Foundational Documents
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GLOBAL ALLIANCE AGAINST HUNGER AND POVERTY POLICY BASKET—RATIONALE, PROCESS, CRITERIA AND TEMPLATES
RATIONALE FOR THE POLICY BASKET
This section aims to clarify a number of aspects regarding the rationale for and the nature of the Policy Basket, including how the Policy Basket will be initially setup by the G20 Task Force, how it will be curated and maintained by the Global Alliance overtime and how it will guide Global Alliance members actions in the operational phase.
Nature of the reference basket of policies
The Policy Basket will provide a menu of policy instruments that can be adapted to a particular national or subnational context and whose adaptation and implementation can be supported, upon the request of a member country, by other Global Alliance members.
In the context of the Alliance, policy instruments are tools used to implement a particular policy. They include programmes and their components as well as tools used across different programmes (e.g. social information systems). These programmes and tools can be implemented individually or in an integrated manner. To share knowledge about how a particular instrument has been used jointly with others either as an integrated programme or as combined interventions with a view to maximizing impacts, policy coherence, and synergies, standardized templates requires that the information collated about a particular policy instrument also includes whether it is used as part of an integrated or combined approach and how it is done. Suggestion of an integrated programme(s) that has (have) been adopted in several countries can also be included as a specific policy instrument. It is expected that besides evidence on the impact of a particular instrument, evidence on the impact of integrated or combined programmes where different policy instruments are brought together is also provided in standardized templates (see Section III and IV).
An initial set of policy instruments will be included in the basket through a voluntary, collaborative effort based on the suggestions of the Task Force members (countries and international organizations) and will evolve over time as the Alliance includes new members, particularly knowledge partners. The basket is aimed at documenting the general features of the policy instruments as well as different experiences in its implementation.
The inclusion of a policy instrument in the basket will enable the Alliance Support Mechanism and Board of Champions to look for interested partners to voluntarily support the implementation of that instrument, upon the request of a Global Alliance member. It does not necessarily represent endorsement of that policy by any Task Force or Global Alliance member.
Making suggestions or supporting the collection of information about a particular policy instrument to be included in the Policy Basket is an entirely optional and voluntary technical exercise, and it will not be a requirement for accession to the Global Alliance. It is not expected to be a regular activity of all Alliance members, nor will it be a condition for a country to request support from the Alliance.
It is important to clarify the distinction between the contents of the Policy Basket and the actual implementation plan for a specific request supported by the Global Alliance. The Policy Basket serves as a reference list of policy instruments, providing brief descriptions of their main features and examples to highlight variations in design, implementation, and impacts.
On the other hand, the development of an implementation plan for any given policy instrument would occur in response to a request from a member country and would be led by it. That plan, to be supported by the Alliance, should contain specific policy implementation aspects and requirements based on best practices, including a well-designed monitoring and evaluation framework and an inclusive consultation and dialogue. However, those implementation aspects should not be confused with the inclusion criteria. The former will be developed only during the operational stage and will be tailored to the specific context of each country.
Setup and curation of the Policy Basket
Once inclusion criteria for the basket and the template are reviewed by the Task Force, a new consultation phase will be opened. Task Force members will then be asked to submit suggestions based on the criteria and template.
The second consultation phase will be staggered and open-ended, with suggestions from countries and international organizations in the Task Force being received, edited for consistency, and collated in an online, web format accessible only by Task Force members. A“wiki” type tool is being considered so that members can directly contribute examples and references not only to their own suggestions, but also to help enrich, detail, and complement suggestions made by others.
Any country or international organization can suggest a specific policy instrument by filling general information on the first part of the template (Template I), as well as provide implementation examples from any country, as long as properly documented using the country-specific template (Template II). Task Force delegations, and, later on, Alliance country members and countries whose policy instruments were mentioned by others in the template will have the option to review and, if necessary, correct, update or add new information.
After the launch of the Global Alliance, the basket will be managed and curated by the Alliance’s Support Mechanism, applying the inclusion criteria to decide on the inclusion of new policy instruments, with guidance from the Board of Champions and inputs from expert organizations in the Knowledge Pillar.
