We believe #IWD is about shifting systemic power. ⚡
Our evaluation of Energia in Kenya and Senegal last year proved that gender equality in energy is a political project. 🌊
Real empowerment means changing the rules of the game.
Link: https://energia.org/
#IWD #PEA #InclusiveDevelopment
Enough thinking. Start working. 🛑
David Jacobstein’s new blog argues we’re stuck in Tactical TWP—using analysis to tweak details rather than change strategy.
Your analysis needs to change what you do.
Read: https://cutt.ly/BtbCjlzf
#ThinkingWorkingPolitically #ActionNotJustAnalysis #DevPol
📄 Is the "post-USAID" world here?
Following the agency’s dissolution in 2025, David Jacobstein’s paper offers a critical look at what was achieved and what was lost in terms of proactively considering politics in development initiatives.
Read: https://cutt.ly/UtvokWXo
#USAID #PoliticalEconomy
⏳Deadline alert: Applications close Friday!
You have until 16 January to apply for our Political Economy Analysis in Action course.
Don't miss out on 17 weeks of expert-led training.
Course starts: 2 Feb 2026.
Secure a place. 👇
https://cutt.ly/ttaAIhvA
#PoliticalEconomy #ThePolicyPractice #ODI
Development is rarely just technical. It’s political. 🏛️
Join The Policy Practice and ODI Global for our flagship Political Economy Analysis in Action online course.
🗓️ 2 Feb–11 June
Apply: https://cutt.ly/ttaAIhvA
#PoliticalEconomy #Diplomacy #HumanitarianAction #ThePolicyPractice #ODI
🔔 Reminder: Applications are open!
Our Political Economy Analysis in Action course kicks off in February 2026.
Join practitioners from across the globe for 17 weeks of training on the politics of development.
Secure your spot now: https://cutt.ly/ttaAIhvA
#PoliticalEconomy #ThePolicyPractice
Shift 5: Institutionalise from Day 1. 🏛️
If you wait until the end of the project to "hand over" ownership, you built a rental, not a home.
Ownership must be baked in from the first contract, not the exit strategy.
Read more: https://cutt.ly/ltuoeFHy
#Governance #AidEffectiveness
Facilitate, don't direct. 🤝
Real coalitions form around shared problems, not grant opportunities.
Philippines' Move As One transport coalition worked because the agenda came from commuters, not donors. Be the broker, not the boss.
Read more: https://cutt.ly/ltuoeFHy
#Governance #AidEffectiveness
Shift 3: Fund data citizens demand. 📊
Stop building dashboards for donor HQs in London or DC.
Fund the data that holds power to account locally, not the data that fills your logframe.
Read more: https://cutt.ly/ltuoeFHy
#Governance #AidEffectiveness
Shift 2: Underwrite risk, don't control design. 🛡️
The best donor role today isn't "director" but "insurer."
Absorb the cost of failure so local reformers can take political risks.
Read more: https://cutt.ly/ltuoeFHy
#Governance #AidEffectiveness
Shift 1: Build platforms reformers control. 🏗️
Ukraine’s ProZorro survived because locals owned the code, not donors.
Rule: Co-financing is fine. Co-control is not. If you hold the pen, you're building dependency, not governance.
Read more: https://cutt.ly/ltuoeFHy
#Governance #AidEffectiveness
Reminder to check out The Policy Practice’s newest Working Paper by Wilfred (Wilf) Mwamba on how aid must fundamentally change in order to be useful.
#Governance #AidEffectiveness
🎭 Governance aid often resembles "performance theatre" with little lasting change. As governance ODA shrinks, we must pivot from donor-driven activity to Reformer Leadership.
Could this system continue to operate once funding stops?
Read our new paper by Wilfred Mwamba: https://cutt.ly/ltuoeFHy
As #COP30 draws attention to #IndigenousPeoples & Amazon stewardship, violence against environmental defenders remains urgent.
