Southern Africa Trust Monitoring & Evaluation Baseline Survey Report
Southern Africa Trust Monitoring & Evaluation Baseline Survey Report April 2007 Produced for the Southern Africa Trust by NB Ideas, PO Box 12364,Mill Street,8010,South Africa, Email: info@nbideas.co.za
Table of Contents Introduction...1 Process and methodology...2 Respondents...4 1 Analysis of respondents by geographic scope of operations...4 2 Analysis of respondents by type of work...5 Findings...6 1 Capacity...6 2 Evidence based research...8 3 Networks and dialogue...10 4 Knowledge...12 5 Participation in regional processes...13 6 Enabling environment...14 Overview...15 5 Conclusion... 16 Annexure 1: Copy of questionnaire... 17 Annexure 2: Link to the dataset... 21
Introduction The Southern Africa Trust commissioned a baseline report to provide a quick snap shot of the civil society sector and its understanding of regional policy processes. The information gathered will be used to determine the nature of capacity building, funding and networking supported by the Trust. In addition, the information provides a baseline against which the Southern Africa Trust will measure the impact of its work by repeating the survey in a few years time. Following this introduction, the report outlines the process and methodology used in Section Two. In Section Three an overview of the respondents is provided. This is followed in Section Four, with a summary of the findings grouped into five categories, namely; capacity, evidence based research, networking, knowledge and participation. The findings are analysed with reference to area of operation, country of location, and type of organisation. The report concludes with general comments and lessons for future surveys.
Process and methodology The questionnaire used was developed by the consultants with inputs from Southern Africa Trust staff. The draft questionnaire was piloted with the team before being rolled out. The questionnaire aims to provide baseline information in respect of capacity of civil society organisations to engage in regional policy processes to end poverty. This is assessed using two indicators: human resources and funding. Secondly, the questionnaire provides information on the extent and nature of evidence-based research taking place. Thirdly, questions on the nature, extent and frequency of networking provide an overview of collaboration efforts. The next set of questions tried to determine the knowledge base of partners through a series of multiple choice questions. The final set of questions focused on the degree to which organisations are participating in policy processes and the obstacles to increased participation. The questionnaire was administered in English, French and Portuguese. In January (17/01) emails requests were sent out to selected organisations from the Southern Africa Trust database, a request was placed on the Trust website, forms were printed and two people were asked to administer the forms at the World Social Forum in Nairobi in January 2007. A second email was sent out a week before the closing date (02/02) reminding people to complete the questionnaire. This was followed a week later with an email to those who had not completed the form announcing a one-week extension and making a final appeal. On analysing the responses received it became clear that the Trust had not received adequate responses from some countries. Expanded databases were compiled for Angola, Namibia and Botswana and a new request circulated to these organisations. In the case of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), contact was made with a partner organisation requesting them to assist in identifying additional contacts and circulating the questionnaire. 2 Process and methodology
A reasonable number of organisations responded from South Africa, Zambia, Tanzania and Mozambique. Fair responses were received from Botswana, Zimbabwe and Malawi. The dataset was finally closed at the end of March 2007. The final set of responses reflects the strength of regional policy organisations in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. A reasonable number of organisations responded from South Africa, Zambia, Tanzania and Mozambique. Fair responses were received from Botswana, Zimbabwe and Malawi. Responses from other countries were limited. Consequently, while some general conclusions about the sector are possible, country by country analysis is limited to major trends given the limited sample size. As respondents were able to select how they describe the work of their organisation the survey merely provides a perception of the sector and its work by the sector itself. No changes were made to completed questionnaires. The authors of the report did have concerns about the accuracy of responses, and this is reflected in the text describing the analysis of the dataset.
