What makes a successful development project?

1. What makes a successful development project? Kristin Olsen IOD PARC kristin@iodparc.com

2. Overview • IOD PARC – Independent Assessor • Characteristics of good development projects • Independent Assessment Process

3. Organisational Development and Performance Assessment International Development and UK DFID Programme Partnership Agreement DFID & UNICEF Quality Assurance Evaluation of Paris Declaration Support to NGOs including Oxfam, WaterAid, PLAN International. Experienced Team of Assessors Edinburgh-based IOD PARC – Independent Assessor

4. Our role: Receive applications Carry out independent assessments Respond to relevant queries (via Scottish Government) Provide qualified feedback to applicants malawifund@iodparc.com/ssfund@iodparc.com IOD PARC – Independent Assessor

5. Relevant & Needed Scottish & National Governments e.g. Scotland –Malawi Co-operation Agreement and Scottish Government priority areas e.g. National Development Strategies for Rwanda, Tanzania & Zambia and Scottish Government priority areas MDGs Beneficiaries Clear understanding of the context Needs analysis A good development project - 1

6. Well-designed Clear how project intends to deliver development outcomes ‘Intervention logic’ reflected in planned activities, outputs and budget Realistic timeframe Roles of partners & stakeholders Inclusive Sensible risk assessment A good development project - 2

7. Financially viable Budget and costs are realistic (and information presented clearly) Use of funds is efficient Applicants have capacity to manage the funds A good development project - 3

8. Strong partnership Relationship between Scottish organisation and their partners Ownership by local partners Previous collaboration Engagement with project planning and development Roles and responsibilities in implementation Ongoing capacity building A good development project - 4

9. Builds on knowledge and expertise – in country and in delivering development results Experience of partners and applicants Expertise of personnel Drawing on best practice – including Scottish expertise Knowledge of (and links with) other development initiatives A good development project - 5

10. Focus on learning and development results Clear ‘monitoring and evaluation’ system integrated into project design Enables monitoring of progress – outputs and outcomes Enables learning and dissemination Clear roles and responsibilities Gender disaggregation A good development project - 6

11. Sustainable – Exit Strategy describes: Sustainable outcomes Ownership and responsibility Financial sustainability Consideration of climate change Links to other national and local initiatives A good development project - 7

12. Scottish Government Guidance and Assessment Criteria Best Practice in International Development Qualitative assessment methodology – UNICEF and Scottish Government 8 core standards Independent Assessment Process

13. 8 core standards: quality of project fit to priority areas project design financial viability strength of relationship (ownership) Expertise of personnel and organisations Integration with other development activities (contribution towards delivering aid effectiveness) Structure and quality of M&E procedures Quality of the Exit Strategy Follow the Guidance! Independent Assessment Process