Mid-Term Review of project “Children voicing children´s rights of Gaza YMCA

Background:
The current project "Children Voicing Children's Rights" has been supported since 2005 and will last until 2009. The cooperation between Y Global and YMCA Gaza is aimed at responding to the difficult situation of Palestinian children and adolescents in the Gaza Strip. The situation is characterized by the decline in the economic situation, children - and the population in general's recurrent exposures to sonic booms, and evident effects of long years of conflict. Children and adolescents find themselves in need of increasing opportunities for play, recreation, community participation in areas like their centers and other felds where they feel safe and free to communicate, discuss, and share with others their concerns, needs and rights. As such, project is helping them becoming actors and voicing their rights, helping them to become free in their minds and their society.

The development goal of the project is stated to be:
"Contribute to the achievement of a Palestinian civil society based upon the respect of human rights and fundamental liberties by working with 9 children centers and there animators to achieve that society."

YMCA Gaza and its partners believe that learning through working in activities and participation of children in community awareness development projects is essential for children to fully play their role as civil society builders and actors. This project will enable 600 youth to assume this role.

Purpose/objective:
To assess that the project is on the right track to achieve its goals" by" promoting learning among cooperating partners YMCA and Y Global in addition to other relevant parties like local authorities, NGOs and Norad.

Specifically the MTR aimed to achieve the following objectives:

• Assess the project according to relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability.
• Provide an overview of all activities of YMCA with in-depth a assessment of the activities that are funded over Norad project (Voicing Children's Rights) and show how the Y Global/Norad-project is operating compared to other projects/activities under YMCA Gaza.
• Assess YMCA Gaza's capacity to implement projects, professionally, administratively and financially and provide recommendations for potential capacity building initiatives to support strengthening the capacity of YMCA Gaza.
• Provide recommendations for cooperating partners and other relevant partners on how to improve the project's performance towards achieving the set objectives by the end of the project in 2009.
• Provide an overview of all activities of YMCA with in-depth a assessment of the activities that are funded over Norad project (Voicing Children's Rights) and show how the Y Global/Norad-project is operating compared to other projects/activities under YMCA Gaza.
• Assess YMCA Gaza's capacity to implement projects, professionally, administratively and financially and provide recommendations for potential capacity building initiatives to support strengthening the capacity of YMCA Gaza.
• Provide recommendations for cooperating partners and other relevant partners on how to improve the project's performance towards achieving the set objectives by the end of the project in 2009.

Methodology:
The Review process began in late June, 2007 and continued until late September, 2007. The process included: preparatory, field survey, analysis and report writing and final report writing. The Review collected data and information from stakeholders; more than 32 individual interviews were conducted and seven focus group discussions were held, with a total of 90 beneficiaries consulted.

Key findings:
1. The project ‘Children Voicing Children's Rights' is found to be relevant and consistent to policy priorities and strategic approaches of the national and international policies of children rights as well as to Palestinian children needs. The project was successful in introducing a well-designed approach that combines promoting children rights with an enabling environment for children to learn these rights and to voice them up through using various non formal education techniques.

2. The Children Voicing Children's Right project is found to be progressing well in achieving the planned activities and realization of the project objectives in general although the consultant has minor comments and recommendations concerning the various activities in the project.

3. Weaknesses in project management as well as financial management were found. Among these, the lack of proper archive and information analysis systems that enable easy access and search the available information about project activities. The MTR also comments on the lack of centralized management structure, weak internal control routines and lack of written procedures for payments, procurement, and lack of proper terms and conditions for staff.

Recommendations:
-The project needs to be continued and further developed. The consultant is happy to recommend future funding for this project on the same financial level (depending on implementation of recommendations of this review).

-Y Global should continue the cooperation with YMCA Gaza, keeping the emphasis on children rights. Y Global could further its cooperation with YMCA Gaza to include supporting and deploying external expertise for introducing the organizational reform and capacity building of the organization.