DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION of National Action Plans ...

••Whatever the approach, the agency coordinating the planning process should have:»»The authority to effectively lead the planning and implementation processes among thedifferent ministries and other collaborating partners;»»Has sufficient government support, resources and authority to generate a documentthat is supported and implemented by all relevant actors.Though Ministry for Gender/Women Affairs has led most of the process in developingcountries, they are often marginalized and underfunded in most governments often givingrise to beautiful documents on paper that are hardly translated to action. For this reason itmay be expedient to look to the Ministry of Defence which may have more resources andauthority to realistically implement NAPs and build strategic alliances across government.Step 4: Plan for PlanningPlan for planning including holding of meeting to develop terms of reference (TOR) for theTaskforce – the TOR will guide the process of developing the NAP. The TOR should include:»»Rationale – why the NAP is being developed;»»Establishment of objectives for creating the action plan– both general and specific. Theobjectives should be clear and realistic – SMART (Specific, measurable, attainable, realisticand time bound);»»Strategy/Methodology – this should include the specific steps that will be taken todevelop the NAP and the responsibilities for all actors involved such as the taskforce,consultants, facilitators, etc;»»Expected outcome – National Action Plan, materials (IEC/BCC), capacity building andawareness raising initiatives;»»Time lines – establishment of realistic deadlines for the different steps in the process andthe finished NAP;»»Budget – the cost of developing the NAP should be part of the TOR. This should includecosts of potential consultants, assessments, translations, publication and distribution ofNAPs, production and distribution of IEC/BCC materials, workshops and meetings, etc.Step 5: Identifying Opportunities for Resource MobilizationThe process of elaboration of NAPs can be seriously constrained by inadequate resources(both human and financial) so ab initio, the team must begin to look for opportunities forraising the required resources. Different sources are mentioned below:»»Internal resources within the government;»»Private Sectors from Corporate Social Responsibilities & Civil Societies;»»External Assistance.••International organizations can support the development of NAPs particularly indeveloping countries providing funding and technical support. These will includeUNFPA, UN Women, UNDP, United Nations Peacekeeping Mission (MONUC), EuropeanUnion, etc.13