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Multistakeholder Work
A Guide to
Lessons from The Water Dialogues
Hilary Coulby
A Guide to Multistakeholder Work Lessons from The Water Dialogues 2009 Hilary Coulby
A Guide to Multistakeholder Work: Lessons from The Water Dialogues, page 1
The author was International Coordinator of The Water Dialogues from 2005 – 2008. She is grateful
to Working Group members and Secretariats in the project countries and at international level for their help
and cooperation in preparing this guide.
The text draws on reports on the processes of national and international Working Groups in The Water Dialogues
prepared by members of the International Secretariat staff and consultants, as well as on interviews with
participants and on brainstorming sessions with members of the International Secretariat. Special thanks are
due to past and present members of the Secretariat - Donna Arrondelle, Ken Bluestone, Carmen Deans, Emily
Huc, Kate Martin and Ganesh Pangare. And to Jenny Chapman and Antonella Mancini who gave occasional
consultancy support. Ganesh Pangare produced preliminary ideas for the structure and substance of the text.
The Working Groups in South Africa, Indonesia and the Philippines which she visited when preparing the guide,
generously allowed the author to participate in their meetings and patiently answered a stream of questions
throughout the autumn of 2008. The secretariat staff in these countries - Mary Galvin and Ruby Essack in
Durban; Pak Alizar Anwar and Ibu Reski Diniari in Indonesia; and Rory Villaluna and Anne Guarez in Manila
- gave freely of their time, ideas and friendship making the research for the guide a pleasure as well as an
intellectually stimulating experience.
At an early stage Alizar Anwar, David Boys, Jean-Pierre Mas, Robin Simpson and Budi Widianarko suggested
useful amendments to the text. Mary Galvin not only contributed her ideas and experiences but also her
excellent diagrams. At every stage in its development, Jessica Wilson and Kate Martin provided encouragement
and advice which, together with Belinda Calaguas' suggestions for the final draft, resulted in considerable
improvements to the guide. When time was short, Kate Martin kindly offered to produce the Box in Section
2.3. Donna Arrondelle produced the contents page and organised proof reading and DTP. Of course, any
inadequacies in the final text are the sole responsibility of the author.
Finally, thanks to David Matthews for subediting the guide. And to Hugh Price at Design by Committee whose
design for the text made the contents more accessible.
The Water Dialogues: multistakeholder dialogues on water and the private sector
What this guide is about 4
Why this guide has been produced 4
Who should use the guide? 5
How to use the guide 5
1	Section One: An Introduction To Multistakeholder Processes 6
1.1 What is a multistakeholder process? 6
1.1.1 The Potential Value of Multistakeholder Processes 7
1.2 The Example of The Water Dialogues 8
2	Section Two: Designing And Planning Multistakeholder Dialogues 12
2.1 Step One: Is a multistakeholder process the best way forward? 12
2.2 Step Two: Who else is interested in a multistakeholder process 13
2.3 Step Three: What is the best form for the process to take? 13
2.3.1 Option One: Use an existing process or organisation 13
2.3.2 Option Two: Multistakeholder panels 15
2.3.3 Option Three: National dialogues linked to an international process 16
2.3.4 Option Four: Roundtables or structured dialogues 17
2.3.5 Option Five: Citizens Juries and deliberative forums	18
2.3.6 Option Six: International/national/local commission 19
2.4 Step Four: Deciding the level(s) at which process(es) should happen 19
2.4.1 Deciding what you want to achieve 19
2.4.2 Identifying key stakeholders 20
2.4.3 Identifying key decision-makers 20
2.4.4 Power mapping: identifying decision-makers and those that influence them 20
3	Section Three: Governing multistakeholder processes 22
3.1 Why have a governance structure? 22
3.2 Selecting governing body members 22
3.3 Criteria for and roles of governing body members 25
3.4 Tensions in the governance and coordination of multi-locational processes 25
4	Section Four: Bringing Multiple Stakeholders Together 29
4.1 Holding the first large stakeholder meeting 29
4.1.1 Forming a temporary group to organise a First Meeting of stakeholders 29
4.1.2 Identifying stakeholders 30
4.1.3 Objectives and outputs for a First Meeting 30
4.1.4 Draft agenda for the first multistakeholder meeting: what The Water Dialogues did 31
4.2 Forming a multistakeholder working group 33
4.2.1 Issues to consider when forming a working group 33
4.2.2 Should working group members be voluntary or remunerated? 35
4.2.3 Perceived risks of participating in multistakeholder work 35
4.3 Community participation issues 37
5	Section Five: Resourcing Multistakeholder Processes 38
5.1 Are external resources necessary? 38
5.2 When should fundraising begin? 38
5.3 Where will funds be held? 41
5.4 Who will be Responsible for Financial Accounting? 41
5.5 Deciding on donors 42
5.6 Tensions between being a process and a project 42
6	Section Six: Supporting The Process – Secretariats, Coordinators And Consultants 45
6.1 Why have a coordinator or secretariat? 45
6.2 Things to consider when establishing a secretariat 45
6.3 Challenges for secretariats and coordinators 47
7	Section Seven: Building And Sustaining Multistakeholder Processes 51
7.1 Building Trust and Creating a Safe Space for Dialogue 51
7.1.1 Establishing the rules of engagement 52
7.1.2 Techniques for Building Good Group Dynamics 52
7.1.3 Three Steps to Assertive Communication 56
7.2 Decision-making in multistakeholder groups 57
7.2.1 Choosing decision-making methods 57
7.2.2 Problems with seeking consensus: a note on confrontative or mindful dialogue 58
7.3 Sustaining Personal and Organisational Motivation 60
7.4 The Impact of Context and Culture 60
7.5 Dealing with Conflict 63
7.5.1 The causes of conflict 63
7.5.2 Mediation in multistakeholder processes 63
8	Section Eight: Organising And Conducting Multistakeholder Meetings 66
8.1 Types of multistakeholder meetings 66
8.2 Basic guidelines for multistakeholder meetings 66
8.3 Facilitation 68
8.4 Extended meetings and central meetings of multi-locational processes 69
8.5 Preparing for central/international meetings 69
8.6 A note on encouraging interactions between groups and across cultures 70
8.7 Facilitating work between meetings 71
9	Section Nine: Multistakeholder Research 72
9.1 Why carry out research? 72
9.1.1 The need for all group members to be continuously involved 72
9.2 The differences between conventional and multistakeholder research 73
9.3 Issues and challenges for multi-locational processes 75
9.4 Developing Multistakeholder Research 75
9.4.1 Case Studies 77
9.4.2 Using participatory research to bring grassroots stakeholders into the process 77
9.5 Choosing the right research team 79
9.5.1 Drawing up person specifications and consultancy Terms of Reference 79
9.5.2 The selection process 81
9.5.3 Contracting research teams 81
9.6 Reviewing and interpreting research findings 84
9.6.1 Impacts on group dynamics 84
9.6.2 Research review processes 84
9.7 Working with academic panels 87
10	Section Ten: External Communications 88
10.1 Developing a basic communications strategy 88
10.2 Establishing approval protocols 88
10.3 Identifying audiences 89
10.4 Developing Basic Messages 89
10.5 Deciding on the media mix 89
10.6 Developing the process's identity 90
10.7 Building and maintaining support for the multistakeholder process 90
11	Section Eleven: Advocacy 93
11.1 The importance of advocacy between multistakeholder group members 93
11.2 Developing an advocacy strategy 95
11.3 Advocacy to wider audiences during the multistakeholder process	95
11.3.1 Forums with wider groups of stakeholders 96
11.3.2 Roundtables 96
11.3.3 Facilitating advocacy for communities 99
11.4 Adapting standard advocacy practices to multistakeholder work 102
11.4.1 Identifying where simple messages are possible 105
11.4.2 Delivering complex information 105
Additional Reading 108
What this guide is about
This guide summarises the tools and methods used and the lessons learned from The Water Dialogues –
a project that brings together a wide range of stakeholders to address a highly controversial issue around
the privatisation of water supply and sanitation services with the aim of improving policy and practice.
Although its contents are rooted in the experience of The Water Dialogues project, the guide should be
useful to anyone who is planning to develop their own form of multistakeholder work.
As well as providing tips on developing and maintaining multistakeholder processes, the guide also includes
examples of potential difficulties and strategies for avoiding or resolving these.
The Water Dialogues:
a brief introduction*
The Water Dialogues set out to examine the contentious issue of whether and how the private sector can
contribute to the delivery of affordable and sustainable water supply and sanitation services, especially
to poor communities. Along the way, some national Dialogues widened their objectives to explore best
practice in the sector: what works, how it works and why it works.
The overall aim of the project is to contribute to meeting the Millennium Development Goals for water and
sanitation by generating information that can contribute to the development of successful sector policies by
governments, and garnering support for these policies from international donors. In addition, the project
hopes to demonstrate how multistakeholder dialogues improve the basis for policy-making and the overall
governance of the sector.
National dialogues were established in Brazil, South Africa, Uganda, Indonesia and the Philippines. These
Dialogues differ from some other international multistakeholder processes in that most activities take place
at the national and sub-national levels, that is, at the level of implementation, where findings can feed
directly into existing national sector reform processes.
* For a narrative account of how The Water Dialogues developed please see: Chapman, J., and Mancini, A., The Water
Dialogues: the story of an international multistakeholder dialogue, forthcoming on www.waterdialogues.org
Multistakeholder processes create safe spaces for constructive dialogue between stakeholders with diverse
views and competing interests. Where groups have previously been suspicious or hostile towards each other,
they also build trust and mutual respect. In this way, they create an environment in which stakeholders are
able to freely share experiences and knowledge and generate new ideas for resolving problems and reforming
policies and practices. They also have the potential to improve governance and accountability systems by
demonstrating that, if decision makers engage with all stakeholders when developing new policies, these
are more likely to succeed and attract broad ownership.
Why this guide has been produced
"We have done something really quite unusual and it's very important to record where we got to and how we
got there because other people may want to start stakeholder initiatives in the future and we have learnt some
valuable lessons." (The Water Dialogues IWG member)
When the foundations for The Water Dialogues were being laid, there were very few sources of guidance for
conceptualising and planning multistakeholder dialogues. Thus the methodologies used, the governance and
executive structures built and the activities undertaken during the Dialogues evolved from a continuous process
of experimentation and reflection.
The desire to fill the gap in user-friendly information prompted the project to document the processes involved
in creating and sustaining The Water Dialogues - a crucial step toward developing this guide.
Participants in the project felt that the process itself had substance and value, and wanted to capture
the essence of multistakeholder work, review the strategic challenges and dynamic social interactions
involved and draw operational lessons. In addition, documenting the process would be a way to
demonstrate to outsiders that the work was truly multistakeholder, inclusive and participative,
transparent and accountable.
Recording the process also provided a vehicle for reflection by members of the Dialogues and for structuring
their complex experiences and their changing attitudes and feelings in relation to each other and the project.
And it enabled the different groups involved in The Water Dialogues to share information about how to do things
and learn from each other's experiences.
All those involved in The Water Dialogues have learned much from their experiences at international and
national levels. Their aim is that anyone intending to launch similar initiatives will benefit from their reflections
on the strengths and weaknesses of the options they pursued, the issues that arose at different stages of the
project's development and the tools they employed.
Who should use the guide?
This guide is aimed at individuals and organisations – including national and local governments, industry,
NGOs and CSOs, trade unions, donors, multilateral organisations and others – who want to know more about
multistakeholder processes and how to convene and maintain them. It is also for use by members of The Water
Dialogues National Working Groups (NWGs) and International Working Group (IWG) as a tool for reflection on
past work and an aid for future projects.
The different sections of the guide allow readers to dip in and out of the text and go directly to the topics
that interest them most. (The contents page provides a useful list of all the sub-headings within sections.)
Experience indicates that, by their very nature, no two multistakeholder processes will ever be the same.
"MSPs will have to be unique to their issue, scope, objectives, participants, resources and so on. There is
no 'one-size-fits-all' formula."1 For this reason, the experiences, lessons, tips and tools in the following pages
are a guide to action, not a definitive instruction manual.
1	Hemmati, M., 2001, Multi-Stakeholder Processes for Governance and Sustainability – Beyond Deadlock and Conflict.
1	Section One
An Introduction To Multistakeholder Processes
1.1	What is a multistakeholder process?
In this guide, a multistakeholder process describes an activity that brings together
a very diverse range of organisations and individuals to address a specific issue.
Participants would usually include representation from most of the following
groups: national and/or local government; public sector; private sector; trade
unions and/or workers' associations; academia; and civil society groups including
NGOs, women's groups, consumer groups, environmental groups, faith groups.
The term "multistakeholder process" is used
to describe a variety of different processes. Definition: Stakeholder
These range from activities involving a number
of governments, to ones where actors from An agency, organisation, group or individual whose
two different perspectives get together (for •	Interests are affected by an issue or project
example, businesses and governments), to
initiatives involving a broad spectrum of actors •	Activities strongly affect an issue or project
and viewpoints. But some initiatives that would •	Power, money, technical expertise or
fall under the definition offered in the previous organisational profile gives control over relevant
paragraph do not use the term multistakeholder, implementation instruments
preferring for example, the label "global action
networks"2 or "multi-sectoral partnerships"3. •	Information, resources, experience or expertise
are required for strategy or policy-making on an
Moreover, multistakeholder processes can vary issue
a great deal in terms of their "purpose, scope,
complexity, level of engagement (local to global),
size and diversity of partners."4 They vary also
from "single, one-off events to processes going on over several years."5 They may deal with any issue and
engage in anything from simple dialogue to agenda-setting and implementation activities.
Nevertheless, analysis6 of the literature on multistakeholder initiatives reveals that these share some common
characteristics: the involvement of two or more different parties; a voluntary and collaborative nature; a
common purpose; sharing risks and responsibilities; understanding that all participants will both contribute
and gain something; and the conviction that working with diverse actors will achieve more than working alone.
2	Waddell and Khagram use Global Action Networks to describe groups, "formed by diverse stakeholders who are
interested in a common issue, and who agree to work together to achieve extraordinary results." Waddell, S. and
Khagram, S., 2007
3	Caplan et al describe the work of Building Partnerships for Development as bringing together multi-sectoral groups
whose "perspectives and motivations vary widely however, and reaching consensus often proves difficult. Different
work processes, methods of communication and approaches to decision-making are common obstacles." Caplan, K.,
et al., 2001 and Building Partnerships for Development in Water and Sanitation website http://www.bpd- waterand-
sanitation.org/bpd/web/w/www_3_en.aspx
4	Malena, C., 2004
5	Hemmati, M., 2002
6	Mikheyev, Andrei, 2005, Multi-stakeholder partnerships: definition, principles, typology, and partnering process.
1.1.1	The Potential Value of Multistakeholder Processes7
"The critical contribution that they can provide on global issues is their ability to create consensual knowledge
and action among diverse stakeholders."8
"Magic happens when you get everyone into a room together. Suddenly, new options emerge. Relationships
improve. Conflicts dissipate. Win-win solutions materialize. Seemingly intractable problems go away."9
Multistakeholder Processes: Some Definitions
"Multi-stakeholder partnerships involve two or more organisations from across the public, private and civil
society spheres that enter into a collaborative arrangement. Multi-stakeholder partnerships move beyond
unilateral actions and conventional contracts by pooling complementary resources and genuinely sharing
the risks and benefits." The Partnership Declaration, undated
"In multi-stakeholder networks, actors from civil society, business and governmental institutions come
together in order to find a common solution to a problem that affects all of them. Problems approached
by such networks often affect people across national boundaries, tend to be very complex and are not
sufficiently understood. In multi-stakeholder networks, information concerning a problem is gathered from
different sources, learning takes place, conflicts between participants are addressed and cooperation is
sought." Roloff, J., 2008
"alliances between parties drawn from government, business and civil society that strategically aggregate
the resources and competencies of each to resolve the key challenges… and which are founded on principles
of shared risk, cost and mutual benefit." Warned, M. and Greener, P., 2003
By utilising a greater variety of skills and resources than those available to an individual, multistakeholder work
delivers the same benefits as working in teams, partnerships and alliances. But multistakeholder processes can
deliver much more than this. Nelson10 lists the ways in which multistakeholder groups can increase
effectiveness through:
•	Accommodating broader perspectives and more creative approaches to problem solving
•	Addressing complex and interdependent problems in a more integrated and comprehensive manner
•	Shifting away from "command and control" to more informed joint goal-setting
•	Obtaining the "buy-in" of beneficiaries and local "ownership" of proposed solutions, thereby ensuring
greater sustainability of outcomes
•	Offering more flexible and tailored solutions
•	Speeding the development and implementation of innovative solutions
•	Acting as a catalyst for policy innovation
Of course, it would be irresponsible to oversell multistakeholder processes as the universal solution to
problems of policy-making, governance or development. They can be expensive and are time consuming.
And, not all governments are enthusiastic about their potential, as evidenced in a UN meeting where some
argued that multistakeholder initiatives are "neither a useful lens for looking at issues of governance nor an
appropriate relational model of policy-making." 11
But others, including The Water Dialogues, believe that such initiatives could be part of an improved and more
effective form of governance in which governments, businesses and other institutions become more responsive
to a wide range of stakeholders in the formation of their policies and practices.
Environmental issues have given impetus to the development of multistakeholder processes. According to the
UN, "One of the fundamental prerequisites for the achievement of sustainable development is broad public
participation in decision-making."12 Indeed, it is almost impossible to address successful problems such as
forest conservation, the reduction in carbon emissions, or the distribution of scarce water resources, without
the involvement of multiple stakeholders.
Multistakeholder dialogues increase the level and quality of consultation between those involved in, or affected
by, an issue. Multi-locational, multistakeholder dialogues can link local actors to national decision-makers, and
consequently, both these parties to regional and multilateral institutions and major donors, thereby helping to
fill the "local content" gap that is often missing in their policy development. To the extent that all participants
7	Links to further reading on multistakeholder processes can be found in the Bibliography and Additional Reading list
8	Waddell, S. and Khagram, S., 2007
9	AXIS Performance Advisors, 2004
10	Nelson J., 1996, Business as Partners in Development: Creating wealth for countries, companies and communities.
The Prince of Wales Business Leaders Forum
11	Panel of Eminent Persons on UN-Civil Society Relations, February 2004
12	United Nations Division for Sustainable Development, Agenda 21, Section 23.2
are treated as equals, they can also empower previously ignored groups to take part in goal setting and problem
solving.13 Where communities are involved and brought into direct contact with those that govern them, or
provide them with goods and services, this can build new institutional structures that increase local democracy
and accountability.
Multistakeholder work can also help to increase
trust and respect between those participating, Towards A New Understanding
for example, between governments (central Of Governance
and local) and communities or between service
providers and their customers. Hemmati14 reports Multistakeholder processes have an impact on
that participants see this as very important. governance and accountability. Zadek2 believes
The transformation of relationships between that they are capable of improving the direct
individuals and groups whose dislike of one delivery of public services and infrastructure,
another's views once left them unable to listen as well as designing, promoting and monitoring
to each other is a key outcome of The Water new rules for market and non-market actors.
Dialogues and in some countries has released
a logjam in relation to policy-making. The Prince of Wales Business Leaders Forum has
a similar view:
Finally, multistakeholder processes produce
information and an assessment from an "There is a shift taking place in our understanding
independent source seen as unbiased. The very and practice of governance. Governance used to
nature of genuine multistakeholder groups, in be principally about what governments do. Today,
which participants have different perspectives, the concept is increasingly about balancing
knowledge and understanding, means that the roles, responsibilities, accountabilities and
all reviews will be subjected to rigorous capabilities of:
debate. Consequently, the conclusions and •	Different levels of government – local, national,
recommendations these groups produce will regional and global; and
be more balanced than those prepared by
single interest groups. •	Different actors or sectors in society – public,
private and civil society organisations and
individual citizens."
Source: Creating the Enabling Environment,
1.2	The Example of The Water Dialogues The Prince of Wales Business Leaders Forum
The Water Dialogues multistakeholder dialogues
were founded in response to the controversy
over private sector participation (PSP) in the water and sanitation sector.15 The controversy had been growing
because the IMF, World Bank and many bilateral donors were seeking to reduce the role of the state in the
developing world by promoting privatization or private sector participation (PSP) in public services, including
water services. These institutions hoped that private sector involvement would provide the large injections
of new money needed to increase quality and coverage in water services. They also believed that private
companies would be less vulnerable than public utilities to political interference and corruption.
The promotion of PSP in water drew vigorous criticism from public sector bodies, NGOs, trade unions,
political activists, people's organisations and consumer groups. Often, their concerns were linked to broader
issues: globalisation and its impact on national sovereignty; corporate responsibility and accountability; and
global economic justice and environmental protection. Water aroused intense passions and many groups
argued that it was wrong to make a profit from the provision of this basic right. Some groups felt that drinking
water should be free, at least for the poorest people. Others believed that the private sector would not serve
the needs of poor communities.
As the debate became increasingly polarized and heated, allegations regarding large price rises, the failure
to improve or extend services, or the disconnection of consumers who failed to pay bills resulted in dramatic
conflicts over private sector water services in Cochabamba, Bolivia; in Buenos Aires, Argentina; and in Manila,
the Philippines. At international meetings on water, pro- and anti- PSP groups stopped speaking to each other
and instead traded accusations. By the beginning of the new century, the result was a policy stalemate of sorts
among governments, donors, private companies and public utilities on how best to move ahead with expanding
water and sanitation services, and improving access.
"People were talking of the private sector being right or wrong rather than talking about what would work for the
needs of the poor." (IWG Founding Member)
"These controversies, which were largely ideological battles, were standing in the way of improved water supply
and sanitation." (Donor to The Water Dialogues)
13	See Box in Section 4.1.3 and Section 7.1 for further information on creating an environment where everyone can oper-
ate as equals
14	Hemmati, M., 2001, pp 114-116
15	For a full account see: Chapman, J., and Mancini, A., The Water Dialogues: the story of an international multistake-
holder dialogue, The Water Dialogues, www.waterdialogues.org, forthcoming
The founders of The Water Dialogues recognized that the status quo was not a viable option and the paralysis
in sector policy-making needed to end. Their aim was to establish constructive dialogues and move away from
unproductive, confrontational and empty debates on the issue. They believed that without working together
across the divide, there would be little chance of reaching any solutions to the question of private sector
participation (PSP) in water and sanitation services.
To achieve their aims the founding members wanted to create safe spaces where people could come together
for constructive discussions. The idea was that this would allow participants to increase their understanding of
each other's perspectives and enable them to generate information to governments, donors and other decision-
makers regarding appropriate policy responses.
The hope was that the outcome of dialogue and research processes would feed directly into existing
national sector reform processes and eventually into the global policy arena. To make this more likely,
governments were to be fully involved in the national dialogues. This would avoid the problems experienced
by previous multistakeholder processes where responsible government agencies were only called on to adopt
recommendations after the fact.
➜➜Specific Characteristics of The Water Dialogues
The Water Dialogues project:
•	is focused on an extremely controversial issue - whether and how the private sector should be involved
in water and sanitation services - that is the subject of fierce conflict
•	involves a wide range of stakeholders - including those who disagree strongly with each other
•	entails the long term engagement of a consistent group of stakeholders to enable trust and respect to
be built between them
•	engages all stakeholders as equal contributors in equal representation on a level playing field in terms
of resources so that everyone can participate fully
•	involves stakeholders who are all actively engaged in the water and sanitation sector, often in
senior positions
•	is founded on the voluntary, unremunerated participation of all stakeholders
•	takes place in six locations – Brazil, Indonesia, Philippines, South Africa, Uganda and
at international level
•	gives primary emphasis to national level dialogues as these are closest to the site of implementation
•	enables south-south exchanges of experiences and perspectives among participants
A Guide to Multistakeholder Work: Lessons from The Water Dialogues, page 10
Why debates about water are so passionate
•	Debates about water generate strong emotions in a way that discussions about electricity, for example,
•	The foundations for these strong feelings lie in both the knowledge of human dependency on water
and in its symbolic significance
•	Fresh water is essential for human life not only as a vital component of the human body or as a liquid
for drinking but also as a basic resource required to grow food. This means by definition, that everyone
alive has access to water, however poor its quality or difficult it is to reach
•	Human civilisation has always been heavily dependent on water and water systems, and continues
to be so today. "In Farsi, the first word in the dictionary is ab, water. Abadan - derived from it - is the
word for civilised."*
•	Water is the subject of a rich array of myths, beliefs and symbols. "Few elements have influenced the
symbolic, ritual and metaphysical values of mankind as much as water. It is deeply rooted, in a highly
emblematic manner, in our cultural traditions."* *
•	In many cultures, water is seen as the source of life and has spiritually cleansing powers. For Hindus,
all water is sacred, particularly rivers – sites of convergence between rivers carry a special significance
and are especially sacred. In European cultures, water is one of the four classical elements: air, earth,
fire and water. For African cultures, water is energy, vigour, strength and resilience. It is the "water of
life" when it purifies, the "water of death" when it corrupts. Iba Ndiaye Diadji sums this up: "Water
is always and everywhere full of the spiritual. It is the only being that can change its powers to suit
circumstances...."***
•	Water plays an essential role in the religious observances of many faiths
•	In Islam, water is important for cleansing and purifying before prayers
•	Similar practices occur in both Hinduism and Judaism, where water is used to restore or maintain
a state of ritual purity
•	In Christianity, children and adults are baptised using water
•	It is no surprise that the underlying symbolic associations and associated religious, family
and cultural values can lead to fervent, emotional and fiery debates over control and access
to water and who should profit from, or pay for it.
* Bouguerra, Mohamed L., "Water: symbolism and culture" Report n°5, Institut Veolia Environnement,
http://www.institut.veolia.org/en/cahiers/water-symbolism/water-civilization/water-culture.aspx
**Bouguerra, M. L., ibid
***Iba Ndiaye Diadji, "From 'water-life' to 'water-death' or the foundations of African artistic creation,
yesterday to tomorrow" quoted in Bouguerra, above
➜➜Aims and Objectives of The Water Dialogues
Inspired by the recommendations of the stakeholders who provided the mandate for the project
at the Berlin multistakeholder meeting in 2004, The Water Dialogues International Working Group
drew up an ambitious list of intended outcomes for the work:
•	Increased learning, understanding and awareness about the impacts of private-sector-
participation among stakeholders and decision-makers at all levels
•	Reduction in conflict and more rational debate in the countries where the project operates
between stakeholders with different perspectives on the issue arising from wider knowledge
of the roles, responsibilities, risks, rewards and results of PSP, especially at local and
national levels
•	New or improved processes for water and sanitation sector (WSS) policy review and reform in
the project countries through consultation with a wide range of stakeholders, including poor
communities and their advocates
•	Strengthened public sector and governments ready to take responsibility and be accountable
for improved access to water and sanitation services
•	Outputs that are of value to all stakeholders in the sector in increasing their understanding
and awareness of the range of service provision options
•	Guidance and recommendations for governments and donors, broadly endorsed by national
and international stakeholders, on private sector involvement in WSS service provision
•	Guidance and recommendations for improved policies for other key sector actors
•	Accelerated action on WSS service delivery to poor communities resulting from broad-based
agreements at national and local levels on appropriate roles for the private sector in WSS
•	Improved and strengthened governance over water supply and sanitation services at local
levels through active participation of WSS stakeholders
•	Global recognition and promotion of a range of options for WSS service delivery, financing,
management and governance that are appropriate to national socio-economic conditions.
2	Section Two
Designing And Planning
Multistakeholder Dialogues
This section outlines a series of steps to take in the early stages of developing a
multistakeholder process. The first thing to do is to decide whether this type of
process is the best way to deal with your issue. If so, is there sufficient interest
from other stakeholders? The next step is to decide the type of multistakeholder
process that would be most suitable. The final step is to answer these interrelated
questions: what do you want to achieve; where are the major decision-makers;
who are the key stakeholders; and where should your process be located?
2.1	Step One: Is a multistakeholder process the best way forward?
Any guide to multistakeholder work should probably begin with a health warning: these processes take time,
energy and resources. They require commitment, patience and flexibility from all involved. It is much simpler
and more comfortable to organise a traditional project or to dialogue only with others who share and reinforce
So before getting started, it is worth stopping to think about whether a multistakeholder process is the best,
or the only way to deal with the issues you face. The brief questionnaire below may help:
QUESTION YES NO
Is the issue or project highly visible and potentially controversial?
Is the issue complex, affecting and affected by a number of different players?
Does the issue affect ordinary people/ communities whose views should be heard?
Is buy-in from different stakeholders necessary to resolve the issue?
Is the stalemate between opposing sides crippling progress towards better policies?
