PNPM Support Facility (PSF) Project Proposal

Transcription

1 PNPM Support Facility (PSF) Project Proposal Project Title Objectives Executing Agency Estimated Budget Community Facilitators Development Program (CFDP), Phase Three Support community-driven poverty reduction by advancing the role of community facilitators as agents of change through certification and training programs. NGO (to be selected) US$ 1,193,000 for Phase Three Estimated Duration Phase Three: 18 months (October 2011-March 2013) Geographic Coverage Implementation Arrangements PSF JMC Approval Sought National The PSF Secretariat will issue a grant to a qualified service provider which will work closely with GOI stakeholders and the facilitators association in implementing the program. Approval from the JMC is sought to allocate US$ to proceed with Phase Three of this program. I. Background Approval is being sought for Phase Three of the Community Facilitator Development Program (CFDP). Phases One and Two were implemented between 2008 and The first phase revised existing training materials and held broad-based consultations, while the second phase focused on preparations for establishing a facilitator certification program and training of trainers for community facilitator competencies. Phase Three is a 18-month work program to advance the role of facilitators as community leaders through the establishment of the Community Facilitators Certification Institute (LSP), and the design of a system for refresher and upgrading training of facilitators. As the biggest program for poverty alleviation in Indonesia, Program Nasional Pemberdayaan Masyarakt Mandiri (PNPM Mandiri) hands over control of decision-making and resources to communities, thereby empowering them to address local development needs. One of the key actors in ensuring that the program meets its goals is the community facilitator. The facilitators assist communities in ensuring that the diversity of voices in a community are heard; they act as agents of change to open up community s views, as well as acting as honest brokers in managing conflicts. They provide technical assistance on a range of issues, from technical sub-project designs to how to conduct village meetings. Several PNPM studies and assessments have shown that they are one of the key actors in explaining the achievements and longevity of the program. The task of the community facilitator is not just to be a traffic police during community meetings; it is also the much more complex task of ensuring that the voices of the poor are heard and that sufficient attention is given to the vulnerable and under-represented. A good community facilitator is a leader and a trainer: articulating a vision for the community, empowering people and developing capacity. In order to play these roles and be effective

2 partners to communities, the facilitators must be equipped with basic facilitation and training skills as well as pro-poor values and the attitude needed to drive the empowerment program at the community level. The competencies of facilitators are crucial and learning should be a sustainable effort, based on the needs of the program and the ultimate objective of reducing poverty. Recent studies have shown that PNPM s rapid scale-up to national scale since 2006 there are today an estimated 25,000 employed facilitators in the various PNPM programs has caused strain on the quality of recruitment, performance management, oversight and training of facilitators. As a result, many facilitators do not have the capacity or time to properly carry out their main leadership role to ensure the effectiveness of the empowerment process. While facilitators are expected to be agents of change at the community level, this career path has not been clearly articulated. On a day-to-day basis, PNPM facilitators are rather pre-occupied with the administration of their respective projects: ensuring compliance with operational procedures, overseeing fund disbursements and sub-project implementation, filling in reports to provincial and national offices. This has left them with uncertainty and frustration, and some have sought other work opportunities, in spite of being quite dedicated as community facilitator. High turnover and frequent rotations add to the variation in quality of facilitators. Furthermore, each PNPM project has its own set of competency standards, qualifications, training institutes and curriculum, which often makes for redundancy and missed opportunities for economies of scale. Facilitators performance has suffered, and their status decreased, which in turn has impacted their motivation. With the rising needs of competent facilitators, the certification process has become increasingly important. There are presently a number of facilitators associations, which play an important role in representing and promoting facilitators. During consultations in previous phases of CFDP, it has been recognized that improved performance and leadership can only be ensured by equipping all facilitators with standard basic competencies, certifying these competencies through a recognized process, and provide continuous professional development. II. Project Description With this background, Phase Three of CFDP will: (i) legally establish the Community Facilitators Certification Institute (Lembaga Sertifikasi Profesi Fasilitator Pemberdayaan Masykarakat LSP for short) and support certification of basic competencies; (ii) deliver training of trainers in design and facilitators refresher training; (iii) identify and develop standards for certification of advanced competencies; and (iv) develop a work plan for accreditation of facilitator s training institutes and material. III. Results from Phases 1 and 2 The establishment of the certification program and the training program build directly on the groundwork laid during Phase One and Phase Two of the project, carried out by British Council in partnership with the Institute for Good Governance and Regional Development (IGGRD). During these preparatory phases, broad-based consultations were held with a large number of stakeholders, achieving the following objectives: Page 2 of 9

