The Alliance Architecture (December 13, 2017)

Hi folks and happy new year - looks like it will be a very interesting and dynamic one for our common endeavours!

This is a quick follow up to the message at this link sent on 17th December, 2017. There were no responses so I took the hint, figured it was too close to the festive season and did not send the name survey. Was very reluctant to send without some comments back.

We do want to send the name survey as soon as possible this week. Can you please review at that link asap and send comments.

On thinking this through a bit we could get a lot of Qs along the lines of "can not advise on name unless I know more about the specifics relating to the outline of the Alliance and its initial plan".

So I am suggesting that the note asking people to compete the name survey is accompanied by the paper attached. This is a stripped down version of the more extensive paper developed based on the decisions made in Baltimore and the subsequent conference calls. In particular I removed the names of the organisations to be invited and the appendixes that detail the specific plans.

Does this make sense? Are you OK with sending this paper along with the survey link and invitation.

Thanks - Warren

Hi folks - hapy new year again. In the Baltimore plus process we agreed that invites go to the following organisations to comprise the Alliance. We want to make sure that we contact and communciate with the correct people for (a) the initial discussion and (b) the follow up with the formal invite. 

Can you all please review below and send by reply email the names, titles and emails of the peope you would recommned we contact for those organisations below about which you have knowledge and insight. It may be that you have two people to recommend - one for the initial discussion and one for the formal invite. If so can I please ask you to be clear re who is who. 

The target date to get your responses is cob Tuesday January 9th.Though some contact people in these orgs may seem obvious we do want to confirm.

James - please note the question Q re DFID. 

Thanks - Warren   

1.     Southern created and managed organisations

ü  Soul City Institute for Social Justice (South Africa)

ü  Tostan (West Africa)

ü  Breakthrough (India)

ü  ANDI (communication rights) (Brasil)

ü  BRAC (Bangladesh)

ü  CCRDA (Ethiopia)

ü  Femina Hip (Tanzania)

ü  Minga (Peru)

2.     Networks, Partnerships, Membership based organisations for sub-sectors of this field

ü  AMARC (World Community Radio)

ü  Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD)

ü  International Social Marketing Association (ISMA)

ü  FEMNET (African Womens Development and Communication Network)

ü  Civicus

ü  The CORE Group

ü  CDAC (Communicating with Disaster Affected Communities network)

ü  International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE)

ü  Global Network on Safer Cities (UN Habitat)

3.     United Nations

ü  UNICEF

ü  UNDP (Oslo Centre)

ü  World Health Organisation (WHO)

4.     Bilaterals and Foundations

ü  Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

ü  Open Society Foundation

ü  Omidyar Network

5.     International NGOs

ü  Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication Programs

ü  BBC Media Action

ü  Save the Children USA

6.     Academic

ü  International Association for Media and Communication Research

ü  International Communication Association

ü  American University of Beirut

7.     Government and Bilateral

ü  USAID

ü  City of Medellin

ü  DFID (James check first)

8.     Private Sector

ü  IDEO

ü  Busara Center for Behavioral Economics (Kenya)

Hi folks - just to let you know that the Alliance invitations are on their way out the door. Rafael, Carla and myself worked on the process and the draft note. The note will come from the UNICEF email system over Rafael's email address. Thanks to all who shared contact info where we did not have that info. The draft invite letter follows FYI. Attached is the contacts sheet. More soon. Best - Warren

INVITATION LETTER
 

To: (agreed main focal points in each organisation)
 

CC: Others we wish to include from the organisation being contacted plus main focal point people from the Baltimore group
 

Subject: Commencement of a Global Alliance to advance our common field of work
 

Dear ???,
 

Best wishes and a very happy new year to you and all involved with INSERT ORGANISATION NAME.
 

We would very much welcome an early discussion with you concerning the participation of INSERT ORGANISATION NAME as part of the Global Alliance that is being formed to help accelerate progress towards more informed and engaged societies through effective social change and behaviour change action.
 

You may be aware that over the second half of 2017 there has been an extensive consultation process to develop a global mechanism that brings together the different approaches in our common field of work to pursue accelerated progress on a few high priorities that we all share. Over 1,000 people provided input through face-to-face meetings, virtual conferencing, online communities and a survey.
 

