Measuring Achievements of Private Sector Development in ... - DCED

Measuring Achievements of Private Sector Development in Conflict-Affected Environments
that partners are aware of this plan, so that they understand and can prepare for the change in the
system.
Require more regular reporting. Shorter reporting periods may be appropriate in more difficult
environments. A DFID-funded programme in the DRC changed from six monthly to quarterly
progress reporting. It also adopted monthly targets to support a more flexible management
approach in the early stages of the project. 67 This is particularly effective if it is tied to opportunities
for the project to revise its results chains and indicators if necessary, and based on a realistic
assessment of what the programme can provide.
Knowledge management. Given the frequent high turnover of staff, it is essential to properly
document the results management system. This should include a clear explanation of the results
chain, monitoring plan, and systems for collecting and analysing results. It should also cover key
decisions and compromises that were made. For example, if the results chain was simplified to
improve usability, document the changes that were made and the reasons behind them. This will
prevent future managers from redoing the same work.
8.2 Human and financial resources (Control Point 8.2)
Recruiting and retaining qualified staff is a serious challenge in CAEs where local capacity may be low,
international staff unwilling to work and turnover extremely high.
Consider the composition of your team. Are they all from the same region or ethnic group
International organisations commonly hire staff with a minimum level of education – who may
primarily be from historically dominant groups. This may reduce the perceived neutrality of your
intervention, or impede cooperation from local communities and government.
Ensure that the team are well informed about conflict, and conflict sensitivity. Try to hire staff with
experience working in conflicts, and deliver additional training on conflict sensitivity as necessary.
Staff may be initially reluctant to report on conflict, and may need additional training to encourage
them to do so. It may also be necessary to hire staff focused specifically on conflict sensitivity.
Invest in training courses, mentoring and additional support for local staff. Give regular training,
opportunities for staff to share lessons, and constructive feedback on the monitoring information
that they provide.
Train local partners or communities to assume additional M&E responsibilities. The Aga Khan
Development Network, for example, has supported Social Audit Committees, elected by the village
to scrutinize the village council accounts. Aga Khan trains the committees on basic book-keeping,
supports them to examine the village council accounts, and then holds open village-wide assemblies
where they present their findings. 68
Decentralize your monitoring. Staff that are close to the ground are often better able to adjust in
conflict situations and also typically less expensive than adopting a centralized monitoring strategy.
67 Cox, Marcus and Nigel Thornton, Managing Results in CAEs: A stock-take of lessons, experience and practice,
2010, 20.
68 Coffey International Development, The Cost of a Good Deed - Monitoring in Post-Conflict Environments and the
Application of the Logframe, 2009.
Practical Guidelines for Implementing the DCED Standard. Version 2, July 2013
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