3 Preparation for the establishment of the LSP has been done by consulting with and getting advice from with the National Board for Professional Certification (BNSP), a GOI institution for certification of all professions in Indonesia. Professional standards and basic competency review for the facilitators have been designed, and a legal structure for the LSP prepared in consultations with public notaries. A number of potential Competency Test Centers and Competency Assessors have been identified. The basic competencies to be certified have been identified. In line with BNSP guidance, these are divided into methodology and substance. During a series of broad-based consultations, the following basic competency frameworks has been agreed upon: 1. Community organizing and group dynamics 2. Techniques of participation 3. Leadership and building partnership 4. Interpersonal skills 5. Strategic communication 6. Conflict management 7. Participatory monitoring 8. Financial management The certification process has been designed. In line with international best practices, the certification will consist of two stages: (1) submission of documents for evidence of professional experience; (2) participation in an assessment day. Only candidates who have passed the document review will be invited for the assessment day, during which candidates will be interviewed by competency assessors and requested to simulate a practical workshop on a preselected issue. Several high-level meetings with PNPM stakeholders/ministries have been held, including an inter-ministerial Echelon One meeting in July 2010 at which the formal go-ahead to establish the LSP was provided by GoI. A review of existing training materials and needs assessment workshops were carried out, underlining the importance of establishing standards for training material as well as for professional training institutes. Master training was provided to MoHA s PMD and PNPM staff in training methodology and interactive training design, specifically in community facilitation knowledge and skills. During Phase Two, these master trainers provided specialized Training of Trainers for 650 participants in seven cities across the country, preparing them as trainers. A database has been designed that will allow LSP and the PNPM programs to map experienced trainers and certified facilitators. The database has been populated initially with the 650 trainers in Phase Two. This database is now hosted at PMD and is ready to be populated with all PNPM facilitators and master trainers. A website has also been developed ( to support the knowledge management system. A Bappenas decree in May 2011 formally established a LSP Working Group, with members from various PNPM-related ministries, facilitators associations and training institutes, headed by Bappenas and with its secretariat at the DG of Community and Village Empowerment (PMD), MoHA. The mandate of the Working Group is to guide the establishment of the LSP during the next eight months. In July 2011, the first formal step towards formal accreditation of the LSP will be taken by establishing a Committee for Drafting National Professional Standards for Community Page 3 of 9

4 Empowerment Facilitators, a BNSP requirement. This committee will review the competency standards drafted during Phase Two of the project, and submit a formal request to establish the LSP to BNSP in August or September IV. Project Objectives The development objective of the Community Facilitator Development Project is to support community-driven poverty reduction by advancing the role of community facilitators as agents of change through certification and training design. Specifically, the objective of the project is to: 1. Establish and support the operations of the non-profit Community Facilitators Certification Institute (LSP), under auspices of the National Board for Professional Certification 2. Design a system for refresher training of community facilitators 3. Identify and develop standards for certification of advanced competencies 4. Develop a work plan for accreditation of facilitator s training institutes and material. 5. Develop a roster of master trainers who can carry out training needs assessments and design interactive training This grant and its results (the LSP and the certification of facilitators) will provide multiple benefits for a number of stakeholders: Existing facilitators will no longer only be ad hoc project staff but have a license and be recognized as certified professional facilitators. This will allow their associations to promote the use of facilitators in development projects. Certification will also enhance the public image of facilitators and their leadership role in society. The workload of the various secretariats of PNPM Mandiri projects as regards facilitator training will be reduced. Executing agencies will no longer need to carry out separate basic competency training for the facilitators and the various projects will be able to hire staff who already have certain basic competencies The central government will be better able to maintain standard minimum competencies that all recognized facilitators must hold. This license program will ensure that recruited staff are competent, thus improving the quality of program delivery. This will support the tasks of the central government and PNPM line ministries in maintaining the quality of program delivery, as the role of the central government in the future might shift towards standardization, quality control and oversight, rather than program delivery. The program will allow for the mainstreaming and replication of community facilitation into regular local government affairs by providing a roster of certified facilitators that in line with national procurement guidelines can be hired as government consultants. Universities and training institutes will develop specialized curriculum for community development and facilitators, which will enhance the third role of universities in social and economic development of their surrounding communities. Other development partners and NGOs will also be able adopt the program and use the LSP certification as a main criterion for recruiting community facilitators as project staff. Page 4 of 9

