Activation Policies for the Poor in OIC Member States
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Programme sustainability can affect impact.
To ensure successful programmes can continue to provide support in the longer term, their
sustainability should be taken into consideration during programme design. This recommendation is
particularly applicable to low income and lower-middle income Member States, where lack of
funding in particular can affect programme implementation.
Programmes should contain an element of continuous improvement.
Factored into programme design, timely reviews of performance against targets can support the
identification of unintended consequences and measures to address them. This would require the
capacity to collect data to be built into programme design. The frequency of reviews would also need
consideration. Reviews should not be so frequent that they draw a disproportionate amount from
project funding though regularity can allow for quicker identification of unintended consequences
and issues.
Supporting infrastructure
Best practice
Improvement in the use of activation measures can also be generated by using an over arching
monitoring of national activation strategies. This can support impact assessments of measures on
employment and poverty levels at a national level. Monitoring of labour market information,
underpinned by reliable data sources, can also identify where there is a need for activation. In
Cameroon, a National Observatory for Employment and Vocational Training has been created to
provide more in depth analysis of labour market statistics. Although continued training is required
to build the observatory’s capacity, this is being delivered with support from external organisations.
The support that external organisations can provide also highlights the value of platforms to
facilitate information exchange between policy makers and practitioners, including internationally.
Malaysia and Saudi Arabia, for example, have used best practice in vocational skills training and job
search support from Germany and the United Kingdom respectively, to inform the development of
activation programmes.
Cross cutting recommendations
A monitoring and performance strategy, underpinned by processes for gathering data and other
evidence, could improve the effectiveness of activation.
To support continuous improvement within activation programmes, and to monitor the success of
national activation strategies, a monitoring and performance strategy could be implemented. This
would support the identification of best practice and could monitor the use of funds, supporting
strong governance and measuring the value for money of programmes. Many programmes in place
in Member States do tend to be monitored. However, an over-arching strategy could support the
consistency and quality of monitoring, as well as provide transparency.
Platforms for best practice sharing between Member States could support the design and delivery of
activation measures.
The study shows that valuable lessons can be learnt between Member States. If the sharing of best
practice between Member States could be facilitated, such as through an online platform, continuous
learning could be encouraged. If this recommendation were to be developed further, training to
policy makers and practitioners could also be delivered.