Research Newsletter

Dear Subscriber,

We are delighted to announce that as of July 1, 2024, Building State Capability is now housed at the Center for Public Leadership (CPL) at Harvard Kennedy School. This is an exciting next step that will allow us to leverage the synergies between CPL and BSC as we further our mission to resolve public problems with purpose.

We look forward to contributing to CPL’s mission to inspire and enhance the capacity for principled, effective public leadership in government, politics, civil society, and business.

In this issue, we highlight some of our latest programs, tools, cases, and photographs from our recent Implementing Public Policy executive program at Harvard Kennedy School.

We hope you enjoy learning more about our work!

Salimah Samji
Executive Director | Building State Capability

Featured Updates

PDIA in the City of Helsinki

A group of women holding certificates stand before a white wall with balloons off to one side.

We have been growing our PDIA engagements in cities. 24 city leaders in Helsinki completed a custom 12-week PDIA action learning program focused on youth and child safety in June. The teams developed a deep understanding of their problem by collecting data, connecting with new voices, and listening to diverse perspectives. They broadened their network of stakeholders and learned that working across silos is necessary to solve complex problems.

Learn more about this engagement.

IPP at Harvard

Snapshots from the Implementing Public Policy (IPP) Program at Harvard this June.

IPP 2024 program participants stand together on campus.

IPP 2024 program participants at Harvard Kennedy School.

Matt Andrews points to drawings on a chalk board in a classroom.

Matt Andrews and Christy Almeida leading a session on mental health and inclusive education in Belize.

IPP participants engaging in an interactive classroom exercise.

IPP 2024 participants stand behind a sign on the Harvard Kennedy School campus.

IPP participants touring HKS campus.

WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

Inclusive Education in Belize using PDIA

Matt Andrews interviews Christy Almeida, Programme Coordinator for the Special Education Unit in Belize, to learn how she used PDIA to address mental health concerns in the education sector. Thanks to her team’s efforts the historic disabilities bill was passed in Belize in early July.

Watch Matt Andrews and Christy Almeida.

LEARNING RESOURCES

PDIA Toolkit in Arabic

We are excited to see the PDIA methodology being utilized and adapted in many countries around the world. To continue making our tools and materials more accessible, we have translated our PDIA Toolkit into English, French, German, Indonesian, Khmer, Portuguese, Spanish, and most recently into Arabic! The next step for us is to translate the toolkit video subtitles into Arabic. Stay tuned for more!

A woman holding a microphone stands before a projection screen and speakers to an audience.

WHAT WE'RE LISTENING TO

Applying PDIA to PFM in Africa

In this podcast episode, Joana Bento and Danielle Serebro, Programme Managers at Collaborative Africa Budget Reform Initiative (CABRI) discuss the Building Public Finance Capabilities (BPFC) programme, developed by BSC in collaboration with CABRI in 2017 to help African country teams reform PFM systems using the PDIA approach.

Listen to Joana Bento and Danielle Serebro.