Respondents The database provided by the Trust was limited with only 273 relevant organisations captured on the initial dataset. A further 132 organisations were included in the subsequent databases added. Graph 1: Analysis of respondents by scope of operation 26% Respondents by scope of operation 15% 16% Africa SADC Individual Country Global 43% From a database of 405 organisations, 125 (31%) survey responses were received. Twenty-one respondents used the online form, 104 (83%) used the Microsoft Word form or printed form. Of the 125 respondents 70 (56%) did not fully complete the survey leaving one or more question unanswered. Five of the responses were excluded as the organisations in question operated beyond SADC, the focus of the Trust s interventions. 1. Analysis of respondents by geographic scope of operations The bulk of respondents work focused on a country (54). This was followed by organisations operating at a regional scale, (32) those focusing on the African continent (18) and finally those operating globally (20) and one (1) undefined. The largest slice of the pie above is for organisations with a single country focus. In the table below we list the number of respondents per SADC country and the number of these focusing just on their country of location. The largest number of responses were received by South Africa (29), followed by Zambia (19), Tanzania (13) and Mozambique (11). This probably reflects, in part, the Trust s profile in these countries and in part the strength of CSOs and therefore the number of organisations on the database. The fewest responses were received from Lesotho (1), Namibia (1), The Democratic Republic of Congo (1), Madagascar (2) and Swaziland (3). The database for the DRC, Lesotho and Madagascar was relatively small. Of concern is the poor response from Namibian organisations as the database for Namibia was extensive. Within the other category 15 respondents did not specify either the name of the organisation or the country of operation so it was not possible to classify them. A further 3 were based outside of SADC but specified they worked in the SADC region. Any organisations who worked outside of the SADC region were excluded from the final dataset. 4 Respondents
Table 1: Analysis of respondents by country of location Country No. of respondents by country No. of respondents working only in their own country Angola 4 3 Botswana 6 0 Democratic Republic of 1 1 Congo (DRC) Lesotho 1 1 Madagascar 2 2 Malawi 5 5 Mauritius 4 2 Mozambique 11 9 Namibia 1 1 South Africa 31 3 Swaziland 3 0 Tanzania 13 10 Zambia 17 7 Zimbabwe 7 5 Other 18 5 TOTAL 125 54 Graph 2: Analysis of respondents by type of work Responses by type of work 20% 19% 8% 0% 23% Not Specified Service Delivery Research Policy 9% Other (specify) Community Development Advocacy 21% 2. Analysis of respondents by type of work A second lens used to analyse the responses is the type of work performed by an organisation, namely; advocacy, research, service delivery, community development, policy or some combination of these. The majority of organisations who responded to the questionnaire were involved in a combination of research, policy, advocacy and development work (69). This was followed by a focus on community development (22), research (7) and advocacy (8). Eleven organisations focused on categories outside the options such as media and one respondent did not state the type of work undertaken. Disaggregating those engaged in a combination of activities and including them in each of the types of work they do, the respondent profile is fairly evenly balanced with service delivery the least represented. The graph below provides a visual picture of the responses by type of work.
Findings 1. Capacity In general, the capacity of organisations who responded to the questionnaire is divided with just under half considered to be adequately resourced and just over half under resourced. Graph 3: Consolidated analysis of human resource capacity profile of respondents 26% Capacity (Funding) profile 36% Capacity (Human Resources) profile 21% 10% Strong Adequate Poor Weak Strong Adequate Poor Weak 19% 34% Graph 4: Consolidated analysis of funding capacity profile of respondents 22% 32% If human resource strength is used as the measure of capacity 32, or one quarter, of the organisations would be considered highly capacitated in respect of policy work. The effectiveness of these organisations has not been evaluated. However all 32 reported staff of 7 or more working in the policy arena. A further 3 organisations did not have significant staff but did have a large pool of consultants contracted to do the policy work on their behalf. Twentyfive organisations (21%) were adequately resourced largely with internal staff but two with consultants. These organisations had between 4 and 7 staff. The remaining 53% did not have adequate capacity with 19% reporting no capacity and 34% fewer than four staff or consultants. In general respondents noted a high level of capacity, which does not match with the team s knowledge of the sector. It is doubtful where the reported human resource capacity reflects full-time dedicated staffing and is more likely to reflect a portion of staff whose activities includes some policy work. In the view of the authors of this report this highlights the lack of understanding about analytical policy