The specific strategic approaches understood to comprise this shared field of work include communication for development, media for development, social change, behaviour change, community engagement and participation, social marketing, facilitating dialogue and debate, freedom of expression and information, programme communication, development communication and social media and development. From different perspectives they all share the people perspective for effective development; action that has an emphasis on shifting social norms, changing individual behaviours, sharing and creating information and knowledge, amplifying voices and supporting the engagement of people in their own development, across all development issues.     
 

The common priority interests that emerged from the consultation process as the focus for the mechanism include:
 
1. Advancing shared policy goals
2. Identifying and agreeing the most compelling evidence for the impact of our work
3. Expanding the financial and other resource base for this work.
 

The paper attached is the result of the extensive consultation process to establish the focus and form of this Alliance. It outlines the results of those deliberations including the vision, mission, scope, rationale, goals, priorities, initial operational steps and the organizations to be invited to form this Alliance, including your own. Can we suggest that you review this paper but at this stage please restrict communication to key people within your organisation for obvious reasons.
 

You will note that there is one Alliance issue not yet resolved - the name! The core group coordinating the consultation process decided that this was so important we should conduct further consultation on the two main name proposals. A brief survey is being conducted with those who engaged in the consultation process. That survey is at this link. Please feel free to vote. 
 

It would be excellent to discuss the participation of INSERT ORGANISATION NAME in this Alliance. Would you be available for a group conference call with us in the week of February 1st to 8th, 2018? We will share with you shortly three different times for these calls which you may be able to join at you own convenience. We will ensure that this will accommodate participants in different time zones.
 

With many thanks. We very much look forward to connecting. Please do let us know in advance if you have any questions.
 

Best wishes
 

Rafael Obregon - UNICEF
 

Warren Feek - The Communication Initiative
 

On behalf of others in the Interim Review and Planning Group - Soul City Institute for Social Justice, Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication Programs, International Social Marketing Association, CORE, Save the Children, USAID, BBC Media Action, International Communication Association (check all listed).

Hi folks and thanks again for being the interim working group developing the Global Alliance - your guidance is essential. Rafael and myself wanted to provide you with a quick update on recent progress, your input on a key document that is under development and a heads up concerning a forthcoming conference call.
 

A. Discussions with potential Alliance organizations

The invitations to the agreed organizations have now all been sent. It took longer than expected as each one had to be customized. Many thanks to Rafael and his staff for all of the work in support of the invitation process.

Rafael and myself have had 3 conference calls with different invited Alliance participants - a total of 10 organizations involved to date across those different calls. The next call is on March 6th with a large number of Alliance invitees.

Overall the response in the hour long discussions has been very positive. Key people in those organizations are in many ways excited by this development. There are of course some critical insights and questions that have included: what are the expectations related to commitments from Alliance participant organizations; exactly how will the key evidence and  impact “pieces” be selected - eg will it be a full-on gap analysis style process; related to the policy engagement work how will participating Alliance organisations be identified and connected - a desire to avoid unnecessary bureaucratic approval processes within each organization; and, suggestions to spell out clearly the added value in relation to other Partnerships and Networks in this field (eg GFMD, C4D Network, etc).

Please note that you have all been invited to join these calls as invited organizations. At this stage we do wish to treat all organizations the same. So, if you have not replied yet to the invitations letter received please do so as soon as possible.

B. The formal joining process.

We have commenced development of a “base” document that will act as the formal joining document. What this is called is bit tricky as a number of organisations have different rules and guidance when it comes to for example, “Memorandum of Understanding”; “Membership Forms”; “Alliance Agreements”, etc.

But if we could please ask for your input and ideas concerning the content of this agreement. What “clauses” would you like to see within any document, no matter the name? Just as an example, building on above, what should the clause say that describes the relationship of your organisation to the Alliance?

Many thanks for your input.

C. Next Conference Call and the SBCC Summit.

The plan is to hold the inaugural face-to-face meeting of the Alliance in the context of the What Works? SBCC Summit in Nusa Dua, Indonesia from 16th to 20th April, 2018. The exact date is still to be set as we need to see the final agenda for the Summit itself in order to identfy the best space. Can you please let us know by reply email if you will be at that Summit? Thanks.

