Features of effective implementation

Leadership and governance

• Clearly defined governance arrangements to steer the implementation in an accountable and transparent way, manage risk, identify resources, and unite all implementing actors towards a common purpose. Agreement on roles and responsibilities is needed. The governance arrangements can be simple, for instance in the form of a single steering committee, or elaborate with multiple working groups reporting to a central committee. In either case, it is important to ensure gender and geographic representativeness in such committees or advisory groups.
• An appropriately senior executive with the authority to guide and manage the project within and across implementing institutions.
• Participation of legal experts to ensure implementation does not contravene applicable national law and international standards.

Planning and project management

• Critical mapping of a plan to determine the fundamentals of the implementation: questions of how, what, when, where and for whom, taking into account resources and timelines. Factor in any anticipated new technology.
• Simple tracking tools, such as spreadsheets, flow charts and action tables work well. More sophisticated planning and project management tools may be required for larger efforts, such as for those involving multiple parts and many actors.
• The use of monitoring systems and tools to keep track of finances, progress (of activities and results), including through the use of performance data, disaggregated as appropriate.
• The establishment of a project team with the relevant skills and appropriate gender and geographic representation, including project coordination mechanisms, ensures team members are aware of how the policy intervention needs be conducted so that it is consistent with applicable national law and international standards. (Further details on Implementation of gender-responsive governance)

Communication and engagement

• Meaningful communication with stakeholders, both internal and external, to secure buy-in, create a sense of ownership of the policy, decrease resistance to its implementation, and ensure the policy implementation takes a rights-based approach.
• The principles and process for stakeholder engagement clearly set out (as discussed in The need for an appropriate institutional infrastructure for policymaking and in Consultation). Focused outreach to understand, define and align stakeholders’ interests and roles in implementation: for example, targeted communication is needed for staff that will have new or changed tasks and standards to follow; collaborative efforts are needed with community stakeholders to reach those the policy is targeting or would otherwise affect, ensuring that all groups (for example, based on gender, age or other relevant characteristics) are appropriately reached.
• Where relevant, the inclusion of individuals and communities directly and indirectly affected by the policy is important. Such individuals and communities should be representative of those affected in terms of gender, age and other factors.
• Ensuring the intervention promotes equality, inclusion and does not discriminate against groups. This entails thinking of aspects such as whether assistance (such as translation) is needed for stakeholders to participate meaningfully, especially in the case of particularly excluded groups, or whether the intervention can strengthen the capacity to uphold rights, both by those implementing the policy and those affected by it.

• Hateley-Browne, J., et al., Implementation in Action: A Guide to Implementation Evidence-informed Programs and Practices, 2019.
• Brynard, P., Policy implementation: lessons for service delivery, 2015.
• Kettner, P. M., et al., Designing and managing programs: An effectiveness-based approach, 2017.
• Dufvenmark, Rights-based Approach to Programming, 2015.
  While focused on programme and project implementation, this manual provides useful insights into how to practically ensure that interventions meet the standards to respect, protect and fulfil human rights.

In this example, a decision has been taken by the central government to introduce an identity management policy for non-nationals. The need for this particular policy response was identified as part of a comprehensive national migration strategy which included a pillar of work related to effective border management. The policy formulation stage identified the biometric enrolment of non-citizens on entry and exit as the preferred policy option, requiring changes to national migration laws to provide the authority to request biometrics. The policy then underwent a human rights assessment to ensure that any interference with privacy rights was necessary, lawful and proportional. It also included consideration of regional developments in biometric technologies to optimize compatibility for future opportunities for data sharing. The policy has now been adopted, with legislation passed and funding secured for the new technology to be rolled out in two international airports and gradually at multiple land border sites. The relevant minister has committed to implement the project within 12 months and has insisted that implementation must not exceed the budget allocated, which was based on costings undertaken during the policy formulation stage.

What approach to leadership and governance might support implementation?

A policy change with a substantial emphasis on new technology requires a multidisciplinary team with an effective and empowered leader. These are complex projects to steer given the need for:

• Procurement (of IT solutions) and resource management;
• Technology development, testing and training;
• Procedures development; for example, standard operating procedures that set out the business process as well as data protection frameworks to ensure data protection (further details on the right to privacy and Data protection in Using data for policymaking);
• Communication tools, including information campaigns for migrants.

The appointment of a single suitably senior leader with the skills, experience and authority within the implementing agency/ministry and across supporting agencies/ministries is critical for the success of a multifaceted, high-cost project.

An ideal implementation team for this large and technical project might include a combination of specialist and generalist roles. The senior policy lead directly accountable to the minister may need a team with internal IT specialists to work with external IT providers; experienced border officials with a deep working knowledge of the business process; procurement and contract managers; resource management specialists; communications and training experts; and legal and privacy experts. Ensuring gender and geographic diversity and representativeness in the implementation team, particularly among the border officials, would be ideal so as to ensure that different viewpoints and opinions are considered.

Given multiple work streams, an appropriate governance structure might include a diverse and representative central steering committee with multiple task teams reporting to it: for example, a technical and business process group; a procurement and resources group; a procedures and training group; and a communications group. Given the accountability to the relevant minister, mechanisms for regular reporting on progress by each task team will be needed, including on identified risks to implementation and proposed risk mitigation action. The project leadership should monitor progress towards set objectives, thus ensuring that the project does not stray from its purpose. Legal and privacy experts should advise senior leadership on whether the implementation is being designed and conducted in a manner that is consistent with applicable national law and international data protection standards.

What tools are needed for planning and project management?

These multifaceted projects require specialist knowledge and a well thought out approach to planning. A comprehensive implementation plan that has been endorsed through the governance arrangements is needed. Delivering on time and on budget will need tight controls. Realistic timelines need to be negotiated, not guessed. If biometric technology and/or development capacity is to be procured, standard timeframes for procurement may be necessary and contracts will need to be negotiated to align with the implementation plan.

For a project of this nature, project management tools that are commercially available would be critical, given the need to capture key milestones for a range of activities over multiple sites. While a responsible team member may lead on project managing, the project’s governance processes must ensure ownership of the plan by the whole team. Given the multiple work streams and task teams, collaboration platforms are essential to ensure information sharing within and across teams. Reporting tools such as dashboard reports may be helpful. Project planning and reporting meetings should also address risks to delivery, including where time, quality or resources become an issue.

Why is communication important throughout implementation?

Communication experts must be brought in to ensure that all team members, partners and stakeholders – including beneficiaries and those whose day-to-day jobs will be impacted by the introduction of such biometric systems – have a common understanding of the nature and purpose of the policy and have an opportunity to provide inputs, as appropriate, on developments throughout the implementation process. Updating and seeking the participation of stakeholders on policy implementation will enhance readiness, improve buy-in, and create the right conditions for the introduction of change. For this example, project updates could be provided on a regular basis to border officials, airport authorities, relevant ministries officials, local authorities in border areas, migrants likely to be affected (perhaps through their diplomatic/consular representatives), and related civil society groups. The production of signage (including useful images for those with lower literacy levels, audio messages, and translation), and information for migrants in a language they can understand on the use and protection of biometric data will be of great value.