Building incentives through conditionality

For stakeholders to engage in dialogue there needs to be some sort of motivation, something to justify reconsidering their entrenched positions and change their views on a given issue, as every change of position in the political field comes at a risk – e.g it may alienate former supporters or raise expectations that will not be fulfilled. At the same time, embarking in dialogue can also boost the political capital of the different parties, as they become recognised as relevant and legitimate players in the policy field. In both cases, donors can foster positive outcomes by / are tasked with creating win-win situations and/or compensating those stakeholders who see themselves as the losers of the reform.

INSPIRED Pakistan (2018) was implemented with the support of the Aurat Foundation (AF), which is an outreach-based organisation with a country-wide presence in all over 120 districts of Pakistan. It functions simultaneously at all levels, i.e. working closely at the policy level with decision-makers and at the grassroots through its established networks of women and citizens. It works for enabling women to acquire greater access to knowledge, resources and institutions; to influence attitudes and behaviour for a social environment responsive to women's concerns and; to facilitate citizens' active participation in the process of social change and governance at all levels. AF has a strong track record of working with governance institutions, particularly the legislative assemblies, their secretariats and Committees for over two decades. AF is recognized by the Federal and Provincial Governments as having the technical knowledge and support mechanisms to assist them in their work. The participatory policy assessment resulting from INSPIRED led to significant legal change in women working in the agricultural sector's labour rights. This is mainly due to the outreach and advocacy capacity of Aurat Foundation, which managed to keep the stakeholders - local public authorities, members of the local parliament, CSOs, etc - engaged in the reform process after the completion of the project.