namibia namibia institutional strengthening program FY14 semiannual progress report

Transcription

1 namibia namibia institutional strengthening program FY14 semiannual progress report october 2013 march 2014

2 This report was made possible through support provided by the U.S. Agency for International Development under the terms of Award No. AID-673-A The opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Agency for International Development. Pact, April 2014 CONTACT FOR THIS REPORT Stephanie Posner Country Director and Chief of Party, Pact Namibia +264 (0)

3 table of contents background 1 summary of start-up activities 2 Pact challenges, constraints and plans to overcome them 6 environmental issues 7 data quality issues 7 financial report 7 success stories 7 abbreviations FY GRN MGECW PEPFAR USAID Financial year Government of the Republic of Namibia Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare U.S. President s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief United States Agency for International Development Namibia Institutional Strengthening Program FY14 semiannual progress report iii

4 background Namibia has achieved significant results in its HIV response through its pool of government resources, complemented in part with external donor funding and support. However, the phased decrease in external funding requires the Government of the Republic of Namibia (GRN) to plan ahead and use its resources wisely to coordinate and implement its multisectoral HIV response in an era of decreased resources. This may require enhanced GRN leadership and governance, leverage and management of domestic resources, and use of strategic information for evidence-based decision-making. On October 31, 2013, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) awarded Pact a bilateral cooperative agreement (no. AID-673-A ), titled the Namibia Institutional Strengthening Program. The stated goal of this project is Improved Namibian Institutional Capacity to Ensure Quality Delivery of Key Health and Social Services to Targeted Populations. Program partners include Synergos and the Namibia Institute for Democracy. The three Intermediate Results of the project are: Intermediate Result 1. Enhanced leadership and governance of Namibian government institutions Intermediate Result 2. Support domestic resource management to increase country ownership and sustainability Intermediate Result 3. Support strategic information management of Namibian government institutions This report covers the first six months under Financial Year 2014 (FY14). Namibia Institutional Strengthening Program FY14 semiannual progress report 1

5 summary of start-up activities Between the start of this project in November 2013 and the end of the semi-annual reporting period in April 2014, most time was devoted to project start-up, covering a five-month period. The following is a summary of these activities. Administrative start-up Staff reorganization. Immediately upon signing the award, Pact initiated a staffing structure and a reorganization of staffing from its previous award, as required by Namibian labor law. The reorganization resulted in the redundancy of one financial staff member, who accepted a lower position under the new structure. Given the changes in labor law over recent years, Pact verified that new staff contracts are in line with statutory requirements, and then updated and signed contracts for all existing fulltime staff. Pact also developed and finalized contracts for part-time staff and various consultants. Recruitment. Based on the new staffing structure as depicted in the award, Pact immediately initiated recruitment for various positions. Recruitment was completed for the Senior Human Resources Advisor, Deputy Chief of Party, one program officer and accountant positions. Two successful candidates started in Quarter 1, and two in Quarter 2. Similarly, Pact finalized onboarding for one expatriate staff member (Human Resources for Health Advisor), including visas and gathering of other required certificates and documentation. Pact locally advertised the position of Strategic Information (SI) Director, but no first-round candidates met the criteria. Pact will continue to seek a qualified local person for this person in April, after which it will suggest converting this to an international position if the position is still not filled. Recruitment of a Health Economist continued during Quarter 1. Pact received various curricula vitae; however, USAID communicated a refocusing of the scope, under which the Health Economist key personnel position may not be the best structure for activities under the award. Pact agrees with the assessment of refocusing scope and thus has discontinued recruitment for this expat position. (See section on Pact challenges, constraints and plans to overcome them, below.) Entrance conference/meeting with USAID (including Agreement Officer). On March 19, 2014, USAID held the project entrance conference with Pact at the offices of USAID. The Agreement Officer from Pretoria also attended. At this meeting, the USAID technical staff introduced to the Agreement Officer the topic of focusing the project scope and its Intermediate Results on strengthening Namibia s coordinated multisectoral HIV response. Pact concurred with the need to focus the scope. It was agreed, among other things, that USAID and Pact would work jointly to focus the scope, and that the budget be realigned to match the new scope, resulting in a modification of the award. The deadline for submission to the Agreement Officer is April 15 (see also section on Start-up planning and scope focusing, below). Subawards to partners. A pre-award authorization letter was issued to Synergos, to allow them to spend at a reduced rate against the project. Pact plans to issue the full award to Synergos in Quarter 3. Pact prepared a pre-award letter for NID, which will likely be authorized in April. Branding and marking. At the request of USAID, Pact developed and submitted its Branding and Marking Strategy for the new award in November In February 2014, all Pact staff and one Synergos Namibia Institutional Strengthening Program FY14 semiannual progress report 2

