SSESSING THE OLICY NVIRONMENT WHAT …

1 OOOOOCTOBERCTOBERCTOBERCTOBERCTOBER, 1997, 1997, 1997, 1997, 1997 PPPPPRODUCEDRODUCEDRODUCEDRODUCEDRODUCED BBBBBYYYYY THETHETHETHETHE P P P P POPOPOPOPOPULULULULULAAAAATIONTIONTIONTI ONTION T T T T TECHNICECHNICECHNICECHNICECHNICALALALALA L A A A A ASSSSSSISTSISTSISTSISTSISTANCEANCEANCEAN CEANCE P P P P PROJECTROJECTROJECTROJECTROJECT (POPTECH) (POPTECH) (POPTECH) (POPTECH) (POPTECH)POPTECH POPTECH POPTECH POPTECH POPTECH ISISISISIS MANAGEDMANAGEDMANAGEDMANAGEDMANAGED BBBBBYYYYY BHM I BHM I BHM I BHM I BHM INTERNANTERNANTERNANTERNANTERNATIONALTIO NALTIONALTIONALTIONAL INININININ COLLCOLLCOLLCOLLCOLLABORAABORAABORAABORA ABORATIONTIONTIONTIONTION WITHWITHWITHWITHWITHTTTTTHEHEHEHEHE F F F F FUTURESUTURESUTURESUTURESUTURES G G G G GROUPROUPROUPROUPROUP I I I I INTERNANTERNANTERNANTERNANTERNATIONALTIO NALTIONALTIONALTIONAL UNDERUNDERUNDERUNDERUNDER USAID USAID USAID USAID USAID CONTRACTCONTRACTCONTRACTCONTRACTCONTRACT NONONONONO.

2 CCP. CCP. CCP. CCP. CCP-3024--3024--3024--3024--3024-CCCCC-0 03011-003011-003011-003011-003011 ASSESSING THE policy ENVIRONMENT:WHAT INFLUENCES population policy ?SSSSSUSANUSANUSANUSANUSAN E. A E. A E. A E. A E. ADDDDDAMCHAKAMCHAKAMCHAKAMCHAKAMCHAK, P, P, P, P, A. W A. W A. W A. W A. WEISEISEISEISEISSSSSS, POPTECH P, POPTECH P, POPTECH P, POPTECH P, POPTECH PROJECTROJECTROJECTROJECTROJECT22222 POPTECH provides consulting support to USAID on designs andevaluations of USAID funded population and reproductive healthprojects. The POPTECH Tool Series is comprised of several analytic tools designed to support and enhance the expertise of POPTECH consultants, promote consistency and quality across reports, andprovide assistance to the Global Bureau and Mission staff.

3 Thesetools include checklists and papers that focus on issues central tothe design and evaluation of family planning and reproductivehealth projects. Assessing the policy Environment: What Influencesthe population policy Process? is the first tool in the THETHETHETHETHE A A A A AUTHORUTHORUTHORUTHORUTHORDr. Susan Adamchak has extensive experience in internationalpopulation policy and reproductive health program developmentand support activities. She has a in sociology from BrownUniversity, where she focused on population studies and economicdevelopment. She has participated as a demographer and policyanalyst on numerous population sector assessments and programevaluations.

4 A POPTECH key consultant since 1994, Dr. Adamchakhas worked on a variety of POPTECH assignments including theZimbabwe population Sector Assessment, the final evaluation of theGhana Family Planning and Health Project, the final evaluation ofthe Uganda Busoga and East Amkole Diocese Community FamilyPlanning Projects, and the evaluation of USAID s cooperativeagreement with the population Reference Bureau. Her work on thenature of the population policy environment builds on earlierresearch she carried out on the influence that the environmentexerts on institutional decision making. The framework advanced byDr. Adamchak in this POPTECH Tool shows how qualitative, oftenintangible forces shape organizations policy setting and THETHETHETHETHE POPTECH T POPTECH T POPTECH T POPTECH T POPTECH TOOLOOLOOLOOLOOL S S S S this policy Environment Legal Legal Law Political Political Economic Economic Organization Cultural 1: Illustrative policy Issues, Impacts, and Strategies for 2: Data Sources for the Seven policy Environment 3: population policy Environment Assessment 4: Defining population 5: population Policies.

