Effective tools are needed to bridge poverty
  and environment. How can we get advice on best
  tools?

7
Mauritania

• PEI should meet expectations of 3 key strategies
  1) poverty, 2) SD and 3) environment. How to
  position PEI serve strategies or change them?
• Govt links are key, but ministers/structures keep
  changing. How can PEI be resilient to govt
  change?
• PEI is recognised as a specialised project for
  analysing p/e links. How can PEI develop its
  wider ambitions a new phase? Or through
  partners?

8
Mozambique

• Work at local levels is important to tackle p/e
  realities. What difference can PEI make to
  rights, resources and other constraints?
• Working with existing planning procedures is the
  best starting point. How far will env units in
  sector depts change bad procedures?
• A PEI prize is changing govt budget procedures.
  What tactics/methods can help to achieve this?

9
Rwanda

• Sector priorities should set the framework for
  env mainstreaming. Which sectors to choose?
• An environmental baseline is key for showing and
  improving sectoral env links. Do our ecosystem
  and economics studies meet sectors needs?
• Envt has two useful faces envt as a sector
  and as x-sectoral. Is PEI biased to one or the
  other?

10
Tanzania

• An effective national process for policy,
  planning and consensus really helps env
  mainstreaming (NSGRP). But what if there is no
  effective process?
• Once p/e policy and plans exist, capacities and
  systems need attention especially to serve poor
  people. How can we best build pro-poor
  capacity?
• Successful p/e work at community level leads to
  potentially huge demands. How should PEI respond
  its own micro-projects, or influence others?

11
Uganda

• Utilising others effective capacities is key,
  especially CSO/NGO advocacy/training/networks.
  How to identify, assess, and motivate partners?
• Envt is more likely to be mainstreamed if
  expressed in poverty/devt terms. How does PEI
  help Integ Ecosystem Assessments?
• PEI funding is inadequate to tackle all needs,
  esp at microproject level. Can we lever other
  finance?

12
PEI a web of strategic issues

• Env mainstreaming is a highly strategic
  activity
•     Environment an externality uncertain,
  unpredictable, uncontrollable , unvalued,
  unpriced, untraded, unowned, unscrutinised,
  unintelligible
• Mainstreaming the art of influence
•      Strategy the art of choice

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Discussing PEIs choices

• As PEI develops, strategic choices are needed to
• Focus on priority needs what local poor people
  and envt need most what is timely and wider
  dynamics
• Improve influence political as well as
  technical what to influence, who to influence,
  how to influence
• Improve capacity and learning develop partners,
  participation, ME, new financial mechanisms,
  international links for wider dynamics

14
P/E is influenced by a third big developmental
problem
Wealth asset acquisition over-consumption
OECD BRICS
Local elites
Environment
Poverty
15
Working group questions?

• Having self-evaluated country programmes, lets
  look at the overall PEI model
• What PEI standard activities are working well
  being influential, strengthening capacity?
• What ideas should we consider for improving the
  PEI model?
• Any other issues to discuss this week?