6 representative attended a half-day internal orientation on USAID branding and marking requirements. A set of co-branded template documents was validated and circulated to all Pact staff and subpartners. Other. Pact also initiated contracts for all administrative services and vendors required under the award, and for procurement of new project equipment. Pact reviewed internal financial policies and used overhead to transfer its financial systems from Accpac to Quickbooks for better financial communication with and support from Pact headquarters. Scope focusing During the first several months of the award, the project held a number of start-up meetings with USAID and project staff, to discuss program focus, program planning and initial activities. At first these focused on supporting the HIV response related to vulnerable children, as this was interpreted to be a large focus of the initial scope. The team also initiated developing plans for a related assessment. Starting in January 2014, the USAID Health Director met with the project staff and discussed that USAID wanted to see the scope narrowed to focus on the multisectoral coordination of the National Strategic Framework for HIV and AIDS (NSF). This led to a series of meetings between USAID and project staff, more intensely in March, to discuss focusing the scope on the coordinated multisectoral HIV response. This focusing also led to shifting the project emphasis to the Ministry of Health and Social Services, as this is the main counterpart responsible for the national HIV response. It is expected that the focused scope will be finalized and submitted to the USAID Agreement Officer in April Preparation for implementation planning Cross-cutting: Mapping and desk review. Based on the current scope of work, the project started planning a desk review and field assessment to assist in the diagnosis of key leverage points for future project interventions. This exercise began with the compilation of relevant policies, strategies, systems and practices, via desk review and informal meetings with relevant partners on the following topics: Mapping of the policy environment for key HIV-related policies, including the National Strategic Framework for HIV and AIDS, the associated National Coordination Framework (NCF) and the National Agenda for Children (NAC), which covers several key HIV-related issues as they affect children Review of existing leadership and management training initiatives provided to key GRN project partners since 2008, to document what has been offered and what will be most useful to strengthen leadership and coordination within the national response (e.g. courses by the Namibia Institute of Public Administration and Management, I-Tech, University of Stellenbosch) Review of regional AIDS Coordinating Committee (RACOC) strengthening initiatives to date, including project names, donors and supporting documents The public sector domestic resource management system, collecting information on budget allocations and trends from the core public financial management system, including key sources such as the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, ministry accountability reports and the midterm assessment of the National Strategic Framework for HIV and AIDS Budget and private sector engagement, covering types and amount of current and potential contributions, drawing on documents from medical aid funds and previous initiatives such as the USAID-funded Strengthening Health Outcomes through the Private Sector (SHOPS) project Relevant GRN programs to serve as a base for interventions and ensure country ownership. In February 2014, Pact met with the Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Office of the Prime Minister for a briefing to understand human resources for health (HRH) within the Namibia public sector, covering topics of relevance for the national HIV response, such as the mandates of the Office of the Prime Minister and Public Service Commission as per the Public Service Act, the role of the Department of Public Service Management and related agencies, and new management initiatives within the public service. A key approach to country ownership is to ensure that the project is integrated into ongoing GRN initiatives, especially around the HIV and wellness programs of the Office of the Prime Minister, and the initiatives of that office to support continuous improvement within ministries. Namibia Institutional Strengthening Program FY14 semiannual progress report 3

