How to prepare a Project Proposal

1. How to prepare a Project Proposal • The DCP encourages the use of the Logical Framework Approach (LFA) to project formulation, the product of which is a planning matrix, usually referred to as a “Logframe”. • Each DCP grant application for the upper tier must include a Logframe.

2. The Logical Framework Approach will help you answer the following important questions:

3. WHY ? • WHY is the project important?... (i.e. the problems that you want to tackle and their gravity)

4. WHO ? • WHO will benefit?... (i.e. the group of people targeted by your project: numbers, location, socio-economic status, etc.) • WHO are involved with the problem targeted?... (i.e. any individuals, groups of people, NGOs, CBOs, institutions, public bodies or companies who have an interest in the success or failure of the project) • WHO could assist you?... (i.e. particular groups of people, NGOs, CBOs, institutions, public bodies, companies)

5. WHAT ? • WHAT will the project consist of?.... (i.e the actions, activities and structures you want to implement in order to effectively root out the problems identified)

6. HOW ? • HOW will you proceed?... (i.e. planning of the costs, timeframe & management) • HOW will you verify progress?... (i.e. assessing to what extent the various actions planned are having the impact anticipated)

8. How to Establish a Problem Tree ? • Creating a problem tree should be undertaken as a participatory group event. • It requires the use of individual pieces of paper or cards on which to write individual problem statements, which can then be sorted into cause and effect relationships on a visual display.

9. Steps to Follow : • Openly brainstorm problems which stakeholders consider to be a priority • Write down each problem identified on a card. Select an individual starter problem. • Look for related problems to the starter problem.

10. Begin to establish a hierarchy of cause and effects: • Problems which are directly causing the starter problem are placed below • Problems which are direct effects of the starter problem are placed above • All other problems are then sorted in the same way – the guiding question being ‘What causes that?’

11. If there are two or more causes combining to produce an effect, place them at the same level in the diagram. • Connect the problems with cause-effect arrows – clearly showing key links. • Review the diagram and verify its validity and completeness. • Copy the diagram onto a sheet of paper to keep as a record, and distribute

12. The product of the exercise (the problem tree) should provide a robust but simplified and shared version of reality. • It represents a summary picture of the existing negative situation.

13. Fictional Case Study • Ambroise is and impoverished area facing a drugs and HIV/AIDS crisis. The number of injected drug users has exploded over recent months. • As intravenous drug users tend to share needles, and some have already been diagnosed as HIV positive, the risk of further increases is alarming.

14. A local NGO is already active in the area. • They have decided to team up with a national NGO specialised in this field. They must now identify the best course of action. • After brainstorming and analysing the problems, they have formulated the following Problem Tree:

15. HIV/AIDS crisis EFFECT Problem Tree - Ambroise HIV/AIDS & Drugs Project Infected injected drug users affecting partners HIV/AIDS infection rising amongst injected drug users & their partners Petty crime People share needles to use injected drugs Number of injected drugs users has exploded Infected injected drugs users unaware of their positive status Frequent deaths by overdose Few local addicts undergo rehabilitation HIV/AIDS testing unit is located far away & is not well known Rehab centrres are far away & have limited capacity Low HIV/AIDS awareness ID users unaware they need treatment Drugs awareness campaigns not reaching those at risk (i.e. not done in their environment) Poor coordination amongst HIV/AIDS & drugs prevention service providers Sense of despair + frustration + alienation (especially amongst youth & redundant workers) Many drug dealers operate in the area Ineffective HIV/AIDS sensitisation programmes UNEMPLOYMENT CAUSE

16. Analysis of Objectives • Analysis of objectives is a methodological approach employed to: • Describe the situation in the future once identified problems have been remedied • Verify the hierarchy of objectives • Illustrate the means-ends relationships in a diagram. • The ‘negative situations’ of the problem tree are converted into solutions, expressed as ‘positive situations’.

17. How to Establish an Objective Tree • As with the problem tree, creating an objective tree should ideally be undertaken as a participatory group event, as per the following steps: • Reformulate all negative situations of the problems analysis into positive situations that are: • Desirable • Realistically achievable • Check the means-ends relationships to ensure validity and completeness of the hierarchy (cause-effect relationships are turned into means-ends linkages)

18. If necessary • revise statements • add new objectives if these seem to be relevant and necessary to achieve the objective at the next higher level • set aside objectives which do not seem suitable or necessary. You might find that they belong elsewhere in the logframe to be produced later in the process.

