CSO Annex IV UNOPS IQOC Narrative Report Template NGO Name: Name of Project: Period Report Covers (Date/Month/Year-Date/Month/Year): If this is an interim report, please provide information on what results have been achieved to date. If this is a final report, please provide information on all activities that have been implemented over the lifetime of the project. Read through the instructions carefully and make sure that your report follows the required format and provides specific details on your project s achievements. **Incomplete reports will be returned to the CSO for further revision as well as may cause delay to payments or other financial reconciliations. ** I. Project Implementation Logframe Update The narrative report should use the logical framework developed as part of the original project proposal as the basis for assessing and reporting on progress. Use the following format: Outputs Repeat the outputs from the original proposal 1. CSOs demonstrate understandin g of good governance, human rights and accountabilit y issues Activitie s Repeat the activities from the original proposal. 1.1 Provide technical training to relevant CSOs in human rights and good governance 1.2 Provide subgrants to CSO partners to carry Progres s Achieve d Provide a small update on the activities achieved 4 trainings conducted for CSOs 6 sub-grants provided Indicato rs Repeat the indicators from the original proposal 60% of selected CSOs undergo an organizationa l assessment Progress Report on the progress achieved to date To date, 40% of selected NGOs have gone through an organization al assessment. The 1
out activities in advocating to state on local governance issues 1.3 Train CSOs on monitoring skills, transparency concepts, and the decentralization process Details on Activities Achieved 1 training organized on monitoring. 1 training planned next month remaining 20% will be reached in the next two months. For this section, 1) repeat ALL activities listed in the logframe again per objective and 2) provide specific details on the progress of their implementation. Make sure to cover the following: What was achieved during the reporting period? Be specific about the activities that were implemented, including location, methodology, purpose etc. If a training was conducted, what was the topic, for how many people, what was the outcome? More details are always better. If you held a meeting, what was discussed? Be clear about any successes, lessons learned and achievements Read through this section once you have written to make sure an outside reader would fully understand what was achieved. The following format should be used: Objective 1: Activity 1.1 Details on Implementation Activity 1.2 Details on Implementation And so forth, until you have provided information on each and every activity as listed in your original proposal / logical framework. Please make sure to repeat all activities and objectives as listed in your proposal, do not create anything new that was in your approved technical application. 2
Objective 1: Prepare the Local Women s Councils to function as independent, democratic, and self-financing fundraising and networking bodies for women's groups and NGOs through provision of necessary skills and assistance planning and strategizing. Activity 1.1 Each Council will have monthly strategy sessions to prepare for 2010 All council have had 1 pre-planning session, at least 2 meetings to discuss information sessions and elections and a media campaign, and a least 2 Planning Sessions where they have discussed strategies for 2003. A consultancy group was hired and held sessions with each council to discuss registration options. The Regional Forum on 27-28 May went into significant detail about future council structures, registration options and funding possibilities. A working group meeting held on 26 June revised the Central NGO Statute and an Assembly meeting on 18 July finalized this Statute. Activity 1.2: Each council will consider and decide whether to register as an NGO; if yes, registration will be completed Based on the outcomes of the Regional Forum in May and the Founding Assembly in July, the council representatives decided that the councils will first register as a Central NGO with chapters, and can later register locally if desired. Registration paperwork will be submitted to state government by the end of July. Activity 1.3 Each council will complete a self-assessment of its training needs and will develop a detailed training plan to take place during 2010 All councils completed a self-assessment in March. They have agreed on the following trainings: Admin/Finance, Advocacy/Lobbying, Gender Affairs and Municipal Structures; Fundraising; Good Governance/NGO Management. A detailed training plan is being developed with support from Agency ABC and will be completed in May. Activity 1.4 Agency ABC will assist the Councils in participating at the municipal government and L/INGO level to promote the Local Women s Councils, and identify and assess capacities, existing resources, and potential needs of communities Council members with ABC staff have been very active this year in increasing visibility, networking with government, NGO and private sectors and establishing linkages with those groups who are interested in collaboration; (i.e., co-funding, donation of resources, training opportunities, etc.). Working groups have been developed to ensure that external relations are maintained. The Women s Councils will identify, with local women s groups, proper forums for advocacy, and Agency ABC will facilitate, through the granting of funds for radio shows, newspaper, and educational campaigns, information dissemination and platform development. Council members have been active in broadly disseminating information local through TV (RTK, TV21, KTV, local stations), radio (Blue Sky, Radio Kosova, local stations), newspaper (Koha Ditore, UNMIK and OSCE newsletters, local papers), roundtables, information sessions, etc. Working groups have been developed to ensure that council visibility is maintained. Extensive media coverage of the council has 3
occurred during the elections in March, the Regional Forum in May, and the Founding Assembly in July. Populations exposed to the information campaigns have been the general public, although some campaigns have specifically targeted women s groups regarding elections and projects proposal submissions. Beneficiaries Reached: Provide details on the number of beneficiaries your project reached during the reporting period. Please breakdown this data by gender, location, or age where possible. Make sure to repeat the original number of beneficiaries you stated in your proposal, and then report against this number. II. Challenges Encountered and Solutions Utilized This section should cover the following: Did anything occur that prevented you from conducting activities this reporting period? Explain any changes in your operating environment, in your team, with your beneficiaries that affected implementation and how (if possible) you were able to address these challenges? Read through this section once you have written to make sure an outside reader would fully understand what was the problem was, what caused the problem, and how you tried to address it. #1: Security constraints precluded Agency ABC from going into the sites of X, Y and X. Also, as Province XX has entered the rainy season, access to all sites has gradually become more difficult. The risk of vehicles becoming stuck in the mud comprises planned activities as well as places Agency ABC staff at risk. To prevent placing the team at risk, the ABC field manager regularly discusses movement plans and safety with their staff. At the start of the month, Agency ABC teams encountered serious security problems at distributions in town X and town Y. Local population and IDPs left off the registration lists threw stones at the field staff, and town Y, prevented them from leaving with a road blockade. Some kits were stolen from the warehouse by rioting locals. Agency ABC s field team also faced difficulties in subsequently removing the remaining kits in the town Y warehouse and eventually was only able to do so with the presence of the Territorial Administrator and Major of the Police. #2: Producing simplified financial project records that were user-friendly and easily understood by ABC staff and community members took effort, including mid-term and final village and municipal partner reports in multiple languages. These, as well as contracting, monitoring, and evaluation tools, were a challenge to design and format but resulted in anticipation and excited appreciation from partners unused to having such information. 