work and its importance within the sector. If funding is used as an indicator of capacity then the percentage of capacitated organisations reduces substantially with only 1% regarding themselves as adequately resourced and a further 8% considered to be resourced by the consultants, with a combination of dedicated resources for policy work and more than three funding sources for this work. In aggregate terms roughly half (54%) do not have adequate funding resources suggesting a direct link between funding and human resource capacity. In addition to funding resources, 16% of respondents raised funds through consulting services, 8% received funding from government (within this 40% were in Tanzania and 30% in South Africa) and 16% raised funds directly through events and membership fees. Twelve organisations worked with volunteers. Where capacity is weak or poor there is a strong correlation between human resource and funding capacity. As organisations strengthen there is a window period where human resource capacity exceeds the dedicated funding resources before the balance swings and funding exceeds human capacity. This seems to suggest that strongly capacitated organisations do not need additional funding support. If the capacity needs are further broken down, it is clear that the pool of capacitated organisations is weighted toward organisations that are global or continent focused with those working in individual countries (Mozambique, Botswana. Zimbabwe and Tanzania) recording the lowest capacity, followed by those focusing on the SADC region. Angolan, Botswanan, Zambian and South African CSOs recorded the strongest human capacity. Sixty-one percent of organisations focusing on Africa 6 Findings
Organisations focusing on SADC had the poorest human resource capacity while those focusing on a single country had the weakest funding capacity. % 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Strong Adequate Capacity Poor Weak have adequate to strong capacity. Fifty-five percent of organisations working at the global level have adequate to strong capacity. In both cases, the consolidated picture for human resource and for funding capacity is the same. Organisations focusing on SADC had the poorest human resource capacity while those focusing on a single country had the weakest funding capacity. HR Funding Table 2: Capacity assessment by scope of operations (human resources) Scope of operations Weak Poor Adequate Strong Global 15% 30% 25% 30% Africa 22% 17% 11% 50% SADC 13% 53% 16% 19% Country specific 24% 31% 24% 20% Total 19% 34% 21% 26% Table 3: Capacity assessment by scope of operations (funding) Scope of operations Weak Poor Adequate Strong Global 25% 20% 5% 50% Africa 17% 22% 0% 61% SADC 6% 44% 9% 41% Country specific 31% 33% 15% 20% Total 22% 32% 10% 36%
Analysed by type of work undertaken by the organisation, the strongest human resource capacity exists in organisations involved in service delivery and/or research and the weakest in organisations focusing on community development and/ or other work, which (in most instances) was described as media work. Table 4: Capacity assessment by type of organisation (human resources) Type of organisation Weak Poor Adequate Strong Advocacy 16% 33% 29% 22% Service Delivery 13% 26% 35% 26% Community 19% 36% 16% 29% Development Research 9% 30% 31% 30% Policy 10% 39% 29% 22% Other 23% 35% 19% 23% Total 15% 33% 27% 25% If funding is the indicator of capacity then the weakest capacity is again in organisations involved in other work (largely media) and in those doing community work. The most resourced organisations are those involved in policy, service delivery, research and advocacy. CSOs in South Africa were the most resourced financially, followed by those in Botswana and Tanzania. Those with the least financial resources were in Mozambique. For the rest financial capacity was spread. Table 5: Capacity assessment by type of organisation (funding) Type of organisation Weak Poor Adequate Strong Advocacy 13% 38% 9% 40% Service Delivery 9% 35% 13% 43% Community 33% 29% 12% 26% Development Research 11% 35% 9% 45% Policy 14% 27% 16% 43% Other 31% 38% 4% 27% Total 18% 34% 11% 37% 2 Evidence based research When reviewing the knowledge and use of evidence-based research it is clear that most of the respondents were exposed to evidence-based research and using it, even in combination with other research methods. Of these only 37 reported to base all their research on evidence based research. Of these 9 had not produced any research in the last 12 months. Twenty-five percent reported having had their research report accepted or adopted by government. These spanned various types of research and the research was not limited to evidence based work. The team was concerned about the accuracy of the data provided in this section based on the knowledge of the sector. This is attributed to differing interpretations of evidence based research methods amongst respondents. There seemed to be a lot of confusion around what exactly constituted evidence based research with several respondents claiming to include evidence based methods but with no research outputs recorded or with research outputs that are clearly not evidence based recorded. A list of the recorded evidence based research reports produced in the last 12 months by respondents follows: Abolition of marital power Advocate for implementation of regional laws Constitutional review process to increase women's right Control on pesticide use Cotonou Agreement Manual for CSOs Debt- monitor public expenditure and allocate to social education - quality education - health- abolition of user fees Domestic Violence Legislation and Sexual Offences Legislation Economic literacy for youth in communities Educacar para cidadamia Desenvoloimento Rural e Ambiente Findings
