Highlights+2011

=Partnership and Communication annual meeting 2012 =

On 24-26 January, ILRI's P&C department held a meeting in Addis Ababa to review the highlights of 2011 and align plans and ideas around strategic priorities for 2012 and beyond. (go back to ParCom12 home page)

**Capacity Strengthening** **//Achievements//**
 * Graduate fellowship programs: seen in student number growths - in 50/50 between male and females.
 * Calculated cost of having graduate fellows and staff- ilri proposals have inbuilt cost of capacity building.
 * Cast task force formed with various teams
 * Cornell program set up to have students visit ilri
 * Regular meetings with graduate fellows
 * Daad introduced a post doc fellowship in Africa- 5 of which came to ILRI out of 13?
 * MOU with Wagenigen University
 * Online system of receiving applications for internship
 * Orientation package for students and new comers- not yet printed but ready
 * System set up for Asia based students
 * Trainings on research methods for students in Nairobi and Addis
 * Cast costs now put into the CRPs.
 * Working with other CG centres in capacity development for new CRP systems

//Involvement// //with projects://
 * EcoZD
 * Stone Mountain Global
 * MoU with Commonwealth of Learning
 * ASARECA training for innovation and capacity development
 * PENAPH (Rockefeller grant)
 * Tech fare submission done – still outstanding…

//Publications//
 * Training of Trainers Manual (fAO)
 * Pig management manuals
 * Collective Action in CD
 * Eco health manual?

//Achievements// 2007-2011
 * Resource ** ** Mobilization **
 * Doing well in raising money for project restricted funds
 * 52 million up from 32 million USD in 2011

Key lessons
 * West based funding sources shrinking
 * Private sector is waiting and willing to fund
 * We have sufficient funds
 * Donors are happy: reports are on time, projects show value for money
 * The organization has a good brand value and potential for growth
 * Make messages simple to move it beyond the research world (especially for funding).
 * Need to target our messages more carefully and more clearly- particularly with donors and investors

ILRI to speak 'one language' to funders/donors will help us raise more money Need to be clear on what business we are in?

//Key questions:// Should ILRI
 * Seek funding from the East in the future
 * Seek foreign direct investments?
 * Seek private sector partnerships?

//Resource mobilization in 2012// Do a competitive intelligence survey for better positioning towards the US$100 million by 2014

//Comments// In the strategy for fundraising, the focus should be to grow the restricted funds associated with CRPs How (for what) ILRI is known for in coming years will play a key role in fund raising.

**Public Awareness** //Achievements//
 * CG-wide communication meeting initiated and held at ILRI early 2011- raised idea for expertise within the centres
 * Consistent blogging through out the media
 * Media and advocacy work- e.g. for IBLI
 * Multi-media work- Photofilms and DGs messages
 * Events support/backstopping: Bio-Innovate program launch and roll-out, German Chancellor's visit, Virtual Kenya launch in Nairobi

//Other highlights://
 * Covering the 2011 EA drought (40 stories and opinion pieces)
 * Raising the profile of animal health issues (CRP 4)
 * Generating more nuanced opinion on livestock bads in developed countries, to shift to developing countries in 2012.

//Lessons//
 * Compared to the response to the 2009 drought in southern Kenya, in 2011 ILRI started to write about the famine/drought and scientists have participated.
 * Better science products in relation to the most recent drought.
 * Better partnerships with others making a contribution to dealing with the drought.
 * Getting the word out with partners like Burness Communication to sustain coverage to help stakeholders think about how to deal with the drought.

Question/comment:
 * How to sustain focus and publicity impact when we don't have a major catastrophe?- when fewer lives are affected.

**Knowledge Management and Information Services**




 * General Comments **
 * Impact of CGIAR consortium on our work and if we can shape what they are trying to do.
 * Need for discussion on internal communication to improve how we share information across the institute (for equal access to information for all).
 * Creation of packages for donors and visitors to ILRI

//Feedback://
 * //Simplifying messages/ diversity of voices vs central message//: We may want different languages for different audiences and may include values, and how we work. Need for specific communication for resource mobilization.We need to keep the diversity: Need for more disciplined in maintain focus on a central audience to enable affecting other audiences. Can't reach everybody (despite well intentioned efforts to not exclude particular audiences).
 * Do we need to refresh the ILRI Comms strategy to match new communication needs and realitie