At the end of March, the HSRC handed over a revised version of the Policy Advocacy Framework (PAF) to the National Development Agency (NDA). This Framework comprises a set of guidelines and tools that the NDA can use to influence policy reforms aimed at reducing poverty.

HSRC crafters of the PAF stress that it is not just a neat and systematic set of principles, guidelines for advocacy in practice and tools. It is a framework for overhauling policy at the coalface of policy design and practice. How can the NDA put the PAF to work in line with this overarching vision?

Embedding the PAF within the NDA is bound to be a time-consuming process. This means that while the NDA phases in the new PAF, it is sensible to continue with its old ad-hoc model to influence policy change for interventions underway or in the pipeline. The PAF includes detailed steps on how to embed it in NDA operations, focusing on its intensified use over the next three years.

Figure 1 simplifies the implementation process into four phases and four sets of actions in each phase – a picture called the ‘4×4 PAF in action’ model. Labels for the phases are start, upscale, fast-track, and entrench with the number of months and weeks allocated to a set of actions per phase changing until the PAF is a routine inside NDA.

Figure 1: Illustration of 4×4 model to rollout NDA PAF

Capacity development is a fitting example to showcase the power of this rollout model. NDA staff must be capacitated and empowered to implement the PAF and produce tangible results. Building capacity to implement the PAF is present from the start, but the days or weeks invested in it will decline over time. In the case of the proactive rollout of the PAF, for example, time allocated to it will gradually increase until it dominates in the entrenchment phase.

The NDA stands to gain substantial benefits from this flexible rollout model beyond piloting it for the next three years. For example, the model has leeway to modify implementation activities when the PAF has been fully embedded in NDA governance structures, procedures and practices to steer its policy reform agenda. To realise the potential of the PAF, closely tracking what policy reforms it can unlock will be crucial.

Read more background on the NDA-PAF here: https://hsrc.ac.za/news/latest-news/maximising-the-power-of-stakeholder-engagement-nda-policy-advocacy-framework-update/