Close Out organizational capacity assessment/CLOCA – Nordic Assistance to Vietnam (NCA Vietnam)

Background:
In 2006 NCA in Vietnam was granted funding by USAID under their PEPFAR funding programme called New Partnership Initiative (NPI). The purpose of the NPI was to support non-governmental organizations, especially faith-based actors, to build their capacity to involve and respond to HIV and AIDS.

NCA project “Scaling-up the Faith-Based Response to HIV/AIDS in Vietnam” was supported for the period December 2006-January 2011.

One purpose of the NPI has been to invest in capacity building with its partners and NCA in Vietnam has been supported with technical support to strengthen both the technical and organizational capacity by consultants and trainings financed and provided by USAID.

The evaluation was carried out at the end of the project phase in July 2010 with the focus to follow up if the grantee (NCA) has improved its capacity and response to HIV in Vietnam.

Purpose/ Objective:
The purpose was to assess the technical and organizational capacity of NCA in Vietnam (NAV) to carry out HIV and AIDS responses in cooperation with FBO partners in Vietnam.

One sub-goal was also to provide NCA in Vietnam with an organizational and technical assessment tool (OCA and TOCA tools).

Methodology:
AED used the format and methods from their CLOCA tool developed and presented in their resource manual.

The assessment was carried out in a 3 day workshop with all staff involved in the project implementation in July 26-27 2010, facilitated by one external consultant from AED. The presented evaluation, findings and recommendations was compiled by the external consultant.

Key Findings:
The overall finding was positive, as NCA in Vietnam has improved its technical programming, systems and staff. Following is high lighted in the report:
1. The project has been able to change the whole perception among the duty bearers in relation to FBOs involvement in HIV, which is a major achievement.
2. The project has been able to scale-up the FBO response and prevention, care and support services to PLHIV.
3. Staff members are motivated and ambitious to professionalize both themselves and partners.
4. The organization has been able to identify promising practices to be maintained and scaled up. (Top scores for donor compliance and technical reporting).
5. The financial systems and policies, was highlighted as models for other organizations seeking to partner with USAID.
6. Human resource management and part of performance management system require further attention.

Recommendations:
1. The mission statement of NCA has a challenging wording in the Vietnamese context given the sensitivity of       religious work and the inter-faith dimension that includes non-Christian faiths. NCA was challenged to consider if the mission statement could be developed to become more inclusive and appropriate in the Vietnam context.
2. The cooperation (communication and sharing) between NCA Vietnam different program areas can be strengthened.
3. It was also recommended that the organization recruit (develop?) staff making it less dependent on the expertise of the Resident Representative, National Coordinator and Financial Manager.
4. The administrative systems needs strengthening. There is a need to develop one consolidated manual how to handle administrative policies and procedures, related to travel, procurement, fixed assets management, consultant recruitment practices, branding and marking compliance etc.
5. Human Resource management was considered the weakest area of the organization. There is a lack of consolidated manuals, specific areas for attention mentioned was routines for time management, recruitment, staff performance management, routines for field collaborators and interns.
6. Financial Management was considered strong, but there is still a need to consolidate existing routines into one manual.
7. Organizational Management was considered strong, but there are areas in need for development. The organization was considered strong in maintaining existing programs, but the finding was that there are areas related to change management, stakeholder involvement, knowledge management, strategic investments in soliciting further funds that needs to be addressed.
8. Project performance management. There was a concern over monitoring and evaluation, as well as quality assurance in need to be strengthened. At the same time field oversight and supervision system is strong.

Comments from Norwegian Church Aid (if any):
Following actions have been taken by NCA and Vietnam to follow up the recommendations:
1. Program Coordinator team has been established and joint collaborations to develop areas such as PME (see 4. below), quality assurance etc has been initiated in order to strengthen collaboration between the different programs. The gender team has also been assigned more clearly in the programming and implementation of all programs in order to strengthen gender mainstreaming.
2. A Human Resource Manager has been appointed. The Personnel and Office Manual has been revised, including routines for recruitment, performance assessment etc.
3. The Financial and Administrative Manual is in the process of revision.
4. A PME team has been established and a ToR for their task has been developed. One initial task is to revise PME guidelines and routines, as well as develop staff introduction and capacity development.