Global organisations demonstrated the strongest evidence based research capacity while SADC countries demonstrated the strongest general research capacity. Graph 5: Consolidated analysis of research capacity profile of respondents 26% Evidence based research profile 22% Strong Adequate Poor Weak 15% 37% Family Law Reforms Fortalocimento de movimentos associativos Free ARVs and post exposure prophylaxis for sexually abused women and girls Gender Land Restitution/Redistribution HIV/AIDS deeper understanding HIV/AIDS and farmdwellers Corruption, free and fair governance IDP policy, education in conflict, seed security Inclusion of livelihoods in National PLANS OF Action (NPA)- national government in the process of reviewing Justica social Migrant labour (mining Industry) Impact of the downscaling of the mining industry on labour sending countries Modernization of agriculture through irrigation reduce aid dependency encourage more domestic savings promote local entrepreneurship MOU with local government to deliver multiple government services to rural communities on a routine weekly schedule National Disability Act of 2006 Ongoing work on Sexual Reproductive Health Policies Pancemio com organizacos governamentais Pesquisa sobre o tratamento da violencia domestre Pesquisa sobre artiso discriminatanos uo codigo penal Policy considerations on social protection and child future security Por favor enumere-os Positions on Export Credit Agencies in Africa PRSPs and MDGs Loan Contraction Pre 2007 budget, civil society participation in poverty reduction budget support (PRBS)- in progress. Civil society monitoring systems for National development plans Recherche action par reseau thematique Capitalisation des experiences probantes Mise en place des equipes des consultants locaux School management committee IDP policy Special Safeguard Measures for Zambia Sub-region common products for exportation Support to youth under 18 years in children's homes- integration strategy Sustainable peace strategy in Burundi and the sub-region The Behaviour of South African Investors in Zambia and Malawi The Impacts of Chinese Economic Activities in Zambia and Malawi The Privatisation of Copper Mines in Zambia Thematic Research Papers for The Zimbabwe Human Report on Gender Use of community-based planning as participatory planning approach Use of community-based workers as mechanism for service delivery. It was not possible to review any of the reports in this baseline study. In future, the team noted that the questions in this section need to be reformulated to allow better cross referencing of responses. Global organisations demonstrated the strongest evidence based research capacity while SADC countries demonstrated the strongest general research capacity, although only 6% based their work solely on evidence based methodologies. The weakest capacity exits in organisations focused on the continent and those that focus on an individual country. South African and Zambian organisations demonstrated the best research capacity while the weakest was in Tazania, Mozambique and Botswana.
The strongest evidence based research capacity exists in organisations doing research, followed by those working in the policy area. Table 6: Evidence based research assessment by scope of operations Scope of operations Weak Poor Adequate Strong Global 0% 35% 20% 45% Africa 17% 39% 17% 28% SADC 28% 22% 44% 6% Country specific 13% 41% 20% 26% Total 14% 34% 26% 25% Table 7: Evidence based research assessment by type of organisation Type of organisation Weak Poor Adequate Strong Advocacy 27% 28.5% 28.5% 16% Service Delivery 18% 30% 30% 22% Community 12% 44% 22% 22% Development Research 13% 26% 30% 31% Policy 18% 29% 25% 28% Other 27% 23% 27% 23% Total 19% 30% 27% 24% 3. Networks and dialogue Seventy-three percent of organisations networked with three or more partners suggesting networks are strong. However analysing the partners it became clear that while networking amongst CSOs and between CSOs and community groups and donors was strong, networking with government, parliamentarians and private sector is very weak. Only 2% of respondents networked with all three, 14% networked with the private sector, 15% with parliamentarians and 36% with government. Graph 6: Consolidated analysis of networking capacity profile of respondents Networks 3% 15% The weakest research capacity is found in community development organisations. Surprisingly, few advocacy based organisations base their work on experiences on the ground or on solid research. The strongest evidence based research capacity exists in organisations doing research, followed by those working in the policy area. 70% Strong Adequate Poor 12% Weak 10 Findings