In mid- to late- March we wish to hold the first virtual meeting of those that are seriously thinking of committing to the Alliance. So, just a quick heads-up. The  most likely date is Wednesday 21st March at 9am EST. But we will confirm soon and/or perhaps send a doodle poll for everyone to complete.  

Thanks again - please do send any queries or questions. Most happy to respond.

Hi folks and thanks again for being the interim working group developing the Global Alliance - your guidance is essential. Rafael and myself wanted to provide you with a quick update on recent progress, your input on a key document that is under development and a heads up concerning a forthcoming conference call.
 

A. Discussions with potential Alliance organizations

The invitations to the agreed organizations have now all been sent. It took longer than expected as each one had to be customized. Many thanks to Rafael and his staff for all of the work in support of the invitation process.

Rafael and myself have had 3 conference calls with different invited Alliance participants - a total of 10 organizations involved to date across those different calls. The next call is on March 6th with a large number of Alliance invitees.

Overall the response in the hour long discussions has been very positive. Key people in those organizations are in many ways excited by this development. There are of course some critical insights and questions that have included: what are the expectations related to commitments from Alliance participant organizations; exactly how will the key evidence and  impact “pieces” be selected - eg will it be a full-on gap analysis style process; related to the policy engagement work how will participating Alliance organisations be identified and connected - a desire to avoid unnecessary bureaucratic approval processes within each organization; and, suggestions to spell out clearly the added value in relation to other Partnerships and Networks in this field (eg GFMD, C4D Network, etc).

Please note that you have all been invited to join these calls as invited organizations. At this stage we do wish to treat all organizations the same. So, if you have not replied yet to the invitations letter received please do so as soon as possible.

B. The formal joining process.

We have commenced development of a “base” document that will act as the formal joining document. What this is called is bit tricky as a number of organisations have different rules and guidance when it comes to for example, “Memorandum of Understanding”; “Membership Forms”; “Alliance Agreements”, etc.

But if we could please ask for your input and ideas concerning the content of this agreement. What “clauses” would you like to see within any document, no matter the name? Just as an example, building on above, what should the clause say that describes the relationship of your organisation to the Alliance?

Many thanks for your input.

C. Next Conference Call and the SBCC Summit.

The plan is to hold the inaugural face-to-face meeting of the Alliance in the context of the What Works? SBCC Summit in Nusa Dua, Indonesia from 16th to 20th April, 2018. The exact date is still to be set as we need to see the final agenda for the Summit itself in order to identfy the best space. Can you please let us know by reply email if you will be at that Summit? Thanks.

In mid- to late- March we wish to hold the first virtual meeting of those that are seriously thinking of committing to the Alliance. So, just a quick heads-up. The  most likely date is Wednesday 21st March at 9am EST. But we will confirm soon and/or perhaps send a doodle poll for everyone to complete.  

Thanks again - please do send any queries or questions. Most happy to respond.

To: The Alliance Interim Group

Hi and best wishes. I am putting this in the Alliance Architecture thread as it is derived from that architecture paper and the threads above when this is viewed online may be helpful.

Attached please find the draft of the possible formal agreement for Alliance participation. I have played around with all sorts of versions and in the end settled on this draft. Please note that neither myself nor Rafael are particuarly wedded to this draft. It is the best we can do for now but we reserve the right to have a different view tomorrow! 

Some of the backdrop to this:

1. It seeks to be simple – seeks to provides a firm and clear set of obligations and commitments but not in a complicated way.

2. It tries to not be scary – there is nothing onerous here – makes entry easy but with those solid commitments.

3. It attempts to avoid any language that could prove problematic for the big orgs – for example some have a real problem with "Memorandum of Understanding” as that invokes all sorts of legal stuff within some organisations.

4. The intention is to put the up-front focus on the work and action; not the nature of the process or organisation.

5. It should be seen as a base to move forward not the full answer - to provide the initial base from which we can build and grow the nature and form of the Alliance itself.

For your review and comment please - by email or online.

Thanks - Warren (and on behalf of Rafael).