Our management strategy was to have early involvement and buy-in at the international, national and local levels.

At the international level, we involved major development agencies such as UNDP, the World Bank, IDRC, CIDA and UNEP as members of an International Advisory Group which included leading individuals in the field from other institutions. Apart from helping to guide the project with their vast experience, we were also setting the stage for them to want to use the results at the end of the project. We also sought and obtained financial resources (US$175K) from UNDP to help with the field work.

At the national level, we held workshops with senior government officials including for example the Vice President of Ethiopia and the Premier of the East Transvaal Region in South Africa, to gain their perspectives on our proposed work and to set the stage for them to understand the policy implications of the work and hopefully to use the insights gained at the end.

Our key implementing partners in each country were the local NGOs, and the communities who were at the heart of the project. In each country, we selected a local project coordinator (LPC) from the collaborating NGO partner. In co-operation with the LPCs, we selected policy analysts in each country. The local NGO was responsible for fielding a multidisciplinary team which conducted the participatory exercises with the local project coordinator in charge. The policy analysts were required to work closely with the LPC and the teams.

We held an orientation workshop to ensure common conceptual and methodological understanding and clarity among the LPCs at the beginning of the project implementation. A review workshop was held half way through the project cycle to review progress, clarify difficulties, ensure all were on track and agree on the format and contents of the outputs.

IISD provided management, logistical and intellectual support throughout the project. We have also undertaken the final checking, editing and publishing of the outputs.

The success of our strategy is already evident from the feedback from our local NGO partners as well as the use already being made of the project concept and approach for example by UNDP; the Government and NGOs in Ethiopia, and indications of possible financial support from other agencies for further related work. At a recent meeting organised by UNDP in Harare, the 5 UNDP Resident Representatives expressed interest in using the project's approach in their country programs.