During the initial setup process under the G20 Task Force, prior to the Global Alliance launch, the G20 Presidency will provisionally assume the curation role, in consultation with Task Force members as needed, and guided by the current inclusion criteria.
1. INCLUSION CRITERIA
1.1. Rationale for these inclusion criteria
As outlined in the issue note of the G20 Task Force for the establishment of a Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty, the Alliance will focus on policy-driven actions at the country level. It will support the implementation of country-driven policy instruments proven to have a positive impact on reducing hunger, food insecurity, malnutrition, and poverty. These interventions can be supported through combinations of finance, capacity strengthening and knowledge-sharing instruments.
Countries adhering to the Alliance can both provide and request support for any of these components. Thus, the Alliance will be flexible enough to accommodate and facilitate any type of cooperation among countries, and among them and other Alliance members (SDG 17). In addition, the Alliance will not propose new plans, strategies, or targets beyond those already agreed upon nationally and internationally. Instead, it will support policy instruments that contribute to existing nationally defined plans and strategies aimed at reducing poverty and hunger and, therefore, helping achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 1 and 2.
It is important to bear in mind that the SDGs are interconnected and rely on each other to reach and sustain their targets and to balance potential trade-offs. This implies that, on one hand, policy measures that focus on poverty eradication (SDG 1) and ensuring food security (SDG 2) will, to some extent, contribute to related targets under other SDGs, such as healthy lives and well-being (SDG 3), inclusive and equitable quality education (SDG 4), the empowerment of women and girls and gender equality (SDG 5), decent work (SDG 8), lower inequality (SDG 10), sustainable production and consumption (SDG 12), combat climate change impacts (SDG 13), natural resources conservation, including terrestrial and marine ecosystems (SDG 14 and 15). Thus, policy instruments included in the basket should contribute to additional SDGs besides 1 and 2 as much as possible and, to that effect, their design and implementation features must incorporate elements that enhance positive and/or minimize any potential negative impacts, thereby managing trade-offs effectively. The standardized templates will also be used to document these synergies across SDGs.
Besides the integrity of the SDGs and their interdependence, the Alliance also acknowledges the importance of macroeconomic stability, economic growth, peace, social justice, and the rule of law as key enabling conditions to eradicate extreme poverty and ending hunger and food insecurity. However, the Alliance will have a narrower and more precise scope, as it does not intend to focus upon all drivers and dimensions of poverty and food insecurity, which can be addressed through other mechanisms with broader objectives.
The Alliance will focus on policy instruments primarily designed to reach out to those less equipped to profit from growth processes and more likely to live in overty and food insecurity, who face intersecting inequalities and are usually the worst affected by both idiosyncratic and covariate shocks, including climate-related risks and social, economic, and environmental shocks. This focus does not mean that the Alliance will not address the underlying root causes of poverty and food insecurity. On the contrary, policy instruments aimed at addressing poverty and food insecurity enhance resilience, improve shock-responsiveness through systems-building, and are linked to greater social cohesion, lower inequality and shared opportunities and prosperity, which, in turn, helps prevent social unrest, conflict, and displacement.
Below, the document puts forward a set of five (5) essential criteria that a policy instrument must meet to be eligible for inclusion in the Alliance Policy Basket. Please note that these criteria are NOT meant as a set of conditions or requirements for provision of Alliance support to the implementation of a specific policy during its operational stage. Rather, these criteria are meant as simple guidance about what kinds of policy instruments, out of all possible suggestions submitted, should be included in the Alliance’s reference basket of policies.
- Well-defined policy instruments: Policy instruments entering the Basket shall have a clearly defined scope, distinguishing themselves from broad frameworks, national integrated plans or strategies that include several combined A given policy instrument can contribute to the realization of a broader plan, strategy, or framework, but, for purposes of the Policy Basket, policy instruments shall be individualized. Linkages with other instruments, integrated programme, or combined programmes, and/or broader strategies and/or frameworks, such as synergies, sequencing, and other relationships shall be included in the standard templates. Integrated programme(s) may be also suggested individually to be included in the Basket when a similar approach has been applied in several countries.
