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intersectoral (Inter-Ministry) Policy-Program Coordination Frameworks (IPPFCs)
Good Practices in Capacity-Building & Systems Change to Strengthen Inter-ministry Coordination

  • Capacity-Building Practices
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This page describes several good practices to build the capacities and systems changes needed to sustain each of the Intersectoral Policy-Program Coordination Frameworks (IPPCFs) purposefully selected by each country to promote aspects of the education and development of young people. The drop-down menu on the right hand side of this page lists several IPPCFs which are categorized as sector-wide multi-component approaches" and "multi-intervention programs" addressing specific issues. Use the web links in that drop-down menu to find examples, evidence and guidance about how the capacities of these IPPCF frameworks are and can be strengthened. The capacity-building practices are numbered below so that the descriptions of the frameworks (IPPCFs) posted elsewhere in this section of our web site can better illustrate how these practices are being used in the real world.

IPPCFs can be established to coordinate policies and programs across sectors and ministries (Multi-Component Approaches) or when responding to specific issues or needs (Multi-Intervenmtion Programs). To be effective and sustainable, intersectoral frameworks (IPPCFs) need need to use a number of specific capacity-building practices.  These include designated inter-ministry coordinators & committees, long-term and annual action plans, policies requiring coordination, leadership from the education ministry, contributions of staffing or funding from other ministries/ agencies and several others.  As well, the MCAs and MIPs need to be aligned, contextualized, implemented, coordinated, sustained, integrated within school systems and scaled up by incremental systems change in order to be sustained and institutionalized within the ministries, local agencies & schools.

It may appear that this list of good practices in IPPCF capacity-building  is over-whelming. Often guidance documents try to disguise this challenge by summarizing the elements into general statements which offer litte practical or strategic advice on how or where to start. We suggest that by breaking the items down into more manageable size, policymakers and practitioners can take them one at a time when circumstances and resources permit to make incremental progress without losing sight of the general goal. Further, governments will already be using some of these IPPCF frameworks informally or on specific issues or programs. These will likely include early childhood education, school dropout prevention and a variety of health & social programs.

