Designing In-Country Managed Funds
~ Section B | Resource Management Implications
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Intensity of resources
By their very nature, bilateral In-Country Administered Grant Funds are resource intensive to manage. They commonly require staffing inputs at levels higher than other parts of the aid programme. The objectives, scope and style of this type of programme are ambitious. They require engagement with many organisations, vetting and screening of multiple applications, close attention to activity management (appraisal, approval, contracting and funding, monitoring, progress reporting, acquittal and outputs reporting and evaluation) and in some cases planning of capacity building and managing relations with a management/advisory committee.
Need for improvement
While Funds may consume a disproportionate amount of Post resources in relation to the size of the Fund, there still exists a strong need to improve the levels of appraisal, mentoring and monitoring. These issues need to be carefully considered during the planning phases.
Need for balance
A balance needs to be struck between the need for sound development practice particularly proper technical and environmental practice, transparency and accountability, and the other competing demands of the post. In many cases these types of Funds form only a small part of the aid relationship and it is important for the resources allocated to Funds to be kept in perspective.
Rationalising resources
Consideration should be given to rationalising procedures and management by:
- Adopting programme approaches and/or multi year funding
- Developing partnerships with key NGOs, instead of funding individual projects
- Using intermediary organisations for management such as an umbrella NGO, partner government, MSC, industry group (business councils, associations)
- Contracting of key elements like monitoring or mentoring to individuals or organisations with strong technical skills, qualifications and experience. This could include contracting appropriate expertise on a case-by-case basis, e.g. technical or environmental expertise
- Fewer, larger projects
- Stronger sectoral or geographic focus
- Regular monitoring and sampling of a representative group of projects
- Joint approaches, e.g. selection panels, with other donors or partner governments
- Payments direct to suppliers eliminating the need for acquittals
Roles and responsibilities
Responsibilities and efforts should be focused where people can best add value, building on the knowledge and expertise of those involved. As a general rule, it is expected that the various players would best be able to contribute in the following areas:
- Programme level staff (Wellington) |Â Initially design with Post of fund. Agreeing guidelines, strategies and procedures, determining annual allocations and reviewing the end of year effectiveness of the Fund. DPMs would rarely become involved in decision making at the project level, except by exception.
- Post Seconded Officer, including HOM | Agreeing guidelines, strategies and procedures; contributing to determining annual allocations; exercising financial delegations (approvals, contracts); quality control; project monitoring; and donor harmonisation.
- Post Locally Engaged Staff (LES) | Fund management including appraisal and documentation preparation (appraisal and approval forms), scrutiny of acquittals and progress reports and preparation of the annual report. Pre-approval project site visits and the monitoring of projects. Networking with other donors and aid agencies. Provision of local knowledge, context and insights.
Annual reporting and accrual
It is important that priority is placed on annual reporting to Wellington and the partner government of a proven record of the spending.
Staff development
It is important for Posts to ensure that there is adequate skills training and professional development, particularly for local staff. Training opportunities in areas that improve staff’s:
- general knowledge as development practitioners (participatory planning processes, project design, outputs based planning), which improve their capacity to administer and managed Funds (monitoring and evaluation techniques, basic financial management, report writing), or
- personal skills (time management, English language skills)
Should be capitalised upon whenever they arise. Training needs of NZAID staff at Posts should be discussed with the respective Team Leader who can facilitate Wellington input.