5 V. Project Implementation and Institutional Arrangements The PSF Secretariat will issue a grant to a qualified NGO that will work closely with GOI stakeholders and the facilitators association in implementing the Community Facilitator s Development Program. In accordance with BNSP regulations, the LSP will be an independent and non-for-profit institute accredited by the BNSP and registered at the Ministry of Law and Human Rights. Regular oversight and performance audits of the certification process will be carried out by BNSP. As the main end user, the LSP will initially be hosted by the DG of Community and Village Empowerment (PMD), Ministry of Home Affairs an agreement coming out of the June 2010 Echelon One meeting. PMD-MoHA has already allocated funds in the 2011 DIPA for partial training of Competency Assessors. However, as a national program, the LSP certification will be recognized by all GOI and development partner stakeholders. A certification process always carries a risk of becoming a bureaucratic burden for the applicants and an opportunity for rent seeking by the providers. In order to mitigate these risks and ensure the integrity of the certification program, a transparent and accountable governing system for the CFDP and LSP will be established. An Advisory Board consisting of leading representatives from civil society, facilitator s association, various PNPM programs, training institutes and donors working in the field will be established and meet regularly to provide strategic direction and oversee the operations of the CFDP (including the LSP), ensuring that its operations do not become exclusive, bureaucratic or opaque. This includes advising in the design of a robust system for quality assurance complaint handling of the certification process, to complement the oversight provided by BNSP. The facilitators associations will also play an important role in ensuring the inclusive character of the LSP. Figure 1: Organizational Chart for CFDP LPS is a non-profit institution. In the medium to long term, it is expected that the LSP will be able to operate independently and finance its operation through membership and certification Page 5 of 9

6 fees. During Phase Three, a detailed business plan will be developed for the long-term sustainability of the LSP and how potential surplus generated by the certification process will be used to develop the capacity of facilitators. There is no allocation in this grant for actual costs for TUK accreditation and facilitator certification since these will be covered on a feegenerated basis. VI. Timeframe The Grantee is expected to start operations in September 2011 and complete this phase in March See the Gantt chart below for details. A proposal for a final Phase Four will be submitted in late 2012 to cover a scale-up of the LSP and additional training needs assessments, accreditation of training institutes and certification of advanced competencies Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar LSP Accreditation from BNSP Establish secretariat Training and accreditation of TUK Train and accredit assessors Certification Population of database CFDP Finalization of training material Training of trainers Prep for accredition of inst. Standards for adv. competencies One risk associated with this timeframe is the time needed to process the LSP accreditation, and thus when the facilitator certification can actually begin. BNSP is very specific in the requirements for accreditation, and even though preparations have been done by broad consultations, the accreditation might still be delayed by red-tape. This risk will be mitigated by working parallel: the training of TUK and assessors will take place at the same time as accreditation of LSP is processed, and begin with already identified and strong TUKs, mainly on Java. The training of additional TUK will continue after LSP has been accredited. VII. Project Components Component 1. Establishment and operation of the Community Facilitators Certification Institute (LSP) To be operational, the LSP must be equipped with a management team, certification assessors and competency test centers. Using BNSP guidelines, CFDP will train and accredit a number of License Assessors and Competency Assessors. The task of the License Assessors is to assess the feasibility of the regional Competency Test Centers (Tempat Uji Kompetensi or TUK), where the actual certification of facilitators will take place. The selection of the TUK will be based on indicators determined by BNSP. Once the TUKs are accredited, a number of Competence Assessors will be selected from the institutional staff, trained and accredited These Competence Assessors will assess and certify the basic competencies of the community facilitators. When fully operational, it is expected that approximately 10 TUK and 70 Page 6 of 9