Table 8: Networking assessment by scope of operations Scope of operations Weak Poor Adequate Strong Global 5% 10% 75% 0% Africa 17% 6% 77% 0% SADC 3% 6% 85% 6% Country specific 23% 9% 63% 5% Total 10% 8% 79% 3% Table 9: Networking with government and private sector by country of operation Country Respondents by country Govt networks Parliamentary networks Private sector networks Angola 4 2 2 0 Botswana 6 5 3 1 DRC 1 1 0 0 Lesotho 1 0 0 0 Madagascar 2 0 0 0 Malawi 5 2 1 0 Mauritius 3 3 0 0 Mozambique 11 2 1 0 Namibia 1 0 0 0 South Africa 31 13 5 6 Swaziland 3 0 0 0 Tanzania 13 3 0 1 Zambia 17 7 5 4 Zimbabwe 8 2 1 1 Other 18 6 1 4 TOTAL 125 45 19 14 Breaking this down further, it is clear that Botswana and Mauritius CSOs are best networked with government and South African and Zambian CSOs have the strongest private sector links. Research and policy organisations were the best networked with all constituencies while policy and advocacy organisations were the best networked with other organisations in the CSO, community and donor sectors. Table 10: Networking assessment by type of organisation Type of organisation Weak Poor Adequate Strong Advocacy 5% 5% 90% 0% Service Delivery 9% 9% 81% 0% Community Development 14% 7% 79% 0% Research 6% 7% 75% 12% Policy 4% 4% 88% 4 % Other 15% 4% 81% 0% Total 9% 5% 83% 3%
Graph 7: Consolidated analysis of knowledge base of respondents 24% Knowledge profile 6% 34% Strong Adequate Poor Weak 36% 4. Knowledge Organisations knowledge base of SADC regional processes and other related policy processes was one of the weakest areas noted in the baseline survey. Of the organisations who responded only 7 organisations or 6% of respondents had a good knowledge base, scoring 80% or more correct answers in the multiple choice questions in the knowledge section of the questionnaire. A further 30, or 24%, scored between 60 and 80% correct answers. Seventy percent (70%) of respondents got more than half the questions wrong. Within this, 46 organisations or 36% got fewer than two correct answers. All unanswered questions were regarded as a lack of knowledge. In one case the respondent refused to answer the questions as he did not agree with any of the multiplechoice options provided. This response was excluded in the calculations. Analysing those with adequate or strong knowledge we can conclude that organisations working in the SADC region had the best knowledge, followed by those working in the continent. The weakest knowledge was found in organisations focusing exclusively on one country only. South African, Zimbabwean and Botswana CSOs have the best knowledge and Tanzania, Swaziland, Mozambique and Angola CSOs the weakest knowledge. Policy and research organisations had the best knowledge along with those working on service delivery. Community development organisations had the weakest knowledge along with those focusing on other areas largely media. The poor knowledge in most advocacy organisations was surprising. Table 11: Knowledge assessment by scope of operations Scope of operations Weak Poor Adequate Strong Global 35% 35% 25% 5% Africa 28% 33% 33% 6% SADC 22% 34% 38% 6% Country specific 50% 33% 11% 6% Total 36% 34% 25% 5% Table 12: Knowledge assessment by type of organisation Type of organisation Weak Poor Adequate Strong Advocacy 24% 41% 27% 8% Service Delivery 30.5% 30.5% 26% 13% Community Development 47% 33% 17% 3% Research 26% 31% 37% 6% Policy 22% 29% 35% 14% Other 35% 23% 31% 11% Total 31% 31% 30% 8% 12 Findings
The weakest participation was found in Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia CSOs while the strongest was in Mauritius and Zimbabwe CSOs. Graph 8: Consolidated analysis of participation profile of respondents 25% Participation 12% 11% Strong Adequate 52% 5. Participation in regional processes Very few organisations had participated in a regional policy process in the last year. Fiftytwo percent had not had any engagement with regional policy processes. Of the few that had participated 11% had merely attended a public session, 25% had been invited to a meeting and just 12% had addressed a meeting. Most organisations became involved through a sister organisation and others through their governments. A handful had heard about the process through the media. Organisations focusing on the continent participated the most in regional policy processes followed by global organisations. The weak participation by most SADC focused CSOs was surprising and of concern. The weakest participation was found in Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia CSOs while the strongest was in Mauritius and Zimbabwe CSOs. Service delivery organisations reported the highest levels of participation while advocacy and research organisations demonstrated the low levels of participation suggesting they are not being very effective in engaging directly in policy processes. Poor Weak Table 13: Participation assessment by scope of operations Scope of operations Weak Poor Adequate Strong Global 60% 10% 15% 15% Africa 39% 11% 28% 22% SADC 57% 11% 22% 9% On country only 50% 13% 28% 9% Total 53% 11% 25% 12% Table 14: Participation assessment by type of organisation Type of organisation Weak Poor Adequate Strong Advocacy 48% 14% 21% 16% Service Delivery 30% 22% 35% 13% Community Development 57% 14% 21% 8% Research 48% 13% 17% 20% Policy 39% 16% 29% 16% Other 54% 4% 31% 7% Total 46% 14% 26% 14%