Have your efforts to improve policies and practices been disappointing?
Are there major pieces of information missing from your analysis?
Do you lack knowledge or understanding about the perspectives of other stakeholders,
including ordinary people and communities?
Do you need the credibility of working with a different set of actors to get your message
across and help decision-makers to change their minds?
Do you wish relationships between stakeholders in the issue could be different?
Are you tired of shouting matches with the opposition?
Are you worried about a group/actor that is speaking out against your organisation
regarding the issue?
Are you willing to listen thoughtfully to people with whom you disagree?
Are you open to learning from people with whom you don't usually interact/agree?
Could you adjust the way you think about the issue without fear that this will harm your
value system?
Do you have the patience and determination to see through a process that may take a long
time?
Are you flexible; do you like new things and enjoy a challenge?
If you answered "no" to most of these questions, then it would be wise to think of another way to deal with your
issue. For instance, would a more traditional format work instead? Would you miss anything significant if dialogue
were only with allies, or with those who broadly share your views and would not be disruptive or challenging?
On the other hand, if most of your answers were "yes" then a multistakeholder dialogue could be the answer.
Multistakeholder dialogues are about listening, learning, sharing and generating information and evidence to
achieve specific objectives. They take time and can be frustrating and challenging but can build new and lasting
relationships that generate better behaviours, policies and more democratic approaches to policy-making.
2.2	Step Two: Who else is interested in a multistakeholder process
Before attempting to launch a multistakeholder process, it is
essential to find out if there is sufficient interest and support from NOTE: Getting people to attend
other stakeholders. will probably involve one-to-one
meetings to explain the project
One reasonably inexpensive way to explore the level of support is to as well as personal phone calls.
invite stakeholders to a "First Meeting" to present the idea and ask Clear proposals regarding the
for their views (see Section 3.1 and 3.2). purpose and form of the process
Alternatively, if you envisage a large multistakeholder process, need to be prepared in advance
especially a multi-locational or global process, it may be worth for the meeting to yield positive
conducting a more systematic assessment that considers: results.
•	how stakeholders see the issue
•	the key questions they want to see answered
•	which stakeholders are most interested in the process; and which are most opposed to it
•	the type of process people think would be the most helpful
•	which geographical areas are most enthusiastic about participating.
This type of assessment exercise, or scoping study, will require resources but may provide the basis for further
fundraising, especially if part of the assessment is to research the views of potential donors.
2.3	Step Three: What is the best form for the process to take?
"It is crucial to invest sufficient time and resources in carefully designing MSPs (multistakeholder processes)
in order to avoid failure. Failure can result in stakeholders walking away from dialogue, the inability of a group
to make decisions or the lack of implementation of the decisions reached."16
There are many options available for convening multistakeholder processes. Those presented here are only
as a starting point for further thinking and discussion among stakeholders; they do not represent a complete
range of alternatives, nor attempt to outline the numerous hybrids and variations of the forms set out below.17
Whichever option you choose, it is important to be aware that it may look more organised and straightforward
on paper than it turns out to be in reality. A multistakeholder dialogue "… is never a neat, organised, tidy
concerto. More often, the process becomes a messy, loose-knit, exasperating, sprawling cacophony. Like
pluralist democracy, it is the absolute worst form of consensus building… except for all the others."18
2.3.1	Option One: Use an existing process or organisation
Instead of taking an independent route, the
multistakeholder process can integrate with an EXAMPLE In the Philippines, The Water Dialogues
existing initiative that is adaptable to the issue. national group worked closely with the
Existing initiatives will have their own specific government's water sector Roadmap process,
remit, so it is important to assess the match which was supported by German Technical
between aims and approaches. The greater Cooperation (GTZ). The Roadmap also had
the level of correspondence between aims and a multistakeholder approach to its work, an
approaches, the greater the chance of effective overlapping set of participants with the members
outcomes. of The Water Dialogues and a focus on many similar
issues.
Alternatively, is there a local, national or
international body with significant influence that
could support the process, not just with resources but also by demonstrating their interest and confidence in
the process? The backing of such an organisation could make the task easier and would help in getting key
stakeholders together.
16	Hemmati, M., 2001, p210
17	The options laid out include those that were presented to the Berlin Multistakeholder Meeting in 2004
18	Asmal, K., 2000 First World Chaos, Third World Calm, The Guardian, 26 September 2000, UK
http://www.dams.org/news_events/media253.htm
➜➜Scoping interest in the Dialogues:
What The Water Dialogues Did
Working collaboratively, the founding members of the project (themselves a multistakeholder
group), developed and guided a global scoping study.* Six months of research involving
interviews with more than 300 stakeholders from 13 countries demonstrated a strong demand
for multistakeholder dialogues that would address the conflicts and controversies linked to
private sector participation (PSP). The scoping study noted that respondents felt that previous
assessments of PSP had been insufficiently comprehensive and unsatisfactory in terms of
participation. Interestingly, the research revealed that the closer people were to operational
issues, the stronger the demand for a multistakeholder initiative.
"The scoping study certainly helped because what we got back from the study was that quite
contrary to what the World Bank and others were saying, there was a real need for a review of this
sort, and the closer you got to the people working on the ground - and in real situations - the more
important they thought it was. Go to the WB and they would say this is yesterday's argument and
it is not relevant. And then you go and talk to people in Jakarta or Johannesburg and they would
say we need this and we need this now." (Founder member of The Water Dialogues)
Following the scoping study, a stakeholder workshop was held in Berlin in June 2004 . This was
attended by sixty participants representing a wide range of constituencies and viewpoints.* The
workshop reviewed and debated the findings of the scoping study and agreed that further action
on PSP was needed that would promote the achievement of international goals for water supply
and sanitation. Presented with a range of options for taking the process forward, participants
opted for an "iterative dialogue" through which national multistakeholder reviews, operating to
an agreed methodology, would feed into a global discussion and review.**
After the Berlin Workshop, five countries – Brazil, Indonesia, the Philippines, South Africa and
Uganda expressed an interest in participating in the multistakeholder initiative and established
National Working Groups (NWGs). The NWGs then asked the founding members to continue their
work at international level and oversee the process as an International Working Group (IWG).
* The Water Dialogues, 2004, Global Water Scoping Process Report.
** Participants included representatives from all regions, the domestic and international private sector, local and
national government, regulators, public utilities, trade unions, NGOs, community groups, international associations and
networks, research institutions and donors.
A modified approach would be to have an existing institution serve as host to undertake the multistakeholder
process review as a new initiative. One example is the role of FORKAMI (Forum Komunikase Kualitas Air Minum
Indonesia), an NGO seen as neutral, which supported and hosted the Indonesian Water Dialogues.
The initiative could have its own mandate and terms of reference defined by stakeholders, which could follow
other organisational models such as those described below. This option tends to be popular with donors who
are resistant to the formation of new institutions.
•	Where a host organisation or institution can provide accommodation, office services and coordination
support, this can reduce significantly the need for independent funds.
•	Housing a dialogue in an existing organisation with a genuine interest in a multistakeholder process and
is willing to take a lead, at least in the early stages of project development, ensures the process is backed
by a committed champion.
•	It may be difficult to find an organisation that is acceptable to all stakeholders and is willing to play host
to groups that may oppose its policies and practices.
•	There is a danger of the host organisation driving or dominating the process.
2.3.2	Option Two: Multistakeholder panels
These come in a variety of shapes and sizes.
They may consist of experts with different EXAMPLE The World Commission on Dams (WCD)
perspectives and experiences, or of is a good example of a multistakeholder panel.
representatives of all the key stakeholders, Chaired by South Africa's then water minister
or consist of "eminent persons" who are not Kader Asmal, it consisted of 12 members from
necessarily experts on the issue. Or the panel governments, industry, academia, and civil society.
may comprise a mix of all three. During its two-year lifetime, the WCD carried out the
most comprehensive evaluation of large dams ever
Such panels can undertake case studies,
undertaken. It commissioned 130 technical papers,
commission research, hold public hearings or
studied seven dams and three dam-building
other participatory processes, accept testimony
countries in depth, reviewed another 125 dams in
and inputs from a variety of stakeholders, and
less detail, carried out consultations in different
produce recommendations for reforms of policies,
parts of the world with 1,400 participants and
practices and standards.
accepted 950 submissions from experts and the
Pros public. Altogether, the WCD reviewed experiences
from 1,000 dams in 79 countries.*
•	A panel of experts on the issue is likely
to work fast and, as a result, may be less *This option was not taken up by The Water Dialogues.
expensive and/or take less time to reach
conclusions than other options. Depending
on the reputations of panellists, it also can
have high-level influence with decision-makers and institutions.
•	A panel of stakeholders could be expected to have a wider focus and be more likely to address broader
social, cultural and political aspects of the issue. This could mean that a stakeholder panel would be
better at resolving issues that are the source of conflict. While a stakeholder panel may require more time
than an expert panel, it could still be cost-effective.
•	A panel of eminent persons not involved in the issue can be a means of rising above issues that are
polarizing stakeholders. Eminent persons might have minds that are more open, be more willing to
consider evidence and perspectives of a variety of cases and stakeholders, and be able to move beyond
fixed positions. The panel could invite testimony from diverse stakeholders including poor communities.
This type of panel would be likely to reach conclusions and deliver a concrete "product".
•	Finding eminent people that are acceptable to all stakeholders, and knowledgeable enough to produce
something useful to practitioners, could be difficult.
•	An eminent persons panel might do little to create dialogues at different levels and, although it
could address socio-political issues, efforts are more likely to focus on a product, such as findings
or a "ruling".
•	The focus of an expert panel is unlikely to be broad enough to cover all the concerns related to
an issue, nor inclusive and participatory enough to satisfy stakeholders that it involves more than
"the usual suspects".
•	Expert panels are likely to be "product oriented" and less committed to engage with a broad cross-
section of interests, so are less likely to resolve conflicts.
•	A panel of stakeholders could be expensive to establish – if many stakeholders are to be involved in
selecting, electing or inviting its members – and would require additional time and cost.
•	For all types of panel:
›› Participatory activities might be relatively limited or not happen at all, unless these are written into
the panel's terms of reference.
›› If formed at international level, are unlikely to engage significantly, or in any depth, with national
stakeholders, including policymakers. For this reason, they are unlikely to impact on national efforts
to foster broader consensus or to promote reforms.
›› There may be weak ownership of the final "product" by actors not involved in the panel. For
example, civil groups in the sector disowned the Camdessus Commission on Financing Water and
Sanitation, while many national governments still have not adopted the World Commission on
Dams' recommendations.
2.3.3	Option Three: National dialogues linked to an international process
This option, which was adopted by The Water
Dialogues, aims to stimulate multistakeholder EXAMPLE At The Water Dialogues founding
action at national and international levels through workshop in Berlin, 2004, five national
a series of linked and iterative dialogues. The multistakeholder dialogues were established.
structure has two levels: an international group A representative from each country together with
comprised of respected individuals from key the founding members of the project formed an
stakeholder groups plus a small secretariat; and International Working Group that had oversight
multistakeholder teams in different countries. over the process. National groups developed
research, held roundtables, and engaged
Stakeholders at national level engage in dialogue,
with wider groups of stakeholders, including
research and advocacy for changes in policies
policymakers and donors. International Working
or implementation practices. Ideally, their work
Group responsibilities included providing support
should complement or link with existing national
on methodological issues, ensuring project
policy or reform processes. Their multistakeholder
principles were followed and drawing together
research and case studies provide the basis for
findings from the five national dialogues for
convening discussions with a larger group of
international dissemination.*
stakeholders. Participatory research methods
and public and community hearings enhance the *This option was adopted by The Water Dialogues
inclusiveness of this work. participants.
With input from the country teams, the
international group and secretariat support
and help to develop methods used at country-level. The results of national research and dialogue are fed
back to both national processes in other countries and to the international level. Analysis and consolidation
of findings takes place at international level and, following inputs and approval from national processes, the
results and recommendations form papers targeted at international audiences. At the end of the process,
there could be national or international conferences or speaking tours to amplify the lessons learned and the
recommendations for change.
•	The option emphasizes both process and product.
•	The scope, focus and form of each national process can be decided locally.
•	If key decision-makers engage directly with the process, there is a greater likelihood that dialogue and
research (evidence) will influence policies and practices.
•	National groups have the opportunity to learn from experiences and research in other countries.
•	The evidence produced will be available for use by other stakeholders or interested parties.
•	Any final reports would not be the main "product", rather new knowledge, lessons, and implementation
would occur throughout because the review process is linked to live, ongoing national processes.
•	Comparisons and syntheses of evidence and experiences made at international level can also be adapted
and implemented at national levels.
•	This option is likely to increase understanding between opponents, build new relationships and provide
detailed solutions.
•	The iterative, process-oriented nature of this multi-level, multi-locational option means reaching results
may take a long time and be relatively costly.
•	Overseeing several national multistakeholder teams, integrating results to create international comparisons
and feeding back iterative processes to reach unified recommendations may be cumbersome.
•	National groups may follow their own priorities and timetables so that comparative assessments are not
possible and outputs may be staggered.
•	There are risks that the activities at national and international levels do not result in any concerted action
to achieve changes in policy or practice.
•	Without a strong international level process to advocate results to international decision-makers,
national level processes may find it difficult to influence international policies, despite the powerful
influence these have on national governments.
2.3.4	Option Four: Roundtables or structured dialogues
A small multistakeholder steering group is
established. This group organises and convenes EXAMPLE The Water Dialogues in Indonesia and
a series of roundtables or structured dialogues the Philippines used roundtables alongside a
on components of the issue being addressed, number of other activities. For further information
to which key stakeholders, including decision- on roundtables see Section Ten and The Philippines
makers, are invited. Experts and stakeholders with Water Dialogues Case Study.*
different perspectives present evidence on specific
* Coulby, H., The Philippines Water Dialogues
topics to an invited multistakeholder audience. 2004 - 2008: a case study in flexible approaches to
The audience is encouraged to participate multistakeholder work, The Water Dialogues, May 2009.
actively and steering group members may play a www.waterdialogues.org
key role as critical questioners. An experienced
independent facilitator, who is accustomed to
managing controversial debates, moderates each structured dialogue. All events have a good chairperson.
Each roundtable records its content and sends a report capturing its substance (including any agreements and
recommendations), to participants and stakeholders unable to attend. The steering group is responsible for
following up on recommendations and advocating their adoption by decision-makers.
A variation on this option is for the steering group to deliberate on the evidence and information emerging
from the roundtables. These deliberations could include commenting on the evidence presented, noting
gaps in the evidence base, identifying areas of consensus and disagreement, and formulating any missing
policy recommendations.
•	A wide range of diverse stakeholders can be involved and brought into direct contact with one another.
•	The multistakeholder steering group will gain skills in managing dialogue processes during their
discussions about the agenda and form for the roundtables.
•	The overall process is less demanding on the time and resources of participating stakeholders than other
multistakeholder processes.
•	There is an opportunity for short-term gains, including impacts on policy and practice.
•	Unless the roundtables are well structured and notice of specific issues to be explored is given, the
information and evidence generated by roundtables may be unacceptable as "research" by decision-
•	It may be difficult to engage with grassroots communities using this method.
•	There is a danger that the energy and enthusiasm created during roundtables dissipates quickly resulting
in a failure to follow up on recommendations.
•	Given the high costs of bringing international stakeholders together, this option is more suited to
national or sub national/local level work rather than international projects.
2.3.5	Option Five: Citizens Juries19 and deliberative forums
Citizens Juries aim to involve ordinary citizens
in debates regarding important issues and can EXAMPLE A Citizens Jury was not used by The
be a useful gauge of public opinion. They may Water Dialogues, but the Prajateerpu process in
also demonstrate how views may change when June 2001 in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India
individuals face a wide range of information and is a good example of how it works.* The Citizens
options. Usually a jury is made up of twelve or Jury brought together 19 jurors, mostly small-
more people from a variety of backgrounds who scale farmers from across the state, to examine
are not experts on the issue, do not belong to competing visions for the future of agriculture.
issue-related interest groups and have no firm The jurors' deliberations were informed by their
views on the subject. interrogation of a range of witnesses including
A Citizens Jury usually lasts at least one day, often those from the Government of Andhra Pradesh, a
two or three days. The jury hears "evidence" from transnational agrochemical company (SYNGENTA),
a range of stakeholders and experts and then universities, local NGOs, government advisory
discusses the issue among themselves before panels and community NGOs. Facilitators used
reaching a "judgement" or conclusion, often to a a range of methods to give jurors the opportunity
specific question or series of questions formulated to validate their knowledge and challenge the
by the organisers. To maximise the impact of a misunderstandings of decision-makers. The key
citizens' jury or deliberative forum, public outreach conclusions reached by the jury — their vision —
including media work is undertaken. included a desire for food and farming for self-
reliance and community control over resources.
For the process to be genuinely multistakeholder,
a small organising group representing a wide *Further information can be found in Pimbert, M.P., and
range of perspectives on the issue should Wakeford, T., 2002 and in The Jefferson Centre, 2004,
come together to develop the questions to be Citizens Jury Handbook
answered, draw up a list of experts and other
"witnesses" who will present evidence, and
oversee the event itself.
Deliberative Forums are similar to Citizens Juries and seek the views of a random sample of people who
formulate opinions about policy options having heard presentations and arguments from a range of experts
and key stakeholders.
•	These formats are useful for engaging with ordinary people and communities whose voices are seldom
heard in debates on policy and practice.
•	A jury or deliberative panel allows ordinary people to explore an issue in detail, deliberate together and
come to informed and shared recommendations and solutions.
•	Jury selection is representative of the public at large and provides the basis for broad-based
recommendations to policy-makers.
•	These processes can attract media attention to the issue.
•	The process is relatively short. Planning and preparation for a Citizens Jury project typically takes three
to four months by the multistakeholder group – more if the issue is very contentious, requiring the
organising group itself to build trust before work can begin. A further three to four months will be
required after the jury sits for reporting and advocacy.
•	Citizens Juries can become costly. In addition to hiring a suitable venue for the process, and paying
jurors a stipend and expenses, it may be necessary to pay for the time or expenses of experts and
other speakers.
•	For a scientific gauge of public opinion, jury or panel must be randomly selected through rigorous
polling techniques and a long list of potential jurors interviewed. This requires specific expertise and is
•	Unless there is a well-balanced multistakeholder organising group asking the questions, and selecting
people to give presentations, critics will argue that the process is biased and its recommendations
may be ignored.
•	As a one-off process with no inbuilt follow-up, it is unlikely to promote sustainable dialogue between
stakeholders and decision-makers. Consequently, it may have little impact on the way future policies
are developed.
19	For further information see: The Jefferson Centre 2004, Citizens Jury Handbook, available at:
http://www.jefferson-center.org/vertical/Sites/%7BC73573A1-16DF-4030-99A5-8FCCA2F0BFED%7D/
uploads/%7B7D486ED8-96D8-4AB1-92D8-BFA69AB937D2%7D.PDF
2.3.6	Option Six: International/national/local commission
Similar to a multistakeholder panel is an
international, national or local commission.20 EXAMPLE In the spring of 2004, the then
Typically, a commission would have a board UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, convened the
comprising between 10 and 12 eminent persons Commission for Africa. Formed by 17 eminent
and stakeholders, which would oversee the persons, most of whom were African, the
process. A secretariat would assist the board, Commission included people with backgrounds
for example, by organising and supporting board in politics, the private sector, civil society and
meetings, undertaking case studies and thematic public service. It received more than 300 formal
reviews and arranging events where different submissions and a further 300 submissions via
groups of stakeholders could present their views. its website and held five regional consultation
events in Africa, which involved over 500
To increase the level of stakeholder participation, individuals from 49 African countries.
case studies can be designed to include
interaction with all types of stakeholders,
including grassroots communities, if appropriate.
Depending on the level at which the commission's board operates, it may decide to create multistakeholder
teams to undertake the case study research at other, more local, levels.
•	If the scope of the commission is broad, it will address big picture issues and be of greater interest to a
wider group of stakeholders, as well as being more widely seen as a legitimate process.
•	If the scope of the commission's work is defined and feasible, the outputs should include new,
independent evidence and analysis that can provide governments and decision-makers with information
about the impacts of their policies.
•	The evidence can dispel myths (from either end of the ideological spectrum).
•	Lessons learned can be the basis for policy recommendations at national and international levels and for
agreements among stakeholders on some contested issues.
•	Taking a narrow focus on the most contested issues will be more controversial and may alienate some
stakeholders, thereby failing to resolve polarization, conflicts or policy stalemates.
•	A broader scope will make the commission more expensive and more time consuming.
•	This option does not address the need to provide stakeholders with the tools and skills necessary for
dialogues with decision-makers on policy issues.
•	Without the involvement of, or regular contact with, governments or other key decision-makers, the
commission will be less likely to adopt its recommendations.
2.4	Step Four: Deciding the level(s) at which process(es) should happen
The decision whether to hold your multistakeholder processes at local, national, regional or international level,
or a combination of these options, should be based on:
•	what you want to achieve
•	where the key stakeholders are located
•	who has decision-making powers over the issue
•	where these people are located geographically (often in multiple locations)
•	which places have expressed an interest in starting multistakeholder work
2.4.1	Deciding what you want to achieve
While motivations for joining multistakeholder dialogues vary, it is important to identify a clear set of aims early
on. A lack of shared aims will make the process frustrating for both participants and observers.
The challenge lies in deciding who should be involved in determining your aims, and at what point.
Multistakeholder processes often seem to be in a chicken and egg situation: "Do you start the work and then
expose the work to a wider group of people or do you start with a very open process and get pulled in 20
directions immediately?"21 Unless those seeking to create a multistakeholder process have a clear sense of
direction, it will be difficult to persuade other stakeholders to join them. But if they try to force a fixed idea on
other stakeholders, rejection is likely.
The Water Dialogues solution was for the founding members to generate alternative aims for debate and
decision by a wider group of stakeholders. "The idea for The Water Dialogues was to produce options which
could be embraced by all stakeholders rather than being imposed upon them by the most powerful."
(The Water Dialogues founding member)
20	This option was not used by The Water Dialogues.
21	Church, M., 2001
2.4.2	Identifying key stakeholders22
Notwithstanding the need to have access to decision-makers, it is important to consider where other key
stakeholders are located. If the stakeholder group is dispersed, but expects regular meetings, it is sensible
to choose a place that they can all reach with relative ease.
2.4.3	Identifying key decision-makers
Strategic decisions about where to locate multistakeholder processes involve identifying the location of the
decision-makers that have power over the issue.
For most issues, there are many levels at which policies are developed, decisions are taken, budgets allocated
and implementation carried out. For example, regarding water policy, the financial power of the World Bank and
bilateral donors gives them enormous influence over how water services are delivered, especially in developing
countries. But national governments set national policy. And where decentralisation has taken place, it is the
policies and practices of municipalities and local governments that have a direct impact on implementation.
Furthermore, it is important to remember that policy change is not always enough to achieve genuine
changes on the ground. Change requires political will or sufficient public pressure to ensure that those bodies
responsible for implementation or enforcement actually act. Although having decision-makers as part of the
multistakeholder group may contribute to building political will, it may be necessary to reach out to those
affected or other groups who can exert pressure from the bottom up.
2.4.4	Power mapping: identifying decision-makers and those that influence them
Many members of multistakeholder groups will be looking for changes in policies, practices and attitudes
related to their issue. As noted in Section Ten below, some advocacy occurs within the boundaries of the
multistakeholder group itself. But to address external actors successfully, it is necessary to identify who has
decision-making power on the issue, and which institutions or individuals influence them.
Creating a Power Map
•	Power mapping is a tool that helps identify decision-makers and influencers so that advocacy is
targetable in an efficient and effective way.
•	When creating a power map, it is important to remember that power not only lies with formal political
structures. All sorts of other actors may have considerable power or influence ranging from faith leaders
to military commanders, from heads of industry to peasants.
•	Power maps are usually created on a large sheet of paper. If available, sticky notes/post-it notes are
useful as they are easily movable; otherwise use a pencil and rubber in the early stages and only work
in ink when the map is finalised.
•	Start by identifying the most important decision-makers on the issue. These may be at local, national,
regional or international level. Place the name of the individual and/or institution in the centre of the
sheet of paper.
•	Then start adding other decision-makers or organisations and people with influence.
•	Be specific: name names where possible! Don't simply put "government" but put which ministry
or department within a ministry, or the name of a person within a department. When looking at
influencers, don't say "big business," say which company. Instead of saying "the media" identify
the TV programmes decision-makers watch or the papers they read.
•	When all the key actors are in place, draw lines showing who influences whom.
•	Note that as knowledge of the issue deepens the power map becomes more complex, specific and
sophisticated.
An example of a power map is provided in the box overleaf.
22	More detailed information on identifying stakeholders is presented in Section Four
Uganda power map for the water sector
Financial Ministers of
Institutions Water, Health
(Water)
Bilateral Water Policy Water Sector
Financial Committee Local Water
Institutions Donors Working Operators
inc GTZ Group
National Water and Department for Water
Sewerage Corporation Development Research Institutions
(NWSC)
NGOs and Uganda Water and
Faith-Based Sanitation Dialogues Women's Lobby
Organisations Community Media Groups
NOTE: This is the first draft of a power map created in a 35-minute exercise by three members of the
Uganda Working Group at the beginning of its work, hence the lack of specificity.
3	Section Three
Governing multistakeholder processes
3.1	Why have a governance structure?
A governance body makes crucial strategic and operational decisions on the long-term goals of the process,
how to reach them, to safeguard the principles, values and ground rules established by the process.
During the early stages of a multistakeholder dialogue, having informal, flexible working practices may be
appropriate and effective. But as the project's size or complexity grows, more formal governance structures
and operating procedures may be required in the interests of legitimacy, accountability and transparency,
and to facilitate fundraising.
Separate governance structures may be unnecessary for multistakeholder work undertaken by a single
group in a single location. In this case, the working group and the governance group will be the same entity.
Nevertheless, if such groups raise funds or employ staff, their members should be aware that they would have
the de facto responsibilities of trustees.
In terms of size, Nan believes that "Greater
structure (more committees, coordination hubs, TIP Avoid unnecessary ill feeling by inviting all
etc.) allows for greater size, communication those involved in the multistakeholder process to
and geographical spread. Less structure will contribute ideas for your governing body's name.
need stronger personal relationships. Whether Names mean different things to different people
development is bottom-up or top-down will and some will have a strong preference for say,
influence levels of participation, as will levels "Steering Group" versus "Management Group"
of centralisation or decentralisation. The more or "Working Group" versus "Board"
top-down and centralised, the more you trade
off participation for efficiency, speed and
leadership."23
3.2	Selecting governing body members
A Note On Representation
It is important to clarify early on whether individuals participating in a multistakeholder process are
representing a perspective and bringing their experience in a particular organisation to the group, or
formally representing an organisation or sectoral interest, for example, a company or the private sector.
What motivates participants will have a significant impact on the speed of the dialogue. If people are
formal representatives, they may be limited in what they can say or do in terms of decision-making,
without first obtaining a mandate from their constituency.
Ideally, a multistakeholder group should govern multistakeholder work. Having a governing body that reflects
a broad range of perspectives and backgrounds is as important as taking care of how the group is established.
If the process is multi-locational,
ensuring that the perspectives of DEFINITIONS
different participating groups are
included will improve significantly Election: a process whereby people vote for a person or
the strategic overview of the party to fill a position
governing body. Selection: an informal process of identifying individuals
A clear decision about whether the for potential appointment, considering their suitability,
members of the governing body should taking soundings about their acceptability to the wider
be elected, selected or invited is needed. constituency and exploring with them their willingness to
Although elections seem the most accept an available position.
"free and fair," in practice, the difficulty Invitation: the process by which the governing body invites
in bringing together a fully balanced an individual or organisation to become a member, perhaps
and comprehensive multistakeholder after deciding between a number of individuals whose
electorate dilutes their democratic value. names have been put forward.
In these circumstances, a selection
23	Allen Nan, S., 1999, quotes in Church, M., 2002
process that takes soundings from stakeholders, regarding an individual's or organisation's acceptability, may
be the simplest way to proceed.
Regardless of selection technique, any vagueness, uncertainty or lack of transparency in establishing the
governing body is undesirable and likely to generate suspicion and mistrust. In most circumstances, publicising
the selection process of governing body members is therefore recommended. Any notification should include
the criteria for identifying the best candidate; a timescale for the process; whether and how candidates
are nominated, or if the post will be advertised; and who will be involved in making the final decisions.
Notwithstanding the potential impact on group dynamics of including new people in a governing body,
if widening its membership will improve transparency and accountability through specific representation
of a missing stakeholder or perspective then it is advisable to go ahead and increase the number of members.
