World Vision UK -DFID PPA Independent Progress Review Uganda Field Visit Report

The Programme Partnership Agreement (PPA) is implemented in three Area Development Programmes (ADPs) of the Kiboga cluster. Focusing on three ADPS is expected to facilitate greater impact and therefore see more significant evidence of change to be used for national level advocacy. This country visit was conducted as part of a global review of the World Vision UK (WVU) PPA with DFID. The findings will feed into the overall review submitted to WVUK and DFID. The consultant spent 5 days in country (18th- 22nd June 2012) visiting the National Office in Kampala and the cluster office in Kiboga. The consultant also travelled to the ADP sites where the PPA Projects are being implemented and conducted interviews with several stakeholders (see list attached). The MNCH Outcome Officer from the UK accompanied the consultant.

Relevance
National and local relevance
WV Ugandas approach is to work through government systems in partnership with district level officials in the ADPs that they are working in. Memorandums of understanding have been signed with local government facilitating a working partnership for the PPA projects. District officials interviewed also emphasised the relevance of all 3 focus areas of the PPA: child protection, social accountability and MNCH. The SAM and functionality assessments conducted at local level also ensure that the programme is highly relevant to the needs of the people by identifying gaps in service delivery needs- the issues come to us, we dont re-suppose them (PPA Manager). When the project was written we went through a process of consultation and some of the issues that informed the design are a result of PPA1 . Some of the communities we are focusing on were part of our work before (e.g. some of the CBOs) so we are building on these. The communities are consulted on most of the issues and the district officers are always in the know...we dont implement without them knowing as we believe we are only here to support them

Relevance to World Vision

Although historically focused on service delivery, World Vision has been gradually increasing its work in governance and accountability issues over the past few years. The National Office in Uganda and the Cluster Office in Kiboga expressed enthusiasm for the programme and a recognition of its intrinsic relevance to the wider priorities of their country strategy. At the time of questioning, WVU was in the

stage of designing their next country strategy. The Country Director explained that learning from the PPA is to feed into their next strategy and that the Independent Progress Review (IPR) will play an important part in facilitating those discussions. The PPA2 projects also feed into broader programmatic areas at the ADP level. It was mentioned in the interviews, that the ADP and PPA team often share resources and personnel to help carry out particular activities. The PPA2 is therefore highly relevant to World Vision Uganda and their programmatic focus.

Relevance to DFID
The World Vision PPA is very much in line with DFIDs portfolio of work in country and aligns well with their overall global strategy. However, the consultant met with the DFID Country Office and it was clear that there is not a strong relationship between WVU and the relevant DFID Uganda teams. Staff turnover in the DFID country office may have contributed to this but it was felt that overall DFID knew very little of WV Ugandas PPA and the projects that they are carrying out with this pot of funding. DFID Uganda is part of national level working groups and explained that there is acknowledgement within DFID Uganda that the Country Office needs to engage more with NGOs that are funded by DFID UK programmes, such as the PPA. This is an opportunity for World Vision to expand on their work with DFID, in country, and to build partnerships for future opportunities. WV UK expressed that the PPA was strategic for the organisation as a whole, to build on the partnership with DFID therefore this needs to be a focus during the remainder of the programme.

Key Findings: Results

Despite the relatively short period of time that has elapsed since the start of the programme, there is already evidence in all 3 outcomes, that the PPA2 has contributed to a change in the direction sought. In order to ensure that the programme achieves its overall purpose of influencing all 3 sectors in policy and practice at national level and beyond, efforts need to be made over the next year to demonstrate good practice and to ensure that evidence from the work at local level is fed into higher level dialogue. Most the examples given during the IPR were at the local level which is to be expected at this stage in implementation. Overarching findings: 1). The PPA2 builds on good work carried out under PPA1. The PPA1 team was involved in the design process of the PPA2 and helped identify and modify best practices to take forward. The people involved in the first PPA are also still based in Kampala and provide support to the PPA2 team when needed. This ensures continuity in organisational learning. 2). The SAM and functionalility assessments have been completed and clear gaps have been identified. This will help the project identify the needs of the community which can help make government and NGO programmes more 2

relevant. The process, along with various trainings and sensitisation meetings, has made the community more aware of their rights. By encouraging the participation of all stakeholders in the process, relationships are slowly being built between the various groups. We can see that people are demanding for their service since the CVA training for the VHTs. People are writing to us. If there are high demands, we can pass these on to NGOs to make their programmes more relevant or look at the issues and see what we can include in the following years budget (CAO Kiboga) Service users are collaborating with service providers improving that relationship is important (NO Uganda)

E.g. In one of the health centres visited by the Consultant, the SAM had identified staffing gaps which were causing problems in accessing services. By demanding for more staff, government posted the relevant people to the region.

3). Memorandum of understanding has been signed with 2 district officials. World Vision has a good reputation in the area which has helped them facilitate the projects. Without this buy-in from the government, the PPA programme would have faced significant barriers in implementation.

