This Applied Political Economy Analysis (APEA), which has been produced within the parameters of the Cross-Border Community Resilience (CBCR) Activity, enables us to understand the context in which the Activity will operate (or thinking politically), and understand how to navigate the risks and take advantage of the opportunities within the context to achieve Activity objectives and results (or working politically).
Essentially, thinking and working politically enables the CBCR Activity and its implementing partners to work in a politically aware manner in the Moyale cluster and the Somali region in Ethiopia. The approach is also instrumental for actors to deliberately use the available information to achieve politically practical results.

To our implementing partners (and many others who might find this APEA useful in their programming), this APEA is availed to you as a tool for mapping both facilitators and disruptors in the implementation of activities, identifying the most controversial issues / topics (within the scope of the project) in decision making and in the implementation of planned activities, and identifying windows of opportunity for the project to have an impact on decision-making and implementation. Furthermore, this APEA is instrumental in highlighting how the CBCR Activity will interact with the socio-economic and political conflicts in the Moyale cluster together with the impending challenges as well as opportunities for conflict-sensitive programming.

Within the context of the CBCR Activity, this APEA offers a practical guide by orienting our programming towards political sensitivity, as we have to walk the talk of ‘thinking and working politically’ as we implement project activities. We should therefore not lose such a foresight that this APEA serves as a constant guide and reminder.