When new members join the governing body, they should receive an orientation regarding its history,
culture and processes.
Management structure, advocacy and accountability lines
Decision National
makers, sector Donors
national stakeholders
National National
public National working groups academic
National secretariats
International secretariat panel
public International working group
makers,
sector Donor
Information Accountability Internal bodies
lines lines
Advocacy lines Advice lines External bodies
➜➜Forming governing bodies:
•	When they began, the seven founding members of the project had no formal governance body
but worked collaboratively to develop the Scoping Process.
•	At the 2004 Berlin multistakeholder meeting, the founding members of The Water Dialogues
were expecting to stand down. In the event, participants requested that they continue their
role of guiding and supporting the project while expanding their membership to include
missing perspectives.
•	Eighteen months later, Dialogues had been established in Brazil, South Africa and Uganda.
New processes were beginning in Indonesia and the Philippines, a two person International
Secretariat had been formed and the project had convened its first international meeting.
•	At this meeting, the International Secretariat proposed an expansion of the governing body
(now known as the International Working Group) to include a representative/link person from
each of the national Dialogues.
•	The Water Dialogues agreed that five new members would join the International Working Group
(IWG). Alongside other duties as IWG members, the new members would act as links between
national and international levels.
•	Meanwhile, at national level, the Dialogues were establishing their own multistakeholder
governing bodies known as National Working Groups. In some countries, the groups were
elected by the multistakeholder participants at the First Meeting (see Section Four), in others
they were selected. Occasionally, to ensure a specific perspective was represented, an
individual or group with the right "fit" was invited to join.
•	As the project continued, some members of National Working Groups (NWGs) began to
question the role of the IWG. If the emphasis was on national level dialogues, did they really
need an international body? Why should an international body have any say over national level
activities? What was the relationship between the IWG and the International Secretariat?
•	In response, at the project's next international meeting, the International Secretariat
arranged a session that gave participants the opportunity to discuss and agree the purpose
and governance functions of the international governance body, as well as the International
Secretariat. The results went to all members of NWGs for their comment and amendment
before a final version was distributed and approved.
3.3	Criteria for and roles of governing body members
Example: Person Specification For A Governing Body Member
•	Represents a specific perspective on the issue
•	Open to work with people with different perspectives and has intellectual curiosity
•	Able to dedicate the time required to be an active group member
•	Supportive to the goals and objectives of the process
•	Has credibility/good reputation in the sector/on the issue being addressed
•	Willing to take dialogue discussions back into their organisation and the wider sector
•	Resilience, flexibility and patience
•	Ability to see the big picture, to make connections
•	Able to speak (the language of the group)
If seeking a new member to join an existing group, additional criteria might include:
•	Prior knowledge of/familiarity with the multistakeholder process and/or a "known quantity"
In multistakeholder boards, all members should have an equal level of authority and share responsibility for
fulfilling the purpose and functions of the group. In addition, members should have specific responsibility for
representing and advocating the views of the board to other stakeholder groups.
Governing body members should update their respective organisations, and others sharing their perspectives,
on progress and developments within the multistakeholder project. Over the course of the process, governing
body members may need reminding of the importance of providing regular updates. Otherwise, they may find
that while they have been continuously learning and modifying their views, their organisations, who have not
had the same experience, cannot understand or appreciate changes in perspective.
The governing body may delegate responsibility for specific areas to sub-groups who will take the lead in
researching, discussing and making recommendations to the main governing body regarding actions required.
3.4	Tensions in the governance and coordination of multi-locational processes
Multistakeholder processes that take place in multiple locations bring with them all the challenges and
complexities associated with any long distance organisational structure. Being separated means that the work
may be slower, different agendas may flourish in different locations, and misunderstandings may be greater
than if everyone were located in the same place.
As discussed at length in Section Seven,
building relationships is a fundamental basis TIPS
for effective multistakeholder work. This is much
more difficult to do this when there is no face-to- •	There is no reason for a group in one location to
face contact. As McCurley and Lynch point out, mistrust a group in the other – but no reason for
we work better with people where we share a trust either! Don't be offended by continuous
personal relationship or with those where there questioning of motives and actions.
is a sense of shared experience. "We are more •	In multi-locational processes, the fear that
likely to trust and work well with people when the centre will needlessly hinder enterprise
we have a sense of 'who they are' and think they and activity in a group to which an individual
know us and value us enough to look after our belongs may accompany the fear that it will not
interests as they do their own." 24 properly control the activities of other groups!
Much communication in an office takes place by
osmosis; we learn things simply by being in the
vicinity. When colleagues are separated, none of
this happens. Many events and activities may go unreported and then forgotten when feedback eventually
takes place.
24	McCurley, S. and Lynch, R., undated
➜➜Establishing governance roles and functions:
The purpose and functions of The Water Dialogues' International Working Group (IWG) were set
out as follows:
The primary purpose of the IWG is to:
•	act as custodian of the project principles in order to maintain the integrity of The Water
•	ensure that safe spaces are created and sustained at international level enabling all views and
voices to be heard
•	encourage engagement with different stakeholder groups and safeguard the multistakeholder
character of processes at international and national levels, ensuring these remain a core
strength and characteristic of the project as a whole and of the national dialogues in particular
•	demonstrate the global value of individuals' common desire for better solutions for the poor,
independent of ideology
•	take overall responsibility for the good management of the project, delegating tasks and duties
to the International Secretariat as appropriate
•	monitor the work of the International Secretariat, National Working Groups and coordinators
and provide support and guidance in order to ensure project objectives are met
•	be accountable for finances, ensuring donor reporting and accounting requirements are
complied with, as well as signing off the project's annual accounts at international level
•	resolve problems and concerns regarding the integrity of the project at international or national
levels by investigating issues raised and, by means of dialogue with the actors involved and
their peers nationally and internationally, providing clear and prompt responses
•	fundraise for The Water Dialogues as necessary
•	provide an international and wider perspective (beyond National Dialogues) on issues arising
from The Water Dialogues process
•	represent the project as required and inform and engage stakeholder peers and individual
contacts regarding its work
•	provide support and act as a sounding board for the International Secretariat.
The challenges of multi-locational processes increase if these involve working across cultural and language
divides. It is important to work hard to reduce the sense of separation and establish a working culture that
offers the sense of joint purpose for everyone involved in the long distance work relationship. People who feel
they are working toward a mutual goal and perceive shared values and interests are more likely to behave
responsibly towards each other.
"One thing is clear about network organisations, collocated teams, strategic alliances and long-term supplier
relations: control is not exercised in the form of hierarchical authority." (Sheppard & Tuchinsky, 1996:142)
In multi-locational, multistakeholder work, tensions are common between "them" and "us" or the "centre"
(i.e. a governing body, secretariat or other entity that could be perceived as a headquarters) and the "periphery"
(usually national or local entities). Separated dialogues worry about their degree of inclusion in the overall
project and their degree of autonomy from it, if their inputs are valued, and if they are being kept informed of
decisions. Examples of the way in which the "periphery" may express its apprehensions include: "The centre
wants to control us; [it] doesn't understand our work or our problems; [it] is consuming resources that would
be better used by us." Conversely, the "centre" may complain that the periphery: "Doesn't respond to our
communications; can't see the big picture; or doesn't care about the overall welfare of the project." Distance
therefore "results in a fragmented understanding from both sides."25
In a multi-locational dialogue or other process, it is important that each multistakeholder group is self-starting,
motivated from within and takes executive responsibility for their work's progress. However, any group with
these qualities, let alone a group that has to manage the internal relationships between diverse stakeholders,
will also tend to demand high levels of autonomy. Groups may develop their own goals and processes and
initiate their own activities rather than adhere to the shared goals of the project, even if those shared goals
were established together.
➜➜Lessons for Multi-locational Dialogues: The Water Dialogues Experience
Each participating group will have its own dynamics, its own analysis of the most important issues to
explore in its own geographic, political and policy context, and its own way of exploring them.
It is not possible to determine the exact form and focus of the work of multistakeholder groups beyond the
immediate group to which you belong.
If you want genuine ownership by participants of groups other than your own, you may propose, suggest
and guide what another multistakeholder group should do but imposing an agenda simply does not work.
Instead of fixed aims and a fixed format, it is useful to establish an overall set of agreed principles, which
will guide the work of all groups involved in the project.
Diversity rather than conformity is often a strength in multistakeholder processes: it gives groups the
flexibility to generate creative solutions to local problems.
While communication helps to reduce distance, it is also true that people are more likely to communicate and
more likely to forgive errors in communication with those that they know. In general, speaking to someone on
the phone is a better way to build a long-distance relationship than communicating via email.
If possible, any multi-locational process should establish a budget for convening meetings that bring
stakeholders from different parts of the process. Allowing people to socialise with each other, both in the formal
sessions and over meals, is a critical element in developing commitment to the process as a whole and fostering
understanding and personal relationships among the individuals involved.
•	Tensions between the "centre" and the "periphery" or the overall governance body or secretariat and
other participating processes are not exclusive to multistakeholder work.
•	Anticipate perceived asymmetrical power relations between e.g. national and international or local and
national levels, even if the process comprises highly autonomous units who make their own decisions
regarding their form, purpose, activities and budgets.
•	Lack of clarity regarding roles can cause friction, so these should be discussed and agreed.
•	Full consultation should take place on all issues affecting the overall functioning and design of the
project. It is essential to consult on anything perceived as "controlling" any aspect of the work of
participating groups.
•	Good communication is a key element in reducing tensions - the "centre" must communicate with its
participating groups regularly, even if the communication ends up being one-way.
•	The fastest way to build relationships is in face-to-face meetings. If you can afford it, bring everyone
together at an early stage. Or plan to do so over time.
•	All separated units should be encouraged to have bilateral communications with each other.
•	It is safer to duplicate communications than to assume that feedback from governance body members
to the satellite processes they are part of will be automatic and comprehensive.
•	Don't worry about uniformity of communications, use what works with each person or group.
•	Taking an interest in an individual's non-work activities, remembering their religious or national
holidays, asking about their health, etc. can show that you value a person.
4	Section Four
Bringing Multiple Stakeholders Together
At the start of a multistakeholder process, the emphasis should be on ensuring
that all key stakeholders are identified and made aware of the proposed process.
If there is sufficient support for the process to take place, the next step is to form
a working group to take the initiative forward.
4.1	Holding the first large stakeholder meeting
"No one party was excluded. Ever. For exclusion breeds resistance. We can and do recognise divergence,
but above all we must provide a neutral, free and ordered space where violence is replaced by verbal debate,
shouting by listening, chaos by calm." 26
For any issue, the potential number of stakeholders is huge. Clearly, it is not possible to interact with them
all but it is important not to be seen as exclusive. Every effort should be made to ensure all significant
perspectives are included especially those with opposing views, without whom the process will lose legitimacy.
The First Meeting allows many different perspectives to be brought together to learn about the proposed
multistakeholder process and explore the different priorities regarding its focus, scope and outcomes.
Stakeholders can also determine how the process could add value to reforms of policy and practice.
The discussion of focus and form ensures that future participants strongly own the process and that a wide
group of stakeholders acknowledges its democratic foundations.
It is desirable to keep the First Meeting to a manageable size. Exactly what this means depends on the issue
you are addressing and its political and cultural context. As a very rough guideline, the meeting should have
a minimum of 15 participants (in addition to the organising group) and a maximum of 75. Less than fifteen
almost certainly means some important stakeholders will be missing. More than 75 will make discussion
and decision-making unmanageable.
4.1.1	Forming a temporary group to organise a First Meeting of stakeholders
As soon as the idea of having a multistakeholder process emerges, it is good to form a small, temporary group
of diverse stakeholders to organise a meeting to assess interest in having a multistakeholder process.
Having different stakeholders involved in this very first activity helps other stakeholders feel more confident
that one organisation or point of view will not dominate the process.
As well as organising the First Meeting with a broader range of stakeholders, the temporary group should
formulate proposals for the form and structure of the multistakeholder process and share them at the meeting.
Members of the group also should be the ones to issue invitations to the First Meeting. The person
(or people) that initiates the process, makes the first contact and organises the First Meeting is very important.
"Maybe some other or some more stakeholders would have been invited or would have come if more than
one organisation had organised the meeting." (Indonesia Working Group member)
26	Kader Asmal, ex-Chair of the World Commission on Dams; Asmal, K., 2000 First World Chaos, Third World Calm
4.1.2	Identifying stakeholders
With the temporary group for the First Meeting Tips
formed, its members can draw on their knowledge •	It is not essential to have a representative of
to compile a list of stakeholder organisations every individual stakeholder group but it is
and individuals to invite.27 If the group's important to ensure that the participants reflect
knowledge of the issue and its stakeholders is the range of perspectives in a balanced way.
not comprehensive, it is useful to talk to issue
specialists or conduct web-based research. •	Have all the "voices" in the debate in the room
for this initial meeting. This should include both
For the First Meeting, it is important to involve the "pro" and the "anti" voices and the voices
senior members of stakeholder organisations of those directly affected.
who have the authority to decide whether to
commit time to the initiative. •	Try to ensure that significant actors who
have decision-making power over the issue
"With Dialogues you cannot expect to have people are present.
think the same thing at the same time. You do
expect people to think differently. But the important •	Invite umbrella organisations that can
thing is to get everybody on board and agree a bring the perspectives of large numbers of
process." (Philippines Working Group member) individual stakeholders, e.g. local government
associations, consumers' organisations and
4.1.3	Objectives and outputs for a First Meeting business federations.
The First Meeting's objectives should be presented
to the multistakeholder participants for their
comment and agreement at the start of proceedings.
Objectives might be to:
•	present findings and recommendations from scoping studies
•	increase understanding of the concepts, methods and time frames for the proposed
multistakeholder process
•	explore the pros and cons of different options for the scope, structure and organisation
of the initiative
•	assess the risks associated with going ahead
•	discover whether there is enough support to make holding a multistakeholder process viable
•	decide on whether to take the process forward and the form it should take
•	make a preliminary identification of current policy and practice processes and opportunities
to influence them
•	identify a multistakeholder working group that can take responsibility for the next steps
Note that to begin the multistakeholder process, broad support (but not complete consensus) is crucial. If there
is little interest, it's time to think of other ways of working.
Ensuring multistakeholders work as equals
For successful multistakeholder work, it is necessary that everyone is treated equally and all contributions
are given equal respect. Deliberate action is required to achieve this given the inevitable differences not
only in the power and in financial resources of participants but in their seniority, gender, status, knowledge
and experience.
To arrive at a point where everyone can speak freely without feeling exposed and the more powerful do not
dominate the discourse or decision-making, the first step is to acknowledge openly that differences exist.
This allows the participants themselves to generate ideas for creating greater equality. Ideally, this should
happen early in the process so that problems arising from inequalities are easily rectified.
In addition, coordinators, facilitators and chairpersons must monitor and address the impact of power
differences throughout the process, to create a level playing field.
"If these conditions are not met, there will be a great risk that the powerless will have no real voice and no
real involvement in the issues."* A fuller discussion of how to create strong and equal group dynamics is
included in Section Seven.
* Hemmati, M., 2001, Multi-Stakeholder Processes for Governance and Sustainability, Beyond Deadlock and Conflict, p 233
27	The power mapping technique described in Section 2.4.4 can be adapted to make this process more interesting and
4.1.4	Draft agenda for the first multistakeholder meeting: what The Water Dialogues did
Agenda item Title Notes & time required
1 Welcome Workshop hosts
2 Introductions (name, organisation, link 2-3 minutes per participant
with the issue, etc….)
3 Objectives of meeting Facilitator - 5 minutes
4 Overview of the issue; perceived Temporary organising group members;
problems related to improving
45 – 60 minutes
policy and practice and/or resolving
difficulties; results of any scoping of
stakeholder views; and proposal of
options for the form and structure of the
BREAK 20 minutes
Questions and comments arising from 30 minutes
previous session
5 Facilitated discussion of usefulness Facilitator
and possible risks of holding a
multistakeholder dialogue
6 Decision on whether or not to go Facilitator and temporary organising
ahead and what form the process group members plus members selected
should take; selection of members of for the permanent working group
a multistakeholder working group to
oversee the process; identification of
stakeholders missing who should be
involved; etc. …
7 Initial identification of tasks and Facilitator and temporary organising
timeframes group members
8 Closure 5 minutes
The times set out in the agenda are suggestions. The actual amount of time required for the First Meeting will
depend on the number of participants involved, their level of knowledge about the process, the complexity of
the issue and the degree of polarisation about the issue.
…/continues
➜➜The First Meeting:
Having an experienced, external facilitator for the First Meeting is strongly recommended. If the
issue is controversial, the facilitator should not be associated with it, or should be from outside
the country so that they are perceived as neutral.
If the local dialogue is part of a regional or international process, it may be advantageous to have
assistance from, for example, the International Secretariat, governance body or others working on
the same issue in a different location.
The purpose and objectives of the dialogue should be clearly conveyed to the stakeholders
in the beginning itself so that there is no ambiguity about the reason for joining the process.
When presenting the purpose of the multistakeholder initiative, emphasise broad goals that
everyone can support alongside more narrow ones.
Demonstrating openness and flexibility regarding the form and structure of the initiative and
the approach to the issue helps to build ownership.
Taking breaks to allow participants to chat informally is part of the process. Providing a meal
is a good way to encourage social interaction between the different stakeholders present.
4.2	Forming a multistakeholder working group
4.2.1	Issues to consider when forming a working group
•	The composition of stakeholders on the working group is extremely significant.
•	Think about which stakeholders MUST be there for the process to be seen as legitimate.
•	Don't forget about gender, culture, class, ethnicity, etc., when forming the group.
•	Having experts and influential people in the group is key to helping access relevant information,
providing an effective communication channel back to different types of stakeholders and influencing
reforms of policy and practice.
•	The sooner you can get the right people on board the better for the credibility of the process.
Ask yourself how far you are willing to pursue them to achieve this.
•	The advantage of involving stakeholders in policy-making positions should mean that there is a direct
link from dialogue to policy-making and practice. Without regular outreach to policymakers during the
process, it will be more difficult to get them to adopt findings and recommendations at a later stage.
•	The disadvantage is that such people have little time to contribute to the process.
•	Multistakeholder processes on controversial issues are political processes and members of the
temporary group initiating the process will each have their own views on who should become part
of the dialogue – and who should not.
•	The more contentious the issue, the greater the need to find people who can represent a perspective,
contribute their experience and are willing to listen to what others have to say.
A committed working group that can drive the process is a pre-requisite for successful multistakeholder
processes. In many cases, this group will be the de facto governing body for the process.
In this context, a multistakeholder working group should be distinguished from the temporary core group that
may form to organise the First Meeting, and the larger, less formal group of stakeholders that may be engaged
in wider discussions and feedback session as the process progresses.
➜➜Composition of working groups: What The Water Dialogues Did
The Water Dialogues multistakeholder working groups varied slightly from country to country but generally
included participants from the following institutions:
•	central government
•	local government
•	a range of private and public sector operators from large-scale/multinational to domestic, small scale/
•	regulatory bodies
•	technical associations
•	trade unions
•	development and advocacy NGOs
•	consumer and environmental organisations
•	research institutions and academia
The working group should comprise:
•	a good balance of views
•	a good balance of the different stakeholder interests and sub-sectors, including national and/or
international organisations, umbrella organisations, associations and federations
•	a good range of geographic locations relevant to the issue being discussed
•	organisations that can bring the perspectives and interests of those people most affected by the issue
•	individuals with power to make decisions regarding the issue
•	people committed to learning something new and doing something different.
➜➜Forming a multistakeholder working group:
•	Be realistic about the size of the working group – aim for no less than eight but no more than
eighteen – depending on the issue and range of perspectives involved. A large group will
make it more difficult to build and establish trust.
•	For processes where the issue is highly contentious, it is important that the same individual
members and organisations attend regularly. Appointing fixed alternates or deputies for each
group member helps to maintain consistency of personnel.
•	Once the working group is formed, changes in its membership need to be kept to a minimum.
•	As outlined in Section 3.2, it is important to clarify early whether individuals participating
in a multistakeholder process represent a perspective, an organisation, or the interests of a
specific sectoral, for example, the private sector. This will have a significant impact on how
the process works. If people represent an organisation or sectoral interest, then they may be
constrained in what they can say, do, or agree to without going back to their constituency to
obtain a specific mandate.
•	Potential participants should be aware of the time commitment they are taking on. Experience
demonstrates that the work may take a lot longer than everyone expects.
•	Apart from dialogue, research and advocacy, on substantive issues, time is needed for more
mundane matters, such as supervising finances, secretariat staff or fundraising.
Not all key stakeholders will want to, or be able to, join the process. There are a variety of reasons
for this including, inter alia:
•	lack of time – the more senior the person, the more likely this may be
•	no confidence in multistakeholder processes
•	unwillingness to take the risks to reputation of dialoguing with the opposition
•	determination to stick with existing views and positions
4.2.2	Should working group members be voluntary or remunerated?
One critical decision is whether stakeholders should be paid or contribute their time on a voluntary basis.
The advantage of a voluntary process is that it is sustainable without external funding and provides a model
that can be replicated without the need for a complex project structure. It also ensures that all those who take
part are genuinely committed to the process. Furthermore, if people are in full time employment, the time that
they give to the process will be paid for by their organisations, thereby increasing ownership and strengthening
organisational commitment to the process.
Since participating in a multistakeholder group is an added burden for its members, a possible disadvantage
is that voluntary participants will not feel motivated to prioritise multistakeholder activities over other work
Also, if group members are self-employed, attending meetings and participating in other activities will mean
sacrificing opportunities to earn a living. Others who could lose financially include those with childcare or other
caring responsibilities who may incur costs of employing someone to substitute for them. Special consideration
should be given to these members.
A compromise between having voluntary members and paying them to attend is to reimburse them for the
actual costs incurred in participating.
4.2.3	Perceived risks of participating in multistakeholder work
"The main difficulty in getting civil society participation is overcoming their mistrust of any kind of agreement or
collaboration with the private sector. Many civil society representatives consider the private sector to be solely
concerned with profit maximisation and repatriation of funds, and not concerned about the social problems of
access to water for poor people." (Brazilian Working Group member)
Perceived risks in participating in multistakeholder processes may affect the willingness of individuals and
organisations to take part. Almost everyone involved in a multistakeholder process will have some concerns
about the personal and professional repercussions of doing so, including risks to their individual reputations.
Concerns and worries may include:
•	being seen by colleagues and constituencies as endorsing or legitimising the views of other stakeholders
•	through "sitting with the enemy" attracting accusations from their colleagues and constituencies of
being "co-opted" by the opposition. "Some of the people looked upon me as a traitor" (International
Working Group member)
•	Those at the extreme ends of the spectrum of opinion on an issue may be particularly prone to these
fears but may be willing to be engaged less directly, for example, through larger public meetings
•	signing on to something that they cannot control
•	other members breaching trust and confidentiality by making public use of the information shared
in confidence to further the cause of the opposition. "There is a risk that statements made and
information shared during meetings are used by other members publicly to put pressure back on
ourselves." (South African Working Group member)
•	that other stakeholders might be participating only to promote their own views, or to seek publicity
for themselves or their organisations
•	losing credibility among peers and colleagues if the process is too slow or fails to produce results
•	this may be a particular concern at the start of the process, when the pace of progress is slow due
to the need to build trust, settle issues of legitimacy, engage with the administrative issues involved
in establishing the process and so on
•	that their organisation's name will be on research findings that they do not support
Of course, participants may also perceive risks in not taking part in the process: "I think there is a bigger
risk in not being involved. We can say we went through the process and we raised the issues. We can then
say we do not agree with this and this and can say why." (Uganda Working Group member)
➜➜Bringing stakeholders together:
When the Brazilian government approved a law on private concessions in the water sector in 1995
it generated an intense debate. Over the next decade, there was continuous conflict between the
pro- and anti-privatisation lobbies, with many of those involved worn out by the non-stop fighting
in the public arena. It was against this backdrop that The Water Dialogues in Brazil began.
The founding champion for the Brazilian dialogues was Antonio Miranda Neto. He already was
a member of the Dialogues' International Working Group to which he brought the perspective
of municipal utilities and the public sector in his role as President of ASSEMAE, the association
of public sector providers. In 2003, following the scoping study in Brazil, Antonio attended the
national congress of ABES, the largest sectoral event in Latin America, which brings together
between three to five thousand actors in the water industry. Having persuaded Cesar da Costa
e Silva, then president of ABES, of the merits of a multistakeholder process, the two worked
together to contact all the relevant stakeholders at the Congress to convene an informal meeting.
At this meeting, The Water Dialogues presented its global scoping study. Participants then
declared their interest and arranged another meeting to discuss the project further.
"Personally I felt a sense of relief when we were presented with the concept of all sitting at the
same table and discussing matters together, rather than constantly having to defend our positions
against each other in public." (Brazilian Working Group member)
It is worth noting that this happened independently and in advance of the Berlin meeting that
formally gave a mandate for the project to go ahead. At the time, critics saw Antonio and his
organisation ASSAMAE as having a radical, left wing position on water service management,
which meant that there was some initial suspicion among people about the motives behind
the initiative. Simultaneously, Antonio also faced suspicions from the left. "I have taken a big
personal risk. If the process is unsuccessful, I could lose the respect of an important part of my
constituency, civil society groups and my work colleagues in the municipal water sector."
The second meeting of the Brazilian Water Dialogues, with some additional stakeholders present,
took place a few weeks after the ABES Congress. Once again, the global scoping study was
explained, and everyone present agreed to take part in the process. Each organisation nominated
two permanent representatives, which meant that if one person was unavailable the other could
be present at meetings, thus ensuring consistency.
The group agreed to be open to representatives from all stakeholders. Between 2003 and 2004,
the NWG discussed the wider participation of groups for the next phase of the project. A list of
potential invitees was prepared and approved by the whole group and invitations were sent to
representatives from public and private operators, regulatory bodies, professional and academic
associations, trade unions, NGOs, consumers and government
4.3	Community participation issues
If the multistakeholder process is taking place at
national, regional or international level, it may be Definition: community
difficult to find ways to involve ordinary members of There is a great deal of debate about what
the communities affected by the issue, unless there constitutes a "community". Here the term is
are grassroots networks or movements that can used simply to refer to the ordinary citizens
represent the perspectives of whole communities. and groups who collectively make up the social
Nevertheless, for almost all issues it is important to groupings in a locality. It is not meant to imply
find a way of hearing what ordinary women and men a sense of social cohesion or identity between
have to say. For The Water Dialogues, this has not different individuals and groups, although this
always been easy to achieve although all national may exist.
Dialogues have made efforts to ensure the process
reflects the experience of poor people. This may be
done via public hearings, holding special meetings with a variety of communities or, if primary research is being
undertaken, through participatory research methodologies.
Bringing community members into a dialogue with policymakers, service providers and others involved
in the issue whose activities have a direct impact on them, can have positive outcomes in terms of shared
understanding and improved accountability and governance.
➜➜Bringing communities and policymakers together: What The Water Dialogues Did
As part of the South Africa Dialogue, participatory research was carried out to assess the water and
sanitation service provision in a community in iLembe municipality in KwaZulu-Natal province. This
included a field visit by Dialogues members. Through discussions prompted by this visit, council and
private sector concession staff identified grey areas in the service contract where national and local policy
was unclear and responsibility was not assigned. This helped to clear the way to resolving some problems
that have affected residents for some time. A local councillor attributed the action to the influence of NWG
members. "Thanks for your visit to Nkobongo. It has made a positive improvement because iLembe District
Municipality is now attending to the issue of sanitation here." Councillor Sibangeni
5	Section Five
Resourcing Multistakeholder Processes
Fundraising can be a challenge for multistakeholder groups. Given the lengthy
gap between submitting proposals and actually receiving funds, there is pressure
to begin fundraising as soon as possible. However, this requires decisions. Not
only about the exact nature and costs of the group's work programme but also
about the donors to approach, where to hold funds and who will be responsible
for financial accounting. All of these issues take time to resolve. Furthermore,
locating an acceptable donor that is willing to take the risk of funding an
innovative and unusual project is not easy.
