Reverse Linkage

8 REVERSE LINKAGE continuously expanding as demand increases. RL projects have covered a wide range of focus areas including, but not limited to, health, education, agriculture and food security, renewable energy, and disaster risk management. Examples include the following: • Reverse Linkage between Niger and Turkey on fighting avoidable blindness • Reverse Linkage between the Kyrgyz Republic and Indonesia on artificial insemination of livestock • Reverse Linkage between Suriname and Malaysia on improving rice production • Reverse Linkage between Chad and Tunisia on bilingual education • Reverse Linkage between Mali and Morocco on solar energy for rural development. Features of Reverse Linkage It is worth briefly discussing the main elements of what constitutes an RL project, and how the mechanism differs from other types of technical cooperation modalities, and from ordinary projects. One of the most important features of RL is that, as an enhanced technical cooperation mechanism, its primary purpose is to bring together at least two countries to help one another solve their development challenges through a long-termengagement.This engagement targets specific devel- opment results, rather than remaining at the activity level. The second prominent feature of RL is that the develop- ment solution at the core of a project is designed through a peer-to-peer approach. This means that both the recipient and provider countries are fully engaged in the needs assess- ment, design, and implementation phases of the project. In this way, the approach enables the formulation of the best- fit solution, rather than imposes a fit-for-all solution from the top down. During the peer-to-peer approach, IsDB plays the role of an enabler, catalysing the process of exchanging know-how, expertise, technology and resources between member countries. The peer-to-peer approach used in project development leads to a level of ownership on the side of the provider as well as the recipient countries. The bottom-up approach involving all stakeholders ensures that they all have a say in how the solution is crafted, ensuring sustainability in the long-run. The ownership element is further strengthened when all partners, including the recipient and the provider, contrib- ute financially to the project, in addition to participating in the exchange through the sharing of know-how and exper- tise. IsDB provides only a portion of the funding needed. These core features create an environment where all sides win – the recipient acquires new knowledge and expertise that it can plug into its socio-economic development process; the provider enhances its position through international exposure, enhances its network of developers and partners, and opens up new markets of opportunity; and IsDB and its development partners are able to achieve their overall goal of supporting the development of member countries through an innovative, and less-costly partnership model. The way forward for Reverse Linkage While expanding RL, IsDB looks for new partnerships, espe- cially with the private sector, and the non-governmental sector, which have not been tapped into as extensively as the public sector. This will bring new challenges, such as ensuring a balance between development goals and private sector goals, maintaining high quality-at-entry, uncovering new forms of funding through donors that have not been tapped yet, and last but not least, ensuring that all projects target the SDGs. As the IsDB repositions itself within the community of development institutions by adapting to changing circum- stances both internally and externally, taking advantage of its vast network of member countries (along with all the institutions that exists in them) will be critically important. This is already well articulated in IsDB’s 10-Year Strategic Framework and the President’s 5-Year Programme (P5P), which envisions IsDB to become a “Bank for Developers”. RL provides a prototype mechanism that enables IsDB to play the role of an enabler by using its knowledge of the member countries to identify needs as well as potential providers of development solutions, and establishing and sustaining links such that transformative and sustainable change in economic development can be achieved. The connections that we help build among the member countries will surely serve us right in achieving not only SDG 17, but also make a positive contribution to achieving all the other SDGs. Indonesian experts during a field visit to the Kyrgyz Republic for the Reverse Linkage project on the artificial insemination of livestock Image: SNAIC