Paper short abstract:

This paper outlines the experiences of researchers and practitioners in developing and applying a new Decision Mapping Tool (DMAT) to support power shifts in development programming, towards more locally led approaches.

Paper long abstract:

This paper outlines the experiences of researchers and practitioners in developing and applying a new Decision Mapping Tool (DMAT) to support power shifts in development programming. By demarcating three different 'Decision Spaces', the DMAT promotes greater recognition of the role and importance of the ‘Local Decision Space’, where local actors have autonomy over decisions that affect them. Efforts to shift power often focus on the Partnership Decision Space, but this can risk reinforcing existing power dynamics and overlooking the role of autonomous local decisions in the Local Decision Space.

Pilots of the DMAT in Ethiopia, India, Kenya and Uganda demonstrate its value in facilitating systematic reflection on the allocation of decision-making power within development programmes. Through practitioner accounts and experiences from these countries, the paper will outline how decision mapping can surface and constructively address power dynamics within programmes, as well as promote constructive conversations for addressing problems, fixing accountability and recognising what is working well. The paper will centre the experiences and perspectives of Global South practitioner co-authors involved in the pilots and development of the tool. It will aim to enable a better understanding of what shifting power means and how it can be achieved in practice.