Most NGOs dont open up to work with us like WV, they have a good reputation we will try share to encourage others to do the same but WV needs to do this too. (Kiboga District) In the past, NGOs implemented their own activities not in line with government priorities. However, World Vision have shown that we can identify the priorities together which means we can move forward faster (Kwangenzi District)

4). World Vision act mainly as facilitators and mentors in taking the programme forward. This has ensured effective buy-in from the key participants and stakeholders who have also shown commitment and will to be more inclusive. This has also emphasised the ownership of the partners in taking responsibility for the project outcomes.

5). World Vision is encouraging partnerships within communities and between service providers and service users. There are some examples to show that WVU is slowly moving away from service delivery to a focus on empowerment, but there is still some tension with this transition. Most those interviewed expressed an understanding of the overall objective of focusing on rights and empowerment but with the more vulnerable groups who have limited livelihoods; it was clear that for them the focus is on immediate practical needs rather than strategic policy changes that create the longer term change. The changes required for empowerment and sustainable engagement will take time but changes are being seen that point in this direction. 3

6). There are clear links developing across the 3 projects especially between MNCH and child protection. - VHTs have been trained by the Social Accountability Team on the CVA model. - Child protection issues have been pushed forward by the Social Accountability team in the CSO Statement presented to the District Council.

7). The CHN Campaign also has the potential to capitalise on PPA learning. The CHN has helped demonstrate effective use of evidence based advocacy at the national level. 8). CBOS are being recognised in the community. The CVA team interviewed in Kiboga told the Consultant that the CVA activities have helped them build relationships with their communities. People are starting to directly address these groups to talk about community issues. 9). The training that has been carried out under all 3 projects has focused on both the demand and supply side e.g. the training has been provided to District Officials, VHTs and other government structures. 10). The Child Protection Committees that were set up and trained by World Vision have been recognised by government. The CPCs now report to the formal government systems and not to World Vision. This is a big achievement. 11). WVU is the only CSO that has been invited to the Justice Law and Order District Coordination Committee. This has resulted from strong partnership between WVU and the government.

Efficiency
Management and organisational structures: The management structure of the PPA has changed since the PPA1. For example, the PPA1 was housed in the national office in Kampala. In order to create a more condensed and focused team, a core group of people were specifically recruited for the PPA2 but to be based out of the Kiboga cluster office. The Grants team, who were responsible for the design, stated that the intention is to have a more in-depth programme with a stronger focus on monitoring change at the local level by having a team present to support the process. This has been an effective move. There is a strong and motivated team present in the Kiboga office with clear management and reporting structures. Their presence and support is appreciated by the communities and CBOs that they are working with. In addition, being housed within the ADP means that the PPA team work with management and communication structures already in place. This has meant any potential teething problems have been avoided and the team were able to

move forward quickly. In order to ensure that the ADP and PPA are aligned, the PPA Manager reports both to the National Office and to the Cluster Manager. However, there were delays in recruitment which caused delays to the programme. For example, it was difficult for the team to identify someone with the right skills for the Child Protection Project. The delays have not caused significant problems for the programme, as all 3 projects are on track to achieve their desired objectives by 2013. The PPA2 team commented that they feel supported by the National Office team in Kampala and by the team based in the UK. There are also thematic specialists in Kampala that are available to the support the programme e.g. a CVA Specialist and a Nutritionist. These are in addition to the Outcome Officers based in the UK. A Regional Manager also supports the PPA2. However it is less clear to the Consultant how the PPA is coordinated at this level in terms of pulling up lessons and coordinating other PPA Country Programmes.

Partnerships: The PPA2 is wholly implemented through the use of partners. With an appreciation of the need to work with existing structures, the PPA2 team implement the programme through partnerships with CBOs, District Officials and other international organisations. There is a good level of participation of partners in programme design and implementation e.g. inception meetings were held with the district officials and the CBOs, to discuss implementation work plans. During the field visits, it was clear that there is a strong sense of ownership of the programme across all 3 projects because of their direct involvement in the management and monitoring of outcomes. Monitoring and Evaluation:

Regular monitoring is in place and the team reported that the systems are
sufficient. The Kigoba Cluster office has a Monitoring and Evaluation Officer who is in charge of the PPA. In alignment with WV Uganda, the PPA2 team use the global monitoring system LEAP.

Reporting systems are clear and the PPA team commented that they receive
good levels of feedback from the national office. The team emphasised that the reporting structures facilitate organisational learning - we come together as a group and pick out issues to improve our reporting or pick out strong issues that arise, we then collate and send to the national office It is clear that monitoring is in place, both at the community level and within WV however, there is less evidence that the data is being taken forward to the next stage of analysing key issues and trends and reporting on these. In order to make a bigger impact, and to encourage others to replicate best practices, WV must document their work.

Part of the IPR process is to look at how WV responds to DFIDs comments on

the Annual Review. It was not very clear how learning from this process would feed down to the PPA team in Kiboga. Apart from discussions with the PPA2 Manager, very little was said about the DFID Annual Review.