Capacity-Building (CB) & Systems Practices to Strengthen IPPCFs
  1. The government or individual ministries should explicitly decide and establish policies, procedures and practices so that defined frameworks (IPPCFs) (multi-component approaches or multi-intervention programs) are to be used in the jurisdiction to coordinate policies, programs and action plans/strategies for preventing or reducing different forms of exclusion and inequity or to promote health, safety, personal, social & sustainable development. Relying on an urgent issue or single intervention as an "entry point" to build an undefined or aspirational multi-component approach (MCA) or multi-intervention program (MIP) is not adequate. Governments should identify or adopt an IPPCF as the objective from the outset. 
  2. Ministry macro-policy or law/regulation requires that components or interventions in the IPPCF be coordinated. (Note Such policies describe the activities, staffing, funding and/or reporting procedures in each MCA or MIP. Such policies are different than simply delivering multiple interventions or ministries publishing  statements, declarations or guidance documents supporting the IPPCF framework without requiring inter-ministry actions, reporting, staffing, funding or procedures.
  3. The partnerships among ministries for each IPPCF are
    (a) reciprocal with each ministry contributing funding or staffing, assuming specified risks and enjoying defined benefits such as public profile or internal/external funding
    (b) negotiated openly among the partners, reviewed annually and renewed periodically
    (c) strategically and explicitly linked with the core mandates, and annual priorities of each partner ministry
  4. Ministries involved in each IPPCF have written, current action plans/strategies with annual and long-term goals, objectives & actions, dates, responsibilities.
  5. Ministries should have written estimates of start-up and on-going maintenance costs of the program or approach when developing the action plan, consulting with stakeholders and approaching decision-makers.
  6. Each IPPCF should have a current inter-ministry agreement that describes long term goals as well as annual or shorter-term objectives and activities.
  7. There should be an active inter-ministry committee of government officials implementing each IPPCF
  8. Each IPPCF should have at least one inter-ministry coordinator assigned full or part time with a job description requiring cross ministry coordination. Their job title should include the name of the IPPCF for which they are responsible.  (Note: Coordinators are different than "focal points" which often can only serve primarily to facilitate communications.  Ideally, inter-ministry coordinators should be jointly named by and report to all partner ministries. 
  9. Active, broadly based coalitions or alliances should be established for each IPPCF to share information/knowledge, create consensus and promote policies, programs and systemic improvements.
  10. The role of each relevant ministry has been described for each IPPCF.
  11. The role of local agencies of each relevant ministry on each IPPCF has been described in the policy statement and funded.
  12. The role of local schools in implementing each IPPCF has been described in the policy statement and has been encouraged by actions such as school recognition/small incentive project funding, school self-assessment tools, or school award/accreditation programs.
  13. The role of front-line staff of each relevant ministry/sector has been described and funded for each IPPCF. Examples include school nurses, school social workers, relief aid workers, counselors, psychologists, principals, youth workers and others. 
  14. Each IPPCF should include specific procedures and resources to engage parents and students in the development, implementation and assessment of the effectiveness of the IPPCF. 
  15. Each participating ministry has a specific budget line/section named for the IPPCF and maintained/renewed each year.
  16. Budgets for each IPPCF are developed jointly across participating ministries and approved jointly each year.
  17. There is an administrative unit or division within the education ministry responsible for all IPPCFs. Each IPPCF also has an administrative unit within the other ministries to coordinate the various IPPCFs. (For example a school health team within health ministries)
  18. There are several strategies being used to implement, maintain, scale up and sustain each or several aligned IPPCFs. These include the use of evidence-based situation analysis tools and implementation frameworks, consultations with stakeholders, active involvement of senior ministry leaders, consultations with middle managers, mentoring and communities of practice and local university-based research centres.
  19. There are several stipulated procedures or practices as well as required reporting times for the monitoring, reporting and evaluating progress in implementing each IPPCF. These can include emphasizing improvement & shared accountability, ensuring regular, reliable data & indicators that monitor context, inputs, processes, outputs & realistic outcomes, using a variety of tools including self-assessments, recognition/incentives, awards/accreditation programs, inspections, regular annual and other reports, regular policy & program surveys, analysis of policy, curriculum and guidance documents, client/employees surveys, evaluating student learning, access to services, physical conditions & social environment, and collated, periodic reports on overall, whole child development.
  20. The data, reports from these monitoring, reporting & evaluating procedures are used/fed into stipulated monitoring, reporting, evaluation and improvement systems that are linked directly improvement planning processes for each of the relevant ministries.
  21. There is a written strategic plan for building the system and organizational capacities needed for this each IPPCF. These can include adequate funding, adequate staffing, coordinated policy, senior leader support, ongoing knowledge development & exchange, workforce development, sustainability planning, strategic issue management.
  22. There is a specific, written education ministry strategy for integrating each IPPCF within the core mandates, concerns and constraints of the education system. These include includes surveys & studies of teacher concerns, beliefs, professional norms & identities & sociology, congruence with current educational models, trends, recognizing constraints from community, administrators, career paths/work lives/working conditions on teachers, recognizing roles of principals, understanding curriculum reforms take several years, trusting teacher professionalism, focus on whole child
  23. There is a specific, written inter-ministry strategy for using a systems-focused change strategy to sustain each IPPCF over the long term. These could include planned use of system science/organizational development concepts, balance among/across  education goals, core curricula, student competencies, multiple student pathways, monitoring equity results, reviewing internal routines and structures, differentiated staffing including non-education professionals, inter-professional training, many shared leadership roles, workforce planning, career, multi-stage employee education & development plans, using supportive technologies, joint inter-ministry appointments of coordinators, joint preparation of budgets, a separate jointly operated web site or designated space on each  ministry web site, regular sections in ministry annual reports,  and more.
  24. The interventions that are coordinated within each IPPCF should not only serve that IPPCF but also be used to build the core components that are common to all IPPCFs being used. For example, nutrition or sex education should be positioned within a comprehensive health & life skills education/curriculum. Or, student mental health services should be part of and help to build a comprehensive set of integrated student services.
  25. Governments should encourage, recognize and fund mechanisms to develop and exchange knowledge about each IPPCF. These could include national associations of school health educators, nurses & others, university-based research centres, inter-sector communities of practice and more.
See more in our larger section/discussion of Capacity and Capacity-Building
See our List & Checklist of leading IPPCFs that includes many Multi- Component Approaches (MCAs) & Multi- Intervention Programs (MIPs)

