BRASALIA – The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has released a new initiative aimed at helping the countries develop a new approach to strengthening their technical, operational, political and prospective (TOPP) institutional capacities.
ECLAC has described the new plan as an analytical and operational paradigm for managing the essential transformations needed in the region to advance towards more productive, inclusive and sustainable development.
The publication sets forth a roadmap and related instruments to help institutions enhance their ability to design, implement, sustain over time, and flexibly adapt public policies in changing environments.
The document, “Technical operational, political and prospective (TOPP) institutional capabilities for managing transformation” Underpinnings of new paradigm” was presented by ECLAC’ Executive Secretary, José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, at the 20th Meeting of the Regional Council for Planning of the Latin America and Caribbean Institute for Economic and Social Planning (ILPS) which ends here on Friday.
ECLAC said building on its diagnosis regarding development traps and gaps, and the indispensable transformations needed in development models, the document argues that the discussion on what to do must be complemented by reflection on how to do it, and that institutional TOPP capabilities are key to answering this question.
The Commission has identified three development traps in which most countries of the region are caught: one of low capacity for growth and transformation; another of high inequality, low social mobility and weak social cohesion; and a third of low institutional capacities and ineffective governance.
The latter limits the effectiveness and continuity of public policies and reduces the possibility of adapting them in contexts of change and uncertainty. How to escape from this trap is the main objective and focus of the new document and the TOPP approach.
The current global context – marked by geopolitical tensions, greater uncertainty, and rapid technological changes in markets, supply chains and climate conditions – poses both challenges and opportunities for development.
These require public institutions to adopt a new approach, focused not only on designing more effective policies, but also on managing transformations and having the capacity to swiftly adapt policies in a world in transition.
“The critical question is how to manage complex processes of change in fragile institutional contexts, with pronounced political fragmentation and urgent social demands,” Salazar-Xirinachs states in the prologue of the document
“This is precisely the aim of the transformation management approach: a proposal that adds to traditional discussions – focused on what must be done – a perspective on change processes, the capacities and conditions that make change possible – focused on how to do it – and with an anticipatory governance approach,” he added.
The TOPP institutional capacity approach, developed and promoted by ECLAC, offers an integrated framework for understanding and strengthening the essential functions that make transformative action viable. Without a technical basis, policies lack a solid foundation. Without operational capacities, their implementation is weakened. Without political legitimacy, they lack viability and continuity. And without a prospective vision, they lose direction and relevance in the face of changing scenarios.
