As part of my thesis i will be researching policy coherence in Ethiopia.
Policy coherence can be defined as the “the systematic promotion of mutually reinforcing policy actions across government departments and agencies creating synergies towards achieving the defined objective” (Glass and Newig, 2019; Oecd, 2000).
Policy coherence is recognised by the international community. It is mentioned in Target 17.14 of the UN Sustainable Development Goal 17 which seeks to “enhance policy coherence for sustainable development” (Brugere, Troell and Eriksson, 2021).Policy coherence helps to achieve positive outcomes from policy implementation. It strengthens the impact of induvial policies by identifying synergies across all relevant policy areas, reduces trade-offs between social and environmental policy areas, and helps to reconcile domestic policy objectives with international agreed objectives (OECD, 2015) . It is important because it helps to develop mutually beneficial connections and cooperation between governmental sectors and prevents the duplication of work (Janetschek et al., 2020). Policies can change over time due to political preferences and issues in current policy, as a result policy coherence can become a moving target over a period. Policy coherence requires continuous efforts to ensure that it is successful across political domains (Barry, King and Matthews, 2010).
Video which breifly explains the concept of policy coherence:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/eet.1589?saml_referrer
References
Barry, F., King, M. and Matthews, A. (2010) ‘Policy coherence for development: Five challenges’, Irish Studies in International Affairs, pp. 207-223.
Brugere, C., Troell, M. and Eriksson, H. (2021) ‘More than fish: Policy coherence and benefit sharing as necessary conditions for equitable aquaculture development’, Marine Policy, 123, pp. 104271.
Glass, L.-M. and Newig, J. (2019) ‘Governance for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals: How important are participation, policy coherence, reflexivity, adaptation and democratic institutions?’, Earth System Governance, 2, pp. 100031.
Janetschek, H., Brandi, C., Dzebo, A. and Hackmann, B. (2020) ‘The 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement: voluntary contributions towards thematic policy coherence’, Climate Policy, 20(4), pp. 430-442.
Oecd 2000. DAC Guidelines on Poverty Reduction: Volume 1 (Draft: June 2000). OECD Development Assistance Committee
OECD 2015. Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development in the SDG Framework. Paris.