5 Changing POPTECH tool describes a framework for assessing thepopulation policy environment. The policy environment continuouslyaffects the decisions, actions, and efficacy of those involved in thepopulation policy process, so it is important to identify the array offactors that influence and shape that environment. The purpose ofthis tool is to provide, in one source, a comprehensive list of factorsthat characterizes the environment within which population policiesare tool can be applied in a variety of policy and program contextsand will benefit users by identifying fundamental areas of support orresistance that can be targeted for specific project interventions.

6 Itcan also be used in carrying out a population sector assessment andin designing and developing population and reproductive healthprograms. Using the checklists included here, country program staffor consultants can review key elements of the environment andidentify factors that either facilitate or discourage the formation ofeffective population policies and reproductive health on studies of organizational behavior (Hall, 1991), the toolidentifies seven elements of the policy environment and provides anoverview, an illustrative checklist of key issues, and at least one country-specific example for each. The seven environmental elements are:u Legalu Demographicu Politicalu Ecologicalu Economicu Culturalu TechnologicalSeveral of these elements are similar to the environmental factorsspecified by Bertrand et al.

7 , (1994). The list includes two notableadditions that are not usually specified in studies of the policyenvironment: technological and ecological THISTHISTHISTHISTHIS T T T T TOOLOOLOOLOOLOOLThe following sections discuss each element of the policyenvironment and its implications for the population policy illustrative checklists2 can be used to identify influences on thepolicy an effort has been made to be comprehensive in selectingitems for the checklists, they are not exhaustive. Other influentialfactors may emerge in different country contexts. Also, the fieldconsultant should not expect to investigate every factor listed.

8 Theprimary purpose of this tool is to provide a summary and overview of1 See Appendix 3 on defining population policy , and Appendix 4 on changing perspectivesrelated to population Checklists were developed in part by consulting materials such as Bertrand et al., 1994;Kenney 1993; and Knowles et al., to consider in conducting a population policy assessment orin designing a new program. A secondary purpose is to provideguidance for local research, taking into consideration programmaturity and priorities, data availability, time constraints, the policy environment in terms of the seven elements isone way to specify the broad range of factors that may exert eitherdirect or indirect effects on population and reproductive healthprograms.

9 The framework presented here forces the user to considerobvious and easily observed influences, such as key leaders beingopenly supportive of family planning, as well as more subtle forces,such as national and international migration patterns, that may exertas great an influence but be less readily purpose of using this tool in the field is to identify elementswithin each policy environment category that have a discernibleimpact on the program, determine how to promote change in eachelement, and propose strategies for A subsequent stage ofactivities, not described here, is to identify individuals or institutionsto target for reform; identify actors to carry out the strategy; anddefine specific actions to take, a time frame, and needed complete the checklists for a specific country application, theuser needs to gather information from a variety of sources, includingboth published and unpublished documents and interviews withlocal authorities and key informants.

10 Appendix 2 lists suggestedsources for checklist items, grouped by environmental items on the checklists specify quantitative responses, whileothers call for informed, qualitative judgments. Simple yes/noanswers suffice for many items, but the tool also encourages morein-depth analysis to accommodate the context of individualcountries. Using the checklists in their entirety is an ambitiousundertaking, so users must determine what level of detail is best fortheir matrix can be used to organize information gathered throughusing the checklists (sample shown in Appendix 3). Within the matrix,obstacles and facilitators can be grouped by environmental elementand ranked as strong or weak influences based on the data relative weight of each item rests with the expert determination ofthe individual or team carrying out the assessment because no twocountries will present the same environment profile.