Effectiveness There is little or no sharing between other WV PPAs. The PPA team knew very
little about other WV PPA programmes. The remainder of the programme will need to focus on pulling lessons up to a national and global level, to ensure that WV capitalises on the opportunities across their PPA programmes.

The CVA approach is clearly successful and other organisations are particularly
keen to learn more about this approach. This is something that WV can offer DFID that is unique to their social accountability portfolio. WV also has a strong relationship with government which can open doors to new partnerships.

World Vision is a community based organisation with potential to reach more

vulnerable and marginalised groups. By carrying out the mapping and functionality assessments, WV is targeting the most needed areas and then working with government to identify gaps and address those issues. The district officials stated that not every NGO is doing this and that WV is respected for this approach. World Vision Uganda has a good reputation amongst external stakeholders both government and CSO.

Additionality
There is potential at national level for replication and lesson learning to be shared with other organisations. For example, WVUganda has a good working relationship with WHO since working together on the mapping exercises. Crowne Agents and other organisations are also interested to learn more about the CVA approach. However, at the local level, there is less interaction between WV and other NGOs that are working in similar areas. The NGO forum in Kiboga is inactive and NGOs seem scattered which remains a challenge for the project. The PPA team has begun initiating dialogue with the NGO forum coordinator to see how to strengthen partnerships at this level. The CVA database is currently inactive. It is clear that WV is pushing this forward but until then it is difficult for the team to store data, which is vital to encourage informed evidence based advocacy.

Sustainability
The PPA is implemented entirely through local partner organisations which themselves work with local directly with communities. In addition, the focus of the work has been on the building of local capacities and the transfer of skills, rather than on the provision of financial inputs. The programme does, however, cover core staff costs, and does pay for specific activities for which alternative sources of funding will need to be sought before the end of the programme. It is not clear if further funding has been leveraged or if there is potential to do so. However, it is clear that other organisations are keen to pick up on some of WVs tools so there is potential for future partnerships and replication of best practices.

Aspects that ensure sustainability:

The PPA is integrated firmly in the ADP. This in itself is a good approach to
ensure sustainability. The ADP has injected some money into PPA led activities and helped share resources in terms of staff when needed.

The PPA 2 builds on work carried out under the PPA1. The team is
working with CBOs that were already identified by WV Uganda and within areas that the PPA1 was implemented.

Risks

to the programme are clearly assessed. A risk assessment is included in the programme design and mitigation measures have also been identified. The PPA team has frequent meetings to share challenges and lessons from the field.

Building strategic alliances at national level with WHO, UNICEF, Crowne

Agents and others. These alliances are opportunities for replication of tools and approaches used by the PPA team.

Transfer of essential knowledge and skills to the communities. Training and

capacity building provided to CPCS, VHT and other community structures has s been commented on positively. There are some examples where these groups are taking these lessons and using them in other areas including areas where World Vision does not operate.

Risks to sustainability
Lack of systematisation and dissemination of lessons learned. Greater emphasis should be placed in the remaining years of this programme on systematic learning and sharing of lessons from the PPA This will promote greater replication of successful approaches, which is a key element of sustainability Dependency culture. The PPA team recognise that it can be hard to promote sustainability of a rights based programme. There is a tension between service delivery and the longer term processes of working on systemic changes towards the realisation of rights.

Value for Money

There is as yet no established definition of VFM at the WV Uganda office. More guidance is needed from WVUK as to the sorts of data that should be collected and reports for its assessment. However, from discussions with the relevant stakeholders, it is clear that the value is seen in empowering the communities and bridging the gaps in services it is right for NGOs to be working more on advocacy; it is our job to help communities know their rights and facilitate that process. Based on the information that was available to this IPR, it would seem that the programme represents good VFM. The costs of inputs are low (economy), the programme as a whole is spending within the range that would be expected by this stage in implementation (efficiency), and is achieving good results (effectiveness). However, to enhance VFM still further, consideration should be given to routinely monitoring the efficiency of management and reporting arrangements (efficiency); improving the extent to which the programme is being managed with a focus on outcomes (effectiveness); and ensuring that lessons and successes from the programme are documented and shared with a view to increasing replication of the programme (effectiveness) .

Examples of VFM: Working through systems and in partnership with government ensures buy-in and ownership of the programme.

The mapping exercise looks at root causes of service delivery gaps and this has Internal systems regulate how the money is spent - e.g. how much is spent on The CVA model is now a WV international model - this can then go beyond the
intended impact and poses great value for the PPA.

great value. The approach looks at bottle necks in systems and re-vitalises them. These interventions are cheap and do not require huge amounts of money to facilitate. The mapping also identifies where money should be spent.

administration. The PPA is also focused on a small area which requires a core focused team with little overheads in country. Resources are also shared between the PPA and the ADP office e.g. an accountant is shared.