08-F-1338 IRI proposal for Constituent Outreach for the Governing Council 10-6-2003

Memorandum To: Judy Van Rest, David Denehy From: Owen Kirby, IRI Regional Director, Middle East and North Africa Scott Mastic, IRI Regional Deputy Director, Middle East and North Africa Steven Moore, IRI Program Officer, Middle East and North Africa Date: 10/6/2003 Re: IRI Proposal for Constituent Outreach for the Governing Council Please find attached the International Republican Institute's response to the scope of work for the Constituent Outreach project. We see the project in three phases and have broken it down accordingly with three proposals, each of two-months duration with a corresponding budget of $100,000. Note: Modifications and/or additional details for Phases 2 and 3 will be presented prior to the completion of Phase 1. 1 - October 6, 2003 IRI PROPOSAL: IRAQ GOVERNING COUNCIL CONSTITUENT OUTREACH (in 3 Phases) IRI proposes to work with the National Democratic Institute (NDI) to help the Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) Secretariat staff establish constituent outreach offices in each of the 18 Iraqi provinces. During its assessment mission, IRI noted that one of the principle areas lacking in the relationship between the Governing Council and the Iraqi people is communication. Many raqis are not aware of the existence of the governing council, and among those who ar ware, virtually none are aware of the responsibilities of the governing council NDI, in its focus group discussion report, notes the "fog of disinformation" in which Iraqis find themselves, and suggest that it could be countered by more effective communication on the part of the IGC. IRI concurs with this finding While many of the members of the governing council have their own constituencies, and their own methods of outreach to those constituencies, the Council as a whole lacks these methods. Through training Governing Council staff in the importance and techniques of constituent outreach, IRI proposes to: • Create a mechanism by which governing council members will have a stake in reaching out to constituencies beyond their own • Begin a "cycle of legitimacy" for the governing council as an institution (see graphic below) • Create interaction between the IGC and emerging civil society forces • Teach IGC staff the principles of political communication • Start a base of professional political staff for future office holders During the initial formation of the IGC Secretariat in August 2003, IRI met twice with Mr. Al-Khatib and his staff. This proposal was designed in light of these conversations, conversations with CPA Democracy and Governance staff and draws upon IRI's extensive experience in local and national governance technical assistance. 2 October 6, 2003 IRAQ GOVERNING COUNCIL CONSTITUENT OUTREACH PROJECT PHASE 1 International Republican Institute (IRI) Grantee: ates of Project October 1, 2003 - November 30, 2003 Submitted to: USAID/OTI Amount Requested: $100,000 PHASE 1A Assessment & Development of Workplan Time frame: 2 weeks Assessment IRI will assess the needs of the IGC national constituent office and develop in coordination with the Secretariat of the Council the specifics of a constituent outreach workplan. IRI anticipates working with NDI through a series of meeting with IGC staff to develop this workplan. Job Descriptions for Provincial Outreach Staff IRI will work during Phase 1A with the Secretariat to develop job descriptions for constituent office staff. Among the functions of the outreach office will be: • communicating with other elements of the government • local governments • provincial governments • ministries • dealing with the media • proactive media relations • reactive media relations • cataloguing and responding to constituent concerns • arranging meetings for IGC members in the provinces These functions will need to be taken into account when hiring. This combination of skills and characteristics will be challenging to find. IRI will strategize with IGC staff on how to develop the job description, advertise the job in the appropriate communities and interview candidates. Assessment of Provincial Offices 3 October 6, 2003 IRI will visit office sites to be rolled out during the first phase and assess needs, talking to local officials about how the offices might best fit into the community. PHASE 1B Staffing and Systems Development Timeframe: 2-3 weeks (overlapping with Phase 1A) Hiring Provincial IGC Staff IRI will assist the Secretariat in the selection of local staff with reference to the criteria discussed above. Developing Systems Through its experience in managing political and governmental offices in democracies worldwide and its extensive network of governmental professionals, IRI will help the IGC staff identify systems of information flow that are likely to work best in Iraq's unique case. PHASE 1C Focus Groups Timeframe: 1 week Focus Groups After more than 30 years of authoritarian rule, Iraqis are suspect in general, and have no oncept of how to interact with a democratic government. A series of focus groups would b equired to ascertain how Iragis would view these offices, reactions various interests group might have to the offices, and how IGC staff could craft a message to best educate the Iraqis on how to take advantage of the services of the office. PHASE 1D Communications Strategy Timeframe: 2 Weeks Creation of a communications strategy for the IGC IRI would consult with IGC staff to create a proactive communications strategy in for the IGC based on data from focus groups. IRI will work closely with IGC staff to ensure that the capacity is built within the staff so that future strategies may be developed independently of IRI staff. Some of the components of this strategy would be hands-on, on the job training in press conferences, photo ops and other aspects of modern political communication. 