Monitoring Fellowship Programme

In November 2012, Integrity was commissioned by the John Smith Memorial Trust (JSMT) to monitor their Rule of Law Fellowship programme, funded by the FCO Arab Partnership Fund. The fellowship is designed for outstanding individuals who are already leaders in their country and have been change agents in their field. Priority countries for 2012/2013 are Bahrain, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon and Oman. Selection to the Fellowship is competitive and requires that each applicant outline an intended Action Plan stating how he or she believes they will put into practice the knowledge and experience gained during the Programme.

After selection, the Fellows come to the UK for 21 days. They attend practice-based workshops in London with broad themes connected to leadership development and the rule of law. They are then each “attached” for six days at the highest levels within the British Government and in relevant non-governmental organizations where they explore issues of concern to them alongside their British counterparts. They spend time engaging with leading figures from politics, civil society and business. Through this experience, the Fellows acquire skills and knowledge they can apply when they return home, learning from best practice in the UK and– just as importantly — from each other.

At the end of the UK residency, the Fellows present the refined, finalised version of their action plan outlining how they are going to transfer what they have learned to their home institution. Integrity is engaged with the Fellows in developing timelines for delivery of the action plan and to engage regularly with the Fellows over the next twelve months to monitor implementation.

Sustainable systemic change can be enhanced by external actors working with individuals to achieve their own objectives in ways that embed globally recognised standards of good governance, human rights and the rule of law in their working practices and world view. To understand the changes occurring, Integrity monitors the execution of the action plans through interviews and survey results collated on a regular basis.