7 Competency Assessors will be needed to cover the country. Based on similar LSP for other professions, the TUK will not be separate offices but secretariats hosted by a regional university or MoHA training institute (Badiklat). Likewise, the License and Competency Assessors are not full time LSP staff, but will be remunerated with user-generated fees according to their level of effort. The individual Competency Test Centers and Assessors will be supervised by LSP, with regular performance audits by BNSP. In addition, a monitoring and governance system will be designed with the Advisory Board that allows for complaints and feedback from facilitators being certified. Deliverables under this component will include: a) Establishment of the LSP Management Team and LSP office: Required personnel, including management, License Assessors and Competency Assessors will be identified and trained. b) TUK Establishment in 10 Locations and Launch of Certification: It is estimated that a total of 10 competency test centers (TUK) will need to be established, starting initially on Java and other more accessible areas. The LSP will begin certification with PNPM Rural facilitators, using a system which allows for fast-tracking of existing long-term PNPM facilitators. If certification can begin on schedule in March 2012, it is expected that approximately 3-4,000 facilitators will be certified by the end the year, with an initial focus on easily accessible areas in Java. There is no allocation in the grant for actual costs for TUK accreditation and facilitator certification since this will be done on a feegenerated basis. The certification program will be fully scaled up during Phase Four of the project and all competent facilitators inside and outside of PNPM who wish to be certified will be assessed. c) Communications and MIS: As a new institution, information about LSP and the certification process has to be disseminated to government stakeholders, PNPM projects and other community empowerment programs and stakeholders. Certified facilitators also need to be kept updated. This grant will support an effective media communication and information management strategy that is accessible by accredited facilitators and PNPM/donor programs. Once accredited, the LSP will also build relations with the International Association of Facilitators, for a possible membership. d) Facilitators database and roster of qualified master trainers and training institutes: The database of facilitators developed during Phase Two will be populated by all PNPM Rural and Urban facilitators and a system will be designed for regular updates. Certified facilitators and master trainers will be listed per specialization and region. The database will also begin to map relevant training institutes and training material, to become a comprehensive source of information on community development and facilitator s skills. e) Business plan: To ensure the long-term sustainability of the effort, the Community Facilitators Certification Institute (LSP) design a business plan to will aim at creating a predictable and reliable source of revenue (for example from members contributions, services, grants, or other sources) to finance its operations on an ongoing basis. The business plan will also articulate the mechanisms that will be installed to ensure a transparent use of these resources and to mitigate against any risks of fraud and corruption. Component 2. Design a system for refresher training for PNPM facilitators, advanced competencies, and accreditation of training institutes The competencies of facilitators are dynamic and develop over time. Facilitators skills need to be updated and upgraded regularly. A system needs to be put in place to ensure quality, Page 7 of 9

8 performance and address the basic concerns of facilitators, government, donors and communities. Refresher training needs to flexible and allow for development of new topics and advanced competencies, such as disaster management, social media, local economic development, or barefoot engineering. This grant will develop materials for training needs assessment and refresher training for certified facilitators and conduct training of trainers to carry out this refresher training. This component will also include the development of a system for accreditation of training materials and training institutions. Deliverables under this component will include: a) Training of trainers (ToT) on training need analysis and training design: A minimum of 700 trainers will be selected, mostly from PNPM Mandiri facilitators. Priority will be given to facilitators who have been trained in Phase Two. These persons will be trained as Master Trainers, who in turn through cascade training can provide training to PNPM facilitators in the field. The focus is on training needs analysis and design of refresher training. b) Preparation for certification of advanced competencies: At the initial stage, the certification process will only cover basic competencies. After its establishment, it is expected that LSP also will conduct certification of advanced competencies. During Phase Three, these standards will be developed and approved by BNSP, and training provided to Certification Assessors, so that the program could be launched during Phase Four. c) Development of standards for accreditation of training institutes and training materials: Evaluations done during previous phases point towards the need to improve the quality of community empowerment training and material, with standards for and accreditation of training institutes. In Indonesia, such accreditation is provided by the Institute for Accreditation of Job Training Institutes (LALPK - Lembaga Akreditasi Lembaga Pelatihan Kerja). CFDP will during Phase Three consult with LALPK and design an accreditation system for training institutes and training materials. Pilots might be carried out towards the end of Phase Three, for full roll-out during Phase Four. VIII. Key Performance Indicators The Grantee will be expected to prepare an inception report with a detailed implementation plan and schedule, including interim benchmarks/targets. Upon completion of the grant, the Grantee will prepare a final report on the program, assessing the overall effectiveness, noting best practices and lessons learned from the activity and making recommendations on: (i) ongoing certification and training needs of the facilitators; (ii) any specific trainings needed; iii) the feasibility of assessing and accrediting training institutes and materials. Key performance indicators for this Grant will include: Outcomes Community Facilitator Certification Institute (LSP) operational Master Trainers capacitated for refresher training design and implementation Indicators LSP Management Team and LSP offices established 10 competency test centers established 70 Competency Assessors operational 700 Master Trainers trained to carry out training needs assessments, design interactive training and act as trainers for PNPM facilitator refresher training Roster of qualified master trainers up-dated Page 8 of 9

9 Community facilitators certified Preparation of certification of advanced competencies and training institutes >3,000 facilitators certified for basic competencies Database fully populated with all PNPM Rural and Urban facilitators Competencies and standards identified, systems designed, consultations with BNSP/LALKP completed IX. Estimated Budget Items US$ LSP OPERATIONS 461,900 Staff and management 139,000 LSP operations 159,000 Training of TUK and assessors 126,400 Communications and knowledge management 37,500 CFDP OPERATONS 674,300 Staff and operations 175,900 Finalization of training materials 49,300 Training of trainers 449,100 SUBTOTAL 1,136,200 Contingency (5%) 56,800 Total 1,193,000 Page 9 of 9