Mauritius CSOs experienced the best working relationship with their government, followed by Zambia. Graph 9: CSO perception of the environment in which they work 15% Enabling Environment profile 14% 35% Strong Adequate Poor Weak 36% 6. Enabling environment CSO perceptions of the environment in which they work was assessed by asking if organisations had engaged with government on a policy proposal in the last year, how often they had engaged and what they perceived as the major obstacles to engagement. Sixty-three percent of respondents had met at least once with their government to discuss a policy issue. However, few had had any sustained dialogue (14%) and a further 15% had had significant engagement. Thirty five percent had met infrequently and 36% had not met with anyone from government to discuss policy in the last year. This is reflected in graph 9 below. Twenty-seven percent saw bureaucratic processes as the major obstacle and a further 23% claimed the major obstacle was the lack of recognition of the sector by the state. Seventeen percent cited a lack of information as the major obstacle and 23% cited internal constraints, namely capacity (10%) and funding (13%), as the major constraints to participation. The remaining 10% did not cite a reason for the barriers to participation. Most organisations reported a poor enabling environment with African and SADC focused CSOs experiencing the best opportunities for dialogue and participation. Mauritius CSOs experienced the best working relationship with their government, followed by Zambia. South Africa (largely working on SADC or continental issues) and Zimbabwe reported the weakest working relationships. Policy, advocacy and research organisations mostly noted poorly enabled environments, along with media organisations, while community development and service delivery organisations reported the least enabling environments. Table 15: Enabling environment assessment by scope of operations Scope of operations Weak Poor Adequate Strong Global 40% 35% 5% 20% Africa 28% 39% 22% 11% SADC 28% 34% 19% 19% On country only 43% 33% 15% 9% Total 36% 35% 15% 14% Table 16: Enabling environment by type of organisation Type of organisation Weak Poor Adequate Strong Advocacy 27% 40% 14% 19% Service Delivery 39% 22% 22% 17% Community Development 50% 24% 17% 9% Research 24% 37% 19% 20% Policy 21% 39% 20% 20% Other 27% 35% 19% 19% Total 31% 33% 19% 17% 14 Findings
7. Overview In summary the following three tables provide an overview of the dominant characteristics of respondents by scope, type and country of operation. Table 17: Summary by scope Overall Global orgs African orgs SADC orgs Country specific orgs Capacity Poor Strong Strong Poor Poor Evidence Based Evenly spread Strong Poor Adequate Poor Research Networking Poor- Strong Poor- Strong Poor- Strong Poor- Strong Poor- Strong Knowledge Weak Poor Poor Adequate Weak Participation Weak Weak Poor Weak weak Table 18: Summary by type of work Type of work Advocacy Service Com Dev Research Policy Capacity Poor Adequate Poor - weak Poor - strong Poor strong Evidence Based Research Poor - adequate Poor adequate Networking Poor strong Weak strong Poor Strong Evenly distributed Weak - strong Weak - strong Poor - strong Knowledge Poor Weak Weak Adequate Adequate Participation Weak Adequate Weak Weak Weak Table 19: Summary by country of operation Country Capacity EB research Networking Knowledge Participation Angola Strong Poor/strong Strong Weak Poor Botswana Poor- adequate Weakadequate Strong Adequate Weak poor strong DRC Adequate Adequate Adequate Poor Weak Lesotho Adequate Adequate Adequate Strong Adequate Madagascar Poor Poor Poor Weak-poor Weak Malawi Strong- Evenly spread Adequate Weak/ Evenly spread adequate adequate Mauritius Poor Weak Adequate Weak Adequate Mozambique Weak Poor Evenly spread Adequate Weak-poor Weak Namibia Adequate Adequate Adequate Poor Adequate South Africa Strong poor Poor-adequate Adequate Weak Poor strong adequate Swaziland Poor Poor Poor Poor Weak Tanzania Poor Poor Adequate Weak Poor-weak Zambia Spread Poor Poor-Adequate Poor-weak Poor-weak strong Zimbabwe Weak Evenly spread Adequate Poor Poor adequate Other Poor/ Strong Poor Adequate - poor Poor Poor-weak
Conclusion It is recommended that in future respondents are targeted at meetings, more detail on research is collected (as several organisations did not seem to understand the different approaches to research) and interviews with government and private sector stakeholders are conducted to verify and supplement the data collected from CSOs. 16 Conclusion
Annexure 1: Copy of questionnaire SOUTHERN AFRICA TRUST BASELINE QUESTIONNAIRE DECEMBER EMBER 2006 The Southern African Trust is an independent regional non-profit agency, established in 2005, to support organisations in Southern Africa to participate more effectively in policy dialogue so that policies and strategies across the region work better to end poverty. As part of its commitment to improving the capacity and effectiveness of civil society organisations, the Southern Africa Trust has developed this questionnaire to determine the capacity needs of civil society organisations. The purpose of the questionnaire is simply to provide a quick snap shot of the civil society sector and its understanding of regional policy processes. The information collected will be collated into a report on the status of the sector. The Southern Africa Trust will then measure the impact of its work by repeating the survey in a few years time to ascertain if its programmes have increased