Map Map


What process will be used to set priorities?

After it is decided which criteria for setting priorities will be used and who will be involved, a systematic and transparent process is needed to ensure that these criteria are applied appropriately by those responsible for prioritisation. An example of such a process is provided in the ‘Additional resources’ section of this guide. Click here to listen to how a priority-setting process in Uganda was undertaken. Group processes should ensure the full participation of all group members. Having a skilled, knowledgeable and neutral chair or facilitator is particularly important because it ensures better participation, the effective use of time, and adherence to agreed-upon processes for deciding on priorities. The role of facilitators is described in further detail in Guide 7. Organising and running policy dialogues.

Factors that are as yet unmeasured should also be considered by the group responsible for decisions about the priorities even if, as often happens, the data to inform such judgements are lacking. The data used – and any unmeasured factors – must be considered explicitly and transparently. And it is important that the chair or facilitator ensures that implicit assumptions and the basis for those assumptions are made explicit.  Four criteria should be met to ensure the process is fair:4

Relevance – The rationale for decisions should be based on the reasons (criteria and information) that ‘fair-minded’ people agree are relevant in the context.

Transparency – Decisions and the rationale for them should be publicly accessible.

Revisions – Ideally, draft priorities should be open to comment prior to finalising the decisions.

Documentation – The process used to set priorities should be documented. This ensures adherence to the agreed process and the fulfilment of the first three criteria.

A worksheet for reporting the process used to set priorities for policy briefs can be found in the ‘Additional resources’ section of this guide, together with examples of from Uganda and Zambia of completed versions. A worksheet for summarising the reasons for prioritising a policy brief topic is also provided. Workshop materials and a presentation on prioritising topics for policy briefs are included in the ‘Additional resources’.

All the stages in preparing and using policy briefs should be evaluated, including the approach used to set the priorities, so that lessons can be learned for future priority-setting processes. This evaluation should include the views of policymakers and stakeholders about the appropriateness of the approach used to set priorities; the extent to which the appropriate priorities were set; and ways in which the approach could be improved.



This page was last updated November 2011.