Metagora is not a collection of a series of independent pilot activities, but a single coherent initiative in which each pilot activity is implemented in close interaction with the other activities. Experiences and expertness from one activity are used to assist another.

The most comprehensive expression of this intense cross-fertilization is the Metagora Partners Group (MPG), where representatives of all Partner Organizations, independent experts and the Metagora Co-ordination Team meet. In the course of the two MPG-meetings, all partners have presented their activities, the steps taken and the future plan of action. The constructive discussions following these presentations help the partners to refocus their activities and develop strategies to overcome potential obstacles.

Besides this overall exchange facilitating South-South partnerships, cross-fertilization is naturally more intense where partners are working on topics closely related to each other. In this case, additional task teams and and meetings were organized:

Cross-fertilization I:
Mutual review of questionnaires for the diagnosis of specific human rights issues

While the pilot activities in Mexico, the Philippines and South Africa are focusing on issues that have nothing in common at first sight (ill-treatment by security forces, rights of indigenous people, and land reform), they are all three developing and testing survey-based measurement methods that could considerably improve and enhance proper assessment of human rights implementation.

Thus the interaction between the three partner implementing organizations is particularly intense: In the Task Team Meeting of July 2004, the discussion focused on the draft questionnaires submitted to the Task Team by the three organizations. This mutual review was a decisive step towards the final implementation of the surveys.

Cross-fertilization II:
Application of common questionnaires on household surveys

The National Statistical Institutes of francophone Africa and the Andean Community are both working on the implementation of modules on governance and democratic participation, which are attached to regular household surveys. This methodology has first been implemented in eight capital cities of francophone Africa. The experiences gathered in this exercise are now of great value in the field work carried out in Latin America.

It has to be said that cross-fertilization between the two continents has not yet reached a high degree, mainly due to language problems. However, lively exchange between the different national teams on each continent is facilitated through the fact that these institutes are working within the framework of regional organisations: Afristat in Africa and the Secretaría General de la Comunidad Andina in Latin America gather the relevant experts of the National Statistical Institutes on a regular basis. In the course of these events, national questionnaires are discussed and harmonized, and a common analytical framework assures comparability of the different national results. In the Andean Community, the 4th and 5th meeting of governmental experts in statistics on governance and democratic participation are co-organized by Metagora and provide a highly appreciated platform for the unexperienced institutes to learn from those who have already implemented their survey.