The Salvation Army Africa Regional Facilitation Process Evaluation Report 2010

Background:

The Salvation Army’s facilitation programme in Africa has been supported by NORAD/BN since 2001. The process rapidly expanded to establish a regional pool of capable grassroots based facilitators for local responses on HIV/AIDS, Health and Development in 18 countries across Africa. The declared goal of this approach was:

1. To enhance the human & social capacity of local communities across Africa through local learning and facilitation processes; for communities to change, care and hope by demonstrating increased HIV/AIDS competency that reduces stigma, HIV infection and ensures quality of life for individuals (especially children and youth), families and community members affected by AIDS.
   
   
2. This goal would be achieved through building on and strengthening the core activities of local responses, with specific emphasis placed on: documentation & measurement of impact; influence on local and country level responses; community counseling; integrated psycho-social support; TFT (facilitation team) development; partnership development.

The funding agreement for the period 2005-2010 will expire on 31/12/2010 and a new application for support has been submitted.

Purpose/objective:

The present review is designed to outline what has been achieved over the 2005-10 period, indicate changes of emphasis, articulate future objectives and suggest strategies for achieving them.

• Evaluate policy development
• Assess factors governing sustainability
• Review of available resources that have been developed over the years
• Identify the strengths/weaknesses of the future strategy for scale-up 

Methodology:

Desk review of policy and programme documentation including correspondence with key players in the facilitation process was conducted. Interviews with key people involved, both in-country and internationally, including existing and former staff. Site visits to 2 or 3 countries (Kenya & South Africa) was also done.

Key findings:

1. Territories differ in terms of culture, ethnicity, governance, infrastructure, and political stability, the role of NGOs, understandings of health and wellness, and the history and institutional structure of the Salvation Army. These differences imply that there is no one-size-fits-all pattern for promoting facilitation processes.
   
   
2. Entry-points, concerns-identification is a crucial stage in the process. The danger, though, is that facilitation teams come in with pre-existing ideas of which concerns or needs of the community should be addressing. This practice has a history, in that the initial entry point for this programme was HIV/AIDS, and HIV/AIDS continues to be an entry point for many kinds of poverty related issues.
   
   
3. Leaders have different understanding of the facilitation process and it was also apparent that communities at the grassroots understood more than the leaders. There is a fervent hope that FBF will signal the end of any apparent division of interest.
   
   
4. The impact of facilitation process on individuals has been in relation to gaining skills; of becoming more confident in facing issues in their own lives; of deepening relationships within their own families.
   
   
5. The transfer of officers within The Salvation Army system is a set back in that where officers were new to the job; they often did not know who the stakeholders were, project information and other details.

Recommendations:

Decentralized territorial facilitation teams

Every territory should aim to have a territorial facilitation team, responsible for building the skills and capacity required for facilitation at territorial, country and divisional level. Non-officers, who may become long-term post-holders, should hold leadership positions in this team. They should also be offered training in leadership and communications.

Partnerships

Territorial and divisional facilitators should take opportunities to build partnerships with government, and with other organizations working in the field so as to contribute to the overall response to poverty.

Recording and evaluation

Territories should explore ways of implementing more effective recording and evaluation systems. The evaluation team found that progress is being made in developing record-keeping and in building in simple measurement tools in the early stages of project design. Strategy development

Territories embarking on a process of strategy development will benefit from the use of facilitation methods, in which all stakeholders are represented. This has happened successfully in Zambia, Mozambique and Southern Africa. In all of these, the development of facilitation capacity was being supported by former members of the RFT.

Sustainability

In the view of the evaluation team, sustainability of this process is increased by the following: The creation of territorial and divisional teams, to support activity at corps level; the presence among team-members of an experienced, enthusiastic facilitator, working at leadership level, who is not an officer, and therefore likely to remain and provide continuity when officers are transferred; cadet training which engages with the principles and practice of facilitation at a philosophical and theological level;

Outcomes and impact

The regional office should play an important role in supporting territories in developing ways of measuring outcomes, impact and response that genuinely succeed in measuring the effectiveness of faith-based facilitation.

Scale-up and transfer

Effective facilitation, aimed at the development of capacity within communities, requires the building of relationships with other stakeholders, both in the community and in local government. The philosophy, principles and practice of facilitation should be incorporated into the curriculum of TSA training colleges. Cadets in training need exposure to practical situations.

Finance

Resource identification and mobilization should be central in the facilitation process. The needs identified and financial support should be accepted if provision for sustainability is built-in.