the knowledge and capacity of the sector By filling in this questionnaire you are expressing your commitment to the sector. Please do not spend hours on the questionnaire. It should take you no more than 15 minutes. All responses will be treated confidentially and will not be attributed to any individual or organisation. In addition, the information provided in this questionnaire will not influence any decisions made about grant applications or partnerships between the Southern Africa Trust and the respondent. The deadline for completed questionnaires to be returned to the Southern Africa Trust either by email, fax or post is the 15 February 2007. The report collating the findings will be available to any organisation interested in strengthening CSO work in southern Africa from April 2007 on the Trust s website (www.southernafricatrust.org) A. ORGANISATIONAL PROFILE 1. What are the primary/ core (more than half your time) activities of the organisation? Community Development Advocacy Service delivery Research Policy Other specify 2. Does your work cover issues in: One country only The SADC region Africa Across the world 3. If you operate in one country only, name the country B. CAPACITY 4. How many full time staff are employed in your organisation to do policy work? None Less than 3 Between 4 and 7 More than 7 5. How many consultants have you engaged to do policy work in the last year? None Less than 3 Between 4 and 7 More than 7
C. FUNDING 6. How would you describe your current funding situation for policy related work? None Part of core funding Dedicated funds secured but inadequate Dedicated adequate funding secured 7. How many donors fund policy work in your organisation? One Two or three More than three 8. Do you have any other sources of funding other than donor funding for policy work? Yes No 9. If yes, specify the nature of the income Consulting income Government funding Volunteer time Investment income Other D. RESEARCH AND POLICY WORK 10. What new policy positions have your organisations developed in the last year? Please list. 11. Have any of these been adopted by your government/ regional body/ international organisation? Yes No 12. If yes state by which government or regional/ international body it has been adopted. 13. How are your policy positions developed? Based on principles e.g. a commitment to human rights Based on theory e.g. an economic theory on how wealth is shared Based on research into beneficiary experiences/ evidence based research e.g. Impact of ARVs on HIV+ people All of the above Other 14. Have you produced any research reports in the last 12 months? Yes No 15. If so, list the reports? 16. Which report has had the greatest impact and why? E. NETWORKS 17. Do you work with other organisations for your policy interventions? Yes No 18 Annexure 1: Copy of questionnaire
18. If yes what type of organisations do you work with and how often do you meet? Please tick the relevant boxes Community groups NGOs Private Sector Government officials Parliamentarians Donors and multi-lateral agencies Other - specify Weekly Monthly Quarterly Annually F. KNOWLEDGE (ALL MULTIPLE CHOICES) 19. Which statement best describes the MDGs? The MDGs are goals set by world leaders to facilitate development in the new millennium The MDGS are eight goals set by the United Nations which outline the minimum actions needed from every country to reduce poverty and improve the quality of lives around the world. The MDGs are eight goals, agreed to by most countries, which provide global targets for reducing poverty and improving the lives of the poor The MDGs are the United Nations programme for the new millennium. 20. Which statement best describes the APRM? APRM is the African Parliamentary Review Mechanism, a tool to evaluate the work of Parliaments in the African Union APRM is a compulsory instrument used to monitor the work of each of the member States of the African Union APRM is a voluntary instrument agreed to by Member States of the African Union to monitor the performance of member states APRM is the African Peer Review Mechanisms to monitor the work of the African Union 21. Which statement best describes the Maseru declaration? The Maseru Declaration sets out SADC Member States commitment to combating HIV and AIDS and outlines priority areas of action The Maseru Declaration sets out SADC Member States commitment to combating poverty and inequality and outlines 5 priority areas of action The Maseru Declaration sets out the Lesotho Government s commitment to eradicating poverty The Maseru Declaration is the SADC commitment to the MDGs 22. Which statement best describes the work of SADC Parliamentary Forum? The forum comprises parliamentary representatives from member States and is the highest decision making forum in SADC responsible for providing oversight to the work of SADC The forum is a regional organisation of parliaments of the SADC region, established to spearhead their participation in regional integration The forum is an annual meeting of the parliaments of Southern Africa Development Council s member states The forum is the platform for members of civil society and business to engage with SADC Parliamentarians around regional issues. 