Benchmark Review and Evaluation Template (odcp consult, Arthur Zimmermann & Baptist Sieber)

AfDB / IFAD Joint Evaluation of Agriculture & Rural Development in Africa:

A Review of Partnerships

Benchmark Review and Evaluation Template

(odcp consult, Arthur Zimmermann & Baptist Sieber)

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organization development culture & politics

AfDB / IFAD Joint Evaluation, Update on Partnership Evaluation Template – IFAD HQ, Rome, March 7th

Today‘s Presentation

Structure:(1) The Assignment(2) Our approach to the assignment(3) Emerging findings(4) Questions & Discussion

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Purpose:• Update on our work related to the Benchmark Review and the development

of the Partnership Evaluation Template• Discussion on emerging findings


(1) The AssignmentThree core tasks:

(1) Scan world literature to identify good practices and subsequently the determinants of successful partnerships

(2) Identify the incentives, disincentives used to develop and nurture partnership activities found in other organisations

(3) Define a template against which AfDB and IFAD partnerships performance can be assessed

Timeframe:

15th of February until 30th of April

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(2) Our Approach - some assumptions

• Most Partnerships for Development are multi-sector and multi-level partnerships

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Global

National

Regional

State

Civil Society Private Sector

Local

MULTI-SECTOR GOVERNANCE

MULTI-LEVEL GOVERNANCE

• Ideally, partnerships follow a generic partnership cycle

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Decision to go into / stay in partnership

Operating efficiently and effectively

Partnership Cycle

Setting up the partnership

Reviewing success 4

3

1

2

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A) What management principles can we distil from successful partnerships for development?

Screening literature and reports for cases of successful and well documented development aid partnerships

Policy Networks (GEF, World Commission on Dams, CGIAR) Multi-Sector Partnerships in water and sanitation projects

(Business Partners for Development BPD Water and Sanitation Clusters)

Bilateral partnerships from GTZ, SIDA, DFID, SDC

Analysing the lessons learned

Drawing out the success factors for the management of partnerships – see next … examples

(2) Our Approach - key questions

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Cont.: examples• What management principles can we distil from successful partnerships for

development?

Drawing out the success factors for the management of partnerships – examples:

Common goal: both partners share a common overarching goal, e.g. to fight both rural poverty and environmental degradation

Complementarity of skills and experience: both institutions bring in their own specific skills and create synergies

Clarity of roles and responsibilities, e.g. role of an executing agency, role of financing institution, role of partner in monitoring and evaluation

Established coordination mechanisms and reporting/accountability mechanisms

Building on existing assets and filling gaps Understanding partner incentives and conflicts Flexibility to adapt to changes Fostering mutual trust and respect Managing interfaces Inclusion of all relevant actors Maintaining structured informality …

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B) What management principles can we distil from the theory of partnership and network management?

Screening world literature for innovative approaches on partnership and network management

Systemic approach to partnership management: understanding partnerships as a set of interdependent dimensions

New economics of organisations: facing the problem of delegation in aid partnerships (Principal-Agent Theory)

Collaborating in Partnerships: Exit, voice and loyalty as strategic options for the actors involved (Theory of Hirschmann)

Drawing out the success factors for the management of partnerships

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C) What management principles can we distil from the donor commitments in the Paris Declaration?

Partners set the agenda

OWNERSHIP

ALIGNMENT

HARMONISATION

Man

agem

ent

for

Res

ult

s &

Mu

tual

A

cco

un

tab

ilit

y

•Establishing common arrangements•Simplifying procedures•Sharing information

• Alignment with the partner’s agenda• Relying on partner’s systems

„Aid Effectiveness Pyramid“

e.g. The functioning of accountability mechanisms has three key determinants:- Availability and use of information- Mechanisms for monitoring performance- Existence of adequate incentives for compliance

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1) The Structure and Governance Dimension

How is the partnership organized and how is it taking decisions on its work?

2) The Process Dimension

How do the different actors interact and learn in the partnership?

3) The Performance Dimension

What has been achieved in terms of outcome and sustainability?

(3) Emerging Findings - key dimensions of partnerships

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(3) Emerging Findings - the evaluation framework

Structure

Partnership Culture

CommunicationEfficiency and effectiveness

Impact & Sustainability

Organisational set up

Partnership Strategy

Partnership Governance

Relevance of Objectives

Learning & Innovation

INDICATORS

INDICATORS

Performance Process

Governance&

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(3) Emerging Findings - a concrete example

• Complementarity of partners

To which degree do the involved parties bring a comparative advantage - in terms of complementary competencies - to the partnership?

• Roles and Functions

To what extent do the partners know why they are there, what they bring to the alliance, what to expect from others, and of course what to be achieved together?

• Coordination mechanisms

To what extent did the partnership establish inter-organisational coordination and communication mechanisms?

• HarmonisationTo what extent did the partnership define concrete common arrangements, i.e. joint activities, sharing of implementation facilities?

Less than optimal performance of partnerships may result from the way a partnership has been set up. To assess the organisational set up of a partnership, we look at different aspects:

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Thank you very much for your attention.

…and we look forward to your comments and inputs.

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(4) Discussion1) Do you agree on the overall approach to the

evaluation of IFAD/AfDB partnerships?

2) Are there other aspects than the ones mentioned which should be incorporated into the evaluation template?

3) Do you know of any other, well-documented partnership cases we could take into consideration for this contribution to the overall evaluation process?

Benchmark Review and Evaluation Template (odcp consult, Arthur Zimmermann & Baptist Sieber)

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