Institute For State Effectiveness

TO DEVELOP AND SUPPORT INTEGRATED APPROACHES TO STATE-BUILDING & TO PROVIDE INDEPENDENT, AUTHORITATIVE & PRACTICAL POLICY ADVICE TO THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY & NATIONAL LEADERS WHO ARE TASKED WITH CREATING EFFECTIVE STATES IN A GLOBALIZED WORLD.

COUNTRY WORK - ISE WORKS WITH COUNTRY PARTNERS TO UNDERSTAND COUNTRY CONTEXT AND TO DESIGN AND IMPLEMENT POLICIES AND PROGRAMS ON REGIONAL AND LOCAL LEVELS TO FIT THAT CONTEXT, WITH SMALL TEAMS OF EXPERTS THAT USE CUTTING EDGE METHODOLOGIES THAT ARE LESS COSTLY AND MORE IMPACTFUL THAN MANY OTHER CURRENT APPROACHES. ISE PROMOTES BUILDING SYSTEMS ACROSS GOVERNMENT FUNCTIONS, PROMOTING GROWTH AND OPPORTUNITY THROUGH FOSTERING INCLUSIVE MARKETS, AND ENHANCING CITIZEN INCLUSION AND EMPOWERMENT BY EXPANDING THE SPACE FOR CIVIL SOCIETY. ISE TEAMS ALSO PROVIDE ADVISORY SUPPORT IN KEY THEMATIC AREAS.

NETWORKS, PARTNERSHIP, AND DISSEMINATION - ISE ORGANIZES AND PARTICIPATES IN EVENTS ON GOVERNANCE AND DEVELOPMENT IN FRAGILE CONTEXTS IN ORDER TO CREATE NETWORKS AND PARTNERSHIPS ACROSS FIELDS RELEVANT TO ISE'S WORK AND CREATES PRODUCTS TO DISSEMINATE IDEAS AND DEVELOP THINKING ON GOVERNANCE ISSUES. AUDIENCES INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO GOVERNMENT, BUSINESS, AND CIVIL SOCIETY, AS WELL AS THE GENERAL PUBLIC.

METHODS AND TOOLS - ISE HAS DEVELOPED METHODS AND TOOLS FOR SUPPORTING REFORM IMPLEMENTATION, INCLUDING: I) CRITICAL STAKEHOLDER INQUIRIES (CSI), A PARTICIPATORY PROCESS THAT EMPOWERS CITIZENS TO WEIGH IN ON CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS AT LOCAL, REGIONAL AND NATIONAL LEVELS, HELPING TO IDENTIFY KEY ISSUES AND BUILDING CONSENSUS ACROSS DIVERSE GROUPS BY UTILIZING SOCIAL SCIENCE METHODS SUCH AS FOCUS GROUPS, POLLING, SCENARIO ANALYSIS, AND APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY; II) A SET OF "HOW-TO" SOURCEBOOKS FOR THE CREATION OF SPECIFIC FUNCTIONS OF THE STATE SUMMARIZING THE SYSTEM ELEMENTS, RULES, PROCEDURES, ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE AND PROCESSES FOR OPERATION OF THAT FUNCTION, AND TECHNIQUES FOR CREATING CAPABILITY IN DIFFERENT CONTEXTS; III) ASSET MAPPING TO REVIEW THE AVAILABLE ASSETS IN A COUNTRY THAT CAN BE LEVERAGED FOR REFORM AGENDAS; VI) FISCAL PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT PLANS (FPIPS), WHERE VIA A TEAM-BASED PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, TEAMS (AND NOT INDIVIDUALS) SELF-ASSESS THEIR PERFORMANCE AND THE GOVERNMENT ENSURES INDEPENDENT VALIDATION AND MODERATES DISCUSSION BASED ON PROGRESS; AND IV) DEVELOPMENT POLICY NOTES BASED ON THE BEST PRACTICES WE LEARN FROM OUR COUNTRY WORK.