5.1	Are external resources necessary?
"MSPs are expensive and need a solid, well-prepared funding base to function properly and according to the
ideals of inclusiveness, equity and transparency."28
At the start of the process, when a small group of stakeholders is developing ideas, it is usually possible to
manage without any funding because each stakeholder can take turns in hosting meetings, producing minutes,
providing copies of papers and so on. "During the First Meeting, members decided to share responsibility for
hosting the meetings, covering costs of the meetings themselves, but not transportation." (South Africa Working
Group member)
While small donations by multistakeholder group members, say, for basic office services or meeting rooms is
not controversial, receiving large amounts of funding from any single group member must be approached with
caution and should not happen without the explicit approval of all members. Taking this precaution helps to
ensure that other members and external observers do not misconstrue a donation as an attempt to dominate or
hijack the group. It is also important to ensure that members do not resent others who choose not to contribute,
despite having the resources to do so. "Resource pooling has been discussed (each member contributing some
money to the project) but this isn't possible for all members; outside funding will be required." (Indonesia
Generally, once a multistakeholder process wishes to develop its activities and hire a secretariat or coordinator,
undertake research, convene public hearings or arrange meetings with large numbers of stakeholders, it will be
necessary to raise funds from external sources. The only exception to this rule is where the process has attached
itself to an existing initiative or organisation and can use their resources or piggyback onto its host's events.29
5.2	When should fundraising begin?
The need to get funding in place as soon as possible – so as to maintain the momentum of the process – is at
odds with the practical impossibility of preparing long-term funding proposals before the group has actually
formulated and agreed the details of its activities. Furthermore, there is a need to "find the right balance
between securing funds to enable the process to move faster, but not skimping on the time required to establish
the commitment and trust of the group." (International Working Group)
One solution to this problem is to opt for "seed" funding. In multi-locational processes, it may be that a central
secretariat can raise these funds on behalf of the groups involved. But as the amounts needed are relatively
small, it is also possible for groups to approach local donors to access these "start-up" funds.
Note that the time and challenges involved in fundraising may frustrate some group members who want to get
on and address the substance of their work rather than "waste" time on such matters.
Nevertheless, there are some unexpected benefits. Working together on fundraising can be an important
element in establishing the commitment of the group: "The usefulness of not immediately securing funding is
that people show commitment that they have to do the work." (South African Working Group member)
28	Hemmati, M., 2001
29	Coulby, H., The Philippines Water Dialogues 2004 - 2008: a case study in flexible approaches to multistakeholder
work, The Water Dialogues, May 2009, www.waterdialogues.org
➜➜Fundraising:
•	Fundraising takes a significant amount of time and effort even after the project's design has
been discussed and agreed. Proposal documents and budgets must be prepared, donors
contacted and met and negotiations regarding the final details of grants conducted.
•	There often is a significant interval between a proposal being approved and money arriving.
•	It is advisable to establish a small fundraising subgroup to lead the process. Ideally, members
of the subgroup should have previous experience of fundraising.
•	The subgroup must report regularly to the full group to ensure that all members are in
agreement with the overall strategy.
•	When preparing proposals and budgets remember to calculate a value for the voluntary time
that members of the group will contribute, as well as other contributions they will make in cash
or kind.
•	If possible, the content of the draft fundraising proposal, including the activities proposed,
should be read, discussed and agreed by the full group.
•	Taking a group of different stakeholders to meet a donor (for example a mix of government,
private sector and NGO members), is more convincing than one stakeholder going alone.
•	Think carefully about which members would be the most appropriate in liaising with specific
donors. Key criteria for making this decision include being known to the donor and having
the ability to explain with conviction the purpose of the process and its anticipated outputs
and outcomes.
•	Despite the frustrations, shared responsibility for raising resources builds relationships and
increases commitment to the process among group members.
•	Developing a fundraising proposal and receiving funds to carry out the project can result
in objectives and activities being set in stone when, by their very nature, multistakeholder
processes tend to develop in exciting but unpredictable ways. For this reason, when writing
proposals it is sensible to create flexibility wherever possible and avoid being too prescriptive
regarding activities and timetables.
➜➜Central fundraising for multi-locational processes:
At the start of the process, GTZ were the major donor of seed money. Their funding covered the
costs of a scoping study and most of the costs for the large stakeholder meeting that made the
decision for the Dialogues to begin.
GTZ also donated funds for the following year alongside money provided by two members of the
International Working Group (IWG), Thames Water and WaterAid. GTZ worked closely with the
IWG and the newly formed International Secretariat to raise a large grant from DFID, the UK's
Department for International Development.
During the preparation of the DFID funding proposal, the International Secretariat and the IWG
had to decide whether they should include a request for seed money to assist newly formed
National Working Groups (NWGs) and if so, what level of seed funding would be appropriate.
Considerations included:
•	providing too much funding at an early stage might tempt the NWGs to embark on activities
before having built the necessary confidence and trust between members required for their
work to be successful
•	the knowledge that the international level of the project would be funding autonomous groups
over which they had no authority or control despite being responsible to donors for accounting
and reporting on how the funds were spent.
•	not wanting NWGs to become dependent on the international level
•	giving seed funds could be misinterpreted by NWGs as a sign that the IWG was trying to gain
some control over them.
On the other hand, the International Secretariat was keen to have paid coordinators in place
at national level to relieve the pressure on busy members of NWGs, especially the "champions"
of the process who were driving it forward.
After much thought and discussion, the IWG decided that seed funding should be small and
its distribution based on specific needs identified by NWGs.
5.3	Where will funds be held?
Deciding on an institutional home for accounting, financial reporting, and holding funds is a necessary
precursor to fundraising but may require intensive discussion between multistakeholder group members.
One option is for the group to register itself as a charity or NGO and open its own bank account. But this is a
time consuming and, in some countries, a costly process that may not seem worthwhile for what is a temporary,
medium term initiative.
The alternative is to find an organisation willing to take the role of financial host. This could be the organisation
of a trusted group member, or a known organisation standing outside the process. This may not be a simple
decision as the proposed financial host must be acceptable to all group members. At the same time, it must be
acceptable to potential donors, and these potential donors must be acceptable to the organisation.
One issue is the charge the financial host will levy for its services. Ideally, this should be a small fixed amount,
rather than a percentage of the funds raised as this is more likely to reflect the actual costs of the work needed.
➜➜Holding funds: What The Water Dialogues Did
At international level, WaterAid, UK acts as the financial host to the project.
In South Africa, funds are held by the Environmental Monitoring Group (EMG), which has a member on both
the National and International Working Groups.
The situation in the Philippines mirrors that in South Africa. Streams of Knowledge, which has a member on
both the NWG and IWG handles funds.
In Brazil, the Dialogues are funded via a loan to the Brazilian Government from the World Bank with the
money held by a government department.
In Indonesia, funds are held by FORKAMI, a respected "neutral" NGO, under a Memorandum of
Understanding with the NWG.
After unsuccessful negotiations with potential hosts, the Ugandan Dialogues decided to register as an
independent NGO and set up their own bank account.
5.4	Who will be Responsible for Financial Accounting?
Financial accounting: What the South Africa Water Dialogues did
In South Africa, the role of the financial host, EMG, has been spelled out in a written agreement. EMG has
a person on the management committee of the NWG, as an accounting agent, plus a staff member on the
NWG itself who provides a civil society perspective.
The ultimate and formal responsibility for funds always lies with the governing body of the process. Where
the governing body and the working group are the same thing, members should be made aware of their
responsibilities prior to fundraising. It is essential that members of the governing body take seriously their
collective responsibility in relation to the funds they receive.
While someone employed directly by the working
group may (together with the financial host), TIP Transparency in financial transactions will
take day-to-day responsibility for dealing with prevent money becoming a source of discord.
invoices, payments and bookkeeping, etc.., the Transparency regarding payments to members
overall responsibility for financial management or the group for services provided or expenses
lies with the governing body. It is important incurred is especially important. Being able to
that multistakeholder groups ensure that good present accounts to outside observers, if requested
accounting practices are followed. This requires to so, will give the process credibility.
scrutiny of accounts and supervision of staff to
ensure they manage finances in the best interests
of the project. Some of this responsibility could be delegated to a treasurer or finance subgroup chosen from
members of the governing body, but this does not negate the need for the whole group to review budgets,
expenditure, and financial accounting at regular intervals.
5.5	Deciding on donors
In a multistakeholder group, determining which donors are suitable may provoke vigorous debate. Some
stakeholders may have strong negative views about specific donors due to their links to a particular perspective
or because critics see their past work on the issue as having had a detrimental impact. Others may either
support the view and activities of specific donors or take a more pragmatic view and feel that the most
important criteria for acceptability is that no unhelpful conditions are attached to grants.
All multistakeholder groups working on contentious issues will have to grapple with the problem of finding
"neutral" donors who are willing to support their processes without setting difficult conditions or interfering
in the design of the project.
5.6	Tensions between being a process and a project
"There is a tension between being a project, which becomes concrete and time-bound when you have funding,
and being a dialogue which is an organic process that cannot be rushed." (International Secretariat member)
The question of the speed at which a multistakeholder process progresses towards its goals can be a source of
tension, not only between the project and its donors, but also between the participating stakeholders. This is
true for both single location projects and multi-locational projects.
Raising funds for multistakeholder processes usually involves preparing fundraising proposals that have to set
out a timetable for the work. Most donors are accustomed to funding projects, not processes. They expect grant
proposals to include a precise set of activities, a fixed timeframe, and clearly identified and tangible activities,
outputs and outcomes. This is not easy to deliver for multistakeholder processes which are characterised by
unpredictability and are likely to adapt their focus and activities to match changes in the local context or to
meet the needs of their members. This will be especially true of dialogue processes and those focused on
contentious issues. As a result, they are almost impossible to timetable. In addition, while the focus on final
outcomes usually remains the same, group members may change their activities and outputs as the process
progresses.
Tensions arise because participants struggle to balance the need to do what they said in their project proposals
with the realities of managing a complex process that by its nature must respond to the changing needs and
wishes of its participants. This tension can be particularly stressful for those tasked with reporting to donors.
The challenge is amplified by the difficulties in describing and quantifying progress to donors. For many
months at the early stages of the process, progress is all about building relationships and identifying priorities
for future work. While transformations in attitudes can be seen to be taking place, these are not easy to
quantify. Furthermore, at this stage, members of a multistakeholder group may be reluctant to admit that their
attitudes have changed, let alone report such observations to donors. "It is said that National Working Groups
find it difficult to identify tangible achievements, yet achievements do emerge from stakeholder reflections,
updates and interviews. Each country has developed a process unique to their situation and achieved a number
of things ranging from shifts in personal attitudes, relationships, capacity and understanding to some shifts in
the national policy space and discourse on water and sanitation."30
30	Chapman. J, and Mancini, A, 2009, The Water Dialogues: the story of an international dialogue, The Water Dialogues,
www.waterdialogues.org
➜➜Deciding on donors:
In The Water Dialogues national groups, ideological discussions and arguments about which
donors were suitable mirrored the fault lines in the debate over PSP, with some group members
fiercely opposed to receiving funds from the World Bank or its regional offshoots because these
institutions were actively promoting PSP.
"One member is unable to accept funds from either the World Bank or the Asian Development
Bank for ethical reasons. Because at the time most of the bilateral donors were channelling
their money through a trust fund managed by the World Bank, this placed severe restrictions on
the sources of funding. Some members were frustrated with this position because they didn't
understand it. The member who was rejecting funds from the ADB and World bank offered to
resign 'if taking part in the group will limit its funding opportunities.' However, the group decided
that their participation was more important and that alternative sources of funding could be
found." (Indonesia Working Group member)
There were also concerns that donors might impose unacceptable criteria on group activities or
research. In Brazil, the national group was at ease about receiving a grant from the Government
of Brazil funded by a loan from the World Bank but disturbed when Bank staff wanted them to
make changes to their research methodology. After a meeting between World Bank staff and
the National Working Group (NWG), the Bank agreed that the group should proceed with their
research as originally planned.
In South Africa, having approached the national office of the UK's Department for International
Development (DFID) for funding, the NWG eventually decided that it would not be possible to
accept its funds. These came with two conditions that didn't fit well with a multistakeholder
process. Firstly, the funding contract would be with a large firm of accountants rather than DFID
itself. Secondly, open tender would be used to recruit staff to coordinate the Dialogues and
manage the research. The appointment would therefore not be in the sole hands of the NWG.
While recognising DFID had a rationale for contracting out grant management and promoting
transparent tendering processes, the NWG was disappointed that there was little flexibility in
adapting these protocols in the face of a novel type of project. In the event, the NWG received
funding for its work from IrishAid whose rules grant-making protocol, although thorough were
more accommodating.
➜➜Reporting to donors:
The International Secretariat had the responsibility of managing the natural tension between
an open-ended, unpredictable, non-linear dialogue process and donor expectations for clarity
around project timeframes and deliverables in relation to seed funding and funding international
meetings and events.
Aware that "results" from the Dialogues would take time, the International Secretariat wanted to
create realistic expectations for what donors could expect from the process and when.
•	In the first phase of the project, progress reports to donors would describe and catalogue the
creation of groups and their initial activities
•	The next phase would focus on alterations in group dynamics; the impact these changes were
having on how the issue was being discussed; and any differences in how participants are
interacting and behaving outside the realm of the process
•	The later stages of the project would feature the development of research activities and any
interim changes of policy and practice resulting from multistakeholder engagement
•	The final outputs and outcomes from the Dialogues would be delivered only at the very end
of the project.
To be able to do this, the International Secretariat started gathering information on process early
on and wrote quarterly reports on activities and changes for each national dialogue.
The Dialogues were fortunate that its major donors – DFID, GTZ, WaterAid and Thames Water –
understood the importance of process in such an initiative and took a sympathetic approach to
delays to, and changes in, delivery of project outputs.
6	Section Six:
Supporting The Process –
Secretariats, Coordinators And Consultants
"The International Secretariat was a very important requirement as we thought
it would drive us all crazy if we had to manage the process ourselves. None of us
had enough time to give to the process. So it was very important that someone
coordinated all the activities." (International Working Group [IWG] member)
6.1	Why have a coordinator or secretariat?
One of the strongest recommendations for a successful multistakeholder process from participants in The Water
Dialogues is to have a coordinator to support the working group. This should be a priority as soon as the group
is formed.
Having a coordinator or manager is best practice for any project but may be resisted by multistakeholder
groups either because they would like to keep the initiative completely voluntary, or because they do
not want anyone to disrupt the sensitive relationships between group members. However, the need
for dedicated staff time arises because members of multistakeholder working groups usually have very
demanding jobs and, regardless of their commitment to the process, have little time available for things
like organising meetings, fundraising, reporting on meetings, maintaining accounts, coordinating and
managing research or doing advocacy and communications work. Having a small secretariat to take on
these roles enables multistakeholder group members to devote their energies to making strategic decisions
and dialoguing on substantive issues. In multi-locational processes, each participating unit may have its
own secretariat/coordinating office.
This does not mean spending large amounts of money setting up a new, independent physical space.
Often consultants will be able and willing to work from their own homes or offices. Alternatively, it may be
possible for one of the working group member's organisations to provide desk space for the secretariat.
6.2	Things to consider when establishing a secretariat
"There is tension between the coordination person/office taking on a leadership role, seeing the big picture,
and giving people the space to be self-directing. How far does the coordinator lead and how much do they
facilitate and help build capacity? The tension between the two is real and continuous, and in many ways is
the nature of the job."31
Paid coordinators and secretariat personnel can give far more time to the process than voluntary members
of multistakeholder groups can. This means they develop a more comprehensive understanding of the whole
process than is possible for most working group members. To prevent this becoming a problem, it is necessary
for coordinators to:
•	find a balance between leading and adding value to the work on the one hand and facilitating and
enabling it on the other, so that the process does not lose its multistakeholder character
•	have clearly defined and limited parameters for taking autonomous decisions and when in doubt always
refer decisions to the whole group or its relevant sub-groups.
•	avoid a situation where members feel a decreasing need to be closely involved with the process, because
they trust the coordinator/secretariat. Ensuring that all major decisions are referred to group members,
and there is regular written and oral communication with members to discuss issues as they arise, will
help to prevent this problem.
Complete transparency on the part of the secretariats is vital to maintain trust. Information flows should not
be limited in any way.
If a secretariat or coordination office becomes too "institutionalised" and does an increasing amount of the
work itself, then costs will begin to rise. It is preferable to keep these functions small and allow maximum
participation by all members of the process at minimal cost.
31	(Action Research Group 4 Notes 2001) quoted in Church, M. at al, 2002
➜➜The value of a central secretariat
in multi-locational processes:
According to National Working Groups (NWGs) having a central (international) secretariat is
useful because:
•	National processes are more vulnerable and fragile without the presence of an external,
international secretariat that provides practical assistance and methodological support.
•	If there is no international secretariat, national Dialogues run the risk of their "safe space"
for policy debate being eroded. Having an international element to the project-in this case
an International Secretariat and Governing Body - was important in ensuring the legitimacy
and independence of the national Dialogues.
•	Without deliberate efforts to link participating dialogues and bring them together to share
their experiences and findings, the overall quality of these processes will be severely
diminished. Domestic policy recommendations will be weakened if they are not informed
by international comparisons.
•	Without financial and practical support to facilitate access for national groups to the
international policy community, it is unlikely that individual country dialogues would be able
to have a significant impact on global debates, policy-making and practice.
Active supervision by members of governing bodies is necessary to ensure the work of staff and consultants
reflects agreed plans, that finances are well managed, and work is of a sufficiently high quality. An effective
way to ensure personnel are properly supervised is to create a management subgroup that can:
•	keep monitoring the work of secretariat and maintain regular two-way communication – both verbal
and written
•	be available to discuss issues of concern or brainstorm new ideas
•	provide clarity on who can make which decisions, and when default decisions are acceptable
•	meet with staff or consultants to provide personal support and guidance
For secretariats and coordinating offices, one of the consequences of being a small, impermanent entity with
either a small office, or no office at all, is that personnel can feel isolated. For this reason, having a dispersed
team is not recommended.
6.3	Challenges for secretariats and coordinators
Except in cases where a multistakeholder process is closely attached to an existing organisation, when
coordinators are recruited, they should expect to have to establish the unit, or virtual office. This requires
creating from scratch all the necessary personnel, financial and reporting systems. Given the time constraints
on multistakeholder groups, they may also need to draft their own roles and responsibilities, and those of
governing bodies. In addition, if the "project" has not been fully conceptualised or elaborated they will need to
develop options for how to proceed in order to achieve the project's objectives, and bring stakeholders together
to make decisions about this.
In all multistakeholder processes, staff and consultants will report to governing boards whose members come
from a variety of perspectives and organisational cultures and may be from different cultural backgrounds and/
or be dispersed. Furthermore, members may have very different priorities and approaches in terms of both
process and substantive issues. Most importantly, for all members the multistakeholder process is only one
of many priorities and responsibilities they have.
Given the major roles they play in fundraising and reporting to donors, coordinators and secretariats will
feel responsible for delivering the activities and outcomes detailed in funding proposals. However, they are
dependent on the performance of the multistakeholder group over which they have no authority beyond their
personal ability to persuade and motivate.
Since the work of secretariats is focussed exclusively on the multistakeholder process, they are privileged by
their detailed and comprehensive view of the process, which enables them to learn quickly about what seems
to work. But as they have no authority and rely only on powers of persuasion, their recommendations may be
ignored. When things go wrong, this can be frustrating.32 Of course, this is something also experienced by
individual members of multistakeholder groups and being able to recover from difficulties is all part of having
a successful dialogue. Also, it occasionally happens that past practice is not a predictor of future outcomes,
and paths that were difficult for one group turn out to be a successful way forward for others.
32	Secretariats of multi-locational processes are likely to be particularly vulnerable to this problem.
➜➜The role of an International Secretariat:
At international level, the project's secretariat serves both the International Working Group
and National Working Groups. Together these groups identified the following areas of
necessary support:
•	support in establishing governance structures, financial and project management systems
and with the recruitment of staff
•	assistance with national and international level fundraising, including preparing proposals
and donor liaison
•	guidance and support in relation to overall strategy development and the intellectual
framework for their activities
•	assistance with monitoring and evaluation
•	support to resolve conflicts and encouragement
•	advice and guidance on research methodologies and assistance and encouragement in
seeking comparability in ToRs between countries
•	establishment of a framework for academic and peer review of research proposals
and outputs within and between national dialogues and at international level, including
organising communication between NWGs and an International Academic Panel*
•	analysis of the overall conclusions and recommendations from the research carried
out by national dialogues highlighting the differences, commonalities and points
of interest from the research for NWGs and the IWG
•	preparation of an overview report that summarises the conclusions and recommendations
from national level research carried out by NWGs
•	assistance with editing and writing of research documents
•	preparing summaries of research and assessment methodologies (financial, technical,
institutional and socio-political analysis)
•	providing updates on trends among key international actors and policymakers in the sector
* For further information on academic panels see Section 9.7
…/continued
What The Water Dialogues Did (continued…)
Communications, Learning and Advocacy
•	help with developing national and international advocacy and communication strategies
•	maintenance of the project website, in liaison with NWGs and provision of regular updates
to sector stakeholders
•	management and promotion of communication, learning and exchange between the
national dialogues
•	promotion of the outputs and outcomes from national level dialogues with international
•	dissemination of research and process findings to a broad range of international sector actors
Process Recording
•	assistance with recording the methods and processes used to start and maintain
multistakeholder dialogues at national and international levels, internal dissemination
of the lessons learned
•	production of a guide to conducting multistakeholder dialogues and advocating and
disseminating the lessons learned
•	advice to countries that are interested in setting up similar dialogues
•	overall coordination and supervision of the dialogues
•	action to ensure project principles are followed in all national dialogues and political
independence, accountability and transparency are maintained
•	operational responsibility for the financial management of international secretariat funds
and for timely and accurate reporting to donors and provision of management and financial
information to IWG members
•	to continue activities during periods of tension
➜➜Challenges for International Secretariats:
Secretariats should not assume that, because the representatives from participating groups
on the governing body understand the secretariat's role, everyone else involved in the
multistakeholder process does too. Instead, it is helpful to inform each member of participating
groups of the secretariat's role and responsibilities.
Any residual confusion between the roles of the secretariat and, for example, an international
governing body should be resolved on a case-by-case basis.
At the start of a process, almost every aspect of work done by a coordinator or international
secretariat is likely to be questioned by someone, even if a "collective decision" has been made.
As work progresses and trust develops between the secretariat and members of the process,
questioning decreases; but it never stops completely. Retrospective questioning of agreed
approaches and activities should be anticipated. This is all part of a healthy multistakeholder
process, so secretariats and coordinators should not feel frustrated.
It is hard to establish strong relationships across countries and cultures only using emails.
Meeting members of groups operating at distance is very important in establishing mutual
confidence and trust. "There is an openness and willingness within the Indonesia group because
I was there and met with people and could provide support to them in a very immediate way.
It think it probably saved six months of relationship building time if that had to happen at long
distance. Going there, meeting people, understanding what they have to address and face - this all
helps to generate different perspectives on the relationship." (International Secretariat member)
Because different countries may begin work at different times, everyone will have a slightly
different understanding of the project. International secretariats and coordinators may find that
some national groups want more support than others. It is sensible to give individual support to
those that want it, while involving others in larger substance or methodology focused activities.
Where most communication with a dispersed governing body is by email, unless correspondence
is acknowledged, it will not be clear whether it has been read. This means that the secretariat
cannot be sure if members are actively engaged in decision-making.
Establishing a "default decision-making" policy, whereby no response indicates approval, allows
work to progress but default protocols should never be used for significant decisions, as this
will disempower the group. It is better to take time, send reminders and contact members by
telephone to give them every opportunity to be involved in the decision.
The use of new, computer-based telephone technologies like Skype, now make frequent long-
distance calls and teleconferences an affordable option.
7	Section Seven
Building And Sustaining
Multistakeholder Processes
7.1	Building Trust and Creating a Safe Space for Dialogue
"In an organisation of peers, trust is the key. It takes a long time to build trust,
and it has to have a component of personal contact. But once built it operates
like strong glue. It's a very big thing to lose, once you have it you don't want
to break it."33
For multistakeholder groups, establishing constructive working relationships takes time and cannot be rushed.
If a group is addressing an emotive issue or one where views are polarised, building mutual respect and trust
may take many months, depending on the frequency of its meetings. The time invested in building strong
relationships is worthwhile because without building solid foundations, maintaining momentum and the
continued commitment of working group members will be difficult.
For any sense of collective responsibility to emerge within a multistakeholder group, ensuring that every
member is fully informed, and has a chance to have a say before a decision is taken, is crucial.
Nevertheless, it is important to find the right balance between time spent in building the trust between group
members and time devoted to addressing the substantive issue so as to avoid frustration among the more
task-oriented group members.
As noted in Section Four, consistency of
personnel is a critical factor in developing TIPS
confidence in stakeholder groups. "Personal In the early stages, it is dangerous to hurry
relations make or break the work. In an the process as this can result in collapse.
environment where there is no hierarchy, if you "It's important not to rush any of those processes
don't get on, individuals' attitudes to authority, and be open to re-opening (previously) agreed
leadership, and conflict can begin to paralyse positions and discussions." (South African
effective networked relationships."34 Working Group member)
The individual is the primary agent in the In particular, all members of the group must
relationships needed to sustain a multistakeholder have the space to understand and reflect on
process, so when individuals change or leave, these the issues raised and, where possible, reach
relationships must be built anew. agreement, before moving on. "Resist the urge
Spending time discussing codes of conduct or to take decisions quickly in order to hasten the
confidentiality agreements, developing and Dialogue process. If members feel pressurised
agreeing fundraising proposals, creating job to take decisions quickly, the Dialogue process
descriptions and other project management itself will be jeopardised. (Indonesia Working
activities may seem mundane but allows group Group member)
members from different perspectives and working
cultures to learn how to dialogue with one
another. In this sense, these tasks can be a rehearsal process for when the "real" dialogue begins.
33	Interview quoted in Church, M. et al, 2002
34	Church, M., et al, 2002
Focus On The Benefits Of Dialogue
•	The dialogue process is about learning to listen to others' views and perspectives and creating spaces
in which all views can be expressed without restriction and without participants compromising their
values or positions.
•	Dialogue is also about knowledge transfer that will enable participants to gain insights into other
sectors and others' experiences. New learning is generated which in itself may shape thinking and
future actions beyond the life of the dialogue process.
•	The process has the potential to remove the barriers between previously opposed individuals and
groups, demystify them and correcting the misconceptions that surround them. Dialogue members
come to understand the limitations and challenges institutions face, and how their stakeholders
influence these obstacles.
7.1.1	Establishing the rules of engagement
Some groups find it helpful to develop a Memorandum of Understanding or a Code of Conduct detailing how the
dialogue will operate. This can help the group to understand what is expected of them in terms of commitment,
confidentiality and keeping an open mind. The exercise of developing a Code of Conduct also provides members
of the group with an opportunity to get to know one another before tackling divisive issues straight away. For
this reason, simply adopting Codes of Conduct developed by other groups is not recommended. In The Water
Dialogues' experience, it is a shortcut that does nothing to strengthen relationships in newly formed groups.
7.1.2	Techniques for Building Good Group Dynamics
Problem: Members of the Group worry that their discussions will not be confidential.
Solution: Design and agree a confidentiality agreement. Coming to an agreement regarding the confidentiality
of discussions within the working/steering group for the process is a significant aspect in building trust and
allowing free and frank discussion to take place. Each group will develop its own rules on confidentiality to suit
the issue being addressed, and the context within which it works. Agreements usually outline the extent to
which discussions within the group or documents submitted by group members, can be disclosed or quoted
to non-group members, including home organisations. Some groups may operate "Chatham House Rules",
whereby participants are free to use whatever information is disclosed in a meeting but may not reveal the
identity or affiliation of the speaker, nor that of any other participant present.
The intention of confidentiality agreements is to allow people to speak freely as individuals and to express
personal views, including those that may differ from the positions taken by their organisations. Such
agreements mean that group members can be more relaxed about what they say and not have to worry about
the implications for their jobs or reputations of being quoted publicly.
Problem: Members of the group are worried that others will dominate and hijack the agenda.
Solution: Create the right environment for meetings by convening them in spaces recognised as neutral or
rotating the venue so that each group member hosts meetings in turn. Allow all group members to input into
the agenda for meetings and to agree the final draft agenda. Choose someone to chair the meeting who is
respected by all members, or invite an external facilitator to do this. Alternatively, rotate the role of chair among
group members. At the end of every meeting, have a space where all members can give a personal evaluation of
what went well, and what did not, and how things could be improved.
Encouraging equal relations in multistakeholder groups
•	As noted in 4.1.3, creating an environment where the most powerful members of a multistakeholder
group do not dominate the discourse and decision-making is essential for success.
•	Decisions regarding which issues will be addressed, the focus of research, the selection of staff and
consultants, and which messages will be communicated to which actors, are all areas where lack of
care could result in the wishes of the less powerful being ignored.
