Programs | Policy Action Groups

Policy Action Groups are the result of a collaborative effort by a number of Co-Chairs and Commissioners who have come together with the purpose of producing specific reform proposals through a multi-stakeholder process of deliberation.

Policy Action Groups are characterized as either being highly specific, where the institution(s) in question and the areas of reform are well-known and clearly defined; or more macro in nature, calling for a multi-stakeholder dialogue and constructive, well-planned reform options. The following Policy Action Groups are under development or have completed their work:

G8 NEPAD - with Commissioners Gordon Smith and Barry Carin at The Centre for Global Studies at the University of Victoria, Canada, in partnership with the Center for Africa’s International Relations at the University of Witwatersrand and State of the World Forum, undertook a project funded by the C. S. Mott Foundation and the International Development Research Centre to support the goals of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). The goal of the project was to develop specific programs that would contribute to integrating Africa more constructively into the globalization process. The approach was to work within the parameters set by the G8 Summit “Action Plan for Africa” and NEPAD to provide examples of how to move beyond rhetoric and generalities and beyond articulating priority objectives. Detailed implementation “maps” were at the center of the project and were used to catalyze the effective implementation of specific concrete NEPAD initiatives. The first phase of the project was developed during the "Emerging Global Challenges" conference at the Rockefeller Study and Conference Center in Bellagio, Italy, April 15-19, 2002 where the project design was finalized. Participants included representatives from donor agencies, noted experts on the various initiatives, and leading African personalities involved with the NEPAD process. Phase II began with a meeting at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa in September 2002 where a group of 30 individuals selected five initiatives to be mapped (blueprints that map specific approaches, actors, policies, and plans for an African development initiative) from amongst the long list of NEPAD initiatives endorsed in the G8 Action Plan for Africa, along with African individuals to do the "mapping". The five initiatives targeted five sectors of the NEPAD (identified in parentheses after the title of each initiative), and included:
• Establishment of an African Tertiary Institutions HIV/AIDS Consortium (Health);
• Resource Plunder Database (Peace and Security Initiative);
• An African Code of Electoral Norms and Standards (Democracy and Political Governance Initiative);
• Microfund pour l’Afrique de l’Ouest (Capital Flows Initiative);
• Creation of an Enabling Agency for the Expansion of Multifunctional Platforms in Rural West Africa (Poverty Reduction and Energy Initiatives).
A third meeting was hosted by the OECD in Paris October 23-25, 2002 to present action mapping techniques and best practices of peer review mechanisms. A final meeting, "Effective Strategies to Realize the NEPAD: Mapping the Decision Processes to Implement Projects," was hosted by the UN Economic Commission for Africa in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on February 27-28, 2003 to critically review the five proponents’ draft Action Maps. These maps were presented to representatives from several UN agencies (UNFPA, UNDP, UNHCR, UNICEF, and UNESCO, in addition to UNECA), representatives from the African Development Bank, the African Union, the President of the OECD Development Center, IDRC, officials of the Nigerian and Mauritian governments, a member of the French G8 team and diplomats from the Canadian and UK governments. In addition, participants representing interests from the African business and finance community and NGOs ensured the discussions were well rounded and focused on the diverse needs and goals of African societies. The intent of this meeting was to verify the research and the plan in each "map" and to authorize wider consultation with the large range of constituencies whose support was essential to their implementation. With the Action Maps now completed, efforts to elicit formal endorsement by the NEPAD Secretariat, the African Union, and the UNECA, for all five initiatives, modified and improved as suggested by coaching at the Addis Ababa Meeting, is still underway. While to date there are mixed results on the attainment of objectives, there was a sense that it was commendable to have had as many as five projects ready for implementation, and that much had been learned that would be useful for future efforts. The Mott Foundation also felt that a lot had been accomplished in a short period of time. While NePAD was about Africa helping itself, it was also about creating partnerships with the G8 and other institutions and this project has demonstrated how that might be achieved. The process also offered insights into new approaches to managing globalization. The Centre for Global Studies, for its part, had until recently felt unsure about the outcome of the process. But upon greater reflection, has increased its optimism about what has been achieved and now believes that the lessons are of wider interest. Nonetheless, there remains a lot of work to complete what has been initiated.

