Article by Medha Sharma, Visible Impact, Nepal 

FP2030 has just released an Advocacy and Accountability Framework: a document meant to help civil society partners, youth partners, and other stakeholders form their own advocacy and accountability strategies as part of their FP2030 commitments. Medha Sharma, Visible Impact Nepal, FP2030 Youth Focal Point for Nepal, explains how they’re planning to use this new framework in Nepal’s context.

Nepal has been an FP2020 commitment maker since the partnership’s launch in 2012. But in 2015, the government of Nepal restructured, moving from a centralized to a federal governance system. As a result, our FP2030 commitment will need to address the roles of new subnational governments, in addition to the federal government. We are now in the process of drafting the accountability mechanisms, and the Advocacy and Accountability Framework (AAF) provides a clear road map to link subnational accountability to national and international accountability that we can use to develop strategies to ensure accountability at various levels.

As it did under the previous partnership, FP2030 has intentionally included civil society organizations (CSOs) and youth-led organizations (YLOs) in the new structure. As a Youth Focal Point of Nepal, I have provided a youth-centered lens to the AAF, as well as to my country’s recommitment process. The framework addresses some determining but overlooked agendas in the development sector, such as the importance of strategic partnerships with CSOs and YLOs. It also recognizes the role of grassroots organizations in commitment tracking and the monitor-review-share-act accountability cycle, the need to ensure funding for youth partnership, emphasizing their capacity development. I can employ this framework to sensitize stakeholders on YLO’s meaningful engagement and capacity building throughout the commitment-making and accountability process.

Furthermore, some YLOs in Nepal, including my organization, Visible Impact, have formulated our own commitments, making us responsible for our own recording, reporting, commitment tracking, and accountability. As such, this framework is a hands-on document that practically guides CSOs and YLOs like ours, which might have limited technical skills, to strengthen ownership and accountability toward FP2030 commitments.