No cake for the Working Class

I just finished baking my “friendship cake” as passed on to me by my best friend last week and as I stirred the remaining batter into the greasy pan, I was outraged by the series of police sirens that wailed down the street into Stratford, East London. London is bracing itself for one of the worst riots and it all began after a man was shot by armed police yesterday. A second riot kicked off later this afternoon as a young woman claimed to have been assaulted by a police officer. Police cars, buildings and public transports have been set alight by disgruntled youths, and ordinary citizens have turned their hands to crime, breaking through window shops to loot everyday goods that are otherwise affordable. While an exemplary modern city that attracts thousands of foreign visitors, London is just another illustration of the unsaid divide.

David Cameron and Nick Clegg promised to put aside their party differences when the Coalition Government was formed but all we have seen is the Tories strangled hold on its power over the Liberal Democrats. In April 2010 Nick Clegg warned that Tory cuts would lead to riots. Now he's a Tory Minister himself he sees no connection. People are angry with the growing gap between the treatment of the rich and the poor. In the news, police and politicians blame criminal thugs and undisciplined youths for the violence that London is experiencing but the real damage was done when the government implemented its dividing policies upon the British people. There are no jobs, education is three times as expensive and social welfare has taken a backseat in the political hub, it is no wonder that the youth – once again – are revolting for change.

Development begins with the nurturing of young minds but when young people are not given the chance to thrive, they will turn their hands to areas that may otherwise seem illicit. How are parents supposed to support their children through school when the welfare system is riddled with heavy bureaucracy that even an educated person struggles to worm through? How can a young couple be expected to start their life when jobs are sparse and the price tags on homes are beyond reach? How is the government expected to understand social problems when politicians keep themselves so out of reach from ordinary citizens that they no longer know what is real? The divide is no longer a gap but a valley filled with the lost and disenchanted. And this divide is appearing in almost every country as we witnessed in the United States and the Middle East.

Grassroot politics is required at a time when grassroots movements are growing. A new system of governance needs to be administered where people from diverse backgrounds, beliefs and social orientation need to be pulled together to form a united understanding to the unsaid divide. It is no longer acceptable that inner city families and young people are expected to keep to their side of town. Government officials need to take with them a thick pad of paper and pen, open up their ears to all the voices that are screaming around them and be brave on taking on board policy changes from the ground. Politics should never be about party interests. It should always, and remain to be, about the people it promised to take care of. Maybe politicians should cut through the riot with a friendship cake. 

Translating Policy into Practice

Back in March 2011, the Gender Action for Peace and Security (GAPS) held an interesting event on Women, Peace and Security. The event looked into translating policy into practice based on the book edited by Dr. Karen Barnes, Eka Ipke, Njoki Wamai and Dr. Funmi Olonisakin and emphasising how turning concepts into reality is harder to do after its inception. A former diplomat once said that “policies are like fashions - they come and go.” If so, then what is the point of negotiating a policy if its implementation is weak and ineffective? Organisations like GAPS exist to keep the spirit of certain policies alive but we must unite the work of diplomacy, grassroots and policy-makers in order to generate new insights and remove barriers to effectiveness.

The purpose of the event was to reflect on the strength of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325, which was the first global resolution that took into account the role of women in peace and security issues. More than ten years since its creation, the resolution is still struggling to make a full impact in many countries and one of the problems is the lack of monitoring and accountability made by the state. Policies, for the most part, are created for change but for change to appear there must be a willingness to change behaviour.  Much of this change must be tackled and mobilised on the ground but those in powerful positions have the tools and influence to make change a reality. Translating policy into practice is subject to multiple layers of implementation and each layer may challenge the effectiveness of this process. For instance, countries and organisations must challenge the status quo so that policies are incorporated in agendas and is embedded within the social norm for any change to take into effect. There may be a problem of power distribution, matters of corruption over privileges or lack of political will for change.

Grassroot Diplomat recommends that diplomats tap into local NGO expertise and support them to upscale their efforts. This is to ensure that there is easy flow of information between ground mobilisation and top policy-makers and to avoid an overlap of reoccurring mistakes. We could also draw lessons from other countries to reflect on why other countries under-perform when implementing policy.

Here are a few reasons why policies fail and challenges in implementing policies effectively:

Why Policies Fail

1. No clear link between project and strategic priorities

2. Lack of top level ownership and leadership

3. Lack of effective stakeholder engagement

4. Project and risk management not applied

5. Poor senior level understanding of supply industry

6. Evaluation driven by price not long term value

7. Implementation not broken into manageable steps

8. Inadequate resources and skills to deliver

Why Policies Aren’t Put Into Practice

1. An inadequate understanding of the issues to be addressed  

2. Lack of clear ownership and well-focused leadership

3. Failure to define appropriate measures of success

4. An inadequate analysis of changes in the external environment

5. Lack of realism about how the policy will work in practice 

6. Failure to secure buy-in from those affected and those responsible for service delivery

7. Failure to secure or develop the capacity and capability for successful delivery

8. Failure to identify and manage risks and plan for unforeseen events

9. Failure to establish an effective framework for monitoring and evaluating performance

10. Poor management of the policy making process itself