•	A first step in addressing the perceived differences in power and knowledge between participants is
for all members of the multistakeholder group to acknowledge that inequalities exist. This sets the
scene for members to deal with them actively and creatively.
•	Coordinators, facilitators and chairpersons have a special responsibility for addressing power
imbalances and creating an atmosphere in which everyone can speak freely and have an equal
say in decisions. Note that failure to participate fully may also be a result of apathy, shyness and,
in international settings, language ability all of which are important.
•	Impartiality is necessary in coordinators, facilitators and chairpersons and they must be aware
of and work to overcome their own biases. Those who find it difficult to maintain neutrality should
avoid these roles.
•	One result of giving attention to inequalities may be the development of protocols and guidelines
for communication.* Another will be increased levels of active listening.**
•	The coordinator, facilitator or chair's conduct can also create a safe atmosphere. In addition to being
impartial, calm and adopting neutral body language, they should ensure that the physical space and
seating arrangements are conducive to open discussion.
•	In addition, each meeting should adopt ground rules before discussions begin. These should be
devised and agreed by participants and cover, for example:
›› Encouraging everyone to participate
›› Having only one person speaking at a time – no interrupting
›› Remembering everybody's ideas have merit and should be treated with respect
›› Leaving mental baggage behind
›› It is everyone's responsibility, not just the facilitator's to ensure every participant abides by the
ground rules.
* An illustration of such guidelines taken from the South African Dialogues can be found in Section 7.2
**For information on active listening see Section 7.3
➜➜Codes of Conduct:
What the Water Dialogues South Africa Did
Code of Conduct for the South African Working Group, 5th October 2005
We, the undersigned members of the South African Working Group, delegated or authorised to
represent our institutions or sectors, guiding the South Africa process of the Global Review of PSP,
undertake to abide by the following Code of Conduct for the duration of our working together on
the national process for the Global Review of PSP. We agree that the following principles will guide
our behaviour and interactions on this Working Group:
•	Openness and transparency – this means that we will clearly share our views and
positions, avoiding hidden agendas, and we will also be prepared to enter into
discussions on our positions.
•	Open minds, co-operation, and a spirit of serious inquiry – we shall be willing to explore
controversial or difficult questions with an open mind. The group will try to understand the
real issue as it is – this means that issues will be explored more deeply to try to understand
what is really happening on the ground and to understand the concerns that lie beneath
people's positions.
•	Mutual respect – we shall treat each other with mutual respect, particularly where there are
differences. Mutual respect includes the need to listen to each other, and to be willing to agree
to disagree. This also means that opinions expressed here shall not be distorted or taken out
of context in order to be used in other forums.
•	Respect for minority views – minority views should always be recorded.
•	Confidentiality – this means that discussions leading to decisions are not in the public
domain, but that the agreed minutes are in the public domain. In the case of unresolved
issues that form part of an ongoing group discussion, the group agrees to clarify what will be
reported back to sectors and what will be held over until the next meeting or conclusion of the
discussion on that particular aspect. The group will discuss further identifying a Chairperson
for the group, who could be provided with an agreed terms of reference and identified as the
spokesperson for the group.
•	Multistakeholder process – the group agrees that multistakeholder guidance of the
methodology and of the process is critical, and that a consultant-driven process must be
•	Collective interest – the group will strive to make workable solutions, and not just to protect
personal ideology.
•	Dynamic and forward-looking – the group recognises that the sector is dynamic so we have
to engage with current dynamics and dialogues, and to make sure that the review also has a
forward-looking element.
•	Approach – important elements of the approach include agreeing on working definitions;
recognising cost implications of the need to distinguish between facts and perceptions
(solid funding will be needed to get "harder facts"); and looking at what is happening
in other countries.
•	Commitment to the process – once our organisations have signed on to participate in the
review, this means that we are committed to seeing the process through to its conclusion.
The only grounds then for disengagement from the process would be if there is a substantial
deviation from what was agreed at the start. If this appears imminent, the group should be
alerted well in advance of any actual withdrawal, to allow for a process of negotiation and/or
conflict resolution to attempt to remove the need for any disengagement.
Problem: Participants stereotype people from different types of organisations, e.g. private sector people are
only interested in profit; government employees are lazy; NGO staff are impractical idealists.
Solution: It takes a conscious effort to listen through stereotypes and hear what is actually being said.
Using the active listening techniques employed by negotiators will help you engage with others without
being judgmental.
Active listening techniques: a brief introduction
•	Listen for the whole message by paying attention to body language, feelings, and the meaning of what
is said and what is not said.
•	Give the speaker your undivided attention, and acknowledge the message. Recognise that non-verbal
communication also "speaks" loudly.
•	Put aside distracting thoughts.
•	Don't mentally prepare a rebuttal! We can listen three to five times faster than someone can talk.
This means we tend to predict what they will say and mentally engage in developing responses
rather than listening to what is actually said.
Show that you are listening
•	Use your own body language and gestures to convey your attention.
Defer judgment
•	Allow the speaker to finish. Interrupting is a waste of time. It frustrates the speaker and limits full
understanding of the message.
•	Do not prejudge people because of previous history, dress, accent or other irrelevant
characteristics.
•	Don't interrupt with counter arguments.
Clarify and ask questions
•	Our personal filters, assumptions, judgments, and beliefs can distort what we hear.
•	Ask questions to clarify certain points. "What do you mean when you say…?" "Is this what you mean?"
•	Use short, open questions prefaced by why, where, who, what, how - to dig deeper into issues.
Paraphrase and summarise
•	Give a review or summary of what you heard to check that your understanding is accurate; i.e. repeat in
your own words what the other person has said.
Respond appropriately
•	Be candid, open, and honest in your response.
•	Assert your opinions respectfully.
•	Treat the other person as you would like to be treated.
Adapted from Kent, J., and Touwen, A.,2001
Problem: During the confidence building stage of a multistakeholder process, those members who are on the
weak side in asymmetrical power relationships (or those who are by their nature diffident) may be afraid to
speak out in case their contributions are criticized.
Solution: It is essential to invite these people to say what they think and accord them respect when they speak.
As group members learn to separate the professional from the personal and their ideologies from their technical
knowledge, it becomes easier to have free and frank discussions. Until this stage is reached, all group members
should pay attention to, and openly discuss, the styles of communication in use. Chairs or facilitators should
identify and stop instances of aggressive and passive-aggressive behaviour when they occur and encourage
everyone to communicate assertively for the benefit of the whole group.
•	Do not allow cynics, or people who regularly argue that previous experience means what's being
proposed will not work, to dominate discussions. Thank them for their contribution but note that,
e.g. a change in the context, or the new approach to be adopted to the proposal will alter the outcomes.
•	Manage the behaviour of people who talk all the time by acknowledging that they have valuable
contributions to make but that it would be good to hear from some of the quieter participants.
•	Make sure that quieter people are encouraged to speak by asking for their thoughts on the issue.
•	Monitor people trying to impose a single solution and ensure everyone is asked to contribute their ideas.
•	If people deviate from the agenda, recognise their contribution but ask for their opinion on the specific
issue under discussion.
7.1.3	Three Steps to Assertive Communication
•	Describe the situation or idea as clearly and specifically as you can.
•	Express how you feel about the situation. Note: use "I" or "my" statements, not accusative "you"
statements to refer to how you are thinking and feeling.
•	Specify what you want. Include a specific deadline.
Styles of communication
Passive behaviour means allowing others to decide what will happen to us, our project, and so on.
Passive behaviour is revealed when we:
•	Don't participate or share our thoughts and ideas.
•	Keep our voice low and/or avoid eye contact; or avoid calling attention to ourselves.
•	Verbally agree with others despite our real feelings.
•	Bring harm or inconvenience to ourselves to avoid harming or inconveniencing others.
•	Consider ourselves less knowledgeable or capable than others.
•	Always stick to the middle-of-the-road and refrain from taking a stand.
Aggressive behaviour essentially is the complete opposite of passive behaviour and is revealed when we:
•	Interrupt others when they are speaking.
•	Try to impose our position on others.
•	Make decisions for others.
•	Accuse, blame and find fault with others without regard for their feelings.
•	Bring harm or cause inconvenience to others rather than to ourselves.
•	Consider ourselves stronger and more capable than others.
•	Accept responsibility and positions of authority in order to manipulate or influence others.
Styles of communication (continued…)
Passive aggressive communication
Passive-aggressive behaviour is a combination of the two previous behaviours. It is revealed when we:
•	Refuse to participate and share thoughts when it is appropriate, for example during a meeting, but then
become vocal with one or two people or in a back room when the issue can no longer be addressed.
•	Deny people an opportunity to deal with dissent – by not expressing our opinions openly.
•	Whisper or exclude some people from hearing your point of view.
•	Make side comments that not everyone can hear and no one can respond to because the comments
were not addressed to the entire group.
Assertive behaviour, in contrast, is self-enhancing because it shows a positive firmness. Assertive
behaviour is revealed when we:
•	Allow others to complete their thoughts before we speak.
•	Stand up for the position that matches our feelings or the evidence.
•	Make our own decisions based on what we think is right.
•	Face problems and decisions squarely.
•	Consider ourselves strong and capable, but generally equal to other people.
•	Face responsibility with respect to our situation and our own and others' needs and rights.
7.2	Decision-making in multistakeholder groups
"In multistakeholder work, practically everything is contestable and contested, including the way in which
the work should be organised and governed." (International Secretariat member)
In multistakeholder processes, individuals' values and beliefs often are in conflict with those of others,
yet if they are to be able to reach shared recommendations, they need to achieve "an aggregation of
individual interests, or judgements, or well-beings, into some notion of social welfare, social judgement."35
7.2.1	Choosing decision-making methods
Ideally, you should use a variety of tools when selecting the best solutions to problems, generating full
participation and allowing debate to happen. The guiding principles for selecting an appropriate decision-
making process should be its flexibility and fitness for purpose.
Some participants may favour voting on decisions. Regardless of its value and outcomes in other circumstances,
this type of governance is not recommended for multistakeholder processes. Majority voting is not a helpful
way of resolving disputes in a multistakeholder setting. It is a way of imposing the views of the majority on the
minority, leaving minority stakeholders disempowered, angry or silent.
Likewise, although achieving consensus may be something to aspire to, as detailed in Section 7.2.2 below,
it is not a helpful way to proceed in terms of multistakeholder work. Instead, collective decision-making may
be preferable.
Consensus Collective Decision Making
Encourages lowest-common-denominator solutions Encourages the free exchange of conflicting views,
which offend no one which excites everyone
Tends to stick with the familiar and stifle provocative Explores the unfamiliar and stimulates provocative
debate debate
"Can't we all agree" approach "Promote diversity" approach
Watered-down solutions Innovative solutions
Keep your real opinions to yourself Express your real opinions
Adapted from Surowiecki, J.36
35	Amartya K Sen, 1984, Collective Choice and Social Welfare, Elsevier Science Publishing Company, UK ISBN 0-444-
36	Surowiecki, J., The Wisdom of Crowds, Anchor, reprint 2005, ISBN-13: 978-0385721707
Collective decisions cannot be made if one group has or appears to have all the power. They depend on
members of the group respecting each other's abilities and potential contributions. In a multistakeholder
processes, all members of governing bodies should be given the opportunity to contribute to the effectiveness
of each and every board meeting and any decisions made between meetings.
7.2.2	Problems with seeking consensus: a note on confrontative or mindful dialogue37
A confrontative or mindful dialogue differs from the problem solving and more reformist approaches
characterised by consensual oriented dialogue. Rather than a negotiating process, the concept is more closely
related to what in Buddhist thinking is known as loving speech and deep listening.
Confrontative dialogue is a transformative dialogue – confronting and visualizing power structures through
non-violent means. The intention is to meet "the other" with an open mind, energetically trying to understand
the logic behind the positions and pattern of actions of different actors. The aim of the confrontative dialogue
is to understand different points of views and interpretations of factual matters and thereby to become aware
of your own patterns of action and thought. By making positions and conceptions visible, the roots of different
opinions become identifiable and the attitude towards "the other" may be transformed, increasing the room
for manoeuvre regarding what is possible.
The process requires confidence building and for the parties involved to make an effort in order to understand
the motives and logic of the other partner. The objective is transforming and transcending patterns of thoughts,
not winning a discussion. If confronted too aggressively the actors will take a defensive position and the
objective of the dialogue will be lost. Paradoxically as it may seem, such confrontation is non-aggressive.
In fact, the method is some kind of a hybrid between Northern confrontative traditions and some Southern,
more consensual approaches.
Hence, the confrontative dialogue offers a possibility for the more powerless and weaker partner to join
the dialogue without fear of being co-opted into the logic and rationale of the powerful. On the contrary,
often the identity of the weaker partner is strengthened by the affirmation of the fact that the differences
could be considered legitimate. The confrontative or mindful dialogue should be understood as a method
for conversation suitable in asymmetric relations where the distance between the powerless and the
powerful is great.
This type of dialogue is a process constituted by different phases over a lengthy period. The first phase is
a question of strengthening the identity and self-respect of the weaker partner. An arena must be created
where different points of view could be formulated and further developed. As a second phase, coinciding
interests and entry points could be identified, followed by a possible third phase of more negotiating,
oriented and aiming to identify common approaches and possible measures to take.
For the method to work, four conditions are needed:
•	All parties must be aware of the aim of the dialogue: to make diverging values and interest visible and
understandable, and to illuminate political alternatives. This type of dialogue must not be confused with
more consensually oriented dialogues, where differences are suppressed or glossed over nor with a
traditional debate in which parties try to beat each other by scoring intellectual points.
•	It is important that the weaker party is allowed to have a strong role in setting the agenda.
•	The process requires a facilitator who understands both confrontative dialogue and the content and
complexity of the issues to be addressed. The facilitator should assist the participants by summarising
what has been said and illuminating diverging as well as coinciding values and interests.
•	Sufficient time is essential. Lack of time creates a debate-like atmosphere and may turn the discussion
into a fight for cheap points. The confrontative dialogue should be understood as a process over time,
which requires a series of meetings.
37	Adapted from Abrahamsson, H., 2004
➜➜Decision-making:
•	Secretariats and coordinators need to anticipate and provide to governing bodies the
information needed for effective decision-making.
•	For complex issues of substance, a "decision" does not require there to be a statement
promoting only one option. It could mean deciding and publicising the fact that there
is no agreement. Or that the group has agreed to present some options for consideration
by external audiences. However, once a decision is made, all members of the group
should take collective responsibility for it.
•	It is important to make a clear distinction between the core/working/governance body and
meetings of a less formal, wider range of stakeholders. In general, working group decision-
making meetings should only be open to non-members by specific invitation. Consistency
of personnel, especially for multistakeholder work on controversial issues, is an essential
basis for building trust and creating a safe space for discussions.
•	Open entry to meetings, rather than delivering transparency and democracy, can result in the
dialogue being subject to political manipulation by interest groups "packing" the meeting to
promote their perspective. These groups can act powerfully but without responsibility, never
having to worry about the long-term consequences of their behaviour.
7.3	Sustaining Personal and Organisational Motivation
"I was tired of empty debates and just being at corners to mark positions. The proposal of a dialogue was very
exciting for me. So it was both emotional and rational. It was good to leave preconceived ideas outside the room"
(IWG founding member)
A commitment to the dialogue and a desire to find solutions that will contribute to improving policy and practice
are the key factors motivating people to take part in multistakeholder processes. "A process like this has to work
with those who show the most commitment and are prepared to dialogue" (IWG member)
For many people, taking part in a voluntary multistakeholder process usually means adding extra
responsibility to already demanding professional lives. This means that strong personal motivation is
required to sustain participation in processes that may happen over months or years. "Although the group
is still highly motivated, the members found it difficult to take time out from their regular office work to
attend the meetings. They therefore could not remain as involved as they would have liked to be. Since most
members are in fulltime employment, their first commitment is always to their job, especially if a choice has
to be made between work commitment in the office and attending a Dialogues meeting. In order to overcome
this problem, some members began sending their own representatives to the meetings. Although this helped
the absent members to keep track of recent developments, it did not hasten the process of decision-making."
(Uganda Working Group member)
Factors that motivate stakeholders to participate include:
•	personal involvement with the issue
•	the desire to see a problem solved for the benefit of disadvantaged stakeholders and citizens
•	interest in bringing together different perspectives in order to break down barriers and demystify
opposing perspectives and ideologies
•	expectation that learning from others and sharing their own knowledge and expertise will promote
better understanding
•	a wish to promote their own views and beliefs and influence other stakeholders
•	an intellectual curiosity to understand the complexity of the issue better through hearing multiple
perspectives and new "facts"
•	a desire to influence policy and practice through the process
•	a belief that their organisation will gain recognition by being a part of the process.
Expectations regarding the factors outlined will be different for different people and organisations participating
in the dialogue. The extent to which their diverse expectations are seen to be realised is a key factor in
sustaining motivation and participation of group members.
Factors that have a negative impact on motivation include:
•	slow pace of the multistakeholder process
•	loss of momentum due to funding constraints
•	lack of buy in from key decision-makers
•	perception that the confidentiality of discussions is not respected
•	a member or group of members trying to hijack the process
•	feeling that membership or dialogue is not evenly balanced in terms of perspectives or types of
organisations involved
•	feeling that no new views or new information is being generated
•	pre-existing conflicts between members or stakeholder groups negatively affect relations within the group
•	perception that some members are more committed than others
•	feeling the contributions of some group members are not matched by those of others
•	a shift in focus away from the core issues to be addressed
•	outputs from the process such as research reports are not acceptable to all members
•	changes in personal and organisational priorities
•	overwhelming workloads in home organisations.
7.4	The Impact of Context and Culture
Each dialogue process is unique and has its own dynamic, which is influenced by the culture and context
in which it takes place. Levels of familiarity with participative forms of democracy and participative policy-
making forums and the strength of civil society will have an impact on the form of the dialogue, as will national
traditions with regard to etiquette and acceptable behaviour. Participants in multistakeholder processes must
consider the appropriate forms of dialogue to adopt given their cultural context.
➜➜Motivations for Participating in Multistakeholder Processes:
What The Water Dialogues Members Expected
•	to get a better understanding about how to move ahead and break the policy stalemate in
water service provision
•	"I expected to meet the various stakeholders involved in the water sector. Interact with them.
Share views, learn more about people's needs and expectations. That was my motivation and
my expectation from The Dialogues. Also to contribute to making service delivery better."
•	to gain an understanding of the respective positions and rights and responsibilities of the
different stakeholders
•	"We got involved because we wanted to give others the benefit of our knowledge and opinions
– it is a good opportunity to explain how things should be."
•	to generate evidence that would be useful in furthering their own policy and advocacy work
•	to demonstrate through documentation of the process that dialogue is possible and
stakeholders can work together
•	"I like the matter, the method, and am interested in the process."
•	to learn more about what was happening in other countries and at the international level.
•	to have a better grasp of how other stakeholder organisations think
•	to understand the foundations for the critique of their organisation by other actors
•	"To a certain extent it was a very basic, to get a better understanding of where the unions
and NGOs come from. To know where the real private sector critics come from, what they think,
what their impressions are, what their critique against the private sector is. What they want,
what their objectives are, about the private sector, building better relationships"
•	to build better relationships with other stakeholders
•	"Interest in the topic and the people on the IWG."
➜➜Maintaining motivation:
"Sharing roles and responsibilities among members helps to keep people involved
– every member wants to do something."
•	Pay attention to communications. Good information flow is crucial.
•	Clarify the roles that different individuals are expected to play at different stages of the
process. "Overlapping of roles and responsibilities can cause confusion or even conflict."*
•	Encourage sharing of responsibilities such as hosting meetings and planning activities.
•	"Sharing roles and responsibilities among members helps to keep people involved
•	Hold regular meetings with focused agendas that deal with substantive as well as
administrative or business issues.
•	Don't hold meetings without having a clear objective.
•	Respect differences in pace and capacities of partners. Stakeholders differ in the speed
with which they can take on board new ideas, make decisions and act.
•	Build on the interests, strengths, and capacities within the group and use these to keep
people engaged.
•	Engage stakeholders in activities that will have tangible outputs. Avoid unnecessary
bureaucracy. Bureaucracy consumes people's time and energy, and erodes the commitment
and enthusiasm of partners.
•	Create space and opportunities for each member to participate and contribute.
•	Continue the trust building activities.
•	Utilise the strengths and interests of stakeholders to find answers and solutions for
the issues that need to be resolved.
•	Encourage people to share openly their opinions about how the process is working.
•	Emphasise the contribution that each member has made to the process.
•	Identify and analyse the personal growth and development of stakeholders as a result
of being involved in the dialogue.
•	Recognise different levels of commitment and interest of members at different stages
of the dialogue.
•	Emphasise the common goal and purpose of the dialogue.
*Waters-Bayer. A. et al, 2005
7.5	Dealing with Conflict
"There has been too much politicking, too much ideology, too much stubbornness and lack of willingness
to listen. This is all very tiresome and exhausting. In addition, we have no funds for coordination, facilitation
or for research. The burden of being part of the process is too great." (Philippines Working Group member)
7.5.1	The causes of conflict
In multistakeholder processes, minor conflicts are inevitable. But if dealt with quickly they should not lead to
crises. Participants should be encouraged to share their concerns and feelings so that these do not fester below
the surface. Nevertheless, from time to time, more serious conflicts arise that can cause the process to come
to a temporary halt. This is likely to become permanent unless specific action is taken to mediate between
members of the group so that positive relationships can be re-established.
As each multistakeholder group is unique, the causes of conflict are hard to predict. Some factors that may lead
to serious conflict include:
•	behaviours that leave people feeling threatened or cause them to lose face
•	active public campaigning by one stakeholder against another
•	individuals/organisations advocate their own messages in parallel to the multistakeholder group
•	one member taking legal action against another regarding the issue
•	impatience with process and the desire for immediate results
•	breaches of confidence
•	behaving in a judgemental way and not respecting feelings.
7.5.2	Mediation in multistakeholder processes
Mediation is probably the best way to resolve conflicts in multistakeholder groups. This should be conducted
by a respected, impartial outsider. "You might think of the mediator as a referee, establishing ground rules
for effective problem-solving. Other times the mediator becomes a coach, suggesting more effective strategies
for pursuing your goal, or offering encouragement when the situation appears impossible to resolve."38
It is important to involve everyone concerned in generating solutions and deciding on
outcomes as this will increase the likelihood of reaching practical agreements that the group can own.
As in all mediation, the first step is to explore systematically the interests of each participant through one-to-
one conversations. Once this is done, it is common for the mediator to bring all the parties together or introduce
some shuttle diplomacy. The mediation process may involve one or more such meetings, depending on the
complexity and seriousness of the conflict.
38	Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, undated, Citizens Guide to the
Land Use Planning System in Ontario, http://www.mah.gov.on.ca/Page1752.aspx
➜➜Building a strong dialogue:
Make positive assumptions
•	It is normal but unhelpful to begin by presuming a great deal about both issues and other
people. It is better to assume that you have a great deal to learn about both
•	Issues are often far more complex than you may think and other people are not as simple,
thoughtless, and intransigent as they might seem!
•	When listening to the perspectives of others and/or learning more about specific issues,
try to remain open to the possibility of changing your perspective
•	Changing your perspective and understanding does not mean compromising your core values
Create a safe space
•	Recognise one another's histories and concerns and start to explore options for working together
•	Agree ground rules that provide safety for participants
•	Avoid antagonising or humiliating each other by agreeing rules for conduct, for example,
"take turns talking", "no personal attacks", "listen attentively"
•	Do not allow sustained group criticism of any specific stakeholder or his/her perspective.
Stop, summarise what has been said in terms that are not personal, invite the stakeholder
to respond
•	Remember that everyone brings passion to their work and that criticising someone's
organisation will feel as if you are criticising them
•	It is good to communicate between meetings and essential that everyone is kept in touch with
progress, whether or not they attend meetings
Avoid stereotyping
•	Try not to pre-judge what someone will say – listen carefully so that you hear what they actually
are saying
•	Find ways of expressing your thoughts that will help to prevent others from switching off
Surprise yourself and others
Deal with your feelings
•	If say, pressures of work or family have left you feeling stressed, grumpy, impatient or
exhausted, tell members of the group at the start of the meeting. This will help them to
understand your behaviour and give them the opportunity to be sympathetic
•	When you are exhausted, expect to feel the dialogue will never succeed, that it is an
impossible task, waste of time and energy. Everyone has these doubts. Wait until you
are rested before making any critical decisions
Detail, not doctrine
•	Focus on learning about the specifics rather than the generalities of the subject
•	Build a working consensus about practical steps forward for the issue rather than pursuing
discussions around more abstract worldviews
•	Explore specific options together in order to generate practical proposals
•	Devise options that satisfy the concerns and interests of all stakeholders
Lessons from The Water Dialogues (continued…)
•	Agree protocols that enable participants to indicate which parts of the dialogue are strictly
confidential and "off the record" and may not be spoken about outside the meeting
•	Agree "sign off" procedures that ensure all documents are approved by the membership
before they are made public. This means that everyone must say "yes" or "no"
•	Resist all temptations to leak information to the media or outside groups to further your cause
because, at best, this will cause serious difficulties for the group requiring major trust re-
building exercises, and at worst, will cause it to split completely
•	Funding is key to long term success – urgent work is required to agree acceptable funding
sources and prepare a funding proposal
•	Engage a coordinator/secretariat as soon as possible after starting your multistakeholder
process. This will relieve pressure on members of the group – all of whom will be busy with
their "real" jobs.
•	Success is associated with having a paid person who can organise meetings, prepare funding
and/or research proposals, prepare reports of meetings, ensure regular communication
between members, encourage participation, represent the dialogues and so on
Be realistic about progress
•	Be prepared to take small steps towards the overall goal
•	Be realistic about what you want to achieve, and think about how you can demonstrate to
others that you are being realistic
•	When there are problems in moving forward, consider new or different options that might meet
your needs as well as those of the other people
Be realistic about outcomes
•	Do not expect participants to reconcile their value systems
•	Instead, expect to explore carefully how disputes over specific options and the detailed
elements that these involve can be resolved
Reflect on the price of failure
•	A return to bilateral working or the status quo
•	No improvement in understanding what works and what doesn't, nor why or how it works
•	No consensus or reliable advice for policymakers or key actors on the advantages and
disadvantages of different options
•	Slow progress towards meeting your over-arching aims
"If you want to walk fast, walk alone.
If you want to walk far, walk together"
West African Proverb
8	Section Eight
Organising And Conducting
Multistakeholder Meetings
Bringing stakeholders together in face-to-face meetings is an essential element
in creating an environment in which open dialogue can take place. Direct
interactions between stakeholders allow mutual exploration of ideas and play
a key role in changing the way members perceive each other. Section Seven
deals with some of the elements needed to develop a safe space and ensure that
all members of the group are able to contribute on an equal basis. This Section
focuses on some basic guidelines for multistakeholder meetings, the advantages
of using a facilitator and reflections on why meeting together is so important to
Of course, many interactions between stakeholders happen outside meetings
and a large amount of the work of a multistakeholder initiative takes place
between meetings. Some of the issues involved are addresses in 8.4 at the
end of this section.
8.1	Types of multistakeholder meetings
Types of meeting include:
•	regular meetings of the working group that is steering the process – usually 10 to 15 people
•	longer workshops for planning, framing and debating the issues, developing research questions,
assessing research findings and agreeing conclusions
•	multi-locational process meetings that bring together working group members from different locations.
These may be:
•	large meetings to share progress, develop strategies and plans of 40 to 50 people
•	smaller meetings on specific topics, e.g. research methodologies of 10 to 20 people
•	meetings with a wider range of stakeholders not directly engaged in day-to-day activities to inform
them of progress, relay research findings etc... of usually 30 to 100 people.
NOTE: Roundtable and other forums for communication and advocacy involving different kinds of stakeholders
are discussed in Section Ten.
8.2	Basic guidelines for multistakeholder meetings
The normal best practice guidelines for any meeting are of increased importance for those involving multiple
stakeholders.
•	Fix a date for the meeting and inform all those who should attend
Finding a date when a group of busy people can all attend the meeting can take time. So it may be helpful to do
this at the end of each meeting, when everyone is together. If anyone is missing, it is best to gather a number
of possible options so that the final date chosen is one when this person or persons can also attend. "It is
important that everyone is active in the dialogues. If someone has missed more than one meeting, we usually
begin by asking them for dates when they will be available and then see if these suit other group members."