- Implementable/implemented by governments: Policy instruments entering the Basket should preferentially have been led and implemented by national, subnational, and local governments. Examples of use of policy instruments that were maintained, used and strengthened during major humanitarian interventions and/or in the absence of an operational government by those responsible for the implementation (e.g. international organizations in the humanitarian field and NGOs), as well as new policy instruments that were developed in these contexts and later on were taken over by governments may also be included, with the intent that those experiences could be later of use to Alliance member countries implementing country-owned interventions.
- Evidence base: Policy instruments must have an evidence base demonstrating a direct impact and proven effectiveness on dimensions such as poverty reduction, food insecurity and malnutrition reduction, well-being, nutrition, and other SDG indicators, particularly among those living in poverty and/or vulnerable to shocks, and/or vulnerable populations, among That evidence should preferably also consider effects on determinants of poverty, food insecurity and malnutrition, including the environment. The evidence should also include, when available, any unintended impacts, long-term impacts (sustainability over time), impacts on the local economy as well as cost-benefit analysis. Evidence should preferably stem from government-implemented programmes rather than proof-of-concept pilots with limited capacity to inform government implementation at scale. The evidence base can include academic articles with rigorous quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods methodologies as well as unpublished monitoring and evaluation reports and assessments used to inform policy/programmes design and implementation process.
- Primarily reaching out to persons experiencing poverty and hunger: Policy instruments should primarily benefit the poorest, the most food insecure, vulnerable sectors of the population and/or prioritize regions/areas where they are over-represented, depending on the Special attention should be given to population’s subgroups more likely to experience intersecting inequalities and vulnerabilities, including women and girls in diverse situations and conditions1, children and adolescents, the elderly, indigenous peoples, young people, migrants, refugees, and displaced populations, and all those who are typically left behind in standard policy efforts.
- Contributing primarily to reach SDGs 1 and 2: The basket shall include policy instruments that meet at least one out of the eight sub criteria:
- support the expansion of coverage of those either experiencing poverty or vulnerable to it in national social protection systems and addressing risks and contingencies throughout their lifecycle (SDG target 1.3), therefore, contributing to the progressive realization of the right to social security;
- contribute to the realization of the right to adequate food in the context of national food security in order to achieve a world free from hunger (SDG targets 2.1 and 2.3);
- support access to basic services (education, health, water and sanitation and housing), productive assets, appropriate technology (prioritizing low-carbon options), information, integrated social and economic inclusion programmes, skill building (including technical assistance and extension services in rural areas), financial inclusion, decent employment creation and access to safe, nutritious, and sufficient food (e.g., home-grown school meal programmes) (SDG targets 1.4, 2.1 and 2.2);
- Contribute to addressing discrimination against women that leads to poverty, hunger and malnutrition such as differences in the prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity between men and women; absence of women equal rights to economic resources, as well as of access to ownership and control over land and other forms of property, financial services, inheritance and natural resources, in accordance with national laws (SDG targets 5.a1 and 5.a.2); or contribute to recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure and social protection policies and the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family as nationally appropriate (SDG 5.4).
- target smallholder farmers (family farmers, forest dependent groups, fisherfolks, pastoralists) and among them those more likely to be left behind (e.g. women, youth, elderly, indigenous populations, communities which are land-locked or living in isolated areas, pastoralists, fishers, forest dwellers) with a view to increasing their productivity and incomes through secure and equal access to land, other productive resources and inputs, knowledge, financial services, remittances and diaspora contributions, access to credit and markets, including institutional markets, and opportunities for value addition as well as non-farm employment (SDG target 2.3) and promoting rural and territorial development;
- reach out to food consumers vulnerable to food insecurity and malnutrition, with a view of promoting information and facilitating access to healthy diets, including through education.
