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Policy implementation

Why government adoption of a policy is just the start.
children playing tug of war in nepal- working hard as an aligned  team
© SAD
It may seem like the most important part of policy development is getting a policy adopted. However, this is only the first stage.

Implementation is the process of executing a specific policy or plan. While a strategy outlines the plan of action for a policy, implementation puts this plan into operation!


3 step guide to policy implementation

  1. Develop a strategy or plan of action for your policy with relevant stakeholders
  2. Align your strategy/plan to the wider context (this could be local/national/regional/global)
  3. Execute and monitor your policy with clear roles and responsibilities

Implementation design

Effective policy implementation is very similar to other implementation designs:

  1. Identify purpose, objectives, results, and activities
  2. Consider relevant actors and their interests
  3. Identify resources, enablers/barriers, and timeframes
  4. Articulate in a project management framework, e.g. logic model/theory of change
  5. Action as scoped
  6. Evaluate against success on an ongoing basis

When implementing a policy, it is important to keep referring to the key components of good policy – steps 2.3 and 2.4 of this course and the Policy Coherence Toolkit.


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Sport for Sustainable Development: Designing Effective Policies and Programmes

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FutureLearn - Learning For Life

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