DFID invited BPDs Director to serve as one of a 5-person team to review an NGO-DFID partnership around poverty alleviation in Luanda. This 3-week exercise resulted in a Baseline Institutional Assessment of the current situation in Luanda, support with an influencing strategy to influence government and private sector partners around pro-poor service delivery, and support with Monitoring and Evaluation mechanisms to review progress of the influencing strategy. BPD is likely to revisit Luanda to work with the project partners on how to ensure maximum effectiveness of their internal as well as external relationships.
The strengths of the partnership lie in its focus on community participation; a long-term aim to improve the national political environment; increased financial and managerial sustainability of community based projects; and the use of co-ordinating unit to facilitate the programme. The partnership highlights some wider lessons that can be used to influence and inform other partnerships such as the focus on delivery versus facilitation and brokering, the complexity of policy influencing work and the importance of organisational buy-in. More information will be available soon.