This paper shows how competing ideas of the Amazon combined with political and eco interests—shape conflict & impunity.
www.thepolicypractice.com/reducing-vio...
This paper from @lhpiron.bsky.social provides guidance on choosing analytical frameworks and approaches that are appropriate for understanding the contexts in which development partners and other international actors operate.
www.thepolicypractice.com/understandin...
#contextanalysis
#PEA
Aid is broken. This blog argues for a new model: ditch buying results, start backing locally-led transformation. It’s cheaper, smarter, and rooted in political realities. A timely rethink for a shrinking aid world.
📖 Read: blogs.lse.ac.uk/activism-inf...
🔍 Want to understand the forces shaping development outcomes?
Our Political Economy Analysis in Action course is back in September — 12-week online training course that unpacks the political dynamics behind policy and reform.
⚡ Early bird rate ends 13 June
thepolicypractice.com/sites/defaul...
The building blocks of issue-based programming. Source: Gareth Williams (2025), Nine lessons from issue-based programming.
Building on a recent report by Gareth Williams, director of @thepolicypractice.bsky.social, Diana notes that many of the building blocks of issue-based programming are well aligned to ACRC's approach – including the need for aid-financed interventions to be low cost, well-designed and locally led.
A great example of how ignoring politics affects your understanding of the economy… as applied to Yemen
@twpcommunity.org @neilmcculloch.bsky.social
For #governance and #development professionals: a short note from FCDO governance guru Alan Whaites on how to provide ‘smart’ technical assistance
@duncangreenlse.bsky.social @thepolicypractice.bsky.social @twpcommunity.org
www.gov.uk/government/p...
The Policy Practice Newsletter is now out
📝 New paper on Yemen's Economy by Richard Barltrop
📚 USAID publications on governance now in our library
🌍 Report on Climate & Institutions by Verena Fritz & Rachel Ort
🎓 Applications open for Sept 24 Political Economy course
mailchi.mp/0d0598fceb9c...
Read the latest from TPP Associate Richard Barltrop on how the international community can improve its understanding of Yemen’s economy. #Yemen #politicaleconomy #datagaps #aidchallenges
thepolicypractice.com/new-working-...
E-mail us at contact@thepolicypractice.com if you have documents we should add - USAID material, lessons from USAID programmes etc
@twpcommunity.org @thepolicypractice.bsky.social
Kudos to the @thepolicypractice.bsky.social! It is important to preserve this #library and body of knowledge resource - hard to believe that this has been erased in the last 80 days of one U.S. administration.
In-person context analysis trainings are the most energising. Already missing challenging questions from SDC, Particip & Dansom in Nairobi about rent seeking, patronage, collective action… and your tips for field research! @neilmcculloch.bsky.social @thepolicypractice.bsky.social @twpcommunity.org
Rogue political decisions call for unexpected responses: creating a new USAID page on our @thepolicypractice.bsky.social online library to make accessible their excellent material on #politicaleconomy and #thinkingworkingpolitycally
thepolicypractice.com/6-usaid-docu...
ODI Global livestreamed event - The future of global humanitarian action. 23 April, 08:30-10:00 EST.
In a climate of sweeping aid cuts, the humanitarian sector faces drastic changes.
We're bringing together leaders in Washington, D.C. during the #SpringMeetings to discuss what a new humanitarian future could – and should – look like.
Sign up to watch online on 23 April: odi.org/en/events/th... 🔗
On 🌴 world forest day 🌳… have a look at one of our recent papers explaining the politics of forest policy in Nigeria👇
It’s #InternationalDayofForests !
Our recent working Paper by Olly Owen and Sa'eed Husaini looks at one country's forest policy which is at a turning point, with a growing domestic push for conservation amidst environmental degradation:
www.thepolicypractice.com/new-working-...
Totally agree, when it comes to achieving universal health coverage, leveraging equitable domestic public financing is the answer not more charitable aid be that multilateral or bilateral
