Stakeholder analysis

This is important if we are to take into consideration and somehow respond o those actors who may feel threatened by and resist change. It is also important to distinguish primary stakeholders, those who benefit from an intervention or programmer. Stakeholder analysis is used to understand who the key actors are around a given issue and to gauge the importance of different groups’ interests and potential influence. It also serves to highlight groups who are most affected by a given issue and least able to influence the situation.
How to use this framework Stakeholder analysis should be focused on a single issue, e. G. Girls’ education or recruitment of child soldiers. It can serve as an analytical framework for processing data or as a data collection exercise to be done in the field: based on review of existing information (documentary review); in group meetings; through key informant interviews (centrally or in the field). It can serve in an assessment exercise, in a programmer monitoring exercise (e. G. To further probe positions/ interests as the programmer advances) and in an evaluation (e. . How have interests changed, supporting or impeding programmer progress). What it can tell us Identify different groups that can be sources of information; Interpret perspectives provided by each group; Identify who could positively or negatively influence programmer responses; To support realistic programmer planning and management, data collectors must look carefully within the group of primary stakeholders, recognizing that this group is not uniform, but include sub-groups with different characteristics (e. G. Omen, children, leaders); and at the wider group of actors that might positively or negatively influence a situation. A “do no harm” perspective (see content sheet “Do no harm’) must foresee which non- remarry stakeholder groups might seek to benefit from a programmer at the expense of primary stakeholders Direct capacity-building efforts A capacity-building approach to the projects should seek to increase primary stakeholders’ influence over the achievement of a goal (I. E. Move primary stakeholders towards sector 1 in the Venn diagram on the next page).
Representing stakeholders as a Venn diagram Two circles distinguish stakeholders: Primary stakeholders (those who will benefit from an intervention) are represented inside the dotted oval; The wider context of stakeholders is presented by the larger oval. Two axes (influence/be influenced and win/lose) divide the diagram into four areas: Sector 1: Those who can influence the situation and benefit from it; examples: Outsiders: local and international Nags, political factions; Primary stakeholders: influential actors (e. . Leaders). Sector 2: Those who are influenced by the changes and will benefit from it; examples: Primary stakeholders; Non-primary stakeholders who will nonetheless gain from the project’s outcomes. Sector 3: Those who cannot influence the achievement of a goal and will be effected negatively by it; examples: Primary stakeholders and outsiders whose status or relative wealth are changed by an activity.