Mid-Term Review of the AGIR Programme - Sida

A N N E X 3 – I N C E P T I O N R E P O R T
“strategic direction of the organisation” and to support and facilitate linkages and
knowledge sharing between CSOs. 46
The total funding available for the AGIR programme is 405,200.00 SEK over a five
(5) year period. Emerging out of the dialogue surrounding the production of the document
“Guidelines : The Swedish Embassy’s Support to Mozambican Civil Society
Organisations” (2009), three INGOs were initially identified as having ongoing programmes
in the thematic areas that coincided with the Embassy’s cooperation strategy.
Each of these three ‘intermediary’ INGOs – Oxfam Novib, IBIS and Diakonia –
were approached in mid - 2009 (a fourth INGO SCC was added in 2011) 47 and encouraged
to submit proposals in line with the “support modalities outlined in the
guidelines” and falling within the thematic focus areas or “clusters”.
While each of the intermediary organisations work in different thematic areas, there
are “strong joint features”. While considered as ‘sub-components’ within the larger
AGIR programme the commonalities shared by the intermediaries include “(i) the
establishment of a division of labour between the three organisations, between and
within the thematic “clusters”; (ii) the development of a joint program results framework
as well as definition of joint capacity development activities; (iii) a joint MOU
that regulates the interaction between the three partners; and (iv) definitions on how
to coordinate work around the Paris agenda and to strengthen linkages between each
others’ CSO partners.” 48
The funding for the AGIR programme is structured through different agreements with
IBIS, Oxfam Novib, Diakonia and SCC, each implementing the following ‘subprograms:
Access to information – IBIS
Financial accountability; participation, social and legal accountability with focus
on underlying causes of discrimination – Oxfam Novib
Political accountability; participation, social and legal accountability with focus
on the legal aspects of human rights – Diakonia
Social accountability in natural resource management – SCC
46 Strengthening Civil Society – Enhancing Democratic Governance, p.5, 2010. Sida.
47 The Swedish Cooperative Center (SCC) started up in 2011, one year later than the three original
intermediaries. The initial agreement was with the intermediaries of Diakonia, IBIS, Oxfam. (SCC was
not in mentioned in the initial programme proposals, but the area within which SCC works was mentioned
as an area that was to be added – Social Accountability in Natural Resource Management).
According to SCC, their late entry into the programme has to do with the fact that an important criteria
for AGIR partners is that their programme and partners should have a national perspective, whereas
SCC has primarily worked in a local perspective with local partners. Other intermediary organisations
have also challenged Sida’s centralised perspective, which according to the intermediary organisations
has led to an opening for local dimensions in the programme.
48 Strengthening Civil Society – Enhancing Democratic Governance, p.5, 2010. Sida.
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