In Indonesia, the use of the short message service (SMS or text message) on mobile/cell phones has proven
to be a very effective, practical and cost-effective means for scheduling meetings. "A short message using cell
phones reflects urgency, and yet its level of 'disturbance' is generally considered low by the NWG members in
comparison to a conventional telephone call." (Indonesian Working Group member)
•	Choose a suitable venue
The venue for the meeting must be acceptable to all participants. Often members may offer to host meetings.
This is good but it may not be wise to use one member's venue too often, even if it is more comfortable or better
equipped than that offered by other members, in case this leads to resentments within the group. In Indonesia
and the Philippines, NWGs ensured that venues rotated between members of the national core group. Note that
in some cultures, etiquette may mean that it is very difficult or impossible to disagree with or criticise a host,
which could limit dialogue. When it comes to choosing a venue, this should be done with the explicit agreement
of the group.
•	Ensure timed agendas are circulated and approved in advance of the meeting
Each meeting should be preceded by a consultation regarding its content. It is good to start with a call for
ideas regarding agenda items from all those who will be attending. A coordinator, secretariat or member of the
working group may then produce an initial draft agenda. This should be circulated for comment before a final
agenda is prepared.
NOTE: Even if the objectives and agenda are agreed in advance of the meeting, it is helpful to allow participants
to review, amend and prioritise items at the start of the meeting.
•	Set out objectives for the meeting in advance
Meeting objectives should also be the subject of consultation. Often this may happen alongside consultation
on the agenda. Having clear objectives not only allows for meeting evaluations but also alerts participants to
the reason why agenda items have been included.
Gather together and distribute, in advance if appropriate, all the necessary information and papers needed for
an informed discussion of agenda points.
The meeting organisers should prepare or source the background materials required to support discussions.
These should be disseminated in advance and some additional hard copies made available at the meeting
itself. It should be clear which materials are from the multistakeholder process itself and which are from
external sources.
•	Encouraging attendance
Since members of multistakeholder groups are very busy people, it is good to telephone each participant
the day before the meeting to remind them of the date, time and venue and to encourage them to prioritise
the meeting over other commitments.
•	Appoint one or more chairpersons to guide the meeting and ensure everyone feels able to contribute
As noted in Section Seven, in addition to ensuring sessions run to time and achieve their objectives,
chairpersons must behave impartially and ensure everyone has the opportunity to contribute to discussions.
•	Make sure the content of the meeting is recorded and the record is distributed promptly
Having a record of every multistakeholder meeting allows members to check that their perceptions
of agreements and decisions made is reflected in the general understanding of what took place.
Tips for conducting multistakeholder working group meetings
•	Formality is useful. Each meeting should include:
›› a review of and agreement on the minutes/record of the last meeting
›› follow up on action points and a review of outcomes
›› prioritisation of agenda items when time is short/items are many
•	There should be clear ground rules so that meetings are not used as venues for direct attacks on
specific individuals or institutions. If the meetings are to be a safe space, everyone needs to be
confident that what is said won't be used against them, nor taken out of context.
•	Having the same people at each meeting is essential for building trust. If a person representing
a specific perspective is unable to attend then his/her fixed alternate should attend instead.
•	Meetings must be productive and interesting so that people look forward to them and give them priority
over what is happening in their offices.
•	It is important to find a balance between process and management and discussions of substance.
•	If there are no skilled facilitators among the group, it may be useful to bring in an external person
with experience of facilitating groups with diverse opinions to play this role, especially during the
first two or three meetings.
•	Prompt, accurate documentation of meetings is needed to act as a record of what's been talked about
and what's been decided or agreed that can be referred back to if needed.
•	Focusing on process, administration, governance and fundraising can be a useful way for members
of the group to build relationships. Although these issues might not be very controversial when
discussed between people with the same perspective, or who belong to the same organisation,
in a multistakeholder group there will be plenty of differences of opinion that will allow group
members to develop ways of dealing with disagreement.
•	If too much time is spent focusing on process and business issues, group members may become
frustrated with the lack of attention to substantive issues and begin missing meetings.
8.3	Facilitation
"Trusted and skilled facilitators can play a key role in enabling stakeholders to work together constructively
in the early stages of a network/partnership process, and in helping with process design issues."39
Those members of The Water Dialogues that have used a facilitator strongly recommend their use to ensure
a safe environment in which everyone has an equal opportunity to speak.
How a meeting is conducted has a big effect on whether people feel comfortable and willing to engage actively
in the process. Well-facilitated meetings enable constructive discussions and efficient decision-making, and
help to keep the process focused on its purpose.
For smaller group meetings, good chairing by members of the group may be adequate. For larger meetings,
a facilitator is recommended. If resources are a problem, facilitation could be provided by an experienced
and skilled person from within the group, but experience shows that external facilitation is generally more
For multistakeholder processes, the facilitator must be trusted by all participants. In relation to the key issue,
he or she must be seen by the group as sufficiently neutral. The ideal is someone already known to the group's
membership. In any case, it is essential to consult everyone attending a meeting about which facilitators are
under consideration, so that any objections can be raised.
Facilitators for multistakeholder processes should have experience of managing tensions between people
who disagree about an issue. They should have the flexibility to allow, for example, seemingly agreed positions
to be re-examined, while keeping the group focused on the agreed timetable and objectives for the meeting.
And, to make them aware of contentious issues and other sensitivities, they should get a full briefing in advance
of the meeting.
Tips for facilitating multistakeholder meetings
•	Facilitators should keep in mind, and remind participants as necessary, that there are people from
different organisational backgrounds, different approaches to problem-solving and different areas
of experience in the room and that this will be reflected in the way they express themselves.
Diversity of opinion and behaviour is what multistakeholder processes are all about.
•	Facilitators must be ready to deal with participants who are disruptive, disrespectful of others
or don't play by the rules.
•	As in any group process, it is important that a few members do not dominate the proceedings.
If these members are very vocal or put forth their views forcefully, others who disagree may shy
away from participating unless specifically asked to do so.
•	Every effort should be made to ensure that all participants contribute to discussions. Quieter
individuals, or those from cultures with a more gentle approach to debate, or those who refrain from
speaking, need special attention. They may feel more comfortable speaking in small groups than
addressing plenary sessions.
•	Varying cultural norms should guide the facilitator with regard to what types of activity and decision-
making will be appropriate.
•	It is helpful to summarise discussions at regular intervals and to identify to participants any areas
that they have not yet addressed. Re-stating common thinking and any agreements reached can
help to build momentum in the meeting.
•	Decisions should not be forced on the group. If views are divergent and cannot be reconciled,
decisions are best deferred until another time.
•	Facilitators should respect the need for some participants to consult their organisations before making
any commitment.
"Dialogues are very dynamic. There is no straight line to them. You have to realise that sometimes you have
to take a step back then a step forward simply because you are waiting for everybody to come together."
39	Calder, F., 2002
8.4	Extended meetings and central meetings of multi-locational processes
At any level, extended meetings or workshops of one to three days in length are effective means of
consolidating relationships and moving forward on issues of substance. They are even more critical in the
life of multi-locational processes where they enable participating groups to not only share and level off on
experience and learning from each location, but also to get to know one another as people.
The purpose of workshops that bring together participants from the different groups involved in a multi-
locational process is to help build and strengthen relationships between these groups, and between them
and any central or international group or secretariat.
Extended meetings provide spaces for participants to focus on specific elements in the multistakeholder
process such as the development of protocols, research, fundraising, process recording or advocacy and
explore commonalities, methods and technical issues. In addition, they are occasions to raise problems faced,
share and reflect on activities, and make or reaffirm decisions on future activities. Such meetings can also be
very motivating for all concerned in the process – providing renewed energy, commitment and purpose.
"These meetings are so important because of their motivational nature. They help re-motivate you and
provide technical guidance. I have been to two of them. They have been turning points in my life and the life
of the dialogue in my country. They have unlocked areas where we had got stuck…Nationally when you share
some of these issues you may not find solutions in the group but when you come to an international meeting
you can talk about the same issue and find the insights from others more practical. Every country is struggling
with similar issues." (Uganda Working Group member)
"The first weekend extended meeting conducted by the Indonesian NWG in Bogor has been really instrumental
in how the dialogue took its shape afterwards." (Indonesia Working Group member)
The experience of The Water Dialogues is that despite the expense involved, international meetings bringing
together people from the different groups of a multi-locational process are cost-effective. They help to provide
a better understanding of the whole project and the roles of all those involved. "There is an obvious shift in
perceptions and relationships with those that have attended these meetings and those who haven't attended.
People begin to have a much clearer notion that they are part of a much larger whole. Also, their understanding
of the roles of the International Working Group and International Secretariat changes once they attend an
international meeting. We begin to notice the changes immediately after the meetings."
(International Secretariat member)
8.5	Preparing for central/international meetings
Factors to take into account when designing the meeting include:
•	Preparations will consume a large amount of time and energy.
•	Logistical tasks including locating a venue, arranging rooms and menus, booking flights or obtaining visas
must begin at least ten weeks before the meeting takes place, ideally three to four months beforehand.
•	The task of discussing and agreeing an agenda should begin at least three months before the meeting
to allow sufficient time to contract external resource people required and prepare and disseminate
background materials. All groups and participants should be asked to contribute ideas about the agenda.
•	The secretariat or coordinating office should prepare a first draft for circulation and feedback before
being finalised.
•	Do not assume that everyone will have read the agenda. If items seem sensitive or controversial,
have a teleconference with selected participants to discuss how they intend to handle them.
•	The design for the meeting agenda needs to address the fact that:
›› the meeting brings together people from different cultural backgrounds, who don't necessarily know each
other and have opposing perspectives on issues but who need to be able to work together constructively
›› participants come from a variety of working cultures - from NGOs who put a premium on process,
to business and government organisations that emphasise substance and rapid decision-making
›› everyone always wants to have a short meeting but they also want to have many different topics on
the agenda and have plenty of time allowed for discussion
›› participating groups may be at very different stages of development - some may have hardly begun,
others are almost finished – but everyone wants to be able to give a positive impression of their work
›› everyone wants to present and talk about their own work, but listening to a series of presentations
regarding the work of others may not be so attractive
›› everyone attending, with the exception of full time national coordinators and secretariat members,
have full-time, senior, stressful jobs and little time to prepare for the meeting.
›› regardless of the clarity of briefs sent to presenters regarding what they are expected to report there
is no guarantee that they will do what is asked – so it is important that the agenda allows the space
to adapt accordingly
•	For these reasons when producing the final draft agenda it is necessary to think about how to sequence
items to maintain interest, the balance between presentations and discussions, and between plenary
sessions and small group work, and how to tensions and sensitivities will be managed.
8.6	A note on encouraging interactions between groups and across cultures
In a multistakeholder context where people may be suspicious of strangers, time spent on introductions at
the beginning of the meeting is time well spent. Facilitators and chairpersons should seek amusing methods
for introductions that ensure everyone knows who everyone else is.
During the course of the meeting, having participants involved in monitoring the mood of the workshop and
providing energisers, putting up flipcharts, or perhaps acting as shepherds to bring back people from breaks
helps to break down divisions between participants and get them to work collaboratively. Getting participants
to form Home Groups40 which put people from different nations and with different perspectives together to
complete such tasks helps to build relationships between a wider range of participants than might happen
without intervention.
Instructions for Home Groups
•	Divide participants into "Home Groups" of between five and eight people at the very beginning of
the meeting by simply counting off one, two, three, four, etc..., depending on the total number of
participants, until each person in the room has a number. The number a person is assigned is the
number of their Home Group.
•	Have each Home Group in turn put up their hands so that members can see who else is in their group.
•	Tell the Home Groups that they will meet each evening immediately after the workshop closes to discuss
the day's work and provide feedback to the facilitator and organisers on what went well, what went less
well, and what could make things better. (This feedback is used to revise the agenda or build in ideas
for the following day. Using this method can quickly identify and handle problems before they become
serious.)
•	Inform the Home Groups that they will be assigned specific tasks each day of the workshop, with the
responsibility of each task rotating between the groups. These tasks include:
›› Timekeeping: ensuring presentations and sessions keep within agreed timings by alerting the
facilitator when this is not happening; acting as "shepherds" to ensure that people return from
breaks and lunches on time.
›› Mood monitoring: keeping an eye on the mood of the group and alerting the facilitator to the need
for energisers when energy is beginning to flag. The group may also run energisers themselves.
Also, speaking to the facilitator if people seem to be fed up, cross or upset.
›› Assisting with flipcharts and maintaining a good environment: helping to write and pin up flip
charts during feedback sessions; monitoring the temperature and lighting in the room; keeping an
eye on the tidiness of the room and suggesting clean ups.
›› Providing a review of the previous day's proceedings: creating an amusing and innovative way
of recapping the previous day's proceedings to be presented to plenary in five to ten minutes at
the start of the day. Blow by blow descriptions of what happened are not allowed. Instead games,
quizzes, skits, songs and dramas are expected!
NOTE: Don't assume that all participants will be accustomed to working in this way. Some may need
encouragement. Others will need reminding of their responsibilities during the course of the workshop.
40	The Home Group methodology was developed by INTRAC: www.intrac.org
8.7	Facilitating work between meetings
As noted at the start of this chapter, a lot of the work of a multistakeholder initiative takes place between
meetings. Among other things, coordinators and secretariats must take responsibility for ensuring all
stakeholders are kept up to date with developments in the day–to-day running of the project and are involved
at all stages in research, communications, advocacy and planning an implementing a range of activities.
Multistakeholder group members themselves may wish to follow up with one or more colleagues on discussions
held during meetings and special sub-groups that have been set up will wish to attend to their specific
If a meeting has involved particularly robust exchanges between stakeholders, there may be a need for a
colleague or coordinator to mediate between, or reassure, those involved.
Tips for technology aids
•	Outside of formal meetings, if the local context permits, the use of new technologies can make
communications between stakeholders, coordinators and secretariats much easier.
•	It is helpful to set up an email group or listserv for:
›› the working group members
›› specialist sub-groups of the working group
›› participants in regional or international meetings held by multi-locational processes
›› the wider group of stakeholders that are not part of the working group but are engaged in occasional
meetings, to inform them of progress, relay research findings etc….
›› All email groups and listservs should include the coordinator and/or secretariat staff.
•	In addition, establish an email group or database of all stakeholders who should receive newsletters,
updates, briefing papers and other project materials.
•	As noted above, sending texts or SMS messages via mobile phones is a very effective way of ensuring
important but short communications get through to people who are very busy and may be receiving
huge numbers of emails on a daily basis. SMS messaging is cheap, does not require the recipient to
deviate from other work, but provides them with something in writing that can be referred to later if
•	Where distance prevents face-to-face interactions, telephone calls offer effective, high quality
›› to reduce the costs of long distance or international calls and teleconferences employ free computer
based technologies like Gizmo5 and Skype
›› where technological constraints make this inappropriate use special rate phone cards
•	Regular newsletters and update or briefing sheets are a useful way of keeping all stakeholders not
directly engaged in project activities up to date with progress and findings.
9	Section Nine
Multistakeholder Research
9.1	Why carry out research?
"Only through joint research will we be able to understand the real problems involved in a balanced way"
(Indonesian Working Group member)
"Research is important. You can't establish a dialogue without it. Only when discussing case studies do
we get beyond slogans and start talking about the complexities and the details." (South African Working
Many multistakeholder processes are aimed at resolving issues where stakeholders hold radically different
views. The fact that there may already be a mass of research about the issue is of little help to multistakeholder
groups because no "side" trusts the evidence produced by another side. The driver for multistakeholder
research is thus the need to generate evidence that is agreed by all parties, so that debates can move forward
and coherent recommendations can be made to policymakers and practitioners.
Undertaking multistakeholder research is a demanding but rewarding exercise. Experience demonstrates
that even interim research results can influence the thinking of members of multistakeholder groups. If these
members are in senior, decision-making positions, this can change both the terms of the debate and the
associated policies and practices.
Some multistakeholder groups would like to conduct their own research, but their regular workloads usually
make this impossible. Also, not everyone in a multistakeholder group will have the necessary research
experience and skills. More importantly, if only one or two members of the group are involved, they may find
that having their work subjected to robust critiques by group colleagues a difficult and painful experience.
Thus, contracting external research teams with an experienced team leader often will be the best way forward.
➜➜Lessons From The Water Dialogues
•	Multistakeholder groups may find that one or more of their members would like to act as researchers,
especially for secondary research tasks.
•	This can be successful but will create stresses on both the individual and the group when critiquing
research findings.
•	Members of multistakeholder groups who do decide to take on research tasks need to be calm and
patient in the face of criticism and willing to explain repeatedly their rationale for what they have written.
"It is better not to do it again! Although I was very careful, people were suspicious that the findings reflected
my personal opinions. Even after discussions and re-writes, for the final draft there were new critical
comments from people who hadn't commented earlier. Next time I shall give it some distance." (National
•	For primary research, it is usually best to keep the roles of researcher and multistakeholder group
member separate. If working group members wish to pursue this avenue, it is best for them to resign
from the group.
9.1.1	The need for all group members to be continuously involved
The full engagement of all members of multistakeholder groups is needed at all stages of the development and
review of research. This is to ensure that the research has a genuine multistakeholder character, and is "owned"
by everyone in the group. Failure to engage all members of the group may lead to serious problems when final
reports are ready for sign off.
Where possible, all group members should attend every research-related meeting. This ensures that all
perspectives are considered, and avoids the group having to go back over old ground later on to deal with the
concerns of members who were absent.
An absolute minimum requirement is for coordinators or secretariats to provide those missing meetings
with verbal progress reports and relevant documentation highlighting questions the research is generating.
In response to these updates, members should provide written or oral comments. At minimum, members
should provide simple yes or no answers to questions. Silence cannot be taken to mean yes! It may simply
mean the documents have not been read.
•	The time needed to design, commission, manage, review and agree multistakeholder research should
not be underestimated. A rough guide is to work out how much time you think you will need then
double it!
•	The amount of work involved in preparing for and undertaking research means that it is a great
advantage to have a paid member of staff coordinating the process.
•	Designing, managing and reviewing the first piece of research takes much longer than the second
or third as the multistakeholder group becomes accustomed to managing the process.
•	At all stages of the research, expect a continuous iteration between working group members to arrive
at formulations that can be agreed.
•	Synthesis of national level findings is complex. Much of the data gathered from primary research
in different locations will not be comparable. In these circumstances, it is better to draw interesting,
specific, qualitative information to the attention of policy formers, rather than forcing the evidence
into very broad generalisations.
•	It is unproductive to try to force reluctant multistakeholder groups into undertaking formal
research. Instead, they should be encouraged to find other ways of obtaining the data they
need to reach their objectives.
9.2	The differences between conventional and multistakeholder research
"This type of research is very different. When there
is only one person or organisation commissioning Definition: Iteration
the research, the result is more one-dimensional Process for arriving at a progressively "better"
and the results tend to prove what you want to decision or a desired result by repeating the
prove!" (South African Working Group member) rounds of analysis or the cycles of operations.
Multistakeholder research is more challenging and The objective is to bring the desired decision
takes more time than conventional research. or result closer to discovery with each repetition
(iteration). The iterative process can be used
In conventional research, it is usual for one where the decision is not easily irrevocable
person or one organisation with a single point of (such as marriage or war) or where the
view to commission the study. If that person or consequences of revocation could be costly.
organisation is also funding the study then they
(Source: www.businessdictionary.com)
will have full control of the research agenda and
In multistakeholder processes, a group of individuals with divergent agendas commissions and manages
the research. Consequently, tasks that are relatively straightforward in conventional research, such as
establishing the specific focus of the study, developing basic research questions and agreeing the choice
of researchers, can consume significant amounts of time.
Conventional research usually proceeds along a straight line
Hypothesis Case study/data collection Analysis Conclusions
Multistakeholder research is an iterative process. This means it can be slow but it has the advantage of allowing
those involved to learn continuously along the way, and for the group to make immediate use of information at
opportune moments.
The research usually proceeds in a series of loops. For example:
multistakeholder group prepares research questions
research team elaborate methodology and questions
multistakeholder group review and amend
research team present revised version
multistakeholder group agree questions and method
research team carry out pilot case studies/data collection
raw data presented to multistakeholder group
research team asked to collect additional data
second round data presented to multistakeholder group
questions posed to research team and further amendment of data sets
data agreed by multistakeholder group
preliminary analysis by research team presentation to multistakeholder group
presentation by multistakeholder group to wider range of stakeholders
comments from wider group included in study
multistakeholder group begins own analysis
results passed onto research team for inclusion in the draft report
multistakeholder group comments on draft report
research team prepare final report
9.3	Issues and challenges for multi-locational processes
While all multistakeholder research faces many challenges, these are magnified when research is multi-
locational and the intention is to bring results together for an overall synthesis, or to generate overall policy
recommendations.
In conventional research, to enable synthesis of findings from studies occurring in different countries or
locations, researchers develop and apply standard methods and questions. But in multistakeholder research,
this is difficult, if not impossible. The reality is that different groups in the same process may decide to adopt
or reject any centrally devised research methods. Furthermore, they may opt to address different issues or
different aspects of the same issue. Attempts to impose identical research questions and methodologies on
different working groups are unlikely to succeed in the face of national and local priorities, internal dynamics
and the interests of the individuals and organisations involved.
On the plus side, the overall multistakeholder process will be strengthened by developing its own,
indigenous methodology. And the very act of designing the research will increase commitment among
participants. In addition, in a multi-locational project, groups that are slow to start research will be able
to learn from the experiences of groups that begin earlier.
The disadvantages however, are there are fewer opportunities for the different groups to share findings and
identify key themes during the research phase. Also, there is a danger that once one group has finalised its
research and recommendations, it will be unwilling to revisit these in the light of evidence from other countries.
That said, if some level of comparability is essential the best way to achieve this is to bring together
representatives of national/local groups to develop a shared core methodology and shared research questions.
A series of face-to-face meetings between group representatives is the best way to facilitate this, but it involves
significant costs. An alternative is to begin the process through emails and teleconferences to allow for a series
of iterations in response to comments from different working groups; then hold a participatory international
process to make the final decisions.
However, the above approach depends on the groups from each participating country forming around the same
time. From a research point of view, it is ideal for all participating groups to begin their research simultaneously.
While this does not guarantee the same rates of progress in different locations, it does provide the best chance
of groups being able to share their preliminary findings and learn from each other's results. And for cross-
country overviews to be prepared while all results are up-to-date.
In cases where this is not possible and multistakeholder groups have begun work at different times, it would be
helpful for the central secretariat to support newer processes to raise funds and commence research activities
as soon as they are ready. Alternatively, the central secretariat could provide funds itself for the pilot phase of
research, allowing individual groups to start research while seeking their own funding.
9.4	Developing Multistakeholder Research
"It's important that multistakeholder research
is of a high standard, because those who don't TIP
like its findings are certain to try to find ways to •	All language is political. So the way in which
challenge them." (Member of the International terms are used will carry a political meaning
Academic Panel) and be the focus of debate. For example, the
It is beneficial to build on the strengths of being a recipients of water services can be described
multistakeholder group when developing research as customers, users, consumers, clients, or
questions and methodologies. This means citizens….
engaging in processes that allow full participation •	Best practice is to have an open discussion
from all group members when drawing up research of terms, and what they convey to different
parameters and approaches. stakeholders, and then reach a consensus on
Group members should be encouraged to reveal terminology.
differences in their perspectives, and discuss •	If agreement is not possible, it will be
what these might mean, rather than try to achieve necessary to agree to use more than one term.
consensus. Only after a thorough exploration of
issues should the whole group try to agree what
these differences mean for the research's focus
and methodology. "You have to shepherd the sheep first, only when they're together can you organise the
research." (South African Working Group member)
Funds are a constraint on the scope and depth of research so it is essential that multistakeholder groups
make the most of their funds by taking time and care in the selection of research questions and case studies.
Choosing the research design and research team must be the joint decision of the entire working group.
Otherwise, members may argue that the results are biased against their perspective, because either the
wrong data was collected or biased researchers were used.
➜➜Multi-locational multistakeholder research:
•	As noted in Section 2.2, the Dialogues undertook an international scoping study to assess the
interest in multistakeholder dialogues on private sector participation in the sector.
•	Participants in the scoping study generated a series of questions which were reframed and
grouped into a final 31 questions.
•	Participants in the 2004 Berlin meeting that provided the mandate for the project appear
to have assumed that this series of questions would form the basis for future work in
participating countries, but no hard and fast rules about this were established.
•	While some national Dialogues began preparing research terms soon after this meeting,
others did not do so until late 2006 or 2007.
•	The terms of reference produced varied significantly in terms of scope, scale and approach,
reflecting the autonomy of national groups, their differing aspirations and the different policy
emphases of national governments.
•	The outcome was that, while three countries focused on private sector participation
(sometimes comparing this to public sector performance), two countries focused on a wider
variety of sector issues including for example.
•	This had obvious implications for an overall synthesis of findings at international level. Instead
of attempting a full synthesis across all areas of the research, the most common thematic
areas were identified. The specific national experiences and analyses of these themes were
integrated into additional research on the international context for each theme.
•	At international level, the aim of research into issues of common interest was to give national
dialogues information on international policies, trends and experiences to enable more
effective advocacy both nationally and internationally. In addition, the international research
papers that include specific examples from national research should be valuable documents in
their own right.
•	In practice, the extent to which national dialogues have been able to make use of international
research is not clear. One problem related to timing. The international research became
available at the same time as national groups were dealing with large amounts of other
documents, including their own research findings.
When conducting research to generate robust findings and resolve disagreements, the temptation is to aim
for something that is comprehensive, statistically significant and extremely detailed. If money and time are
limitless, this may be the way forward. But experience demonstrates that evidence alone will not resolve
differences of opinion as data can be interpreted in many different ways, so groups should not be too concerned
when they have to balance the ideal with the practical.
9.4.1	Case Studies
Case studies can provide rich insights into how an organisation or system works and provide the sort of depth
and detail that is hard to obtain through sample surveys. The richness of the material means case studies can
demonstrate practical, specific models of how and why organisations or systems can become more effective.
When selecting and conducting case studies, remember to:
•	stay focused on the key issues of the multistakeholder process
•	balance geographic and political contexts
•	include places where something interesting has happened, including successes and failures
•	incorporate examples that will cover the wide range of possible lessons to be learned.
Of course, case studies are not the same as statistically valid sample surveys and unless a large number of
them are undertaken, they cannot demonstrate widespread patterns. In South Africa, during The Water
Dialogues' consultations on research design, the number of case studies to be carried out was reduced from
an ideal 24, to a more manageable and affordable 9, which were chosen to provide the essential breadth and
depth needed. "Ambition was grounded in what was doable without losing any essential evidence" (South
African Working Group member)
As for all forms or research, case studies require careful design. Findings must demonstrate clearly that the core
issue of the multistakeholder process was the most significant variable for determining outcomes.
9.4.2	Using participatory research to bring grassroots stakeholders into the process
In multistakeholder research, it is important to
consult those communities and individuals most TIP
directly affected by the issue yet traditionally •	Start fundraising for research as soon as
marginalised from policy-making and governance. possible because it takes a long time to have
Participatory research is an integral part of full proposals accepted and grants approved.
multistakeholder involvement; and it should
be contrasted with more extractive research •	When preparing a budget for research consider
methods, like surveys, that separate the analyst including costs of:
and the subject. ›› pilot studies
The value of participatory research is that it yields ›› initial scoping exercises for each case
high quality information and analyses of complex study to be undertaken that can identify
local realities that are difficult to access in any what data exists and what does not
other way. Typically, it uses a diverse set of tools ›› a first and second presentation by the
and techniques that enable information sharing researchers to the working group
and joint analysis that can empower the people ›› the main body of the research plus
involved. In this way, it can provide the basis for a second round of research to collect
locally generated, acceptable (or "owned") and any additional data required by the
enduring solutions. working group
The type of tools that may be used include, for ›› joint meetings between researchers/
example, classic participatory rural appraisal research teams
(PRA) tools such as focus group discussions, ›› community meetings and dialogues
Venn diagram's, pie charts, ranking and scoring ›› research visits by members of the
matrices, timelines, trend chart, resource maps or working group
seasonal calendars. Of course, it is not the tools ›› synthesis and building an analytical
that are participatory but the way they are used overview – especially if a number of
to support the research process. This requires case studies are carried out
from the research team specific skills and careful ›› redrafting the final report once or
planning and facilitation. twice in line with working group
In relation to poor or marginalised communities, analyses of the data
research teams should be sensitive to, and ›› translation of research reports into other
open about, the fact that research may not languages – both local and international
lead to any immediate action to improve the ›› editing, designing, printing and
community's circumstances. Indeed, there distributing the research report
may be an inherent tension between the short ›› a series of workshops with key
term, immediate concerns of communities stakeholder groups to give presentations
and the long-term, structural and policy of the key findings
concerns of working group members.
