Itad has been selected to undertake the 2019 Annual Review (AR) and 2020 Project Completion Report/Impact Review (PCR) of The Rwanda Multi-Donor Civil Society Support Programme (MDCSSP), a £10million programme currently funded by the Governments of the UK, Sweden, USA and Switzerland and implemented by Palladium.
Overall, MDCSSP is a five-year (2015-2020) programme aiming to use grants and capacity building to contribute to improved governance in Rwanda. Its primary focus is making governance more accountable, inclusive and evidence-based. At the outcome level, the programme is supporting civil society and government representatives to engage with one another more constructively, thereby better addressing issues in service delivery and economic growth.
Objectives
The AR is intended to assess progress against the annual targets/objectives contained in the log frame, checking if the programme is on track and if any adjustments need to be made before project completion, as well as to capture lessons that can be fed into the design of a new phase of programming. The PCR will also assess the overall progress of the programme against the outcome and outputs of the log frame; assess in detail, progress towards achieving the impact and the sustainability of results; document lessons learned; assess the quality of implementation, key successes and lessons learned and highlight necessary changes in the programme delivery and governance model to maximise achievement of the intended objectives.
Our approach
Itad is following a four-stage process for delivery of the AR and PCR:
- Preparation: Itad is developing an analytical question framework aligned to output indicators, milestones and targets included in the log frame. At this stage, Itad will identify relevant data sources, including key documents and stakeholders, meaning the framework will be well-suited to guide the development of a stakeholder engagement plan and data collection tools.
- Data collection: Itad is using three mainly qualitative methods, including document analysis, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions – where possible augmenting this with real-time quantitative data. A key focus will be to engage with donors, implementing partners, local and national government and civil society organisations (CSOs). A review of key programme documents, such as gender and disability strategies and operational plans, will also be used for reflection to generate further insights and better understand outcomes, impact and sustainability.
- Collation, analysis and drafting: Itad will use the evidence generated during the interviews and focus group discussions to triangulate emerging findings across stakeholder groups, thereby improving the validity of findings.
- Stakeholder communication and validation: Itad will provide a debrief to the donor group as the field work draws to a close, whilst also providing validation workshops and revisions as necessary.
The primary recipients of this work are the Rwanda CSOs benefiting from the programme. However, the findings will be shared with other stakeholders such as MDCSSP programme donors, the Government of Rwanda and other locally-based CSOs.
Contact Chris Perry (chris.perry@itad.com) if you would like to discuss this project.
Image © Drummers in Rwanda. Photo credit: Ayoze O´Shanahan (CC BY-ND 2.0)