7 The mapping, desk review and future field assessment will engage Ministry of Health and Social Services leadership and other key stakeholders in further project planning, to target priority issues in more depth for improved coordination and implementation of the national multisectoral HIV response. This deskwork and the future assessment cut across all three Intermediate Results and is critical to each. Cross-cutting: Maintaining responsive relationships with key staff from Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare (MGECW). As this ministry had an excellent relationship with Pact from its previous project, it has approached Pact for ongoing advice on strategic information and inter-ministry coordination on services reaching orphans and vulnerable children. Although the formal work protocol with GRN ministries has not yet started, the Chief of Party perceived that it was important to maintain a responsive working relationship with key staff on such activities within the scope of the project award. The ministry has cost-shared several expenses related to these activities, which are listed under their respective Intermediate Results in the following sections. Intermediate Result 1. Leadership and governance. As mentioned above, initial work under this Intermediate Result requires mapping and assessment (see the section Cross-cutting: Mapping and desk review, above). With regard to early childhood development (a critical component of the PEPFAR strategy for orphans and vulnerable children), the project understood the importance of rapid start-up and engagement given the anticipated transition of Early Childhood Development from the MGECW to the Ministry of Education. The project helped with technical assistance and preparation for a series of planning meetings in December 2013 and January 2014, at which key policy leaders made critical evidencebased decisions toward a transition roadmap. The project technical assistance focused on policy direction to ensure an integrated management structure (Intermediate Result 1.2.). In March, the project also gave substantial technical advice regarding a multi-stakeholder seminar that the MGECW, the Ministry of Education and the City of Windhoek hosted to facilitate national dialogue on early childhood development, funded primarily by Finnish development cooperation. The 80 participants represented the Government of the Republic of Namibia, civil society, the private sector and a strong contingent from the international donor community including the European Union in response to increased recognition of the importance of early childhood development across multiple sectors, including HIV, health and education. Following Pact s presentation of rich, clearly formatted strategic information on the state of early childhood development in Namibia, the Minister of Gender Equality and Child Welfare approached Pact for help with a Cabinet submission on the topic illustrating how high-level decision-makers respond to quality evidence, and how the project is positioned to work with key government staff to foster further demand for strategic information that informs policymakers at the highest levels. At the end of March 2014, Pact participated as a committed member of the Permanent Task Force (PTF) on orphaned and vulnerable children, one of the special coordination bodies identified under the National Coordination Framework of the National Strategic Framework for HIV and AIDS. Intermediate Result 2. Resource management. See the section Cross-cutting: Mapping and desk review, above. The project began no other activities due to the ongoing negotiations on the focus of the award scope, which will likely affect this Intermediate Result the most. Namibia Institutional Strengthening Program FY14 semiannual progress report 4

8 Intermediate Result 3. Strategic information. As part of the planning and design process, the project has begun to develop a sample dashboard as a way of promoting access to information from policies, GRN-sanctioned monitoring and evaluation plans, reports, and data from other projects and activities (Intermediate Result 3.1.). Pact has started to collect indicator values from various years, which are also needed for the desk review. This user-friendly dashboard will help stakeholders access information for planning and decision-making at various levels. As part of the scope to build monitoring and evaluation capacity in the country (Intermediate Result 3.2.), Pact took advantage of an opportunity to work with the MGECW in December 2013, thereby ensuring the retention of a critical relationship as a responsive USAID-funded partner. Pact helped the MGECW Child Welfare Directorate prepare and facilitate a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation workshop on newer data collection tools, action-oriented data reviews and various data sources. Thirty-four staff members attended from four regions. The ministry covered transport, accommodation and per diems for all participants, including the Pact staff member. In March 2014, Pact provided telephone support to help the ministry prepare a follow-up workshop. In February 2014 the MGECW invited Pact to provide guidance on the presentation and use of strategic information to the technical review committee on the first annual progress and monitoring report for the National Agenda for Children , a multisectoral policy that covers a variety of HIV-related issues for children (e.g. HIV prevention, protection, early childhood development, livelihoods). The committee comprised ministry staff, UNICEF (which funded the consultant who wrote the report), Global Fund and a number of key NGOs, including Pact. At the Permanent Taskforce meeting in March, Pact committed to follow-up support in April and beyond to ensure that the report will present useful results: an opportunity to continue technical assistance on strategic information and possibly strengthen templates for better presentation and use of information for decision-makers within critical National Strategic Framework coordination bodies regarding future national reports on HIVrelated policies. Pact also provided brief troubleshooting support to the MGECW division for Integrated Early Childhood Development and Community Development on its monitoring and evaluation Monthly Activity Reporting System. The system captures progress against planned ministry activities and targets and is critical to good governance. Internal capacity-building for project staff. In January 2014, all Pact staff attended a one-and-a-half day internal skills-building workshop on Organizational Network Analysis. This methodology is a key addition to Pact s toolkit for monitoring and assessing changes to stakeholder coordination networks within the national HIV response. Given the staff reorganization, Pact also organized two days of team-building in February, covering roles and responsibilities for internal teamwork. In February, the project also organized three days of hands-on internal workshops for staff from Pact, Synergos and the National Institute for Democracy on change-agent facilitation skills, which will be essential for facilitating stronger coordination across the Namibian HIV response. In Quarter 3, Pact intends to follow up with additional training on dialogue interviewing, a critical tool for supporting and mentoring leaders. Namibia Institutional Strengthening Program FY14 semiannual progress report 5

