NGO support toolkit (English)  >  Institutional Change 

Policy

NGO/CBO support providers (NSPs) have a crucial role in informing and influencing policy both at the national and international level. They can also build capacity of partner NGOs and CBOs to have more impact at the local or national level, which also strengthens the legitimacy of their own policy work.

By contributing to national and international policy NSPs can influence and improve the HIV/AIDS policies of international policy makers and donors – so that experiences and lessons drawn from the field are used to change the way that major ‘players’ respond to the HIV/AIDS pandemic and a community perspective is raised in policy fora. By helping key institutions to develop more robust and appropriate policies, there is a considerable ‘knock-on effect’ in terms of how they implement their work. As examples, this might relate to the amount of funding that they allocate and the type of initiatives that they prioritise. Through this work, NSPs can challenge the things that governments and international institutions, such as UN bodies, bilaterals and INGOs are not doing well enough or are not doing at all.

As well as global institutions, there is also a huge need for policy work at a national and regional level. Some of the greatest positive change will be felt when the policies of national governments are directly improved and strengthened. It is national civil society organisations and NGOs that are in the best position to effect policy change at this level through their local knowledge, experience and legitimacy.

There is value-added in being able to present the multiple experiences and expertise of many NGOs rather than that of a single organisation. NSPs therefore can often act as a focal point for collecting and analysing information for policy decisions. Inclusion of key stakeholders such as people living with HIV/AIDS in policy decisions is extremely important in order to ensure that decisions are relevant to those they aim to benefit. While policy work on issues outside of its programmatic work can be useful, it is often more effective for policy to be directly linked to an organisation’s core activities and field progammes.

In addition to contributing to others’ policies, NSPs will inevitably be developing their own policies and positions on a wide range of issues. In this regard, NSPs need to pay special attention to their own policy development as it may form the basis for their partner organisations’ policies. It should be noted that policy work is an ongoing process as policies need to be updated, re-conceptualised, challenged and sometimes retracted.

Issues to consider

• NSPs may need to consider how much policy work should be done by the NSP itself, its partners or a combination of both. In practice it is often a combination: NSPs affecting policy at the national and international level and partner NGOs and CBOs at the local level.
• NSPs’ policy work must go hand-in-hand with their NGO support work in order to be effective. This will ensure that policies are developed from practical experience and that NSPs do not stray from their mandate.
• NSPs and their partner organisations should aim to involve the beneficiaries of their policy work to the greatest extent possible. This can be done through consultation, but also through collaboration and developing joint platforms to advocate from.
• With the advent of technology and increased access of NGOs and CBOs to the internet and e-mail, NSPs can support their partners by sharing information and encouraging them to contribute to policy debates on relevant discussion sites.
• The staff of an organisation needs to be kept up-to-date with the organisation’s policies to ensure a coordinated position and avoid giving conflicting messages. This is particularly relevant to NSPs, as different staff will be responding to many different audiences for their policy work.

Related themes

Government led NSPs

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