- foster sustainable and healthy food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production while maintaining ecosystems, including agroecology, agroforestry, and payment for environmental services, that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding, and other disasters and that progressively improve land and soil quality and maintain fish stocks (SDG target 2.4); or
- reduce the exposure and vulnerability and increase the resilience of poor and vulnerable populations to climate related-extreme events and social, economic, and environmental shocks and disasters, as well as their capacity to properly respond to these shocks, when they occur (SDG targets 1.5 and 2.4).
2. STANDARDIZED TEMPLATES FOR COLLECTING POLICY INSTRUMENT INFORMATION
2.1. Guidance on the proposed standard template for submissions to the Policy Basket
This Section contains standard templates (I and II) to be used in the open-ended consultation phase for gathering information on policy instruments to compose the Global Alliance’s Policy Basket.
The templates will a) help assess whether suggested policy instruments meet the five inclusion criteria; b) help putting together a standardized, informative basket of policy instruments that could be supported by the Global Alliance members and partners according to their respective voluntary commitments; and c) supporting the role of the Alliance in identifying qualified partnerships for each case, at the request of its members.
Template I collect information for the general section, describing the policy instrument and its main features. Template II collects information about the implementation of these policy instruments, including some innovative experiences not necessarily implemented by national governments.
By using the two templates, it is possible to ensure that besides the general description of policy instruments, the Alliance will also collect and share information on variations in design and implementation features of that particular policy instrument. This is important as the general description of a policy instrument is not meant to be a blueprint (one size fits all). Knowledge of different implementation experiences may help countries interested in a particular instrument to think about how to adapt it to its own needs, capacity, and context. It also helps to identify countries with specific experience in the matter that could be sought for partnership and knowledge exchange.
Policy instruments suggested to be included in the basket do not need to be submitted with a complete set of fully documented country experiences. During the ensuing open-ended consultation process, different Task Force delegations, both countries and IOs, will have the opportunity to voluntarily contribute different examples under each policy instrument. The Policy Basket will be constantly refined and expanded in an iterative process, during which all Task Force and, at a later stage, all Global Alliance members will be able to contribute to and enrich the Policy Basket.
Template I: General description of the policy instrument
- Policy instrument (short, descriptive name for the policy);
- Primarily reached groups;
- Description of the policy instrument (main features);
- Keywords / Type of instrument (how it relates to broader categories of policy interventions, i.e., social protection, smallholder agriculture, resilience building, child support, migration others. Multiple categories may apply);
- Primary contribution to reach SDGs 1 and 2 (select pertinent sub criteria from a.1) to a.8);
- Linkages with other SDGs;
- Linkages with UN recommendations. (including non-binding ones, when applicable);
- Limits, risks, and recommended contingency measures (including guidance on prior conditions required on a country for success in implementation, limitations, need for complementary interventions and potential risks);
- Country examples (specific implementation examples in one or more countries).
Template: II Specific implementation examples (country experiences)
- Country;
- Specific SDGs affected;
- Existing approaches/options in implementation to address specific inequalities or specific sub-populations and groups as applicable to the policy instrument (e.g., women, youth, indigenous populations, persons with disabilities, migrants and migrant families, communities which are land-locked or living in isolated areas, pastoralists, others);
- Linkages with other policy instruments (i.e., referral systems; complementary programmes, shared instruments; sectoral policies; labour policies; migration policies; National Adaptation Plans; Nationally Determined Contributions);
- Evidence base (references to national or international literature that presents evidence on the effects of interventions on reducing hunger and/or poverty and other SDG targets, when available cost-benefit analysis, long-term impacts, and unintended effects);
- Lessons learned (including mistakes to avoid, points of attention);
- Knowledge institutions (national, regional, and international knowledge organizations with expertise in the policy in point, which could potentially be implementation partners under the Knowledge Pillar of the Global Alliance);
- Type of governance (multi sectoral, decentralized, involvement of local communities/CSOs…);
- Coverage indicators (number of beneficiaries; proportion of the target population covered)
- Cost indicators (total cost of the policy; disaggregated cost of the policy; cost per beneficiary);
- Monitoring and Information Systems (description of the MIS and link to documentation and reports, when available);
- Website.
Notes
1. Throughout this document women and girls may be read in conjunction with “irrespective of age, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status.”
