In promoting evidence-based policy in developing countries, the links between civil society organisations and legislators in the research-policy-practice interface have been insufficiently studied.

Policy engagement initiatives that focus on policymakers typically target powerful ministry officials, such as officials in ministries of finance and economics, who coordinate poverty reduction strategy paper (PRSP) processes. Due to the relative weakness of legislators in many developing countries, policy advocacy work directed toward them has been less common. But if one of good governances aims is to promote a system of checks and balances among the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government, then strengthening the pathways through which legislators access and make use of quality, policy-relevant research is important.

This article synthesises the findings from a four-country research project in East Africa (Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya) and Southern Africa (Zambia). The project explored the strengths and weaknesses of the formal and informal relationships and mechanisms that currently exist between civil society organisations (CSOs) including think tanks, NGOs and community-based organisations (CBOs) and parliamentarians, either individual members of parliaments (MPs) or parliamentary committees. The research combined interviews with CSOs and parliamentarians as well as literature analysis.

CSO/parliamentarian relationships

Links between CSOs and parliamentarians in East and Southern Africa can be largely traced back to the introduction of multi-party democracy, including the right to freedom of association, in the 1990s. The last decade in particular has seen a growing pattern of formal and informal types of interaction. As one CSO representative from the Straight Talk Foundation Uganda noted:

First we create personal relationships with specific individuals, such as getting involved and participating in the social networks that they frequent. Then we schedule appointments with them so that now it becomes a formal process and create strategic partnerships. We access the relevant committees using the earlier established contacts as entry points.

In Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, CSOs have made the greater effort at forming these relationships. Only in Kenya has considerable initiative been taken by MPs. CSOs engage with individual MPs and, in Tanzania and Uganda in particular, also with specific parliamentary committees. Interestingly, MPs were more motivated to engage with CSOs based on their roles as service providers (for example, their ability to provide much needed basic services to their constituencies) than as providers of knowledge relevant to proposing, discussing and approving new legislation. Nevertheless, carefully tailored presentation of evidence, especially grassroots testimonies about development challenges and examples of regional or international best practices, was thought to strengthen MPs reliance on CSO knowledge.