PARTICIPATION AS A PROCESS AND PRACTICE: WHAT METEP CAN MEASURE, WHY AND HOW?

Transcription

1 PARTICIPATION AS A PROCESS AND PRACTICE: WHAT METEP CAN MEASURE, WHY AND HOW? Capacity Building Workshop (Baku, Azerbaijan) December, 2013 Development Management Branch (DMB) Division for Public Administration and Development Management (DPADM) United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA)

2 Citizen Participation UN Public Administration Glossary: implies the involvement of citizens in a wide range of policymaking activities, including the determination of levels of service, budget priorities, and the acceptability of physical construction projects in order to orient government programs toward community needs, build public support, and encourage a sense of cohesiveness within neighborhoods. UN World Public Sector Report

3 UN Conference on Sustainable stressed effective governance at local, national, regional and global levels as representing the voices and interests of all Development resolved to enhance participation and effective engagement of civil society Source:

4 What is METEP? METEP is a diagnostics & analytical tool for evaluating and measuring citizen engagement and participation in public affairs, especially policy development, including via ICTs 4

5 Participation is the process of engaging citizens both online and offline - in policy and decision-making in order to make it participatory, inclusive, and deliberative 5

6 Participation tools Campaigning, including e-petitioning Community building Collaborative e-environments Consultation/ e-consultations Deliberations / Online deliberations Information provision via traditional and digital media Polling/e-Polling Voting/ e-voting, etc., etc., etc

7 Example: Stages of e-participation 1. e-information provision of information on the Internet 2. e-consultation organizing public consultations online 3. e-decision-making evolving citizens directly in decision processes 7

8 METEP s goals 1. Help identify and eliminate barriers for participatory policy making 2. Help exploit ICTs for effective public engagement tools that are accepted by citizens 3. Help develop capacities for evaluating participation progress for best practice exchange and continuous learning 8

9 METEP s Proposed diagram Political Block A - Participation policy domains A1: Legal frameworks Social Block B -Type of participation actions A2: Organisational frameworks B1: e-decisionmaking Technical Block C - Participation technologies of public engagement A3: Modalities & channels A4: Outreach measures B2: e-consultation B3: e- Information C1: Open data & government C2: Social media C3: Mobility C4:Other (e.g. dedicated platforms) 9

10 Assessment, incl. via e-tools Public Engagement Process Availability/ access to engagement e- tools Public Input Process Use of e-tools to generate public input 10

11 METEP Sources Self-assessment questionnaire for senior/mid level public Managers at institutional, tool and case/initiative levels = main info gathering instrument Official statistics/reports for at national/local and institutional levels Expert assessment at national/local, institutional, tool and case/initiative level 11

12 METEP DIAGNOSTIC TOOL-BOX: THE QUESTIONNAIRE

13 Purpose Help governments to review their performance in engaging with citizens. The outcome of such evaluation can be an important source of policy and practice recommendations aimed at engaging citizens more directly in key areas of development planning and public management. 13

14 What is being assessed? Government activities in supporting citizen engagement and public participation And from what angle? Three building blocks of citizen engagement Three dimensions of public participation 14

15 Building blocks of citizen engagement provision of information to citizens, consulting citizens on development matter, plus engaging them for decisionmaking 15

16 Public policy making process Firstly, at an early stage of policy formulation to understand the public problem, define it and identify acceptable policy options; Secondly, at the implementation stages facilitate collaboration and dialogue to ensure that policies are participatory and inclusive includes outreach services Thirdly, receive feedback on policy outcomes during monitoring and evaluating 16

17 Dimensions of citizen participation Legal frameworks, Organizational frameworks, Channels & Modalities, plus Outreach 17

18 Legal frameworks demonstrate Responsibilities & roles of public organizations prescribed by law Prioritization of public participaiton, i.e. whether they have or don t have support, authority, resources and policies to pursue say e- participation initiatives. 18