Foundational Documents
Download the full document
GLOBAL ALLIANCE AGAINST HUNGER AND POVERTY POLICY BASKET—RATIONALE, PROCESS, CRITERIA AND TEMPLATES
RATIONALE FOR THE POLICY BASKET
This section aims to clarify a number of aspects regarding the rationale for and the nature of the Policy Basket, including how the Policy Basket will be initially setup by the G20 Task Force, how it will be curated and maintained by the Global Alliance overtime and how it will guide Global Alliance members actions in the operational phase.
Nature of the reference basket of policies
The Policy Basket will provide a menu of policy instruments that can be adapted to a particular national or subnational context and whose adaptation and implementation can be supported, upon the request of a member country, by other Global Alliance members.
In the context of the Alliance, policy instruments are tools used to implement a particular policy. They include programmes and their components as well as tools used across different programmes (e.g. social information systems). These programmes and tools can be implemented individually or in an integrated manner. To share knowledge about how a particular instrument has been used jointly with others either as an integrated programme or as combined interventions with a view to maximizing impacts, policy coherence, and synergies, standardized templates requires that the information collated about a particular policy instrument also includes whether it is used as part of an integrated or combined approach and how it is done. Suggestion of an integrated programme(s) that has (have) been adopted in several countries can also be included as a specific policy instrument. It is expected that besides evidence on the impact of a particular instrument, evidence on the impact of integrated or combined programmes where different policy instruments are brought together is also provided in standardized templates (see Section III and IV).
An initial set of policy instruments will be included in the basket through a voluntary, collaborative effort based on the suggestions of the Task Force members (countries and international organizations) and will evolve over time as the Alliance includes new members, particularly knowledge partners. The basket is aimed at documenting the general features of the policy instruments as well as different experiences in its implementation.
The inclusion of a policy instrument in the basket will enable the Alliance Support Mechanism and Board of Champions to look for interested partners to voluntarily support the implementation of that instrument, upon the request of a Global Alliance member. It does not necessarily represent endorsement of that policy by any Task Force or Global Alliance member.
Making suggestions or supporting the collection of information about a particular policy instrument to be included in the Policy Basket is an entirely optional and voluntary technical exercise, and it will not be a requirement for accession to the Global Alliance. It is not expected to be a regular activity of all Alliance members, nor will it be a condition for a country to request support from the Alliance.
It is important to clarify the distinction between the contents of the Policy Basket and the actual implementation plan for a specific request supported by the Global Alliance. The Policy Basket serves as a reference list of policy instruments, providing brief descriptions of their main features and examples to highlight variations in design, implementation, and impacts.
On the other hand, the development of an implementation plan for any given policy instrument would occur in response to a request from a member country and would be led by it. That plan, to be supported by the Alliance, should contain specific policy implementation aspects and requirements based on best practices, including a well-designed monitoring and evaluation framework and an inclusive consultation and dialogue. However, those implementation aspects should not be confused with the inclusion criteria. The former will be developed only during the operational stage and will be tailored to the specific context of each country.
Setup and curation of the Policy Basket
Once inclusion criteria for the basket and the template are reviewed by the Task Force, a new consultation phase will be opened. Task Force members will then be asked to submit suggestions based on the criteria and template.
The second consultation phase will be staggered and open-ended, with suggestions from countries and international organizations in the Task Force being received, edited for consistency, and collated in an online, web format accessible only by Task Force members. A“wiki” type tool is being considered so that members can directly contribute examples and references not only to their own suggestions, but also to help enrich, detail, and complement suggestions made by others.
Any country or international organization can suggest a specific policy instrument by filling general information on the first part of the template (Template I), as well as provide implementation examples from any country, as long as properly documented using the country-specific template (Template II). Task Force delegations, and, later on, Alliance country members and countries whose policy instruments were mentioned by others in the template will have the option to review and, if necessary, correct, update or add new information.
After the launch of the Global Alliance, the basket will be managed and curated by the Alliance’s Support Mechanism, applying the inclusion criteria to decide on the inclusion of new policy instruments, with guidance from the Board of Champions and inputs from expert organizations in the Knowledge Pillar.
