Melander Schnell Consultantsfocus on public budgets, human rights based approach, peace and security

Assignments

Some current and past examples

Open Budget Survey and Index

The Open Budget Survey (OBS) is a budget transparency and participation survey that, among other, is translated into an Budget Transparency Index (OBI), which ranks countries. A country's ranking on the OBI is a measure of that government's commitment to accountability and transparency. The OBS is coordinated by the International Budget Partnership (IBP) and MSC has worked as a researcher on the five OBSs to date - 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2015.

For more information:
Five minute film on YouTube
Website: Open Budget Survey
Website: International Budget Partnership

MSC is also one of the founding members of the Global Movement for Budget Transparency, Participation and Accountability.

A General Comment on public expenditures of the Committee on the Rights of the Child

MSC is working for the Committee on the Rights of the Child, developing a General Comment on public expenditures for childrens’s rights. The Comment takes its point of departure in the article 4 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The article says that states should use their available resources to the maximum extent to fulfil the Convention, and seek international cooperation when resources are lacking.

The work includes consultations with international and national experts from children, Governments, United Nations agencies and Civil Society Organisations - online, at the United Nations in Geneva and in regional consultations in Asia, Europe, Middle East and Northern Africa, Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa.

The assignment is ongoing and will be finalised in 2016.

HR Team logo

Human Rights Based Approach

MSC works with capacity building, analyses, mentoring and materials development in relation to the theory behind, and applying, the Human Rights Based Approach (HRBA). Much of the work has been, and is, done within the Human Rights Team (which is now the HRDG Team - see below).

The Human Rights Team came together in 2009-2010 to collaborate on assignments related to the Sida framework agreement HRBA in Sub-Saharan Africa, and then in 2011-2014 in relation to the Sida agreement Human Rights and Public Administration. Examples of assignments carried out are:

*	Researching and reporting on United Nations, Universal and African Peer human rights recommendations.
*	Developing HRBA briefs related to Sida sectors and themes.
*	Developing an internal Sida web-based HRBA support.
*	HRBA analyses of projects, programmes, results frameworks, budget support and organisational materials.
*	Making links between HRBA and Results-based Management.
*	HRBA workshops with Sida staff and partners in Stockholm, at the Sida Partnersip Forum, and at the Swedish Embassies in Tanzania and Uganda.

In 2015 we finalised the following:

*	Updating and developing new Sida HRBA thematic and sector briefs, and briefs on the rights of persons with disabilities and LGBTI persons. We also developed web materials on children's rights.
*	Restructuring Sidas internal HRBA web-support to be in line with Sweden's strategies and Sida staff's need for easy accessible HRBA materials.
*	Workshops and mentoring on applying the HRBA in practice for Sida staff and partners - at the Sida Partnership Forum.
*	Making the texts, materials and briefs above accessible on Sida's external website. Click here to go to the introductory Sida webpage on the Human Rights Based Approach.

Empowerment and Accountability Consortium
and the
Human Rights and Democratic Governance Team

MSC together with NIDS Development Services, DEGE Consult and Internews Europe have formed the Empowerment and Accountability Consortium, which holds the Sida Democratic Governance and Human Rights framework agreement 2015-2017.

MSC and NIDS are also members of the Human Rights and Democratic Governance Team (HRGD Team), which also works together on the mentioned framework contract. The Team consists of individuals, companies and organisations that work together as a non-incorporated association of experts. The members have key competency within human rights and democratic governance.

The above partners and members have extensive experience of democratic governance and human rights-related assignments, strategy and programme assessments, capacity and tools development, context analyses, mentoring, reviews, studies, statistical analyses and surveys, advisory services, help desks, workshops, monitoring, evaluations and institutional development.

A Budget Transparency and Child Nutrition (BTCN) Study - and a Guide on how to design and conduct a survey related to budget transparency and human rights based on the experience of the BTCN project. The study and guide were developed by the Accountability and Transparency for Human Rights Foundation (AT4HR) together with a number of partners in 2011-2013.

AT4HR was formed by Anna Schnell/MSC, Erica Coetzee and Erik Melander/MSC in 2011 to advance human rights by promoting accountability, transparency and participation.

Rights of Children and Young People

Dialogue briefs on children and young people's rights The briefs were commissioned by Sida to be used by the organisation's staff globally when in dialogue with different actors. The dialogue briefs cover the areas of:
1.	Rights of children and young people
2.	Children and young peoples' political participation
3.	Child Protection
4.	Public Financial Management for the Rights of Children and Young People

Sourcebook: Peoples Action for Just and Democratic
Governance - Using Evidence to Establish Accountability

The Sourcebook was commissioned by MSActionAid Denmark and a reference group of its staff in different countries, and written by Anna Schnell/MSC and Erika Coetzee. It was tested in a workshop in Tanzania with Action Aid staff from a range of countries before being finalised. It explores the concept of accountability as a key element in democratic governance. Most particularly, it looks at the role of civil society can play to strengthen and deepen accountability in governance.

In the Sourcebook four stories are told to make the reader think about ways to approach accountability. The stories take their points of departure in service delivery that is not working properly - in relation to education, electricity, health and garbage collection.

The Sourcebook was developed with African countries in mind. Its resources and 25 tools can, however, be used in any country. Click on the title or image of the Sourcebook above to download it.

Manual for Conflict Analysis

The manual was developed to provide Sida with practical guidance on how to analyse violent conflicts to understand how development cooperation is affected by and affects violent conflicts.

The tool is aimed at helping the user to assess conflict risks so that strategies, programmes and projects can become more conflict sensitive. The manual was developed by Erik Melander/MSC in collaboration with a team at Sida. Click on the title or image of the manual above to download it.

Monitoring government policies - a toolkit for civil society organisations in Africa

The toolkit provides an introduction to government policy monitoring for civil society organisations. It is focused on Africa, but the methods presented can be used in any country. It was commissioned by Christian Aid, CAFOD and Trócaire, and developed and written by Anna Schnell/MSC and Erika Coetzee.

The development of the Toolkit included testing it in workshops with civil society organisations in Ethiopia, Malawi and Sierra Leone - and a reference group with people in 8 African countries also contributed (see the acknowledgements in the Toolkit for more information on who was involved).

The Toolkit contains 28 different tools for monitoring government policies and is available in English, French and Portuguese.

Joint Institutional Approach (JIA) toward UNICEF Canada (CIDA), Sweden (Sida and the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs) and the UK (DFID) are among UNICEF's major donors. Over a six year period 2005-2010 they came together in a joint institutional approach (JIA), working, in accordance with the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, with UNICEF for the world's children. MSC worked for Sida and the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, together with a Canadian and a UK consultant to support the JIA. The JIA aimed to:
*	Provide support to UNICEF's Mid-Term Strategic Plan and cross-cutting strategies.
*	Provide a coherent framework to guide the donor partners' support.
*	Contribute to reduction of transaction costs over time.
*	Advance harmonisation amongst the donor partners.
The work focused on the following cross-cutting strategies in UNICEF's Medium Term Strategic Plan: the Human Rights Based Approach, gender equality, results-based management, UN reform, humanitarian assistance and human resources.

RBM

HRBA RBM Checklist

Results-based Management (RBM) and the links to the Human Rights Based Approach (HRBA) Analyses and development of guidelines of RBM in development cooperation (general budget, sector and project support) in cooperation with SPM Consultants. MSC also develops analyses and materials - and contributes to workshops - linking RBM and the HRBA.

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