Message on behalf of Volli Carucci - World Food Programme (WFP), Italy:
Interesting initiative Luca & colleagues. A few inputs into this discussion and a few questions below.
- There are already some resilience knowledge sharing platforms (called differently in specific contexts – localized to a few countries, some more ad-hoc) or planned ones and to develop a new one on resilience building for food security and nutrition may be a good idea but we need to make sure that it is either possible or desirable, considering all the work that is ongoing on this topic worldwide - some partners may see this as a duplication of theirs efforts or happily join if there is a true value addition.
- It is not clear what the intention of the platform is – including with whom and on what? This relates to discussion 1 – i.e. it is critical to be clear about what is the main aim and focus of the platform. For example, will this platform focus on programme, policy, analysis and knowledge aspects of resilience building for food security and nutrition? Is the main aim to trigger effective programmes and policies? Too broad and we will end up surfing into an ocean of topics, sub-topics, etc, with the risk of not being used or becoming self-celebratory. Too narrow and it will probably duplicate some of the existing efforts. We are also not clear about the target audience? Will for example this platform target policy makers? Or will it include practitioners and analysts? Where is the gap at this point in time.
- As by definition resilience building is a partnership effort, it would be interesting to explore to make this initiative ‘partnership-driven’ (like the FSIN) – and not a single agency platform. If we aim to create a platform that will target different audiences, then we will need to make sure that different aspects of resilience building efforts are well reflected - from the planning, design and implementation of programmes, to measurement, and sharing good practices. This is what is really missing at the moment: a platform where different approaches are presented in a coherent manner, from planning to implementation and to measurement of results. So far, there is a lot on definitions, analysis and measurement – little or nothing on programming, integration, concrete activities. As resilience building is about layering efforts and strengthening complementarities, this will be particularly useful to have a better understanding of what are the various tools, approaches, programmes, analyses, activities in different contexts being implemented by different stakeholders and, in turn, it will help trigger actions on how to best integrate efforts. However, this is a lot of work and the risk is to stretch already scarce resources to fill a portal info.
- Another important aspect is the governance of the platform. It would be extremely important to clarify upfront the main roles and responsibilities, especially if this is a partnership initiative. For example, who will be in charge of what? Will there be an editorial team? Will there be monthly multi-partner meetings? Costs? How to filter info, validate what is valuable and decide what is not?
Message on behalf of Volli Carucci - World Food Programme (WFP), Italy:
Interesting initiative Luca & colleagues. A few inputs into this discussion and a few questions below.
- There are already some resilience knowledge sharing platforms (called differently in specific contexts – localized to a few countries, some more ad-hoc) or planned ones and to develop a new one on resilience building for food security and nutrition may be a good idea but we need to make sure that it is either possible or desirable, considering all the work that is ongoing on this topic worldwide - some partners may see this as a duplication of theirs efforts or happily join if there is a true value addition.
- It is not clear what the intention of the platform is – including with whom and on what? This relates to discussion 1 – i.e. it is critical to be clear about what is the main aim and focus of the platform. For example, will this platform focus on programme, policy, analysis and knowledge aspects of resilience building for food security and nutrition? Is the main aim to trigger effective programmes and policies? Too broad and we will end up surfing into an ocean of topics, sub-topics, etc, with the risk of not being used or becoming self-celebratory. Too narrow and it will probably duplicate some of the existing efforts. We are also not clear about the target audience? Will for example this platform target policy makers? Or will it include practitioners and analysts? Where is the gap at this point in time.
- As by definition resilience building is a partnership effort, it would be interesting to explore to make this initiative ‘partnership-driven’ (like the FSIN) – and not a single agency platform. If we aim to create a platform that will target different audiences, then we will need to make sure that different aspects of resilience building efforts are well reflected - from the planning, design and implementation of programmes, to measurement, and sharing good practices. This is what is really missing at the moment: a platform where different approaches are presented in a coherent manner, from planning to implementation and to measurement of results. So far, there is a lot on definitions, analysis and measurement – little or nothing on programming, integration, concrete activities. As resilience building is about layering efforts and strengthening complementarities, this will be particularly useful to have a better understanding of what are the various tools, approaches, programmes, analyses, activities in different contexts being implemented by different stakeholders and, in turn, it will help trigger actions on how to best integrate efforts. However, this is a lot of work and the risk is to stretch already scarce resources to fill a portal info.
- Another important aspect is the governance of the platform. It would be extremely important to clarify upfront the main roles and responsibilities, especially if this is a partnership initiative. For example, who will be in charge of what? Will there be an editorial team? Will there be monthly multi-partner meetings? Costs? How to filter info, validate what is valuable and decide what is not?