The development community has increasingly recognized that it must take a politically savvy approach to ensure its efforts are technically sound and politically viable. Chemonics has incorporated thinking and working politically (TWP) and applied political economy analysis (APEA) into projects in recent years and is now orienting its systems to scale the TWP approach across all sectors. Building on initial experiences, lessons, and successes with TWP in Chemonics’ projects, the Center for Politically Informed Programming serves as a resource hub to build awareness of TWP and related approaches — such as local systems and problem-driven iterative adaptation (PDIA) —to do development differently. It supports action research to highlight how TWP and politically informed programming contribute to development impact and sustainability.
The center focuses on three main areas:
1. Capacity development. This includes promoting the use of TWP and building the capacity of staff in our field and home offices to implement the approach. The center is establishing a more systematic process for building the knowledge and skills staff need to incorporate TWP into our work.
2. TWP implementation. This includes supporting and delivering a TWP approach throughout our work from proposal development to implementation, monitoring, and learning. The center provides on-demand assistance to the company’s projects across regions and sectors.
3. Industry participation. This includes Chemonics’ participation in events and activities to share lessons and exchange experiences with practitioners, donors, and the broader development community. Through the center, Chemonics is a member of the Global Delivery Initiative and serves on the steering committee of the DC-based working group of the TWP Community of Practice.
If you are interested in learning more or partnering with us, please email TWPTeam@chemonics.com.