Use the drop-down menu below to access a brief description and examples of each practice that can build capacities within IPPCFs or change systems to support them.
Practices to Build IPPCF Capacity
  -  Policy requiring the use of IPPCFs
  -  Policy that interventions be coordinated
  -  Reciprocal, negoitiated partnerships
  -  Ministries actipn plans for each IPPCF
  -  Estimates of start-up and on-going costs
  -  IPPCF inter-ministry agreements
  -  IPPCFactive Inter-ministry Committee
  -  IPPCF inter-ministry coordinators 
-   Active, broadly-based coalitions support 
  -  Agreed role for each ministry
 -  Role of local agencies described
 - Role of front-line staff described
  -  The role of local schools described
  -  Each IPPCF engages parents, communities and students
  -  Each ministry has a budget line for each IPPCF
  -  Administrative structure within the MOE to supervis all and each IPPCF
 -  Strategies are used to implement, maintain, scale up and sustain IPPCFs. These include:
      - situation analysis tools,
      -  implementation frameworks,
      - stakeholder consultations,
      - active senior staff involvement,
       - consultations with middle managers,
       - mentoring/training of coordinators,
       - communities of practice and
       - university-based centres
  -  Monitor, report, evaluate to & improve
  -  Capacity-building for IPPCFs including:
        - adequate funding,
       - staffing,
       -  policy coordination,
        - knowledge development & exchange,
        - and strategic issue management,
  - 

This summary was first posted in December 2023 as a a"first draft". We encourage readers to submit comments or suggested edits by posting a comment below or on the Mini-blog & Discussion Page for this section.

​For updates and reader comments on this section of this web site, go to our
Mini-Blog on Common Topics &Terms

Here is our list of topics for this section:
- Introduction & Overview
- Education Equity, Inclusion & Success - Intersectoral Policy-Program Coordination Frameworks (IPPCFs) (published at global level)
- Multi-component Approaches (MCAs)
- Core Components         - School Culture & Climate
          - Staff Wellness
          - Student Conduct & Discipline
          - Engaging/Empowering Youth
          - Parent Participation
          - Community Involvement
  • Physical Environment & Resources
- Multi-Intervention Programs (MIPs)
  • How to Build a Multi-Intervention Program
- Single Interventions (Issue-Specific Programs, Policies, Services, Practices)

- Learning/Behaviour Models (LBMs)

- Behaviour & Learning Theories

- Government/Inter-sector Actions & Levers - Workforce Development
  • Workforce Planning in HPSD
  • Teacher Education & Development
    - Early Childhood Educators
    - Primary School Teachers
    - Secondary PSHE Specialists
    - Home Economics Specialists
    - Physical Education Specialists
    - School Counsellors
    - School Psychologists
    - School Principals
  • Preparing Other Professionals to Work with or within Schools
    - School Nurses
    - School Social Workers
    - School Resource (Police) Officers
    - Security/Civil Protection Guards
    - Teaching/Learning Assistants
    - School Administrative/Clerical Staff
    - School Maintenance Staff
    - Pastoral Counsellors
    - Community Volunteers & Elders
    - Emergency Relief Aid Workers
    - Development Aid Workers
- Systems Approaches
  • A Systems Focused Paradigm
  • Contextualizing Approaches & Programs
  • Implement, Maintain, Scale Up & Sustain Programs & Approaches
  • System & Organizational Capacities
  • Integrate Within Education System Mandates, Concerns & Constraints
  • Better Use of Systems Science & Organizational Development Tools