3: Through the summer bureaucratic impediments eased up in country XX. Visas moved quickly enabling many international staff to get in quickly to take up vacant positions. In the field, staff movement is flowing. Getting in key staff is enabling improved operations. General security however has remained difficult. In September Eid started, but rather than a quiet month there were numerous car-jackings and 4
shootings. Entry into the camps has been good for the most part, but in some areas, security has not allowed teams to enter for short periods of for a few days. III. Additional Information Describe any other information that is important or meaningful for your project such as meetings held, new staff hired, events attended, changes in context (i.e. new displacements, military patrols,) etc. Also use this section to describe any visibility activities that have been conducted or any media coverage of your project. Meetings were conducted at four sites: town A, B C and D to introduce the civil society program to local government officials including the mayor and chief of police. These meetings aim to explain the project s goals and objectives, and ensure a participatory approach. The project team actively solicits the participation of influential members of the community, including authorities, religious leaders, school and health officials and other community leaders. The project team conducted regular monitoring visits to sites. Follow-up sessions were held with community center staff, CSO members, and youth groups, to share achievements, address problems and concerns, discuss possible solutions and review case reporting. The project team provides ongoing technical assistance, supervision and encouragement during each monitoring visit to ensure quality and build capacity. If this is your interim report (see below for final reports): IV. Plans, Events, Preparations for the Next Reporting Period This section is for interim or progress reports only, not the final report. Please describe specific plans that your team has for the next reporting period. If you are behind in your activity schedule, make sure to spell out when you will complete your activities. Agency ABC s education team will facilitate a teacher support group meeting in town Z over the coming month. Targeted schools will also be visited to observe classes and meet individually with teachers. Agency ABC will facilitate meetings with members of local parent teacher councils to enlist their assistance in monitoring and supporting teachers and managing the distribution of education resources. A third two-week training for literacy/numeracy teachers will begin on Monday, 14 April. The training will provide an opportunity to discuss any successes or challenges faced by teachers over the past month, share feedback from Agency ABC staff that have observed classes, and focus on developing skills for teaching literacy. In addition, 110 young people from ten communities in and near town XX have been invited to a Youth Leadership Development Training on Wednesday, 2 April. Youth will be 5
supported to form clubs and will be invited to attend a follow up training at the end of April, where they will develop plans for implementing small projects to improve their community. If this is your final report: IV. Conclusions and Overall Performance This section is for your final report. Please provide a summary of the project s overall performance and results. Use this section to describe your achievements, impacts of the project, and acceptance by the community. If appropriate, describe the sustainability of your project and how its effect will continue after activities are completed. Lessons Learned Importance of sustained capacity building support: The project highlighted the importance of continued capacity building and support, mentoring, and training. Follow up and monitoring was important in order to support partners in adjusting to their additional responsibilities and increased scope of work. As the organizations grow and expand, different types of capacity building support and training are needed. Networking: Several of the CSOs have started, through the networks and their subprojects, to engage other stakeholders. This has been very successful as it is raising the profile of the organizations work, securing additional resources from other stakeholders and providing greater opportunities for synergies and advocacy. Although networking was not a seminal focus of the project it emerged as an important component that supported the achievement of project goals. CSOs also were successful in forming their network and are advancing towards formalizing this entity through the establishment of a management committee. Community mobilization: A main lesson learned by both agency XXX and partners the importance of thorough community mobilization during project start up, especially in terms of addressing potential expectations. People who felt they would receive material incentives for participation are inevitably disappointed if this is not clear and fully accepted from the beginning. This can be achieved through more time for mobilization in early stages. Staff retention: The ability to motivate and retain staff by the CSOs has also been a major lesson learnt, given that the under-performance of two of the CSOs. Agency XYZ and ABC were affected by the departure of key, skilled personnel within their organizations. In the short term, this problem can solved by including more participants in training, focusing more on training follow-up with the whole CSO and supporting the organization in attracting specialist and educated members. Gender Mainstreaming: During the project, gender was a particular focus to ensure women were participating in and benefiting from the program. Special effort was made to 6
ensure that female-led organizations heard about the program and applied, resulting in three partners with a focus on women. Interestingly, despite these efforts, most management positions are still held by men. Many organizations claim that women are generally less well-educated or literate than men, and are therefore less likely to attend training etc. Sustainability Changes in capacity can take some time to institutionalize, and Agency XX believes that more time will be needed before many of the capacity gains will be sustainable. Attitudes have not fully adjusted yet, and until this happens, there is always a risk that old behaviors (particularly not involving the constituents more actively, maintaining records and planning projects) will resurface. Agency XX plans to provide additional capacity building support to the five CSOs who participated in the project. It is currently too early to comment on the sustainability of the impact of the partners projects on the lives of the beneficiaries. 7