4 October 6, 2003 Management training for IGC staff IRI would work with IGC national staff to develop management skills for the large network of constituent offices. Items in the curriculum might include: - drafting of policy memos, talking points and position papers managing political appointees 5 October 6, 2003 IRAQ GOVERNING COUNCIL CONSTITUENT OUTREACH PROJECT PHASE 2 International Republican Institute (IRI) Dates of Project: December 1, 2003 - January 31, 2003 Submitted to: USAID/OTI Amount Requested: $100,000 PHASE 2A Training and Outreach Timeframe: 4-6 weeks Baghdad Training Seminar for Constituent Outreach Staff IRI will work with NDI in developing a training curriculum for constituent outreach staff for a group training exercise in Baghdad. Among the anticipated topics for the training are: the importance of meeting constituents needs in a democracy customer service in government techniques of intergovernmental communications • how to hold a town hall meeting creating and maintaining lists • dealing with the media Division of Offices After collaborating on the setup of the offices, office systems and training of the staff, IRI and NDI will divide the offices for the purposes of training in a manner that is consistent with ease of operation and logistics. The collaboration in the initial stages will emphasize the uniformity of product for the offices. On-site Training of Constituent Outreach Staff After a week-long training workshop in Baghdad, IRI will work with constituent outreach staff in each province in setting up its office and implementing on a practical basis the concepts learned in the group training. Outreach to Community Councils and Governor's Staff Prior to the opening of the constituent outreach office, IRI will coordinate with existing governmental structures in the provinces to establish lines of communications with these organizations. The purpose of these lines of communications will be at least two-fold: 6 October 6, 2003 • establish clear boundaries between the duties of the IGC outreach office and other power structures on the local level • better facilitate constituent service by tapping into existing local problem- solving networks IRI anticipates working with RTI and the United States military in identifying key personalities on the local level. Development of a strategy and workplan for each office IRI would work with local staff to develop a strategy tailored to the economic, ethnic and religious realities of each location. Among those activities envisioned by IRI are: roundtable meetings between IGC members and local opinion leaders briefings by local staff on national policy issues outreach activities to civil society and religious organizations earned media activities for local media outlets appearances for IGC members at civil society organizations 7 October 6, 2003 IRAQ GOVERNING COUNCIL CONSTITUENT OUTREACH PROJECT PHASE 3 International Republican Institute (IRI) Grantee: Dates of Project: February 1, 2003 - March 31, 2003 USAID/OTI Submitted to: Amount Requested: $100,000 PHASE 3 Training and Outreach Timeframe: 8 weeks Ongoing Communications Work IRI will continue to work with the governing council on media strategy to publicize the rollout of the offices and how Iraqi citizens should interact with these offices. Additionally, at this point, IRI envisions that IGC decisions would be communicated by IGC outreach staff through a variety of mediums, including town hall meetings, outreach through local media and meetings with opinion leaders. IRI envisions joint appearances by IGC members, emphasizing cross-ethnic and religious cooperation on the Council, where feasible. IRI would work with local staff to identify policy successes at which IGC members could have a "ribbon cutting" type press event such as school refurbishings, graduation of Iraqi police, bringing online of additional power capacity, etc. Other ideas might be identification of problems that IGC members can be seen proactively working to solve. Examples might include Sunni and Kurd members of the IGC spending part of a day working on housing construction in Sadyr City, Shia members of the IGC delivering computers to a university in the Sunni Triangle or members of the IGC accompanying Iraqi police on patrol. Clearly, these ideas would have to be worked out with IGC members, with great concern for political sensitivities. With the proliferation of rumors generated by word-of-mouth communication, IRI also anticipates using less conventional communications techniques to deliver the IGC message such as: • Working with local groups to distribute flyers communicating the IGC message. • Working with local groups active on the Internet to communicate the IGC message through these existing channels. 8 October 6, 2003 • Setting up meetings with IGC members and opinion leaders in the governates to communicate IGC initiatives and policy successes on a personal level. • Identifying local leaders who might act as surrogate spokespeople for the IGC. Outreach to Civil Society IRI would envision an effort to engage civil society in the affairs of the governing council on on the powers of the Governing Counci he local level. Ste of these effous might include printing of brochures so short booken: in a democracy. Other efforts might include frequent issue updates on issues important to civil society - schools opened, electrical power coming online, crime rates, etc. Casework IRI anticipates at this point, systems will be fully in place to deal with constituent casework. IRI will work with local staff to provide reports for the IGC in Baghdad on aggregate constituent requests and trends in public opinion in each of the governates. In tandem, IRI will work with national level IGC staff to utilize the results of this information for fine tuning national communications strategy and policy initiatives of the IGC.