During the initial setup process under the G20 Task Force, prior to the Global Alliance launch, the G20 Presidency will provisionally assume the curation role, in consultation with Task Force members as needed, and guided by the current inclusion criteria.
1. INCLUSION CRITERIA
1.1. Rationale for these inclusion criteria
As outlined in the issue note of the G20 Task Force for the establishment of a Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty, the Alliance will focus on policy-driven actions at the country level. It will support the implementation of country-driven policy instruments proven to have a positive impact on reducing hunger, food insecurity, malnutrition, and poverty. These interventions can be supported through combinations of finance, capacity strengthening and knowledge-sharing instruments.
Countries adhering to the Alliance can both provide and request support for any of these components. Thus, the Alliance will be flexible enough to accommodate and facilitate any type of cooperation among countries, and among them and other Alliance members (SDG 17). In addition, the Alliance will not propose new plans, strategies, or targets beyond those already agreed upon nationally and internationally. Instead, it will support policy instruments that contribute to existing nationally defined plans and strategies aimed at reducing poverty and hunger and, therefore, helping achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 1 and 2.
It is important to bear in mind that the SDGs are interconnected and rely on each other to reach and sustain their targets and to balance potential trade-offs. This implies that, on one hand, policy measures that focus on poverty eradication (SDG 1) and ensuring food security (SDG 2) will, to some extent, contribute to related targets under other SDGs, such as healthy lives and well-being (SDG 3), inclusive and equitable quality education (SDG 4), the empowerment of women and girls and gender equality (SDG 5), decent work (SDG 8), lower inequality (SDG 10), sustainable production and consumption (SDG 12), combat climate change impacts (SDG 13), natural resources conservation, including terrestrial and marine ecosystems (SDG 14 and 15). Thus, policy instruments included in the basket should contribute to additional SDGs besides 1 and 2 as much as possible and, to that effect, their design and implementation features must incorporate elements that enhance positive and/or minimize any potential negative impacts, thereby managing trade-offs effectively. The standardized templates will also be used to document these synergies across SDGs.
Besides the integrity of the SDGs and their interdependence, the Alliance also acknowledges the importance of macroeconomic stability, economic growth, peace, social justice, and the rule of law as key enabling conditions to eradicate extreme poverty and ending hunger and food insecurity. However, the Alliance will have a narrower and more precise scope, as it does not intend to focus upon all drivers and dimensions of poverty and food insecurity, which can be addressed through other mechanisms with broader objectives.
The Alliance will focus on policy instruments primarily designed to reach out to those less equipped to profit from growth processes and more likely to live in overty and food insecurity, who face intersecting inequalities and are usually the worst affected by both idiosyncratic and covariate shocks, including climate-related risks and social, economic, and environmental shocks. This focus does not mean that the Alliance will not address the underlying root causes of poverty and food insecurity. On the contrary, policy instruments aimed at addressing poverty and food insecurity enhance resilience, improve shock-responsiveness through systems-building, and are linked to greater social cohesion, lower inequality and shared opportunities and prosperity, which, in turn, helps prevent social unrest, conflict, and displacement.
Below, the document puts forward a set of five (5) essential criteria that a policy instrument must meet to be eligible for inclusion in the Alliance Policy Basket. Please note that these criteria are NOT meant as a set of conditions or requirements for provision of Alliance support to the implementation of a specific policy during its operational stage. Rather, these criteria are meant as simple guidance about what kinds of policy instruments, out of all possible suggestions submitted, should be included in the Alliance’s reference basket of policies.
- Well-defined policy instruments: Policy instruments entering the Basket shall have a clearly defined scope, distinguishing themselves from broad frameworks, national integrated plans or strategies that include several combined A given policy instrument can contribute to the realization of a broader plan, strategy, or framework, but, for purposes of the Policy Basket, policy instruments shall be individualized. Linkages with other instruments, integrated programme, or combined programmes, and/or broader strategies and/or frameworks, such as synergies, sequencing, and other relationships shall be included in the standard templates. Integrated programme(s) may be also suggested individually to be included in the Basket when a similar approach has been applied in several countries.