19 Organizational frameworks demonstrate Institutionalization, coordination and policy enforcement of public participation How resources are utilized Priorities applied in practices 19

20 Channels & modalities demonstrate Exploitation of communication means=icts/new (digital) media Roles of cultural backgrounds and organizational cultures Investment in ICTs Inclusion, responsiveness 20

21 Outreach demonstrate Inclusiveness of public participation = engagement with the most vulnerable and marginalized as key stakeholders of participation to meet their development needs Targeted educational & other development services, e.g. ICT skills development 21

22 22

23 Questionnaire structure Part 1 Objective norms, facts, evidence Part 2 Subjective personal experiences, perceptions Questions that relate to the use of ICTs end with the suffix e 23

24 Part 1 = 13 questions: takes stock, based on a factual observation, of regulatory framework organizational framework for citizen engagement via: information, consultation, decision-making 24

25 Part 2 = 24 questions: assesses, based on direct experience the implementation of regulatory framework, organizational framework, functioning of channels & modalities, outreach services & measures for citizen engagement via dissemination of public information two-way consultations between government and citizens, citizens participation in public policy decisionmaking 25

26 Questionnaire seeks opinion from two main categories of government employees in both professional and personal capacities (as private citizens). 26

27 Senior/mid-level government officials at cabinet level and ministerial level responsible for legal frameworks, development planning, public administration and the use of ICTs country- and agency-wide. They will answer the questions of both parts. 27

28 Public managers at any agency responsible for managing their respective units. They will answer the questions of Part 2 only. 28

29 How to answer Part 1 contains Yes or No answers, Part 2 requires to rank answers at a scale from 0 to 5, where 0 means not sure, 1 - very poor (very weak), 2 poor (weak), 3 average, 4 - good (strong), 5 excellent (very strong). 29

30 Questions example: Part 1, Section 2, Organizational frameworks 30

31 Questions example Part 1, Section 2, Organizational frameworks 31

32 Questions example Part 1, Section 1, Regulatory frameworks 32

33 Scoring scheme There is a known total (maximum) number of scores obtainable for each section 27 for Section 1, 35 for Section 2, 24 for Section 3, 26 for Section 4, 9 for Section 5, 5 for Section

34 Scoring scheme The overall number of obtainable points (126 in total) contains a certain number of points (37 in total) obtainable with regard to the use of ICTs to reflect upon the use of e- participation tools 34

35 Total score distribution 35

36 Total & ICT score distribution 36

37 Scoring scheme E-Participation points are divided into three groups reflecting upon three levels of ICT use Low = 0-10 points Middle/Moderately sufficient (average) = points High = points Corresponding thresholds are established for each section 37

38 Levels of e-participation (out of total 126 points) 38

39 Recommendations Depending on particular combinations of the both types of scores that would emerge as a result of filling the Questionnaire, specific recommendations will be provided to help the respondents understand the state of play in the field of citizen engagement in general and e-participation in particular 39

40 Case Description Template Codify specific project and initiatives in e-participation Built around E-Information E-Consultations E-Decision-making 40

41 Case Description Template Project/initiative owner: Title of the initiative/project: Topic: Sector: [e.g. Communication (infrastructure) Education, Science and Research Employment Other Social Services Start date: End date: Ongoing: 41

42 Case Description Template Target Users: [e.g. Any citizen Disadvantaged/deprived communities Older people (60+) People with disability] Scope: [e.g. Local Regional National Cross-border International] Language(s): Policy Context and Legal Framework: 42

43 Case Description Template 1= No progress (at all in any area); 2=Little progress (impact hardly felt in few areas); 3=Certain progress (moderate impact felt in some areas); 4= Satisfactory progress (visible impact felt in many areas); 5=Good progress (strong impact felt in many areas). 43

44 Situation in Azerbaijan 44

45 Rank 96 out of 193 countries (2012) Rank 88 out of 193 countries (2012) Rank 82 out of 193 countries (2012) Rank 27 out of 193 countries (2012) 45

46 Thank You