Development Partners Learning & Coordination Platform

Innovation methods

Data sources

SDG(s)

Sustainable Development Goal(s)

1No poverty

8Decent work and economic growth

17Partnerships for the goals

Disclaimer:

Please be aware that the content herein has not been peer reviewed. It consists of personal reflections, insights, and learnings of the contributor(s). It may not be exhaustive, nor does it aim to be authoritative knowledge.

Title

Please provide a name for your action learning plan.

Development Partners Learning & Coordination Platform_Employment and FoW

Challenge statement

Challenge type: If you are working on multiple challenges, please indicate if this is your "big bet" or "exploratory" challenge. Please note: we ask you to only submit a maximum of 3 challenges - 1x Big Bet, 2x Exploratory. Each challenge must be submitted individually.

BIG BET

Challenge statement: What is your challenge? (Please answer in specific terms: "Our challenge is that...”.)

Our challenge is that Development Partners are working in silos and not in an integrated way which does not lead to systemic transformation. There is no mechanism in place for development partners to regularly reflect and exchange learnings and coordinate actions related to employment and future of work that can lead to better optimization of resources, stronger partnerships, and to inform strategic planning and policy making.

Background: What is the history of your challenge? What is causing or driving it? Who is involved? How does the current situation look like? What undesired effects does it produce?

The Government of Angola approved its National Development Plan 2023-2027. The government defined Human Capital as a critical pillar for development. Youth employment and entrepreneurship are engines for economic diversification. Widening our images and narratives of what matters about work is key to leveraging the opportunities that lie in a comprehensive approach to employment creation. Considering the systemic nature of this challenge, some of these opportunities must be leveraged through coordinated actions. Donors and Development partners play an active role in supporting Government and providing financial and technical assistance in the development and implementation of policies, strategies, and projects. System transformation requires strong partnerships and coordinated action which can be fostered through collective thinking and learning. There is a need for a clear vision of the system that can enable partners to better plan on how to integrate their actions in a complementary way.

Quantitative evidence: What (official) data sources do you have on this challenge that better exemplifies the importance and urgency of this frontier challenge? You can add text, a link, or a picture.

Analysis of programmatic documents from different development organizations show duplication in efforts and projects, non coordinated activities with the same government partners and low levels of program delivery. Similarly, learnings and results are not shared and available to all. Data on unemployment shows the urgency of an alignment to achieve bigger impact.

Qualitative evidence: What weak signals have you recently spotted that characterizes its urgency? Please provide qualitative information that better exemplifies the importance and urgency of this frontier challenge. You can add text, a link, or a picture.

Value proposition: What added value or unique value proposition is your Accelerator Lab bringing to solving this challenge? Why is it your Lab that needs to work on this challenge and not other actors within UNDP, other stakeholders in the country respectively? Why is it worth investing resources to this challenge?

The Accelerator Lab has the capacity to apply collective intelligence, sensemaking and systems thinking to make sense of the complexity of the system and actors. The Accelerator Lab also has a clear perspective of the system having developed a Porfolio on future of Work and employment and is seen as a Knowledge broker. UNDP Angola is respected in their convener role and has experience in hosting platforms with key development partners and stakeholders. UNDP and EU joined forces to establish an informal Development partners learning and coordination working group. Quarterly collective intelligence sessions are an opportunity to collect insights about the overall initiatives around employment, future of work and entrepreneurship.

Short “tweet” summary: We would like to tweet what you are working on, can you summarize your challenge in a maximum of 280 characters?

UNDP Angola is leading a Development Partners Learning & Coordination Platform, using collective intelligence and systems thinking to make sense of the employment and future of work system in the country.

Challenge classification

Partners

Who are your top 5 partners for this challenge? Please submit from MOST to LEAST important and state Name, Sector and a brief description of the (intended) collaboration.

Please state the name of the partner:

European Union

What sector does our partner belong to?

Government (&related)

Please provide a brief description of the collaboration.

The EU is our main partner in this platform, helping increase legitimacy and buy-in from participants by adding their institutional support.

Is this a new and unusual partner for UNDP?

Who are your top 5 partners for this challenge? Please submit from MOST to LEAST important and state Name, Sector and a brief description of the (intended) collaboration.

Please state the name of the partner:

World Bank

What sector does our partner belong to?

Government (&related)

Please provide a brief description of the collaboration.

Actively participating in the Platform Sessions.

Is this a new and unusual partner for UNDP?

Who are your top 5 partners for this challenge? Please submit from MOST to LEAST important and state Name, Sector and a brief description of the (intended) collaboration.

Please state the name of the partner:

USAID

What sector does our partner belong to?

Government (&related)

Please provide a brief description of the collaboration.

Actively participating in the Platform Sessions.

Is this a new and unusual partner for UNDP?

Who are your top 5 partners for this challenge? Please submit from MOST to LEAST important and state Name, Sector and a brief description of the (intended) collaboration.

Please state the name of the partner:

French Development Agency Groupe / Expertise France

What sector does our partner belong to?

Government (&related)

Please provide a brief description of the collaboration.

Actively participating in the Platform Sessions.

Is this a new and unusual partner for UNDP?

Who are your top 5 partners for this challenge? Please submit from MOST to LEAST important and state Name, Sector and a brief description of the (intended) collaboration.

Please state the name of the partner:

JICA

What sector does our partner belong to?

Government (&related)

Please provide a brief description of the collaboration.

Actively participating in the Platform Sessions.

Is this a new and unusual partner for UNDP?

Learning questions

Learning question: What is your learning question for this challenge? What do you need to know or understand to work on your challenge statement?

WHAT NEW EMPLOYMENT-RELEVANT TANGIBLE PRODUCTS AND ACTIVITIES ARE GOVERNMENT AND PARTNERS PRODUCING? WHAT DIFFERENCES ARE THESE MAKING? WHAT TYPES OF CAPABILITY, ORGANISATIONAL AND BEHAVIOURAL CHANGES ARE WE OBSERVING AMONG KEY EMPLOYMENT STAKEHOLDERS? WHAT NON-OBVIOUS OR UNEXPECTED DYNAMICS RELEVANT TO EMPLOYMENT ARE OCCURRING IN COMMUNITIES?

To what stage(s) in the learning cycle does your learning question relate?

Sense, Explore

Usage of methods: Relating to your choice above, how will you use your methods & tools for this learning question? What value do these add in answering your learning question?

We will use the above methods regularly to effectively map and show what is being done by each organization, identify synergies and what works and what does not work.

Existing data gaps: Relating to your choice above, what existing gaps in data or information do these new sources of data addressing? What value do these add in answering your learning question?

At this stage there is no data on what is being done, how it interconnects and how is it working. These sources of data are complementary to have both quantitative document based information and qualitative data that is generated iteratively and collectively.

Closing

Early leads to grow: Think about the possible grow phase for this challenge - who might benefit from your work on this challenge or who might be the champions in your country that you should inform or collaborate with early on to help you grow this challenge?

All 8 participants in the platform are already benefiting from the work. UNDP CO is benefitting from it by designing new pipeline and building synergies. Additionally when the intelligence generated is provided to Government it will help inform strategies and policies, ultimately benefiting the employment system and the society. The EU is the biggest champion who we have brought to bring more legitimacy into the process.

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Innovation methods

Data sources

SDG(s)

Sustainable Development Goal(s)

1No poverty

8Decent work and economic growth

17Partnerships for the goals

Comments

Action plan