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The purpose of this paper is to better understand facilitators’ perceived role and influence on a policy dialogue’s (PD) process and impact. PDs enable interactions between policy makers, researchers and other stakeholders – one of the factors associated with promoting evidence-informed policy making.

This is an exploratory study based on semi-structured interviews with ten key informants from sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, North and South America. Participants were purposefully sampled based on their experience in facilitating or observing PDs organized by the WHO’s Evidence-informed Policy Network. Data were analyzed using a constant comparative method.

A successful PD relies on a structured process used to catalyze impact. Facilitators contribute to a successful PD through their facilitation skills, for example, helping to get to an informed judgment; knowledge, for example, about the health system; attitudes, for example, valuing the PD process over its outcomes; and personal attributes, for example, credibility. Facilitators’ involvement in preparatory and follow-up actions are equally paramount for a PD’s success. Challenges in implementing PDs can be prevented/attenuated, for example, through stakeholder analysis to identify suitable PD participants, and anticipate power constellations or potential conflicts.

Research should focus on the overall process of a PD – especially on preparation and follow-up activities and their influence on a PD’s success.

Informed by harnessing practical experiences, this paper outlines facilitators’ skills, attributes, attitudes, knowledge and how these can be used to influence a PD’s success.

This article addresses some of the most pressing issues related to climate change and its potential consequences, namely population migration in Southeast Asia. It sheds light on how slow-onset events interact with other variables to limit the ability of people to adapt to stressors through human mobility.

The study adopts an analytical methodology to evaluate the extent to which the planning policy framework addresses these issues within the context of achieving resilient development.

Climate stressors will force millions of people to move within their own countries, while others will be forced to cross international borders, leaving others stranded. Desertification, sea level rise, ocean acidification, air pollution, changing rainfall patterns and biodiversity loss are all examples of slow-onset processes that the author believes will be exacerbated by climate change.

This will exacerbate many existing humanitarian issues, and more people may be forced to flee their homes as a result. This research helps improve the understanding of migration’s social, economic and environmental implications.

The research offers a novel perspective and analysis of the unique migration challenges arising from climate change in the Southeast Asian context.