International Water Security - with Co-Chair Lloyd Axworthy, former Canadian Foreign Minister and then Director of the Liu Centre for the Study of Global Issues, University of British Columbia, in partnership with the State of the World Forum, this Policy Action Group focused attention on the critical issue of the governance of water and the need to develop greater community participation in decisions related to water distribution. The first planning meeting of this group was convened on April 10, 2002, as part of a broader conference, “The Environment and Security: Placing the Environmental Agenda in the Realm of Foreign Policy,” co-sponsored by the Liu Centre, the International Institute for Environmental Strategies and Security, University of Laval, and the State of the World Forum. Dr. Axworthy chaired this initial planning meeting during which nine water specialists from North America provided guidance about the areas in which the Policy Action Group could usefully contribute new insights. Participants in the meeting developed an outline for the initial terms of reference for a preliminary proposal on the topic, composition, and responsibilities of the Water Policy Action Group and suggested several areas that could be addressed. This proposal identified basic issues of water security in which policy-relevant research needed to be conducted and a method for specific governance and research activities. The resulting initial draft paper, titled "Water Security," was developed with the input of several water specialists, including Oscar Olivera who visited the Liu Centre during March 2002. The results of this consultative process led to the revision of the Draft Paper and its subsequent distribution to a wider, more geographically balanced audience for refinement. Based on this Revised Draft Paper, a follow up meeting at the Liu Centre was convened May 22, 2002 in which 17 water specialists participated. Critical competing interests for water were discussed, including rural vs urban needs, domestic vs agricultural vs other uses, affordability vs requisite incentives to attract investment capital, and the public good vs commodification of the resource. In tackling any of these challenges, it was agreed that the appropriate unit of analysis to be used in the research would be the "watershed". The discussion focused on the multi-stakeholder nature required by the work, the value-add that could result from this research, the criteria for target watersheds, and the composition of the advisory and research teams that would proceed. From this process, a funding proposal was developed to: (1) collect available research on best practices in watershed management; (2) apply these lessons to the study of five selected watersheds in various parts of the world to improve the resource management capability of those areas; and (3) in selected watershed areas, build a coalition of community groups that could work with local governance institutions to insure sustainable management practices are followed. During June and July, the proposal was reviewed by specialists from both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Later that year, ten Co-Chairs and Commissioners met in Mexico City December 4-7, 2002 during the second annual meeting of the Commission, to discuss the progress of this PAG. The initial results of the work were discussed at the World Water Forum in Kyoto in 2003, and a book on water is currently under development by State of the World Forum.

Learning and Education - with Commissioners Paul Cappon, then Director General of the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada, and Helga Breuninger, Chair of the Breuninger Foundation, to formulate more effective educational and learning policies within the G8 commitments on education and the ongoing work of UNESCO. This Policy Action Group (PAG-L) critically reviewed and assessed the success of educational practices as they related to international and national governance, with the aim of proposing a reform agenda for learning which would build and complement the work of the G8 "Education For All" Task Force. With an emphasis placed on Africa, the work of the group concentrated on identifying practical international arrangements that would maximize the learning potential of individuals and their communities, the use of communications technology in education, and the dissemination and implementation of best practices. Seven themes were selected by the PAG-L for interest review and for recommendations to the international community. These were: 1) Information and Communications Technologies - The Silver Bullet for the 21st Century, or the Siren's Song?; 2) Defining the Roles of the Private Sector in Traditional and Non-Traditional Learning; 3) Overlapping Mandates, Differing Objectives, Blurred Lines of Authority - Sorting out the Roles and Responsibilities of the Major Actors; 4) Globalization, Cultural and Linguistic Preservation and the Promotion of Human Rights - Incompatible Goals or Mutually Supporting Factors for Real Peace?; 5) The Dichotomy Between learning for Sustainable Development and Learning as an Individual Intellectual Pursuit; 6) Life-long Learning, and Informal Learning - Convenient Platitudes, or Key Elements of the Future?; and 7) Learning Resources for the New Century. The PAG Steering Committee held its inaugural meeting at the Breuninger Foundation estate on Wasan Island in the Muskoka Lakes of Ontario, Canada, on July 6-10, 2002. This first gathering brought together members of the PAG-L Steering Committee to explore and develop strategies to broaden the work on the seven selected themes and two focus groups; and to critically review issues surrounding education and learning, as well as the impact of the forces of globalization, from a predominantly humanistic and holistic perspective. The meeting was also a key step in the process of producing implementable recommendations for learning on a global basis. An Executive Summary: Globalization and Learning - Putting Humanity First!, an Introductory Discussion Paper of The Policy Action Group on Learning was developed by the group. Attention was focued on a limited number of key conceptual and policy-making issues that have the potential for transforming the way education and learning systems are developed in the new century; and the need to heighten awareness among decision-makers worldwide of the necessity of perceiving education and learning as more than a simple function of the provision of schooling to those in need. Furthermore, the paper also mentioned the need to build an understanding among those same leaders that learning comprises more than “learning to work”. Efforts must be made to make it clear that true peace and human fulfillment can only be achieved when all of humanity can be afforded the opportunity to benefit from the four pledges reaffirmed in the Dakar Declaration. During the Second Annual meeting of the Commission, held in Mexico City December 4-7, 2002, this PAG convened two roundtable sessions on "Globalisation, Cultural and Linguistic Diversity and the Promotion of Human Rights," Chaired by Madeleine Zuniga and Helga Breuninger; and "The Appropriate Role of the Private Sector in Education and Learning," Chaired by Paul Cappon and Piera Gerrard. A second meeting of the Steering Committee was hosted by the Breuninger Foundation and took place at Wasan Island, in the Muskoka Lakes of Ontario, Canada, on July 9 - 12, 2003. The intention of this meeting was to brainstorm on future strategy, as well as to review and benchmark the progress that had been made on the project since the first meeting of the Steering Committee in July 2002. Paul Cappon and the Breuninger Foundation have continued to develop this project.

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