19. END Keep in Out HIV/AIDS crisis under control Crime Prevention Strategy HIV/AIDS & Drugs Prevention Strategy Less infected injected drugs users affecting their partners HIV/AIDS infection decreasing amongst injected drug users & their partners Petty crime decreasing Reduced incidence of needle sharing Number of injected drugs users has decreased Increase in number of infected injected drugs users aware of their positive status & living responsibly Deaths by overdose less frequent Greater number of local addicts undergo rehabilitation Improved access to HIV/AIDS detection tests Improved access to rehab Increased awareness of injected drugs users that they need treatment Improved HIV/AIDS awareness More effective HIV/AIDS sensitisation programmes More effective drugs awareness campaigns Better coordination amongst HIV/AIDS & drugs prevention service providers Increased community activities Crackdown on drug dealers Reduced unemployment rate MEANS

20. Building the Logframe Matrix • A logframe matrix provides a summary of the project and should generally be between 1 and 4 pages in length depending on the scale and complexity of the project. • The matrix will be based on the objectives tree, elaborated as necessary • The basic format is presented next

21. Matrix : Sequence of completion

22. Logframe Definitions • Overall Objective(s) : • The broad development goal(s) to which the project contributes – at a national or sectoral level. It is characterized by a future improved situation, a positive impact on the wider society.

23. Project Purpose : • This is the focus of the project, i.e. the development outcome at the end of the project – more specifically the expected benefits to the target group(s). • It is the consequence of the results described at the level below. The purpose often describes a change in the behaviour of beneficiaries, caused by the project’s results / outputs.

24. Results : • The direct/tangible results or outputs (goods and services) that the project delivers, and which are largely under project management’s control. • They are the results or products of the activities described at the level below. Basically, results describe WHAT you want the project to deliver.

25. Activities: • The tasks (work programme) that need to be carried out to deliver each of the planned results. • Activities define HOW the project team will implement the project to achieve each of the results in the logframe. The list of activities will provide the basis for more detailed work plans.

26. Assumptions • These are external factors that have the potential to influence (or even determine) the success or failure of a project, but lie outside the direct control of project managers. • They are statements about the uncertainty factors which may affect the if/then links between two different levels of the intervention logic.

27. Objectively Verifiable Indicators or OVIs OVIs describe the project’s objectives in measurable terms (quantity, quality, time or QQT), and hence help management keep the project on track and on time.

28. Sources of Verification (SOVs) • SOVs should be considered and specified at the same time as the formulation of indicators. This will help to test whether or not the indicators can be realistically measured in terms of time, money and effort. • The SOV should specify: • How the information should be collected and/or the available documented source • Who should collect/provide the information • When/how regularly it should be provided

29. Means The physical and non-physical resources or inputs (human and material) that are necessary to carry out the planned activities and manage the project. • Costs The translation into financial terms of all the identified means. These costs will be further broken down and presented in the project’s budget.

30. Pre-Conditions • External factors that have to be present and decisions that have to be taken before a project can start up

31. Logframe Format • The matrix’s first column describes the intervention logic of the project. Basically this can be described vertically using the “If / Then” test as follows: IF the activities are undertaken, THEN we will achieve the stated results; IF the results are achieved, THEN the projectpurpose will be achieved; and IF the purpose is achieved, THEN this should contribute towards the overallobjective.

32. This ‘if / then’ consequential relationship follows on from the ‘cause – effect’ relationships of the problem tree, and the ‘means – end’ relationships of the objectives tree • Thus, the logframe intervention logic is based upon the hierarchy presented in the objectives tree (as shown in our example)

33. Overall Objective OVI for Project Purpose HIV/AIDS crisis under control Project Purpose Less infected injected drugs users affecting their partners HIV/AIDS infection decreasing amongst injected drug users & their partners Petty crime decreasing Result Result Reduced incidence of needle sharing Number of injected drugs users has decreased Result Increase in number of infected injected drugs users aware of their positive status & living responsibly Deaths by overdose less frequent Greater number of local addicts undergo rehabilitation Improved access to HIV/AIDS detection tests Improved access to rehab Improved HIV/AIDS awareness Increased awareness of injected drugs users that they need treatment More effective HIV/AIDS sensitisation programmes More effective drugs awareness campaigns Better coordination amongst HIV/AIDS & drugs prevention service providers Increased community activities Crackdown on drug dealers Reduced unemployment rate

34. Note! • Some results may not appear on the Objectives Tree – they might only emerge during the logframe process • Analysing all the practical implications of the goals set down in the Objectives Tree will lead to the identification of new aspects • This process should be participatory and iterative, NOT mechanical • The completed logframe for our example is presented in the following slides

41. Additional Slides

42. The Role of Assumptions in the Vertical Logic • This works as follows: • once the Activities have been carried out, and if the Assumptions at this level hold true, results will be achieved; • once these Results are achieved and the Assumptions at this level are fulfilled, the Project Purpose will be achieved; and • once the Purpose has been achieved and the Assumptions at this level are fulfilled, • a contribution to the achievement of the Overall Objectives will have been made by the project.