Review of Save the Children Guatemala

Background   
Save the Children Norway (SCN) has been cooperating with Save the Children Guatemala (SCG) since it was founded in 1983. A four year cooperation agreement for 2010-2013 included support for program areas (education, child rights governance (CRG), protection) and institutional strengthening. As this period is now coming to an end, SCN has commissioned the current review.

Purpose/objective (including evaluation questions)   
The review has two objectives:
1. Providing evidence of overall achievements 2010-2013
2. Assessing the relevance of the SCG program priorities for a new program period

Methodology   
Fieldwork in Guatemala took place between October 27th and November 8th 2013. It consisted of interviews with SCG staff, partner organizations, civil society networks, other institutions (voluntary, multilateral and state entities) active in the field of children rights, and the Norwegian Embassy in Guatemala City. Youth from all the program areas were consulted and  another group of youths from the capital area and from Quiche specially arranged for the purpose of the review. A field visit was also conducted to Chiquimula where SCG carry out their programs in five municipalities, and the consultants were able to visit schools, municipalities, local councils and youth activists, as well as the regional SCG staff.

Key findings   
The main conclusions of the review are that SCG does excellent work at the local level, especially within the areas of CRG and education. The strategy of working through local institutions and building their capacities ensures that program results have a high degree of sustainability. While the organization has influenced the development of bilingual and intercultural education at the national level, there is room for further strengthening its advocacy work. SCG confronts a number of challenges in order to strengthen its organization. Overall, SCG’s rights-based approach and areas of work remain highly relevant within the Guatemalan context of a weakly instituted democracy, high inequalities and large marginalized groups.

Within Education, SCG has had a strong impact at school levels through the promotion of a pedagogy aimed at making students active participants and the establishment of learning resource centres (CREAs) that facilitate this. The strongest impacts are limited to around a third of the 340 schools with which SCG has worked. At a national level, SCG has had a significant influence on the development of bilingual and intercultural education.

Within Child Rights Governance, SCG has done an impressive work in strengthening local civil society and promoting municipal public policies for children and youth. SCG has organized around 4,500 children as promoters and communicators, who have received knowledge and awareness of child rights. At the national level, SCG plays a crucial role for the production of the alternative report on the rights of children in Guatemala to the UN Universal Periodic Review process.

Among the challenges, SCG have clear weaknesses when it comes to Planning and reporting practices ad there is a lack of consistent, strategic structuring of interventions within the program areas. SCG remains in a financial situation that is not sustainable in the longer term, being dependent on a single donor. Agreed issues related to changing bylaws and the composition of the Board were not attended to until 2013. There is still no overall communication strategy, and the organization is in need of improved strategic thinking at several levels. Few of the recommendations from the evaluation of SCG in 2008 have been concluded. 

Recommendations   
SCG should:
1. Continue program activities within the areas of Education, Child Rights Governance and Protection. The new sub-components of trafficking, violence and nutrition address urgent issues and SCG should continue to develop efforts in these areas.
2. Give priority to activities aimed at ensuring long term financial sustainability, including international fundraising and cost-cutting.
3. Develop a new strategic plan and strategic thinking throughout the organization. The strategy should be based on SCG’s existing strengths of a rights-based approach contributing to democratization and improved education at the local level, and seek to further efforts at national level advocacy. A comprehensive communication strategy should be part of the process.
4. For its program areas, SCG should clarify the time horizon and exit strategy when working at the municipal level, as well as how to ensure that impacts of the school programs extend to all schools.
5. SCG should improve its systems and routines for planning, monitoring and reporting.

SC Norway should:
1. Continue support to SCG without substantial changes. CRG, Education and support to children with disabilities should be given high priority. The recent and new components of trafficking, violence-free schools and nutrition merit support, while results should be monitored.
2. Support SCG in fundraising, strategy development and in improving routines of planning, monitoring and reporting.
3. Follow the implementation of a new cooperation agreement closely.
4. Allow for flexibility in a new program agreement so that the organizations may to respond to changes and new needs that may develop due to the integration of the SC USA programme.

Follow up (with reference to Action Plan) 
In general SCN agrees with the conclusions made by the evaluation team and has already taken into account the recommendations while discussing the new cooperation agreement for the period 2015-2018.
SCN will ask SCG to present a follow-up plan in august 2014  that will be monitored together with the close monitoring of the next cooperation agreement 2015-2018.
SCN will continue to support education, CRG and protection with components of DRR and child participation.
SCN will pay special attention to fundraising, strategy development and in improving planning, monitoring and reporting practices through financial support, TA and external facilitators already from preparing the new proposal 2015-2018