➜➜Constructing research Terms of Reference:
The Water Dialogues South Africa experience
•	The research design was guided by a problem statement, which was developed by the National
Working Group (NWG), from the international problem statement.
•	The Coordinator created a draft research design within a framework set by the NWG
•	The design included overall guiding research questions; a typology of different institutions to
be studied; an outline of what would be measured; and a set of indicators which were drawn
from the work of the International Academic Panel
•	The draft design was presented to a meeting of the working group for comment and was
revised based on the feedback received
•	The Coordinator also consulted with members of the International Academic Panel regarding
the proposed methods and overall plan and their inputs were integrated into the research
design. "It is helpful to get feedback on the general research design from academics at
an early stage, especially on issues such as causality, assumptions and variables to be
considered."(Coordinator, South African Working Group)
•	The final draft design was re-submitted to the working group for approval before being
presented by the working group to a wider set of stakeholders
•	Comments from the wider stakeholder meeting were included in the final version.
To mitigate the effects of these tensions, one option is for researchers or coordinators to link communities
to local NGOs who could provide the immediate support needed. Alternatively, they can organise local
dialogues between communities and decision-makers to enable a direct exchange of views. This was the
approach taken by The Water Dialogues in SouthAfrica.41 Experience shows that such direct links between
communities and local decision-makers are valuable, not only because understandings on both sides are
often based on misconceptions, incorrect assumptions and lack of information, but also because they build
the capacity of communities to engage in advocacy and cooperative activities.
9.5	Choosing the right research team
As Munnik points out42, the multistakeholder process "makes high demands on researchers. They are expected
to put "new" or "ideologically untainted" information on the table, in order for stakeholders to "identify,
critically analyse and evaluate these approaches" with the objective of achieving a greater understanding
of the specifics of the issue and developing more effective models to resolve it in the future.
Finding the right researchers with all the necessary skills is not easy. To ensure that researchers meet the
high demands of multistakeholder work (including the need for exceptional levels of flexibility), and enjoy the
confidence of the entire multistakeholder group, it is necessary to take time and care when developing the
research team's Terms of Reference.
Finding the right research team: What The Water Dialogues did
•	South Africa used the networks of all the participating stakeholders to advertise the posts.
•	Indonesia used internet mailing lists to ask for expressions of interest and received thirteen responses.
•	Brazil engaged in a public process, advertising in an international newspaper that is on sale in Brazil.
9.5.1	Drawing up person specifications and consultancy Terms of Reference
Terms of Reference for research teams should
include the following information: TIP
•	overall purpose of the multistakeholder •	Secretariats and working group members
project should take time to think about the skills
•	objectives for the research needed by the research team, for example:
•	specific information regarding the focus, ›› the ability to assess performance
scope and design requirements for the indicators, management cultures,
research institutional and regulatory frameworks,
•	person specifications for the research team financial matters, political considerations,
including the specific skills, experience and etc….
attitudes needed
•	what is expected from the researchers ›› experience in participatory processes,
•	a note on the flexibility required to work with interviewing community members, etc….
a multistakeholder group ›› competence in presenting research results
•	the terms of the contract – including to small and large groups of stakeholders,
timetables, duration and remuneration, etc… or public forums, etc….
It is very important that the Terms of Reference are •	The specific skills and experience the
sufficiently robust to avoid bias in recruitment. To researchers need should be translated into the
check this, the working group should say a clear person specifications for the overall Terms of
"yes" or "no" to the Terms of Reference, including Reference.
person specifications, before these are made public.
41	For more information see " Facilitating Advocacy for Communities" in Section 10.2.3
42	Munnik, V., A Review of Participatory Research Methods used by Community Researchers The Water Dialogues-South
Africa, 8 January 2007, internal document
➜➜Recruitment and selection:
The Water Dialogues Indonesia experience
"After advertising and short listing by the National Working Group, we asked a number of
research teams to make presentations to the Working Group. Unfortunately, in the end only
one turned up. Some of us thought the team was fine but, because it had an engineering
background, others were worried that the emphasis would be on business and finances,
performance indicators and so forth, with nothing about consumers, especially poor
consumers. We met twice to discuss. At the second meeting, someone suggested that we
should ask the research team to include a social scientist to correct the balance. Luckily,
there was a member of the group who knew someone with expertise in community research
and who had the confidence of the members expressing concerns. Only after the research
team agreed to include him, and he agreed to carry out the work, did the Working Group give
the go ahead and contract the researchers."
(Coordinator, The Water Dialogues, Indonesia)
9.5.2	The selection process
In deciding on the form and content of the selection process, the multistakeholder working group needs to
address the following questions:
•	Who will be involved in short listing – the whole core group or a special sub-group?
•	How will the selection process be structured? Will there be interviews, presentations, tests/exercises,
group work, and/or a workshop with the working group?
•	What questions will be asked? For multistakeholder processes alongside probing research experience
and knowledge, it is necessary to ask questions that reveal their perspectives and opinions regarding
the issue the group is addressing.
•	What tests will be needed? For example, writing ability, financial skills, analytical capacity….
•	How will you assess a candidate's attitudes, flexibility and ability to adjust to the culture of
multistakeholder work?
•	Will you ask researchers to provide you with recent examples of their work, e.g. reports or articles?
•	Where will the interviews take place and who will be involved?
•	Who will be on the selection panel? Who has experience of selecting staff?
•	Will you take up references? (Ideally, do this before making a final choice.)
9.5.3	Contracting research teams
Researchers should sign detailed, short-term contracts outlining exactly what is expected of them. While the
anticipated number of working days may be the basis of the contract, as is good practice for all research and
writing contracts, researchers should be contracted against deliverables not against days worked. At the same
time, research contracts should include the costs of a series of presentations and re-drafting exercises, in line
with the iterative nature of the process.
Contracts should include:
•	clarity regarding the identity and role of the research team leader, and the specific responsibilities of this
person in relation to ensuring contractual obligations are met
•	deadlines for all stages of the work, including the dates when feedback should be given to the working
group, as well as how this feedback should be given penalties for not meeting deadlines
•	clauses outlining the ownership of information, i.e. that all information generated is the property of the
working group and can only be used with their specific permission
•	confidentiality clauses that ensure all discussions, presentations, written materials recorded or collected
by the research team, plus any communications with the working group remain confidential to the project
•	a note stating that the first line of communication should always be with the coordinator or the entire
working group. This is to prevent patronage or side discussions with particular individuals in the working
group that could distort or disturb the process.
Depending on the knowledge within the research team, it may be useful to include time for the researcher
to interview members of the working group so that they can benefit from the members special expertise on
specific themes or issues included in the research terms of reference.
It may also be useful to include time for the research team to spend an orientation day with the group.
Consider a written researcher protocol or code of conduct that outlines the expected behaviour of research
team members, for example, regarding objectivity, respect for interviewees or sensitivity in working with poor
Note that researchers may be needed at a number of ad hoc events, for example analysis workshops, meetings
of larger numbers of stakeholders or briefings with other researchers. This should be built into budgets and
their contractual obligations.
➜➜Holding a selection workshop:
•	All candidates on the final shortlist were invited to a workshop with available members of the
NWG. Candidates received a per diem and paid transport costs.
•	The day began with a presentation on The Water Dialogues and about the specific research to
be carried out.
•	Candidates divided into groups for exercises with NWG members in each group. The exercises
focused on:
›› how they would deal with contradictory data and findings from municipal officials, private
sector, and community research
›› their understanding of the public – private debate regarding water service provision
›› ability to work in a team comprised of researchers with different skills, approach, and
•	The full group of candidates was asked to provide feedback on the project and the research.
•	Each candidate was asked to write a page and a half on private sector participation in water
and sanitation services to test their writing and thinking skills.
•	At the end of the day, the Coordinator and participating NWG reviewed the tests and
candidates' performances and assessed candidates using a rating sheet. They discussed their
•	During the next Working Group meeting, members formed groups that reviewed the cvs of
candidates selected by this group and filled in a form ticking strong support, acceptable, or
objections and reasons.
•	The Coordinator reviewed these forms, selected some of these researchers and proposed
research teams.
•	The candidates still had to be supplemented by researchers recruited by the NWG.
NOTE: expect to lose up to 50% of candidates at the interview stage – it's better for this to happen
now than to invest in doubtful candidates and waste money on poor research.
➜➜Challenges facing researchers:
•	The topics to be researched may be large and complex but the money is unlikely to be anything
more than adequate.
•	Multistakeholder terms of reference for case studies reflect the interests of each stakeholder
and working group members may find it hard to accept that collecting the data requested is
not always possible because it simply doesn't exist. "The stakeholder from the ministry wanted
some information collected that local government was supposed to produce by law, but in fact
nobody does. So it didn't matter how often it was asked for it just didn't exist." (South African
•	Working group members often wish to add new questions or change existing ones in line with
their specific interests when results are presented, which requires additional fieldwork that
may not be covered by the contract.
•	Although having some prior knowledge of the area/institution is a help, if the issue is
controversial, potential sources may be suspicious and reluctant to reveal information.
Researchers can feel that they have been dropped in at the deep end when potential
informants complain that, for example, there was no prior consultation on the Terms of
Reference, researchers have arrived without warning, or the rationale for interviewing one
person rather than another is unclear. "Working groups shouldn't under-estimate the difficulty
of explaining a multistakeholder project to case study informants. Perhaps having a visual
presentation that researchers could use would help?" (South African researcher)
•	Comments from multistakeholder groups on research results are diverse and often
contradictory. Research teams therefore have to find ways to accommodate these comments
without losing the character of the different views. "It would be good for members of the
working group to spend a bit of time with communities in the case study areas understanding
the day to day realities of people's lives. They wouldn't be there simply to observe but would be
asked to collect data. Having pairs who don't see eye to eye work together could make people
more conscious of the specific realities and the need not to generalise too much." (South
African researcher)
9.6	Reviewing and interpreting research findings
"When results come in the first question is, are they accurate? But the next is how they should be interpreted. It is
amazing that there can be totally different interpretations of agreed data." (South African Working Group member)
9.6.1	Impacts on group dynamics
The work of reviewing research data, agreeing
evidence and then debating what it means requires Difficulties with Data
careful planning and facilitation. Groups and •	Data is not always available, accessible,
secretariats should expect tensions to arise when coherent or reliable.
multistakeholder working groups begin to review
their research findings. This is a delicate moment •	It is useful for researchers to conduct a short
in the life of a multistakeholder process and must scoping exercise to identify gaps or difficulties
be handled sensitively. and report to the working group so that an
alternative approach or other solution can
On one hand, it is a moment when personal be developed as necessary. "The scoping
ideologies may be challenged and old sensitivities exercise in uThukela identified many gaps and
sparked between group members who have come problems with the methods to be used in the
to respect and often like each other. On the other, research. This meant that the Working Group
it is an opportunity for stakeholders who are expert had a 90% certainty about what could and
in the issue and want to understand and improve couldn't be done in relation to the generic ToRs
how things work to gain new insights together. for the case studies before going ahead with
"Following an earlier intermediate presentation of the full research" (Researcher in South Africa)
research findings, we had two final presentations. •	In some cases, because of their connections
Over two days we reviewed more than 100 with important actors, Working/Group
slides but there wasn't always total agreement members may be able to facilitate access to
regarding the conclusions. Some people asked data not otherwise available.
for modifications. Often the old questions about
public versus private were raised again. It was a
very sensitive moment. But in the end, everyone
accepted they couldn't have the exact result they would like and we should stay with what was found in the
field research. This was possible because everyone agreed that the research was of good quality and could be
trusted." (Brazilian Working Group member)
9.6.2	Research review processes
It is good practice for research teams to be asked to make interim presentations of the data collected. This is so
the working group can deal in a timely fashion with any preliminary problems with data analysis or amendments
to the direction of the research or clarifications regarding the key areas to be emphasised.
Where case studies happen in sequence, working groups should give special attention to crosscutting themes
and issues emerging from pilot studies and explore these further in case studies that follow.
In addition to providing written reports, it is helpful for researchers to give presentations of their findings to the
multistakeholder working group because this allows direct questioning and discussion to take place with those
closest to the material.
➜➜Reviewing and Interpreting Research Finding:
"Negotiating the final product will be key. We will need rationality rather than ideology, but we
have said that we will engage with minority views and register these, so I don't think that we will
have to part ways. At least, not if we have a good facilitator!"
•	Employing an external, neutral facilitator to remind the group of the rules of engagement
when things get tense is strongly recommended. Using a member of the research team
is not advisable.
•	If possible, the facilitator should have sufficient knowledge of the issue being discussed to
assist with strategic direction of the discussion as well as the process – but finding someone
with enough expertise who is considered neutral is not always possible.
•	When debate becomes aggressive and personal, the facilitator can help stakeholders take a
step back and remind them that they are present because they all want to achieve the same
overarching goal.
•	Having a code of conduct for the group that can be referred to when the debate gets rough
is very beneficial and is a useful tool during discussions on research findings and if used
by the facilitator and members prevents meetings being dominated by a few forceful voices.
•	It is good practice for groups to consider in advance how to respond if any member rejects
findings that do not fit their understanding or position on what is happening.
•	Don't try to force multistakeholder groups into behaving like UN drafting committees
– it's unlikely to work and isn't helpful!
Recording And Reporting
•	Record all discussion and integrate key points into the research reports – if this isn't done,
it will be very difficult to capture different perspectives and create meta messages for
advocacy. Note that the documentation of multistakeholder group dialogue on research
findings requires a skilled person who is well-informed about the subject area to sift key
points from the discussion.
Analysis And Interpretation
•	Be prepared to build alternative explanations. If research findings reveal, for example,
that the type of institution form is not the main driver of what is happening, the focus will
have to shift to management culture or financing, etc. …
•	Make conscious the process of analysis. Continually check back to see whether analysis is not
simply opinion but is substantiated by evidence.
•	Don't reify the research or let research findings act as a straightjacket. Research should
provide a solid foundation for dialogue but not restrict it where the experience (not opinions)
of Group members could add substance.
•	Research should not prevent the group from looking forward and discussing future
possible scenarios.
Finding the right level at which analysis should begin is not simple. The Water Dialogues South Africa
graphic below identifies the different levels of analysis that are involved when research data is subjected
to multistakeholder dialogue.
Levels of Analysis
institution type analysis (e.g. private sector
concession, small scale provider)
case study analysis
sub-section/theme analysis
(e.g. efficiency, finance)
issue analysis
(e.g. tariffs,
L U
free basic water)
Some data and its analysis may produce insights and information that could be useful immediately
to policymakers or think tanks. Multistakeholder groups need to think about under what circumstance
they would be happy to release information early
and whether any criteria should be set for this, TIP Don't suppress differences in interpretation
or whether decisions are best made on a case-by-
When interpretation of agreed data/findings leads
case basis. In terms of taking final research
to conflicting conclusions among NWG members
results to the wider stakeholder audience the
group has been interacting with, this is probably •	Don't go for the lowest common denominator
best done after the group has agreed the raw to achieve consensus
data and before the research reports are finalised
•	Expose differences as being the real situation
to allow this wider groups comments to be
incorporated into the final analysis. •	Emphasise that even with strong data arriving
at conclusions is complex
•	Minority views shouldn't block the recording
of agreement by the majority but must be
9.7	Working with academic panels
"Research reports need to find a balance between very rich and complex descriptions and creating documents
that are interesting and readable to those not already expert in the case being studied." (International Academic
Panel member)
The purpose of forming an academic panel to accompany a multistakeholder process is to provide intellectual
stimulus to members of multistakeholder groups and enhance the quality of research. Academic panels provide
a valuable support to working group members and coordinators and secretariats. At the same time,
the presence of an academic panel can give external readers increased confidence in the research findings.
Academic panels are made up of a small number of well-known and widely respected academics working
on the issue. Taken together, it is important that the panel covers a wide range of expertise and perspectives.
All members of the multistakeholder working group ought to be involved in nominating potential panel
members. It is helpful for coordinators or secretariats to produce a full list of nominated candidates that
includes a short note on the background and work of each one. The working group can then discuss and decide
whom they wish to invite.
Potential academic panel members should be given a clear account of what is expected from them when they
are invited to join. They should also be informed of any honorariums or fees they will receive in recognition of
their contribution to the initiative.
Because of the nature of multistakeholder dialogues, it is very difficult for academic panels to have any formal
authority over how multistakeholder groups carry out their research. Nevertheless, in an advisory capacity they
command high levels of respect, which means their guidance is usually taken seriously.
The activities of academic panel members include:
•	commenting on research questions and providing guidance on ToRs and research methodologies
•	providing information regarding existing and forthcoming research on the issue as well as institutions
to be consulted
•	advising on how to deal with any problems encountered in obtaining data or analysing and using
•	supporting researchers in the use of participatory methodologies
•	reviewing draft research findings commenting on draft research reports
•	acting as a specialist resource person to working groups
•	participating in multistakeholder group meetings and workshops.
NOTE: In multi-locational processes, panels attached to each participating multistakeholder group may
complement the work of a central/international academic panel.
10	Section Ten
External Communications
In the interests of openness, to build support for the process and as part of
forming the relationships necessary for successfully influencing a wider group
of stakeholders, multistakeholder processes need to communicate43 with the
outside world.
As anyone who has worked in a large alliance will know, developing materials and positions that accurately and
fairly reflect the views of all members due to slight differences in interpretation and emphasis is not an easy
task. These difficulties are exaggerated in multistakeholder contexts by the fact that some group members have
opposing perspectives.
Thus, early communications, when relationships within the group are easily broken, need to be approached
with sensitivity. But even in the later stages of multistakeholder work, arriving at agreed messages and texts
requires patience and flexibility.
10.1	Developing a basic communications strategy
In any setting, communications work benefits from having a simple communications strategy that identifies
realistic priorities and objectives for this work within an appropriate timeframe, budget and resource base.
This is especially true for multistakeholder groups because of their limited time and resources.
Developing a simple strategy involves answering, in sequence, a series of questions:
•	What do you want to achieve through communicating. Separate objectives should be set for each
communication activity as well as for the overall communications strategy.
•	Who are your audiences? Whose thinking do you want to influence?
›› Who can assist the cause?
›› Who might become an obstacle later, if they are not kept informed?
•	What key messages do you want to get across?
•	Which information should be publicised?
•	When will communicating be most effective over the next 6/12/24/36 months?
›› Are there any specific events or opportunities for communications?
•	How best can the information be conveyed? Which channels of communication are appropriate
to the various audiences?
What budget do you have for communication work, now and in the future?
10.2	Establishing approval protocols
Approval protocols are vital in multistakeholder work. Unless it is clear who should be involved, and at what
stage, and when materials for external use should be reviewed and signed off, trouble is almost inevitable.
The approval protocols should also cover how the group will handle materials produced by its members that
cite the group or are about its work.
It is necessary for all multistakeholder group members to have an opportunity to see and comment on all written
communications and other materials. In multi-locational processes, this means consulting the members, or
their delegated representatives, of all participating groups. The time allowed to provide comments should be
commensurate with the time pressures facing group members from their normal work responsibilities, usually
no less than seven days.
As is the case for research, developing multistakeholder communications is an iterative process with different
drafts of documents going back and forth for approval as amendments are made. Publishing schedules should
be designed to allow plenty of time for this.
Where group members fail to respond to invitations to comment, it is necessary for coordinators and
secretariats to chase comments by email or telephone. And, if the material includes anything that might be
sensitive or contentious, do a follow up check with any members who still do not respond to confirm they do not
wish to comment.
43	Throughout this section unless specified in the text, the term communication refers to communication beyond the
immediate multistakeholder group to the external world.
10.3	Identifying audiences
"The more thoroughly you understand your target audience(s), the higher the probability of communications
success. The more refined the target audience description, the more precise and effective your communication
will be."44
An important part of developing a communications strategy is to be clear about who the group wants to reach.
What do they need to know and why they need to know it? What do you want them to do as a result? Answering
these questions helps to prioritise among the different possible audiences.
For the purposes of effective communication, there is no such thing as the general public. Young people, old
people, women, men, academics, farmers, politicians and sports fans will all respond to different approaches,
different styles and different uses of language. For example, a long technical briefing paper is unlikely to be the
best way to get a message across to teenagers, while a viral email may not impress senior civil servants.
10.4	Developing Basic Messages
It is helpful for a multistakeholder group to create a basic message that describes in five (long) sentences
(not long paragraphs):
•	Who it is
•	What it wants to achieve
•	Why it wants to achieve it – positive or negative consequences of no action
•	How it proposes to achieve it – methods to be used and what needs to change
•	What action it wants the audience to take
Note that the message should be written in simple, unambiguous language that an ordinary person can
understand. Although this may seem to be an easy task, it takes time and practice to get the basic message
right. The investment of time is worthwhile. Once it is developed and agreed, it enables members of
multistakeholder processes to convey the key elements of their work quickly and effectively. The language
of the basic message should be adapted to suit different types of audience.
The basic message also can provide the foundation for additional messages developed to address specific
topics. When the message has been drafted, ask:
•	Are the specific characteristics and achievements of the group evident
•	Does it clearly describe the issue and what needs to happen/change
•	Is it positive and forward looking rather than negative and resentful
•	Will it arouse passion, strong feelings or enthusiasm
•	Will it motivate the audience to change and/or do something
A good message does not have to include all the elements above but must include two or more.
For multistakeholder groups, developing specific issue-related messages is very challenging given the diverse
perspectives of their members. Some ideas about how to overcome these difficulties are discussed in Section 11.4.
10.5	Deciding on the media mix
Decisions regarding the best mix of media to employ are closely linked to the type of audience to be reached.
They also depend on the budget and skills available to the working group as well as which technologies are
easily accessible to the group and its audience.
Given their intended audience and the messages to be conveyed, multistakeholder groups should decide which
would be the most appropriate medium, or mix of media. Some types of media include:
•	face-to-face contacts
•	phone calls
•	reports, briefing papers or books
•	websites
•	meetings, workshops or roundtables
•	dance, drama, street theatre, etc..
•	songs
•	radio or television news or programmes
•	newspapers
•	magazines
44	World Wildlife Fund, undated, Programme/Project Communications Strategy Template
10.6	Developing the process's identity
Multstakeholder groups often face the task of
making a large impact using limited resources. Definition: Visual Identity
Employing a consistent, attractive, design format The overall impression of an organisation which
that can be used on letterheads, business cards, is projected internally and externally through
publications and websites, etc., that is, having its letterhead, brochures, newsletters, etc. …
a "visual identity", is one way to achieve more through the use of colours, type styles, symbols,
recognition for less money. It is best to create design formats, etc.. used repeatedly and
this identity early on in the process, before consistently in all communications.
communications work begins.
The first step is to give the multistakeholder
process a name. Clearly this must be acceptable to Definition: Strapline
all members of the group. Ideally, it also should be •	A strapline is a British term used to describe
short and easy to remember. One way to get round a secondary sentence attached to a brand
the often present desire of group members to use name or name of an organisation. Its purpose
the name to describe everything that the group is to emphasise a phrase that explains the
does, is to combine a short name with a longer organisation's core purpose by which it wishes
strapline that is used alongside it. to be remembered.
The next step is for the working group to agree the •	Straplines may also be used to strengthen
type of image the project should promote to the the image of a brand; or as explanatory sub-
outside world. This might be: headings in newspapers.
•	professional, intellectual, serious •	Some examples include: Nokia: Connecting
•	steeped in history people; or HSBC: the world's local bank.
•	modern and innovative
•	open and transparent •	Oxfam has recently changed its strapline from
•	multicultural and collaborative "working for a fairer world" which contained
•	dynamic, stimulating, different the ambiguous term "fairer," which in some
cultures has the primary meaning of "whiter"
This image could also be associated with a specific to "Be humankind".
subject or location, such as:
•	water, forests or ethical standards
•	urban areas, Indonesia, Africa or global
Unless the multistakeholder group includes people with creative design and graphics skills, once the image
is agreed, it is usually best to commission specialist designers. Designers should be asked to come up with
some options for colours, fonts, symbols or logos and layouts that could be used in all materials produced by
the group.
It is very important for there to be consultation among members during the development of the image and
on the ideas produced by design teams. Because members of multistakeholder groups come from different
organisational cultures, with different attitudes to the use of marketing and communication techniques, expect
debate on all aspects of the identity.
For multi-locational, multistakeholder processes, getting acceptance for a shared name or single visual identity
may be difficult. This is because participating groups like to develop separate identities that reflect their own
characteristics and contexts. If this is the case, it is helpful if, for external publications, the symbol for the
overall project is used alongside that of the participating groups.
10.7	Building and maintaining support for the multistakeholder process
There is always some overlap between communications and advocacy activities. Here, promoting the
multistakholder initiative itself is included under communications while promoting its findings and
recommendations is covered under advocacy in Section Eleven.
There are many activities for promoting multistakeholder initiatives including:
•	Producing and disseminating brochures, leaflets or reports about the process and the issue it focuses on
•	Sending regular updates on progress to all contacts
•	Meeting with key decision-makers and potential donors to discuss the intended work
•	Making presentations at events where stakeholders in the issue will be present
•	Maintaining an active website and/or blog
•	Hosting workshops and seminars for issue stakeholders
➜➜Naming the multistakeholder initiative:
When the International Secretariat was formed in November 2005, the official name of the process
was the "Global Multistakeholder Review of Private Sector Participation in Water Supply and
Sanitation," commonly shortened by founding members to the "Global Review of PSP".
The International Secretariat gained permission to come up with a new, shorter name that would
be easier to publicise through brainstorming ideas for final selection by the IWG. The result was
the name and strapline by which the project is now known:
➜➜Creating a visual identity:
•	Prompted by forthcoming activities at the World Water Forum 2006 in Mexico, work began at
international level to develop an attractive identity for the project.
•	In developing a "visual identity," the designers were asked to develop a smart, modern
design that that would help the project stand out, inspire confidence and make a favourable
impression on governments, international donors and other influencing targets, and reflected
the involvement of government, business and trade unions in the process. This image was in
contrast with the traditional NGO style used for the scoping study.
•	Having seen three proposals from the designers, the International Working Group (IWG)
delegated the final decision regarding design to the International Secretariat.
•	With a choice made, the International Secretariat sent out files with the design, fonts, colours,
and so on to members of all participating Working Groups with a suggestion that it would be
helpful for everyone to use the same name, designs, fonts, colours and logo in order to raise
the overall profile of the Dialogues.
•	The responses were immediate. One national level group said that it was already calling itself
the Global PSP Review and could see no reason to change. Another noted that it would be
calling itself the "water and sanitation dialogues." And a member from another group objected
to the use of a logo and complained vigorously that the International Secretariat was trying to
impose a corporate image on the process.
•	This was a useful lesson for the new International Secretariat. Clearly, it had not consulted
fully enough before commissioning the designs. Nor had it taken sufficient care to explain the
reasons why it thought a visual identity was important. And it had not thought carefully about
the terminology it used in describing the visual identity package. For some stakeholders the
use of any marketing techniques and terminology would be unacceptable.
•	The International Secretariat responded by sending an apology for creating misunderstandings
and re-stated that adopting the name and the visual identity was optional.
•	In the end, two countries called themselves "The [country name] Water Dialogues," and
sometimes made use of the designs. A third used the name but had a different symbol/
logo. A fourth used the designs, including the symbol, but retained the "water and sanitation
dialogues" name to emphasise the importance of sanitation. The fifth retained the name the
Global PSP Review.
➜➜Communicating to build and maintain support:
A few of the different ways in which The Water Dialogues built support at international level are
outlined below:
•	Very early on, founding members of the Dialogues began to promote the proposed project with
key donors. This resulted in a grant from GTZ that enabled the Scoping report to be researched
and written.
•	Using the Scoping report, and the positive reaction to starting The Water Dialogues at the
Berlin meeting in 2004, International Working Group (IWG) members and the Coordinator
sought out and met with a large number of stakeholders, including bilateral donors at the
UN Convention on Sustainable Development meeting in New York in 2005. They argued for
the need to find new ways of working to break the policy paralysis affecting the water sector
and the feasibility of multistakeholder dialogues as vehicles for achieving this.
•	During the winter and spring of 2005, IWG members and the new Coordinator arranged a
series of meetings with DFID, some of which involved representatives from GTZ, to promote
The Water Dialogues and encourage DFID to provide financial support to the process.
•	As noted in 10.6 in advance of the World Water Forum in Mexico, 2006, the International
Secretariat coordinated the development of a visual identity for The Water Dialogues as well
as an introductory brochure providing brief information about the project. This was widely
distributed at the World Water Forum including at a meeting hosted by The Water Dialogues.