9 Pact challenges, constraints and plans to overcome them During this initial planning and start-up phase, it is essential that the project has continued USAID involvement in the narrowing of the scope, particularly as details start to be negotiated the Government of the Republic of Namibia. Below are some initial challenges and constraints, along with Pact s suggestions and plans to overcome them. 1. Refinement of project focus Pact appreciates USAID s collaborative effort to further focus the scope and formalize this process. As described above, this process is underway. Pact notes that until the scope is formally narrowed via an agreement modification, Pact is still accountable to the broader scope which includes issues affecting vulnerable children. Action. No additional action is needed beyond the already planned submission of documents to the Agreement Officer, as mutually agreed between USAID Namibia and Pact. These documents include the narrowed scope, realigned budget and revised management structure. 2. Limited engagement of the Government of the Republic of Namibia in defining the project s priority outcomes GRN ownership of this program is critical as the project moves ahead in close collaboration with the Government of the Republic of Namibia. As previously reported, the project is concerned that the design of the final Request for Applications did not include GRN engagement. Furthermore, the lack to date of an USAID-initiated introduction meeting to the Ministry of Health and Social Services has limited the project s ability to engage and partner with this stakeholder in narrowing the scope, defining priorities, workplanning, and moving forward with the assessment. Pact has offered its assistance to USAID to set up such a meeting and engage with the ministry on several occasions. For full GRN buy-in and ownership of the narrowed project scope, the project needs to ensure that it focuses both on high priorities of the Government of the Republic of Namibia and on priorities for which improved functioning of the coordination framework will result in better HIV outcomes, rather than focusing only on the coordination structures alone. Action. As per the substantial involvement clause A10(d) on joint participation in the implementation of activities, Pact requests that USAID introduce the project to the Ministry of Health and Social Services immediately, so that the project may proceed with this ministry to plan and carry out the assessment phase. Namibia Institutional Strengthening Program FY14 semiannual progress report 6

10 environmental issues None to report. data quality issues What Pact is doing on a routine basis to ensure that data that is submitted to USAID is of high quality Pact verifies ministry training data using the attendance lists from each training, adjusting for doublecounting where necessary. Pact also maintains an evidence file on the results reported to USAID. Specific concerns regarding the quality of the data in this report and how Pact will fix it None to report. financial report Submitted in spreadsheet as requested. success stories Success stories will be submitted in future quarters, as project implementation begins. Namibia Institutional Strengthening Program FY14 semiannual progress report 7

11 Pact is an international non-governmental organization with 40 years of experience helping local partners become highperforming leaders in health, livelihoods and natural resource management. Since 2006, Pact s team of expert advisors has helped strengthen the systems of 38 Namibian partners, including Namibia s Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare. yang tze village office 3g sam nujoma drive windhoek namibia +264 (0) pactworld.org