- Implementable/implemented by governments: Policy instruments entering the Basket should preferentially have been led and implemented by national, subnational, and local governments. Examples of use of policy instruments that were maintained, used and strengthened during major humanitarian interventions and/or in the absence of an operational government by those responsible for the implementation (e.g. international organizations in the humanitarian field and NGOs), as well as new policy instruments that were developed in these contexts and later on were taken over by governments may also be included, with the intent that those experiences could be later of use to Alliance member countries implementing country-owned interventions.
- Evidence base: Policy instruments must have an evidence base demonstrating a direct impact and proven effectiveness on dimensions such as poverty reduction, food insecurity and malnutrition reduction, well-being, nutrition, and other SDG indicators, particularly among those living in poverty and/or vulnerable to shocks, and/or vulnerable populations, among That evidence should preferably also consider effects on determinants of poverty, food insecurity and malnutrition, including the environment. The evidence should also include, when available, any unintended impacts, long-term impacts (sustainability over time), impacts on the local economy as well as cost-benefit analysis. Evidence should preferably stem from government-implemented programmes rather than proof-of-concept pilots with limited capacity to inform government implementation at scale. The evidence base can include academic articles with rigorous quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods methodologies as well as unpublished monitoring and evaluation reports and assessments used to inform policy/programmes design and implementation process.
- Primarily reaching out to persons experiencing poverty and hunger: Policy instruments should primarily benefit the poorest, the most food insecure, vulnerable sectors of the population and/or prioritize regions/areas where they are over-represented, depending on the Special attention should be given to population’s subgroups more likely to experience intersecting inequalities and vulnerabilities, including women and girls in diverse situations and conditions1, children and adolescents, the elderly, indigenous peoples, young people, migrants, refugees, and displaced populations, and all those who are typically left behind in standard policy efforts.
- Contributing primarily to reach SDGs 1 and 2: The basket shall include policy instruments that meet at least one out of the eight sub criteria:
- support the expansion of coverage of those either experiencing poverty or vulnerable to it in national social protection systems and addressing risks and contingencies throughout their lifecycle (SDG target 1.3), therefore, contributing to the progressive realization of the right to social security;
- contribute to the realization of the right to adequate food in the context of national food security in order to achieve a world free from hunger (SDG targets 2.1 and 2.3);
- support access to basic services (education, health, water and sanitation and housing), productive assets, appropriate technology (prioritizing low-carbon options), information, integrated social and economic inclusion programmes, skill building (including technical assistance and extension services in rural areas), financial inclusion, decent employment creation and access to safe, nutritious, and sufficient food (e.g., home-grown school meal programmes) (SDG targets 1.4, 2.1 and 2.2);
- Contribute to addressing discrimination against women that leads to poverty, hunger and malnutrition such as differences in the prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity between men and women; absence of women equal rights to economic resources, as well as of access to ownership and control over land and other forms of property, financial services, inheritance and natural resources, in accordance with national laws (SDG targets 5.a1 and 5.a.2); or contribute to recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure and social protection policies and the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family as nationally appropriate (SDG 5.4).
- target smallholder farmers (family farmers, forest dependent groups, fisherfolks, pastoralists) and among them those more likely to be left behind (e.g. women, youth, elderly, indigenous populations, communities which are land-locked or living in isolated areas, pastoralists, fishers, forest dwellers) with a view to increasing their productivity and incomes through secure and equal access to land, other productive resources and inputs, knowledge, financial services, remittances and diaspora contributions, access to credit and markets, including institutional markets, and opportunities for value addition as well as non-farm employment (SDG target 2.3) and promoting rural and territorial development;
- reach out to food consumers vulnerable to food insecurity and malnutrition, with a view of promoting information and facilitating access to healthy diets, including through education.