•	In 2005, 2006 and 2007, the project took advantage of Stockholm International Water Week
to present its work and provide updates on progress through side meetings to which a wide
variety of interested stakeholders were invited.
•	From spring 2006 onwards, The Water Dialogues produced six-monthly email updates and
sent them to some 300 hundred stakeholders who had registered an interest in the initiative.
The project also created a website to provide basic information on its work.
•	Members of the Working Groups and the International Secretariat also made a point
of promoting multistakeholder processes generally and The Water Dialogues specifically
at sector meetings.
11	Section Eleven
"We are building a strong platform for future advocacy and I am optimistic that
we will end up improving service delivery through better regulation and a better
institutional environment." (South African Working Group member)
Multistakeholder groups will want to undertake
advocacy on a range of issues. Many will wish to Definition: Advocacy
promote multistakeholder processes – as better "Advocacy can be defined as action aimed at
forms of governance that result in improved changing the policies, position and programmes
planning and policy. As their research results of governments, institutions or organisations
start to yield new insights, they will want to involving an organised, systematic influencing
ensure that this influences a wider group of sector process on matters of public interest."*
stakeholders and makes them take action. In
addition, if specific sub-issues emerge during * From Save the Children Fund, UK, Working for Change
in Education - A handbook for planning advocacy, 2000,
the course of research and dialogue that present http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/en/54_2388.htm
immediate opportunities for making improvements
they will want to advocate these to relevant
stakeholders. And, once they have completed their
analysis and agreed recommendations, multistakeholder groups will wish to lobby relevant decision-makers
to achieve changes in policy and practice.
For multistakeholder groups, arriving at shared advocacy objectives takes time and patience. While advocacy
to promote the value of multistakeholder processes themselves may be possible while dialogues are new,
advocacy for policy and practice changes on issues usually has to wait until the process is nearing its end.
Given the time lag between starting
multistakeholder processes and arriving at The advocacy toolbox
conclusions, it is essential that multistakeholder (Hilary Coulby for INTRAC)
groups continuously monitor developments in •	Strategy development
attitudes, institutions and policies related to their
issue so that they can make strategic decisions ›› research and analysis into issues
about how they will handle significant changes in – their causes and consequences
the external environment. ›› identification of the solutions and
changes needed
›› power mapping
›› stakeholder analysis
11.1	The importance of advocacy ›› setting issue and process objectives
between multistakeholder ›› outlining methods, tone and approach
group members ›› laying out a timetable of activities and
assigning responsibilities
A key space for advocacy is within the
multistakeholder working group itself. The •	Networking, alliance building
different stakeholders with their different ideas, •	Conferences/seminars/roundtables
perceptions and insights on the issue will naturally
seek to influence each other. Indeed, this is •	Reports and briefings
a fundamental part of what multistakeholder •	Lobbying
dialogues deliver – mutual advocacy between
participants that results in all involved having •	Exposure visits
a more comprehensive knowledge and •	Campaigning
understanding of the issue. When multistakeholder
groups include members with decision-making •	Media work
powers within their organisations, there will be an •	Social marketing
automatic and continuous influence on policies
and practices as the dialogue continues. •	Running an active website
➜➜Advocacy between members of multistakeholder groups:
There was broad agreement among Water Dialogues participants in Indonesia that conducting a dialogue
was going to be useful only if it could be aligned with the national reform process.
The enactment of a new Law on Water Resources in Indonesia at the end of 2004 had given rise
to many controversies as some saw this law as an instrument to legalise the privatization of the sector.
In particular, NGOs considered that the new law violated the national Constitution, which states that the
water sector should be controlled by the State.
The First Meeting of The Water Dialogues in Indonesia took place shortly after the law was passed.
Some months later, the government adopted a number of revisions to the regulatory framework.
One of the members of the Indonesia Working Group from national government, who was involved in
the formulation of the new regulation, testified that The Water Dialogues discussions and insights from
multiple stakeholders had a clear impact on his perceptions and had influenced the way he approached
the new regulations.
He noted that he "never had a conversation with NGO people" before The Water Dialogues began but that
some ideas from NGO members of the Working Group had been taken into consideration when drafting
revised regulations.
A framework for advocacy:
Adapted for The Water Dialogues by Chris Stalker
Below are ten steps to building an effective Advocacy Strategy that may be relevant and helpful for The
Water Dialogues:
1. Define the issue. Advocacy begins with an issue or problem that requires a policy and practice change
and/or capacity and space being created for civil society to participate in policy decisions that affect
citizens (and consumers). The research surveys conducted by National Working Groups at the national level
may assist with this analysis and could underpin the development of national advocacy action plans.
2. Set goal and objectives. A goal is a general statement of what advocates hope to achieve in the longer
term (typically three–five years). The advocacy objectives should be based on research and evidence and
describe short-term, specific, measurable achievements that contribute to the advocacy goal. Advocacy
objectives should ideally include the following components: policy actor, policy solution, and timeframe/
degree of change. Given the finite nature of The Water Dialogues, it may be helpful to identify short-term
objectives for 2009/10 and conceptually consider them as a way of contributing to a longer-term aim, for
example, assessing the extent to which multistakeholder dialogue at national levels has contributed to
progress on the Millennium Development Groups by 2015.
3. Identify target audience. The primary target audience includes the decision-makers who have the
authority to bring about the desired policy change. The secondary target audience includes persons who
have access to and are able to influence the primary audience. Advocates must identify individuals in
the target audience, their positions, and relative power base and then determine whether the various
individuals support, oppose, or are neutral to the advocacy issue.
4. Build support. Building a constituency to support the advocacy issue is critical for success. Advocates
must reach out to create alliances with other NGOs, networks, donors, coalitions, civil groups, professional
associations, women's groups, activists, and individuals who support the issue and will work with you to
achieve your advocacy goals. Multistakeholder dialogues can be, by definition, a way of building support,
especially when a National Working Group engages with wider groups of stakeholders.
5. Develop the message. Advocacy messages are developed and tailored to specific target audiences in
order to frame the issue and persuade the receiver to support the position. There are three important
questions to answer when preparing advocacy messages: Who are you trying to reach with the message?
What do you want to achieve with the message? What do you want the recipient of the message to do as a
result of the message (the action you want taken)?
6. Select channels of communication. Selection of the most appropriate medium for advocacy messages
depends on the target audience. The choice of medium varies for reaching the public, influencing decision-
makers, educating the media, generating support for the issue among like-minded organisations/
networks, and so forth. Some of the more common channels of communication for advocacy initiatives
include meetings with parliamentarians and officials, meetings with private and public sector, press kits
and press releases, press conferences, fact sheets, a public debate, a conference for policy-makers,
and so forth.
Adapted for The Water Dialogues by Chris Stalker (continued…)
7. Draft implementation plan. Advocates should draft an implementation plan to guide its advocacy work.
The plan should identify activities and tasks, responsible persons/committees, the desired timeframe, and
needed resources.
8. Collect data. Data collection supports many of the stages of the advocacy process. Advocates should
collect and analyse data to identify and select their issue as well as develop advocacy objectives, craft
messages, expand their base of support, and influence policy-makers. Data collection is an ongoing activity
for the duration of the advocacy work.
9. Track, monitor and evaluate. As with data collection, tracking, monitoring and evaluation occur
throughout the advocacy process. Before undertaking the advocacy work, advocates must determine
how it will monitor its implementation plan against the objectives identifies in (2). In addition, the group
should decide how it will evaluate or measure progress and results. In specific terms, what will be different
following the completion of the advocacy? How will the group know that the situation has changed?
10. Raise funds. Resources help support the development and dissemination of materials, cover travel to
meet with decision-makers and generate support, underwrite meetings or seminars, absorb communication
expenses, and so forth. Advocates should ideally develop a fundraising strategy at the outset of the
advocacy work to identify potential contributors of financial and other resources (but also take the
necessary steps to ensure that the resources required to deliver the fundraising strategy are not at the
expense of the overall advocacy strategy!)
•	In addition, at some point in your advocacy, you will need to write down these plans into a strategy
document. This could be an organisational strategy for advocacy or campaigning, or the strategy for
a single piece of advocacy.
•	This document will have many audiences and purposes:
›› To solidify the plans, relating the activities to the aims
›› To gain approval and the release of resources
›› To communicate plans to other stakeholders and win their participation
›› To be a reference point for future evaluation and to demonstrate a degree of accountability
•	To be effective in fulfilling all these functions, the strategy document needs to be clear, concise
and easy to read. The following format is ideal:
i.	Aim
ii.	Primary Objectives
iii.	Strategies (audiences, media, political, donors, other partners)
iv.	Actions & Timeline
v.	Resources (human, financial, intellectual)
vi.	Risks & Assumptions
vii.	Monitoring & Evaluation Process
11.2	Developing an advocacy strategy
The steps required to develop a multistakeholder advocacy strategy are the same as any used by an individual
or group. However, there are some distinct problems faced by multistakeholder groups, which the following
section addresses.
11.3	Advocacy to wider audiences during the multistakeholder process
It is important not to wait until dialogue, research and analysis is complete before reaching out to wider groups
of stakeholders. For successful influencing, stakeholders beyond the core working group need to be kept in
touch with developments. Giving key stakeholders the opportunity to think about and discuss insights arising
from the multistakeholder dialogue, prepares the ground for advocacy at a later stage. The precise methods
used to keep stakeholders up to date will depend on the issue, the character of the working group and the
context within which the process is taking place.
11.3.1	Forums with wider groups of stakeholders
It is good practice for multistakeholder groups to share their work with a broader group of stakeholder
organisations and individuals throughout the dialogue process. For contentious issues, it is also important
to share final research findings with this broader group for their comment and validation. These meetings
are a form of advocacy in that they are opportunities to promote the value of multistakeholder process itself,
as well as the research and fresh thinking on the issue.
•	For larger meetings of forty or more people, where small group work is envisaged, there will be a need
for two or three experienced facilitators, plus enough note takers for each small group.
•	Note that, even if the organisations invited to attend a forum remain the same, the individuals who
come to meetings will differ. This means taking time at each Forum for brief presentation on the
multistakeholder process and the issue it addresses.
•	When developing the agenda, remember that, unlike working group members, participants will not
have had the experience of building relationships, exploring issues and adjusting perspectives across
ideological divides. Outlining this journey may be helpful.
•	Having one or more independent, neutral facilitators is often a better option than having
multistakeholder working group members lead the meeting.
•	Including work in small groups creates a space for all participants to engage fully in discussions.
•	For longer meetings, it may be useful to hold a separate meeting the evening before the full meeting
begins for participants from those stakeholder groups that are nervous about participating. These
participants may feel they are taking a risk in attending the meeting; be very wary of being co-opted;
want to be sure that the agenda provides a fair opportunity for all perspectives; and may feel more able
to contribute to the proceedings if they can get to know each other before the main event begins.
•	Beware of trying to cram into one meeting everything that working group members would like to
communicate. Participants have a limited capacity to absorb new information and will switch off when
they reach overload. Providing time for discussion and exploration of issues is therefore more likely to
result in successful learning.
•	Working group members have an important role to play during meeting breaks. They should use
this time to talk to stakeholders that share their background or perspective, and provide additional
information about the process and subject matter so that these participants are on board and feel
It is very important that the working group have clear objectives for each forum meeting it holds. For example,
does the group intend to update participants on the dialogue's progress, or to give feed back on research?
Does the group want participants to comment on or validate their work or findings? Or is the objective for
the forum to provide a space for dialogue on the issue or the process? Each of these objectives will require
a different approach, agenda and length of meeting. Updating wider groups of stakeholders on progress of
the dialogue is possible in an hour or two, but creating a safe environment to hold a genuine dialogue on a
contentious issue is likely to take two or more days.
11.3.2	Roundtables
Roundtables bring together expert speakers with groups of 30–50 key stakeholders to address specific issues
within the multistakeholder group's overall remit. The purpose may be to deal with topics that traditionally
have received insufficient attention, or those that would benefit from stakeholders, including policymakers and
practitioners, sharing their knowledge and experiences. Roundtables should create space for the development
of new approaches to policy and practice, facilitate greater understanding and provide the opportunity for each
participant to learn something new.
Members of the multistakeholder working group should identify roundtable speakers based on their
perspectives and the specialist knowledge they can contribute. Speakers may give their services voluntarily,
or for a fee, in which case they may be expected to provide written versions of their presentations for inclusion
in the roundtable report.
Venues for roundtables should be centrally located for easy access by key stakeholders, ideally in a well-known
street or building, and have good facilities. If funds allow for hiring a large space, it is ideal for all participants
to sit in a horseshoe or "U" formation, so that everyone has face-to-face contact.
➜➜Wider stakeholder forums:
Reporting from breakout/small group work
•	In most instances, the reports from the breakaway sessions to the plenary will not
adequately reflect the quality of discussion or key strategic issues or interests which
emerged in the small groups.
•	Some reports may be biased in favour of the presenter's position on the issue, which will
cause friction and complaints from their fellow group members.
•	It may be preferable for a neutral party, for example a facilitator or note taker, to have
responsibility for capturing the discussion and presenting each small group's findings. Ideally,
time should be allotted for the neutral presenter to check back with the group on what they
intend to say before the presentation takes place.
•	Without taking care regarding feedback, it will be difficult to build a platform for the
larger forum dialogue or generate the quality of discussion desired on emerging issues
or points of contestation.
Balancing Presentations and Process
Finding the right balance between providing information through presentations and giving time
for engagement with this information is a critical aspect of all multistakeholder meetings.
If too little time is allocated to data and information there is a danger that participants will lack
new material to move the debate forward.
If too much time is allocated to presentations, there will be insufficient time for participants to
contribute their diverse experiences and understandings and to engage in constructive debate
regarding interpretations.
Handling challenge
As outlined in Section Seven, it takes multistakeholder working groups many meetings to build
mutual trust and respect, and be able to agree to differ respectfully.
Forum participants have not had this opportunity and when differences emerge, there may be
a tendency for these to become personalised or evoke defensive responses.
Unless facilitators recognise and address such behaviour, it may further entrench the positions
of some participants rather than allowing for constructive dialogue.
Allowing flexibility and time in the agenda for conflicts and differences to be surfaced and dealt
with in a way that is affirmative for all involved, will produce more positive results than trying to
shut them down in order to keep to a pre-ordained schedule.
The Water Dialogues South Africa experience (continued…)
Group dynamics and Dialogue versus Discussion
•	Many participants may express clear ideological positions. While it is helpful to get positions
on the table, by itself this changes very little.
•	A significant difference will exist between participants and working group members.
The latter given their history of working together over an extended period, will be more
open in their approach.
•	There will also be a difference between those individuals who have attended previous forums
and those attending for the first time. The former will be familiar with the process and the
research findings, will have argued and grappled with the issues, and will be keen to move
forward to a new level of analysis or action. These individuals may become impatient with
others whose level of understanding and engagement is more limited.
•	Presentations, questions and answer sessions and discussion may lead to new awareness,
but seldom leads to action or change.
•	An important aspect of dialogue processes is to enable individuals and groups to move beyond
ideological positions so that new thinking emerges. But this takes time and brief contact, such
as during a one day forum, may not have much impact.
•	For genuine dialogue, it might be best to hold a two-day meeting and create structured social
space in the evening that encourages individuals to get to know participants from different
perspectives and backgrounds.
•	Notwithstanding, the caution regarding the impact of a "presentation plus discussion" format,
the "reality check" provided by an objective presentation, of research findings for example,
is likely to encourage stakeholders to think more broadly about the issue, with the hope that
future engagement between them will be more open and constructive.
•	"The effectiveness and impact of a Forum such as this rests on the quality of the overall process
and the quality of meeting that is facilitated. I would strongly recommend that the final Water
Dialogues Forum dialogue be extended to 1½ or two days to allow time for the group to settle
and begin to engage with each other in more real and dynamic ways." (Facilitator, South Africa
Water Dialogues Forum, October 2008)
Working group members should work with coordinators or secretariats to draw up a list of invitees. Because
of the limits on overall numbers, this often involves prioritising between possible participants based on their
involvement with the topic and/or their policy or decision-making power.
Invitations for roundtables, requesting confirmation of attendance, should be sent out at least seven days prior
to the event, specify the speakers, the focus of their presentations and overall objectives and agenda for the
event, as well as information regarding the venue. In some cases, it may be useful to send a full list of invitees
so that people know who else is likely to attend.
The format for roundtables will vary according to the topic and the number of participants. Usually a roundtable
will be a long half day meeting in which two or more speakers give presentations followed by question and
answer sessions and then small group and/or plenary discussion lead by a facilitator or moderator. Good
facilitation is essential for the success of these events to ensure that participants do not stray off the topic and
that everyone has a chance to contribute.
Working group members should receive draft roundtable reports for comment prior to distribution to all
participants and donors funding the roundtable, and before publication on relevant websites.
Note that roundtable discussions may result in the need for follow up on the topic in the form of further targeted
lobbying on recommendations arising, or discussions with policymakers and practitioners to ensure progress
on issues identified as requiring attention.
11.3.3	Facilitating advocacy for communities
To build on multistakeholder research processes at community level, once those involved at the grassroots have
seen the research results it is useful to arrange for community representatives to come into direct contact with
decision-makers.
To prepare for such meetings, community members should be brought together to discuss their views and
develop priority questions which they would like the decision-makers to answer. Decision-makers should
receive a consolidated list of questions before the joint meeting, so they can provide proper answers. The
meeting should also select a small number of representatives who will meet with local level decision-makers
and other key stakeholders.
The responsibility for contacting the decision-makers and other significant stakeholders lies with the
multistakeholder group, or its coordinating body. Note that it can be difficult to find a time when everyone
can be present. Also, that the decision-making body may be reluctant to participate. If this is the case, it
is useful for members of the working group from the same background to persuade its most senior staff
personally that it is in their interests to participate. Once senior management is on board, other staff will
be more willing to attend.
On the day, it may be tactically advantageous to allow the top decision-maker present to welcome everyone
to the meeting and speak briefly about the issue. Otherwise, the facilitator should do this. It is important that
participants each introduce themselves individually, so that everyone knows to whom they are speaking. The
facilitator should remind participants about the purpose of the meeting and the role of the multistakeholder
project in the process, and/or about the research findings. The meeting can then move straight to a session
devoted to answering the questions from the communities, followed by a plenary discussion. After this there
could be further discussion sessions, in plenary or in small groups, depending on the issue and the willingness
of all stakeholders to give time to the process. Before the meeting ends, the facilitator should try to get
attendees to identify the next steps, and work out how to monitor them.
A Guide to Multistakeholder Work: Lessons from The Water Dialogues, page 100
➜➜Roundtables:
The Water Dialogues' experience
The first roundtable in Indonesia focused on financing for the water sector and attracted a
large number of prominent high-level stakeholders from government, donors and civil society.
Government commentators noted that the roundtable provided a useful opportunity to access
information from other government departments and learn about the current thinking in
government and donors.
In the Philippines, The Water Dialogues Working Group opted not to carry out a full independent
research programme. Instead, it organised a series of 10 roundtables on very specific topics.
The prime objective was to share experiences and expertise of a diverse group of sector actors.
The format was for resource persons, both Working Group members and other stakeholders,
to present their views and for practitioners and policymakers to react to these. Sometimes
information sharing would by itself bring breakthrough's in policy or practice, but on other
occasions policy gaps would be identified and policy recommendations formulated for further
advocacy. "The Water Dialogues were good for addressing more specific issues, for example,
the roundtables on financing, water cooperatives and small scale water providers allowed us to
get a very good sense of the constituency's needs and issues and to amplify messages from
ground level when we took the information into the Roadmap."(Philippines Water Dialogues
member) A fuller account of the outcomes from roundtables in the Philippines is available
in a special case study produced by The Water Dialogues.*
* Coulby, H., The Philippines Water Dialogues 2004 - 2008: a case study in flexible approaches to multistakeholder
➜➜Advocacy at local level:
A Planning Checklist from The Water Dialogues South Africa
•	Liaise with local researchers to develop a list of principal contacts within key organisations
including, e.g. local government, relevant businesses, community organisations
›› Ideally these should be those higher up in organisations with decision-making power
•	Determine a date for the local dialogue in consultation with all the principal contacts
›› Try to ensure equal numbers of participants from each of the stakeholder groups
•	Book facilitator(s) and a venue
›› Consider how community members will get to the venue and how their travel expenses will
be reimbursed
•	Decide on who will present the local findings from the multistakeholder work
•	Decide who else should make presentations, for example local government, community or
industry figures
•	Hold a meeting with the facilitator(s), presenters and others involved in running the meeting
›› Develop a timed agenda
›› Confirm which areas of the work will be emphasised in presentations
›› Make decisions about translation, note taking, etc…..
•	Confirm participant numbers and book drinks, snacks and meals
•	Call community, government and business representatives and so on to confirm date and
•	Make sure there are name cards for each participant
•	Prepare an evaluation sheet for completion by participants
11.4	Adapting standard advocacy practices to multistakeholder work
The diagram below is from The Water Dialogues South Africa and illustrates how, for multistakeholder
dialogues, the process in moving from research to advocacy tends to result not in single policy options
but a series of options shaped by stakeholder values and perspectives.
From Research to Advocacy
RESEARCH "objective" DIALOGUE "ideological" ADVOCACY "normative"
option A blockages
change – more effective delivery
findings from
issues blockages
option C blockages
(each option has advantages (for each option, assess sector
and disadvantages) opportunities and decide
what action to take)
For most advocacy initiatives, reaching consensus with sister organisations addressing the issue on key
messages is seen as a necessary foundation for success. Thus, for multistakeholder advocacy, the first
consideration is the extent to which diverse organisations and individuals can reach common conclusions and
recommendations. However, as discussed in Section 7.2.2, groups may not be seeking consensus. In addition,
once respectful relationships have been built between those with opposing views, there may be a reluctance to
push for single conclusions in case these re-open old quarrels.
As noted in Section 10.4, the development of advocacy messages can be a critical moment in multistakeholder
work. Deriving simple advocacy messages from detailed, complex and context specific research is far from easy
in any circumstances. In a multistakeholder situation, the values of members and their organisations will be at
stake. This means that arriving at joint recommendations on broad issues may be impossible without resorting
to the type of clichéd generalisations that mean very little. Thus alternative approaches to advocacy are needed
that are rooted in the ethos of multistakeholder work and do not rely solely on simple messages.
Moving from research to policy
(The contents of this box are adapted from and draw heavily on materials produced by the
ODI – RAPID Programme http://www.odi.org.uk/rapid/)*
•	Evidence can be used to refute or challenge your opponents
•	Evidence can be used to demystify issues – complex evidence can be used to back up a simple and
understandable narrative
•	Policy objectives without any evidence are pointless, but evidence without goals is also meaningless
•	Evidence will not solve all the policy questions, but it can make an important contribution
•	It can support policy, it can undermine policy, but on its own, it will never determine a policy
Obstacles to be faced (i)
•	Even if there is clear and unambiguous evidence that is known by all actors involved in a policy process,
this will not necessarily lead to an evidence-based policy
•	Political factors and resource prioritisation are more important factors in determining policy formulation
and outcomes
•	Evidence is never clear and unambiguous!
Obstacles to be faced (ii)
(from ODI survey- 50 case studies)
•	Civil groups have limited time to read research papers
•	Civil groups have limited skills in adapting and using research results for policy development
•	Policymakers not used to drawing on research and evidence
•	Policymakers have limited capacity to use and adapt evidence for policy processes
•	So….it is important to keep messages to policymakers simple
The importance of politics
•	Political context is crucial - the adoption and use of evidence in policy-making both in democratic and
less democratic political systems
•	Likelihood of policy uptake can be described using the following formula developed by Julius Court at
ODI:
›› Policy uptake = Demand** – Contestation***
* ODI, 2006 – 2008, Research and Policy in Development Programme (RAPID), http://www.odi.org.uk/rapid/
**demand refers to policymakers' and societal demands
***contestation refers to the degree of variance with prevailing ideology and vested interests
Factors influencing policy making
Pragmatics expertise
and Judgement
Lobbyists Evidence
Habits Values
and and Policy
Tradition Context
Source: Phil Davies Impact Insight Meeting. ODI, 2005
What helps research impact on policy
•	Relevance
›› Did it provide a solution to a problem?
›› Does it say what to do?
›› Does it say how to do it?
•	Credibility
›› Is the research approach and methodology sound?
›› Are the researchers experienced/qualified/respected?
›› Is the evidence clear?
•	Advocacy
›› Is there regular contact with decision-makers and key sector stakeholders?
›› Is there a strategy for getting the messages across?
›› Do you have a strong story/narrative?
›› Can you present detailed evidence to support possible measures and outcomes?
•	It is possible to improve the impact of research on policy if you:
›› really, really want to do it
›› understand the context (especially political context)
›› use a strategic approach
›› develop the right skills in the team
›› engage, engage, engage
11.4.1	Identifying where simple messages are possible
Before abandoning the notion of simple, joint messages completely, multistakeholder groups should explore
the possibility of developing and agreeing some consensus messages on detailed, technical areas of their
research findings aimed at specific advocacy targets. These should be drawn directly from instances where
the interpretation of research findings has resulted in agreement between all members of the group.
Tips for formulating policy recommendations
(adapted from a presentation by Helen Collinson helen@hcollinson90.freeserve.co.uk)
•	Don't just present policymakers with a list of recommendations in isolation. You also need to provide
some information (however brief) about the problem/issue and your concerns.
•	As far as possible, base your recommendations on real evidence (either from research undertaken on a
given issue or your on-the-ground experience). Policymakers are unlikely to take your recommendations
seriously without such evidence.
•	Make sure your recommendations are reasonable and viable. It might help to imagine you are in the
shoes of the person or institution to which the recommendation is targeted.
•	Make sure your recommendations are as specific as possible and are asking the person or institution to
do something. Avoid broad rhetorical statements that policymakers can easily agree with, but on which
they cannot act.
•	Try to ensure your recommendations relate to real political processes and opportunities which the
person or institution has some power to influence (e.g. forthcoming parliamentary bills, budget planning
processes etc.).
•	Only put one 'ask' in each recommendation. Clear, succinct recommendations (of no more than two or
three lines) will be more difficult for policymakers to ignore and will be easier for you to monitor if they
are implemented.
•	Try to avoid recommending that the targeted person(s) or institution 'doesn't do something' or 'stops
doing something' as this can appear negative and confrontational. This may be appropriate for public
campaigns if all else fails but not at this stage. Turn each "don't do/stop doing" into a positive "do".
11.4.2	Delivering complex information
Where simple, consensus messages are not a possibility, it is necessary to adapt advocacy to encompass
greater levels of complexity. Multistakeholder dialogues and research produce a wealth of incredibly rich and
detailed information. Instead of losing this in an effort to meet the demand for simplicity and broad agreement,
multistakeholder groups should find ways to deliver complex information to key audiences that retain the
quality of their data and deliberations.
There will be a variety of vehicles for doing this. The most obvious are presentations, seminars or workshops.
One advantage of these methods is that they allow those stakeholders that multistakeholder groups wish to
influence to interrogate findings and question the group to elicit additional information.
Clearly, this approach will be more appropriate to some targets than other targets. It will work well for policy
units within the civil service, trade unions, NGOs, private sector managers and communities. It is less likely
to be effective with, for example, ministers or senior politicians who generally seek simple answers delivered
in one or two sentences (see box below) who will be more likely to respond to the type of simple, technical
messages discussed in 11.4.1.
Separate seminars/workshops should be held with each advocacy target. The special interests of the target
audience should determine which elements of the multistakeholder findings are prioritised in presentations.
If the multistakeholder working group can reach agreement on joint recommendations for any sub-sections
of their issue, this will be particularly persuasive. But where different group members have different
interpretations of the evidence, these should be presented in a straightforward way as a series of proposal
options. This will enable the target audience the opportunity to explore them and arrive at its own conclusions.
Indeed, allowing space and time for a dialogue between the decision-makers and the members of the
multistakeholder group that facilitates a more detailed interrogation of the issue is an important part of these
It would be sensible to begin by holding workshops in those organisations, which have members represented
in the working group. This would allow coordinators and groups to develop their skills in selecting and
condensing parts of their overall findings that are especially relevant to each target audience. It would also
enable the multistakeholder group to practice delivering differing interpretations of the findings in what should
be comparatively safe environments.
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The Water Dialogues: multistakeholder
dialogues on water and the private sector
Material in this publication may be quoted
or reprinted but full acknowledgement of the
source is requested.
Permission to reproduce or translate the whole
text should be requested from The Water
Dialogues.
The Water Dialogues,
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The Water Dialogues are grateful for the
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