Duncan GreenHead of Research, Oxfam GB

ODI/INASP Symposium, OxfordNovember 2006

Oxfam and Research

The rise of research, advocacy and campaigning among INGOs

Roots in programmes (islands of success in a sea of failure)

NGOs saw need to shape/check northern policies (anti-apartheid, Central America, IFIs, debt, trade)

And need to change attitudes and beliefs to build a mass constituency for change

Leading to the rise of global advocacy and campaigning

But bulk of staff still involved in grassroots development and emergencies

Sound research provides an INGO campaign with

Credibility with decision makers and high end journalists (e.g. Rigged Rules and Double Standards)

A coherent campaign narrative and ‘ask’ Confidence!

What do we mean by ‘research’

Limited primary research (e.g. Water Provision in Sierra Leone; SCF on User Fees; Programme examples elsewhere)

But mainly ‘narrative’, bridging the journalist-academic divide, combining

– Literature review– Case Studies (usually from programme)– Recommendations for decision makers– Killer Facts [eg EU cow]– Executive Summary– Media Launch (stunts, op-eds, exclusives)

Campaigning

The best campaigns (and therefore research) have

– A villain– A problem– A solution– Example: TRIPS/Access to

Medicines Villains of choice: Northern

Governments, IFIs, WTO, TNCs But can be an easy ride for:

domestic capital, DC governments and NGOs themselves!

Campaign Favourites

Northern Governments– Aid; Make Poverty History; Jubilee 2000

IFIs– Debt; conditionality; megaprojects

UN– Civilian protection; Arms; humanitarian aid

TNCs– Extractives; Pharma; Labour standards

Trade– WTO; Northern agricultural subsidies; regional

trade agreements

How does Oxfam campaign?

Internationally (via Oxfam International) Insider

– Lobbying– Research: combined primary, secondary and

‘killer facts’ Outsider

– ‘Pop Mob’; media; celebrities; branding (white bands)

Alliances– Trade Justice Movement, Control Arms, Make

Poverty History, Jubilee 2000

Why do governments listen to NGOs?

They usually don’t, but when they do, it’s because NGOs:

– Talk their language/ ‘tell a story’ – Adapt message to legislative/negotiating

timetables (eg Development Box)– Move the public (eg Church NGOs on debt)– Are skilled media operators– Sometimes spot emerging issues before civil

servants (PWYP)

Why don’t governments listen to (most) academics?

Academic incentive structure all wrong– Risk averse (on the one hand, on the other…)– Impenetrable post modernist or economicist

jargon– Talk to peers, not politicians

Do not adapt message to decision makers’ realities (e.g. timetables)

Think like lecturers, not lobbyists (e.g. Cambridge economists and Development White Paper, 2000)

Result? A very restricted gene pool of insider academics (including ODI!)

Constraints on NGO Research

The sensibilist conspiracy – self censorship and the financial-intellectual complex

Dominance of mathematical economics leads to political naivete (problem/solution/exhortation) and historical amnesia

Power Analysis (Government is not a faculty) – policy-based evidence making is widespread!

What needs to change?

Increase national research and advocacy capacity (e.g. Basic Services and South Asia)

Shift to political economy/how change happens

Intellectual Pluralism (Rodrik on the World Bank)