23. Which statement best describes the work of SADC Business Forum? The SADC Business Forum is a regional forum at which businesses working in the SADC region meet to develop strategies for economic development and regional economic integration The SADC Business Forum is a regional organisation representing private sector institutions and established to facilitate dialogue and interaction with the SADC authorities to facilitate economic development and regional integration The SADC Business Forum is a regional forum hosted by private sector institutions to discuss regional economic development and integration with their colleagues in civil society and government The SADC Business Forum is a gathering of businesses working in the SADC region which monitors businesses performance and contribution to economic development in the SADC region. 24. Which statement best describes the work of SADC Council of NGOs? The SADC Council of NGOs is a coordinating body of national umbrella NGOs with the aim of contributing towards the creation an enabling environment for NGOs in the region. The SADC Council of NGOs is a coordinating body of any interested NGOs working in the region with the aim of contributing towards the creation of an enabling environment for NGOs in the region The SADC Council of NGOs is a membership body of NGOs working in any of the member States set up to represent the views of NGOs with SADC processes The SADC Council of NGOs is a coordinating body for NGOs working in more than one SADC country with the aim of facilitating a collective civil society voice in SADC processes. 25. Which statement best describes the work of NEPAD? NEDPAD is coordinating forum for African States designed to address the current challenges facing the continent and ensuring its renewal NEPAD is a vision and strategic framework for Africa s renewal designed to address the current challenges facing the African continent NEPAD is forum set up to facilitate peer reviews of African States with the view of strengthening their capability to address the current challenges facing the continent NEPAD is voluntary programme for Africa s renewal to strengthen the continent s role globally
26. Which statement best describes the work of the Pan African Parliament The Pan African Parliament is a forum where organisations in Africa engage in discussions around the challenges facing the continent The Pan African Parliament is a decision-making organ of African leaders, created by the Organisation of African Unity, to address the challenges facing the continent The Pan African Parliament is an organ created by the African Economic Community to provide a platform for African people and their organisations to engage in discussions and decision-making on the challenges of the continent The Pan African Parliament is the coordinating forum for sub-regional bodies across the continent to coordinate actions to address the continent-wide challenges. 27. Which statement best describes the RISDP The RISDP is a strategic framework for regional economic integration and social development in the SADC region The RISDP is a framework for addressing regional inequality and poverty and ensure the development of the SADC region The RISDP is a programme to address integrated social development across the SADC region The RISDP is a programme to address socio-economic development and poverty in the SADC region 28. Which statements best describes the SADC Summit process? The SADC Summit is an annual event of the Heads of States to adopt the annual SADC programme of action. It is preceded by the SADC Parliamentary Forum and Council of Ministers The SADC Summit is an annual event of Heads of States and Senior Officials. It is preceded by meetings of the SADC Business Forum, the SDAC Council of NGOs and the SADC Parliamentary Forum The SADC Summit is an annual meeting of Heads of State preceded by the SADC Council of Ministers and the Standing Committee of Senior Officials The SADC Summit takes place once every two years and is a meeting of the Heads of State. It is preceded by a range of standing committee meetings and meetings of the SADC Council of Ministers, Parliamentary Forum and other structures. G. PARTICIPATION 29. Have you participated in any regional policy processes in the last 12 months? Yes No 30. What was the nature of your participation? Attending a reception Attending a public session of regional policy meeting Invited observer to a meeting Invited participant at the meeting Invited speaker tasked with addressing the meeting 31. How were you informed about the process and how did you get involved? Through a sister organisation Through a government/donor partner Through the media Other, please specify H. ENABLING ENVIRONMENT 32. Have you met with government to discuss policy proposals in the last year? Yes No 33. If yes, how often have you met? Less than 3 times Between 4 and 6 times More than 6 times 34. What mechanisms for CSO participation in policy processes exist in your country? Please provide details in one paragraph. 35. What are the major obstacles to participation in policy processes? Bureaucratic processes to get accredited/ recognised Lack of government recognition of the sector/ organisation Information about the process Capacity to input Funding 20 Annexure 1: Copy of questionnaire
Annexure 2: Link to the dataset Please click on the link below to access the full database in excel format: http://www.southernafricatrust.org/meb
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