- foster sustainable and healthy food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production while maintaining ecosystems, including agroecology, agroforestry, and payment for environmental services, that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding, and other disasters and that progressively improve land and soil quality and maintain fish stocks (SDG target 2.4); or
- reduce the exposure and vulnerability and increase the resilience of poor and vulnerable populations to climate related-extreme events and social, economic, and environmental shocks and disasters, as well as their capacity to properly respond to these shocks, when they occur (SDG targets 1.5 and 2.4).
2. STANDARDIZED TEMPLATES FOR COLLECTING POLICY INSTRUMENT INFORMATION
2.1. Guidance on the proposed standard template for submissions to the Policy Basket
This Section contains standard templates (I and II) to be used in the open-ended consultation phase for gathering information on policy instruments to compose the Global Alliance’s Policy Basket.
The templates will a) help assess whether suggested policy instruments meet the five inclusion criteria; b) help putting together a standardized, informative basket of policy instruments that could be supported by the Global Alliance members and partners according to their respective voluntary commitments; and c) supporting the role of the Alliance in identifying qualified partnerships for each case, at the request of its members.
Template I collect information for the general section, describing the policy instrument and its main features. Template II collects information about the implementation of these policy instruments, including some innovative experiences not necessarily implemented by national governments.
By using the two templates, it is possible to ensure that besides the general description of policy instruments, the Alliance will also collect and share information on variations in design and implementation features of that particular policy instrument. This is important as the general description of a policy instrument is not meant to be a blueprint (one size fits all). Knowledge of different implementation experiences may help countries interested in a particular instrument to think about how to adapt it to its own needs, capacity, and context. It also helps to identify countries with specific experience in the matter that could be sought for partnership and knowledge exchange.
Policy instruments suggested to be included in the basket do not need to be submitted with a complete set of fully documented country experiences. During the ensuing open-ended consultation process, different Task Force delegations, both countries and IOs, will have the opportunity to voluntarily contribute different examples under each policy instrument. The Policy Basket will be constantly refined and expanded in an iterative process, during which all Task Force and, at a later stage, all Global Alliance members will be able to contribute to and enrich the Policy Basket.
Template I: General description of the policy instrument
- Policy instrument (short, descriptive name for the policy);
- Primarily reached groups;
- Description of the policy instrument (main features);
- Keywords / Type of instrument (how it relates to broader categories of policy interventions, i.e., social protection, smallholder agriculture, resilience building, child support, migration others. Multiple categories may apply);
- Primary contribution to reach SDGs 1 and 2 (select pertinent sub criteria from a.1) to a.8);
- Linkages with other SDGs;
- Linkages with UN recommendations. (including non-binding ones, when applicable);
- Limits, risks, and recommended contingency measures (including guidance on prior conditions required on a country for success in implementation, limitations, need for complementary interventions and potential risks);
- Country examples (specific implementation examples in one or more countries).
Template: II Specific implementation examples (country experiences)
- Country;
- Specific SDGs affected;
- Existing approaches/options in implementation to address specific inequalities or specific sub-populations and groups as applicable to the policy instrument (e.g., women, youth, indigenous populations, persons with disabilities, migrants and migrant families, communities which are land-locked or living in isolated areas, pastoralists, others);
- Linkages with other policy instruments (i.e., referral systems; complementary programmes, shared instruments; sectoral policies; labour policies; migration policies; National Adaptation Plans; Nationally Determined Contributions);
- Evidence base (references to national or international literature that presents evidence on the effects of interventions on reducing hunger and/or poverty and other SDG targets, when available cost-benefit analysis, long-term impacts, and unintended effects);
- Lessons learned (including mistakes to avoid, points of attention);
- Knowledge institutions (national, regional, and international knowledge organizations with expertise in the policy in point, which could potentially be implementation partners under the Knowledge Pillar of the Global Alliance);
- Type of governance (multi sectoral, decentralized, involvement of local communities/CSOs…);
- Coverage indicators (number of beneficiaries; proportion of the target population covered)
- Cost indicators (total cost of the policy; disaggregated cost of the policy; cost per beneficiary);
- Monitoring and Information Systems (description of the MIS and link to documentation and reports, when available);
- Website.
Notes
1. Throughout this document women and girls may be read in conjunction with “irrespective of age, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status.”