We are non-partisan and play two main roles: policy process facilitator and knowledge broker. Our added value - the ECDPM 'acquis' - is built on a tried and tested process approach where we bring together knowledge and expertise, animate and moderate multi-perspective dialogue and networking, facilitate policy processes, reinforce and leverage capacities, and communicate and share the learning and information arising from all of this. A Our core capacities We are concerned with development policy processes, that is, processes in which political actors prepare, design, negotiate, plan, implement and/or evaluate national or regional policies aimed at promoting sustainable development. Mandated as we are to enhance capacity in EU-ACP cooperation and relations, we seek to strengthen the participation of ACP actors in such processes. Process Orientation We have gradually developed our approach over the years. Thus, the first generation of ECDPM projects (1987-1992) focused on regional cooperation processes (e.g. related to food security), public-sector reforms and donor assistance modalities. In 1992, we adopted a more programme-based approach, aimed at anchoring our long-term involvement in selected processes. From 1996, we increasingly engaged in ACP-EU cooperation processes, including the negotiation of a post-Lomé agreement. Since 2001, we have concentrated on promoting the effective implementation of the main pillars of the new Cotonou Partnership Agreement, i.e. trade and economic cooperation, political cooperation, non-state actors’ participation and related cooperation challenges such as capacity and institutional development, the design and quality of EU external action, evaluation and organisational learning, and communication. We have learned to respect the following principles of engagement at all times: a long-term engagement with key stakeholders; operational autonomy as an ‘honest broker’; an inclusive and non-partisan approach to stakeholder participation; encouraging open-ended dialogue and networking; linking policy-makers, practitioners and specialists into policy processes; promoting diversity and creativity rather than exclusivity and existing patterns; facilitating flexible, development-oriented partnerships; ensuring open communication, democratic principles and a full transparency of roles. We have learned that effectively engaging with ongoing policy processes requires a combination of efforts. For this reason, each of our programmes combines three particular modes of engagement, or capacity strategies, to ensure impact: 1) Support for facilitation is intended to assist stakeholders in their efforts to improve the quality of the policy process and its outcomes. 2) Strategic research, knowledge management, networking and information services aims to improve the stakeholders’ knowledge base by improving access to and the use of relevant information, in particular by those who traditionally lack access. 3) Strategic partnerships to support institutional development by key policy actors, to strengthen the institutional capacity of policy actors who are key to moving the policy process forward. Of course, there are no blueprints. Policy processes evolve over time. With the aid of careful contextual analysis undertaken in consultation with key stakeholders, these strategies are adapted and combined to form a coherent, situation-specific whole. a How we work with our partners See information on our partners and ECDPMs Partnership Strategy We bring six fundamental competences to our work. These have been forged and consolidated over the years: 1. The first is our capacity to act as an independent broker at the interface between the ACP countries, the European institutions and the EU Member States. The vast majority of our clients perceive our added value as being our ability to provide a neutral space in which an effective, informal dialogue can be pursued on complex and sensitive policy-related issues. The credibility and trust bestowed upon us by key ACP-EU players is one of our main assets. 2. The second is our capacity to integrate practitioners’ and academic knowledge. Our combination of knowledge and brokerage skills often allows us to act as an ‘informed catalyst’. We have access to a wide range of participatory methods and facilitation skills. This capacity has engendered widespread recognition of our intermediary role, and our ability to link policy to practice and research. 3. The third is our mainstream networking approach. We promote dialogue, networking and partnerships among stakeholders in development policy processes. Where necessary, we also help to create more structured forms of cooperation, such as platforms and associations. This approach has produced a vast network of institutional and personal contacts, both in the South and in Europe, with whom we can share ideas and information. It also allows us to continuously review our pertinence to development policy and practice. 4. The fourth is our ability to operate in, and build bridges between, different communities of stakeholders. There is broad support for our inclusive, multi-actor approach, and our capacity to assemble information along non-partisan lines and to share it with a wide variety of stakeholders. Most of our staff are trilingual and accustomed to operating in multilingual settings. English and French are our working languages, whilst German, Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese are also spoken widely by our staff. 5. The fifth is our commitment to long-term involvement with key stakeholders in complex policy processes. This includes a capacity to operate long-term programmes, and hence develop a coherent set of activities and follow-up on these at a range of levels. Our long-term perspective allows us to focus, where appropriate, on the institutional development of the actors involved in ACP-EU cooperation. As already indicated, this is one of the foundation stones underlying our interest in processes and is a vital ingredient of our capacity development strategy. 6. Finally, our strength also lies in our ability to focus on a limited number of highly relevant issues. We recognise that we need to have a clear focus in order to have an impact on the many major players in the development policy arena.