PRI Orients its Researchers and Staff Members to the Basics of Public Policy and Coordination with Government
On 9 March 2021, PRI organized a 3-hour orientation session to acquaint its researchers and staff members with conceptual and theoretical underpinnings of public policy making as well as coordination and collaboration with different ministries and constitutional bodies. All researchers and staff members of PRI attended the orientation.
Dr. Bishnu Raj Upreti, the Executive Chairperson of PRI, opened the orientation session explaining briefly its objectives and expectations. He then introduced the guests – Mr. Pratap Kumar Pathak, former Secretary of the Government of Nepal and Dr. Teertha Raj Dhakal, Secretary at the Office of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers – invited to lead the discussion respectively on public policy making and on effective collaboration and communication with ministries and the policy community at large.
Mr. Pathak addressed – in his presentation – theoretical dimensions and aspects of evidence-based policy making covering such issues as public policy paradox, policy processes and approaches, policy implementation and evaluation and policy contributions to the change expected. Secretary Dr. Dhakal enriched Mr. Pathak’s presentation by defining public policy making in Nepal’s context and bringing in practical experience of policy making and those responsible for it within ministries. Dr. Dhakal then discussed ways to forge coordination and collaboration with the OPMCM and other line ministries, suggesting PRI to establish contacts not only with those responsible for policy-drafting but also with those charged with planning, monitoring and evaluation, and knowledge management. He also suggested PRI to involve all stakeholders, not least concerned Government officials, in all stages and processes of policy research, including research agenda-setting and research protocol development to ensure the comprehension and buy-in of the recommendation the research would result in.
The two presentations were followed by open discussions.