Mid-Term Review of the AGIR Programme - Sida

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3 C O N C L U S I O N S AGIR programme coordination by the intermediary organisations is improving through the focused use of the ICC and technical groups. AGIR is conceived as a programme, but its operationalisation is still mostly done as four sub-programmes with some common areas. Therefore, sub-programme consistency is better than programme consistency. Despite efforts in joint coordination, implementation and reporting (apart from the common areas), it is sometimes not clear to what extent sub-programme outcomes and results are feeding into programme impact. The mid-term review team agrees with the conclusions of the 2012 semi-annual report that, while general reporting has improved, the programme needs to start analysing how the various outcomes of the thematic areas can be clustered and reported as a set of consistent programme results that clarify and strengthen the ability of AGIR to document and report on outcomes as a cohesive programme. A ‘spheres of influence model’ helps us to understand how AGIR has established these ‘pathways of change’ through which funding and support flow out to partners where change takes place at the organisational level of the CSO, and then through them, to the benefit of beneficiaries. This model can also help in demonstrating that the need for the programme to plan for, implement, monitor and report as a programme is critical to maintaining these pathways as a cohesive approach to decrease the threat of programme fragmentation and less effective implementation and reporting on results. A central mechanism for capacity strengthening of CSOs within AGIR has been through the providision of training on a wide range of issues, techniques and processes. This training is focused at both the organisational and individual levels. However, the mid-term review team has found a widespread low level of satisfaction among AGIR CSOs in the area of capacity strengthening as it relates to a range of critical issues. Furthermore, the review team has noted that there is very limited replication of training at the provincial level where capacity is generally substantially lower than at the central level. Networking within the AGIR programme is generally weak, although some organisations have created networks and linkages. The objectives for AGIR state that networks should be created in relevant areas. While there are relatively strong networks vertically within sub-programmes, there are weak horizontal linkages between sub-programmes. Within AGIR, most contacted partners are part of, or are in contact with, external national and even international networks; and they are able to illustrate how some of these networks/linkages have led to advocacy results. Reporting on outcomes at all levels within the AGIR programme varies, but has been improving with support from the intermediaries. As an example, Diakonia works with partners to build the narrative to establish linkages between interventions and results. Similarly Oxfam from the beginning of the programme, has been concerned with building a narrative of how outputs lead to outcomes and acknowledging the difficulties of attributing some results to the direct intervention of the programme. Generally, however, all intermediaries claim that partners’ reporting is weak and tends to be activity-focused, hence challenging the reporting on outcomes. Training has been provided in 71
3 C O N C L U S I O N S this area, but it is still among the weakest of the skills held by CSO partners. While reporting is improving with the AGIR programme, both the intermediaries and partner CSOs have struggled to find an effective M&E system that is useful in terms of accountability, learning, and reporting requirements of the programme. Capacity strengthening within the AGIR programme of the CSO partners is on-going and training in areas such as administrative, financial and human management, results-based management, gender, human rights and fund raising are contributing to improve organisations’ internal capacities and to address important issues such as gender, human rights, HIV/AIDS. Although there are some challenges, such as adjusting the approach to gender training to the conditions of the partners, improving and consolidating internal governance, and adopting results-based management, the programme has good potential to succeed in attaining the objective of strengthening organisations’ internal capacity and eventually in creating the conditions for self-sustainability. Overall, gender and HIV/AIDS-based monitoring remains weak. The four AGIR intermediaries have recognised this weakness and have applied some of their first capacity strengthening efforts to this area through the testing in 2012 of a new change-oriented gender training approach that has produced good results. The intermediaries have agreed to use this training method within 2012 and funds are available. It is expected this should greatly improve the documentation of results through the use of cross-cutting gender indicators in 2013 (this is stated with the caveat that partners would need to improve their reporting of results and intermediaries would need to better systematise and improve their reporting in the joint results matrix so that results, not only in gender, are clearly related to indicators). AGIR’s approach on sustainability as a multidimensional element is consistent and adequate for its purpose - to ensure that civil society is strengthened from multiple angles, that perspectives ensure the quality of activism,the effectiveness of the participation of civil society in addressing its needs and that its voice is heard by a responsive and accountable government. As mentioned earlier, many of the AGIR partners’ initiatives contribute to improving access to rights, to eliciting more accountability and to promoting good governance. Some of these results however, are only immediate and will not necessarily lay the foundation for a perpetual reproduction of a strong civil society able to hold the government responsible. Consequently, AGIR needs to continually identify those elements that are likely to produce impact and to reproduce practices that will guarantee the sustainability of the achieved results. 72
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2013:3 Kevin Kelpin Vibe Johnsen Jo
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Authors: Kevin Kelpin, Vibe Johnsen
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Abbreviations and Acronyms AAAJC Pa
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Preface This evaluation of AGIR (Ac
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E X E C U T I V E S U M M A R Y The
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E X E C U T I V E S U M M A R Y CSO
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E X E C U T I V E S U M M A R Y imp
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E X E C U T I V E S U M M A R Y eff
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E X E C U T I V E S U M M A R Y iv)
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E X E C U T I V E S U M M A R Y act
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E X E C U T I V E S U M M A R Y ges
Page 24 and 25: E X E C U T I V E S U M M A R Y des
Page 26 and 27: 1 I N T R O D U C T I O N ited numb
Page 28 and 29: 1 I N T R O D U C T I O N 1.2 EVALU
Page 30 and 31: 1 I N T R O D U C T I O N Field Vis
Page 32 and 33: 1 I N T R O D U C T I O N aftermath
Page 34 and 35: 2 F I N D I N G S tendency for the
Page 36 and 37: 2 F I N D I N G S ganisations work.
Page 38 and 39: 2 F I N D I N G S jor reason for th
Page 40 and 41: 2 F I N D I N G S This observation
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Page 44 and 45: 2 F I N D I N G S gender policy, -
Page 46 and 47: 2 F I N D I N G S The mid-term revi
Page 48 and 49: 2 F I N D I N G S 2.4 EFFECTIVENESS
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Page 52 and 53: 2 F I N D I N G S the AGIR programm
Page 54 and 55: 2 F I N D I N G S production and qu
Page 56 and 57: 2 F I N D I N G S 2.5 IMPACT OF AGI
Page 58 and 59: 2 F I N D I N G S number of positio
Page 60 and 61: 2 F I N D I N G S Accountability o
Page 62 and 63: 2 F I N D I N G S Through campaign
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Page 66 and 67: 2 F I N D I N G S Akilizetho has a
Page 68 and 69: 2 F I N D I N G S political partici
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Page 72 and 73: 2 F I N D I N G S The sustained par
Page 76 and 77: 2 findings 4 Recommendations The ke
Page 78 and 79: 4 R E C O M M E N D A T I O N S Ma
Page 80 and 81: 4 R E C O M M E N D A T I O N S rea
Page 82 and 83: A N N E X 1 - A G I R P A R T N E R
Page 84 and 85: A N N E X 2 - T E R M S O F R E F E
Page 86 and 87: A N N E X 2 - T E R M S O F R E F E
Page 88 and 89: 2 findings Annex 3 - Inception Repo
Page 90 and 91: A N N E X 3 - I N C E P T I O N R E
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Page 108 and 109: A N N E X 4 - D O C U M E N T S R E
Page 116 and 117: A N N E X 5 - P E O P L E I N T E R
Page 118: Mid-Term Review of the AGIR Program
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Mid-Term Review of the AGIR Programme - Sida

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