Alternative Co-operation Network (Rede de Cooperação Alternativa - RCA)

Background

The Alternative Cooperation Network (Rede de Cooperação Alternativa - RCA) was founded in 1996, when Brazilian partner organizations of the Norwegian Rainforest Foundation (RFN) formed the Latin American Network, which was developed under the auspices of the Development Fund. In 1997 the creation of the Brazilian section was formalized, permitting RFN resources to be obtained for local activities. Since 2000, RCA has been particularly dynamic, due both to the continual expansion of the number of member organizations and the greater intensity and scope of their activities. RCA currently has nine member organizations, of which four are indigenous (Atix, Foirn, Opiac and Wyty Cate) and five non-indigenous (CCPY, CPI-AC, CTI, Iepé and ISA).

Purpose/objective

This evaluation has two central objectives, jointly defined by the RFN and RCA coordination team: (i) analyze the effects and impacts of RCA on its beneficiaries; (ii) offer help in designing its trajectory for the forthcoming years. In relation to this a list of questions was drawn up covering different aspects of the Network (design, political coordination, financial and administrative management and actions) which are dealt with, in greater and lesser detail, in this Report.

Methodology

To achieve the objectives of the evaluation, a series of activities were carried out, of which the following should be emphasized: (i) the analysis of the RCA document archive; (ii) rounds of interviews with the staff and directors of organizations and indigenous peoples linked to the Network; (iii) an evaluation meeting, with a duration of three days, which brought together 24 representatives from 13 organizations related to RCA; (iv) the participation for seven days in a collective RCA activity; (v) a final evaluation meeting, involving directors of RFN and the nine RCA member organizations. The evaluation team was formed by two evaluators with experience in specific and complementary areas.

Key findings

The Evaluation Report is divided into various chapters which critically examine the efficiency, impact and relevance of the RCA and the projects it carries out.
The Alternative Co-operation Network - based on a retrospective examination of the trajectory of RCA, a critical analysis is made of RCA identities, which go beyond the articulation of RFN's Brazilian partners: the existence of strong political, thematic and methodological affinities among the member organizations and the affirmation of RCA through the delimitation of a specific field of action. The evaluators identified that the incorporation of indigenous organizations in RCA has still not fully occurred in terms of political coordination and the management of routines - which shall require investment to expand and qualify this participation.
Activities - RCA has opted to concentrate its activities in a relatively limited field of collective activities: exchanges, thematic seminars and regional meetings. Of these, the 91 exchanges carried out between 1998 and 2004 are of particular importance, since they have allowed an effective interlocution between organizations, staff and indigenous peoples. The report evaluates in a positive manner the activities of RCA in relation to their conception, preparation, systematization, publicizing and the way they were carried out.
Impact of the RCA - the information collected left no doubt about the significant diversity of social changes (in other words social, economic, political, environmental, cultural, etc.) caused by the actions of RCA, even though RCA has until now not devoted much attention to systematizing these impacts. These changes have occurred both among indigenous peoples and organizations and among the more broad based assistance organizations, and are organized in three dimensions: cultural, political and organizational and economic and environmental.
Coordination and Management - these are the critical areas of RCA, where various problems that need to be urgently rectified were discovered. In addition to difficulties in the area of political coordination, fragilities were also found in the generation and circulation of information and in the monitoring of activities and impacts. The relationship between RCA and RFN was evaluated as positive, as well as the financial and administrative management.
Four main conclusions were drawn from this evaluation:
- RCA is a pioneering initiative in Brazil through its provision, in a systematic way, of interlocution between different indigenous peoples and organizations, notably through exchanges - designed and implemented as an instrument for the construction and improvement of various dimensions of capacities;
- RCA has managed to achieve the most general objectives it has set itself, thereby building an important space for the exchange of experiences, problems and strategies and in this way positively altering the actions of RFN's partner organizations in Brazil;
- Despite the recurrent management problems, the evaluators identified a gradual improvement in the Network, in terms of its composition, the degree of participation of its members and the quality of activities realized;
- The perception of the set of interviewees about the Net is very positive, not just in relation to the relevance of the actions carried out, but more especially in terms of the valorization of its future potential.

Recommendations

Based on this set of positive conclusion the evaluators presented the main recommendation of this work: the continuity in the coming years of RFN support for the RCA.
However, there are more than a few challenges to be overcome and for this the evaluators have presented a series of recommendations, which if followed can contribute to a network with a more consolidated profile than at present: (i) the reframing of the identity and the objectives of the RCA; (ii) an improvement of the integration of indigenous organizations; (iii) an improvement of decision making and operational mechanisms; (iv) carrying out and improving exchanges; (v) diversifying activities; (vi) diversifying partnerships in the attraction of resources; (vii) an improvement in planning instruments, monitoring and evaluation. These recommendations were debated in depth in the Final Evaluation Meeting.