The PAPEP Experience: Strengthening Political Capacities for Development

This paper presents and describes the  Political Analysis and Prospective Scenarios Project (PAPEP, for its Spanish acronym), which is being implemented by the UNDP Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean (RBLAC) in a considerable number of LAC countries. The article opens with a brief description of what the PAPEP is, explaining why it does political analysis, and moves on to describe what the project’s added value is; in which areas it has an impact; what kind of political analysis products it generates; what methodological approach it uses; how it is implemented on the field; and finally what risks and challenges it faces.

• The PAPEP is a high level knowledge network producing strategic political analysis and advice for development. PAPEP believes that politics matter, and aims at strengthening political capacities for development management and democracies’ effectiveness in addressing the citizens’ needs.
• The PAPEP builds prospective scenarios in order to make socio political actors think about the best possible future and take the decisions to make it happen. The prospective scenarios presentations lead to today’s political interaction and decision making.
• The key concept underpinning the project is the idea that politics matters for development, and that political analysis makes sense if it leads to action. PAPEP’s main added value is the capacity to foster political interaction and advice.
• PAPEP’S activities in LAC countries have had a direct impact in four areas: Crisis Prevention and Management, Democratic Dialogue Promotion, Public Policy Formulation and Implementation, and UN/UNDP Strategic Planning. Between 2005 and 2010 the PAPEP carried out activities in Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay,  Peru and Uruguay. In 2011 the project is expected to implement its work in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, and Peru.
• The PAPEP generates four different analytical products: Prospective Political Analysis Reports, Institutional Road Maps, Public Policies and Development Projects Assessments, and Political Situations short and medium-term Analysis. All of these are political analysis products aiming at fostering political interaction with and among development actors. Political interaction and advice are promoted through sessions and strategic workshops where the results of the analysis are presented.
• Within the UN/UNDP paradigm (Human Rights, Human Development and Democratic Governance), PAPEP’s political analysis is based on three conceptual and methodological pillars: Active Neutrality, the Prospective Approach and the Methodological Toolkit.
• The project teams, made up of high level international PAPEP specialists and national experts, implement the analysis agendas, which entail: Data Collection, Information Analysis, Prospective Workshops and Validation Sessions.