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ACTION INFORMATION FOR ALL OF SOCIETY Metrics about the State, Progress and Performance of the Economy and Society Metrics about Impact on People, Place, Planet and Profit Chapter 3 - THERE ARE WAYS FORWARD 3-6 MULTI-SECTOR INITIATIVES | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The sector perspective should not be ignored ... but it is rare that the performancer of a single sector will be enough to improve the performance of society and the economy as a whole. In most cases performance in one area of the economy will be constrained by something in another part of the economy ... and an optimized performance will only be achieved by working with ALL the sectors of the society and economy3-6 MULTI-SECTOR INITIATIVES Hundreds of sectors and sub-sectors There are hundreds of sectors and sub-sectors. Most organizations are organized along sector lines with as singular focus on a single sector where they build up great expertise and competitive advantage. This is good for the organization and has been welcomed by investors and financial analysts looking out for investor interests ... but it may or may not be the best way to organize for optimum socio-economic progress and sustainable development. Most of the organizations most engaged with international relief and development are organized along sector lines. This is particularly visible with the United Nations family of organizations which is made up of the central Secretariat and a large number of specialized agencies and offices including the following:
An overview listing of main sectors This is not a complete list of sectors and sub-sectors, but it is enough to give an idea of how many sectors are involved in making society work in a reasonable manner. The relief and development sector will succeed when all the sectors are able to function appropriately in any place in the world. The following list is in alphabetical order.
Academic sector
Agriculture sector.
Banking and finance sector.
Construction sector.
Education sector.
Employment or jobs.
Energy sector.
Enterprise sector.
Fisheries sector.
Governance and administration sector.
Health sector.
Housing sector.
Infrastructure sector.
International trade sector.
Legal and justice sector.
Luxury sector.
Manufacturing sector.
Military and security sector.
Mining sector.
Natural resources sector.
Productive sector.
Professional sector.
Public sector, private sector.
Relief and development sector.
Retail sector.
Social sectors.
Telecom sector.
Tourism sector.
Transport sector.
Wholesale and distribution sector. Sector expertise ... specialization Sector expertise is very important. Each sector uses a range of technologies that require considerable knowledge, training and experience to use well. All products and services should be accessible everywhere they are needed. Similarly, expertise in any sector should be accessible where and when it is needed. Each sector has its own technologies and best practices. But in the developing “south” the success of one sector is often constrained by the limits of some other sector. This argues, therefore, for a relief and development approach that ensure that there is a multi-sector involvement. There is little consensus about what is the best approach to making relief and development more effective and getting more rapid progress. A sector is not tied to any location, though what is best in a sector can change from place to place. My experience has been that single sector intervention in almost any community is likely to fail, simply because critical constraints are being addressed. One sector can improve, but all the other constraints remain in place. Nothing is optimum until all the constraints have been addressed. Multi-sector mix A community needs a multi-sector mix. This mix of sectors is important. People have said over and over again that they will not work in remote rural areas because something they need is not available. It can be health services, or schooling or the social situation ... but it emphasizes starkly the importance of the totality of sector and function in order to have success. Linkages between sectors Development succeeds when all the key linkages are in place. It is possible to understand the failure of development through an understanding of inter-sector linkages. This program has been designed to take advantage of the potential of the economy with the appropriate linkages in place. There are therefore initiatives in a variety of sectors, short term, medium term and long term, and through a variety of implementing mechanisms. When I was first engaged to work in relief and development planning I worked with “projects” and I worked with “sectors”. With relief and development results so bad, it is clear that not just one but many things needs to be fixed, that a single sector approach to project design is insufficient. Even if a single sector project is well designed, a project needs performance in many other sectors in order to be successful. Multi-Sector Linkage My own experience operating in the “south” showed me very tangibly how much inter-sectoral dependence there is. In the “north”, when something goes wrong, the solution is easy. Use the telephone to call up a supplier, pay money and almost instantly get the goods or services. Someone operating fishing trawlers in the USA could get all the maintenance needed simply by telephoning. Spare parts are easy to get, and do not have to be sourced from half way round the world. I did not realize how much this is taken for granted until I became involved with running fishing trawlers based around the world in the “south” ... in Africa, the Middle East and Latin America ... and frequently a long way from the big cities. We needed to be able to do everything for ourselves. We had water wells for water, electric generators for electricity, maintenance technicians and spare parts for everything electronic or mechanical, and took care of absolutely everything ourselves. When a trawler needed maintenance, we did it all ourselves. While our main operations were the fisheries sector, keeping ourselves operating required support from every other sector.The following table gives some idea of all the sector initiatives and linkages that are needed for effective socio-economic development progress whether in the government or the private sector. Society and economy are intertwined. Government and private sectors are also intertwined. Get all the connections working, and development will not be constrained, but when only one thing does not work right, it has a damaging effect on all the other elements of the society and economy.
The previous tables show how many sectors and linkages there are. Because of complexity in the linkages it is difficult to optimize with formal “planning”. The process is simply too complex, and the variables too many. The invisible hand of the market mechanism will make order out of this apparent chaos and complexity. Every community in the area knows what it needs to better the community. This knowledge will drive the process if it is allowed to. The program has embraced the concept of “participation” because participation allows families and communities to decide themselves how resources can best be used.
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