Formative Evaluation of IPACC

Background:
IPACC's mission is to create a support network across Africa to promote community based participation in the UN process, and to lobby governments to support the Declaration of Rights for Indigenous Peoples.

Purpose/ Objective:
IPACC was 10 years old in 2007. An assessment was conducted in 1999 and IPACC felt that is was time to conduct a further evaluation or review of some kind. IPACC is a highly complex and widely spread organisation. IPACC are compromised by a trustee, an executive committee and a secretariat.

Methodology:
This is a formative evaluation. A summative evaluation aims to identify what has worked and what has not with view to learn from project prior to its closure. Its aims to identify what has worked and what has not with a view to learn from a project prior to its closure. It aims to make some judgements about achievements and results, but without looking at the future. A formative process, on the other hand, seeks to see what has happened in the past, what the current status is, with the view to learning from these. On the basis of this learning, suggestions are made which could increase effectiveness in the future, strengthen the system and consciously plan for development of the whole.

In the time available and the fact that IPACC is a continental organisation, it was obviously not possible to see IPACC members in action, in their home countries and in their organisations. Consequently, the extent of the memberships and its activity on the ground is difficult to know. Secondly, there is no donor input in the evaluation.

Key Findings:
IPACC has grown significantly over the years and has have had an extensive success. In March 2997 there were 150 Associations in 20 countries.

When the United Nations Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples were accepted in 2007 by the General Assembly it means that the work of IPACC will move from working at the policy or substantive level, to working at the structural level. This work will take IPACC to the regional African level, into sub-regional structures such as the Southern African Development is now in place, there is a lot more work at the bilateral and multilateral level to ensure compliance.

IPACC faces a new phase in its development. In order to move into a new phase some important steps can be taken. The first is to consolidate its membership, its important capabilities, and it's extensive experience. An important part of the consolidation process is to tackle the dependency of the political head (ExCO).

Recommendations:
The overall challenge is to consolidate and to stop growing, expanding or widening its membership for a while. Rather strengthen what is there, together take stock of the consequences of the signing of the Declaration and develop the network's capacity to work in the field of natural resources. There are a number of reasons for considering focusing more on the ground, and potentially decentralising some aspects of IPACC and its work.

Firstly, with a shift in IPACC's work from the international standards setting terrain to monitoring whether and how countries uphold the Declaration and the African Charter, there is a need to have more activity at country level. Up to now there has been a successful program of organising sub-regional networks of members in the five sub-regions. This needs to continue as well as an exploration of how support at country level might be increased.

Secondly, with the new focus on environment-related issues and the protection of natural resources upon which Indigenous Peoples rely, strategies to protect indigenous knowledge, people and resources will likely be needed at country level.

Thirdly, establishing a system for dispensing financial resources at sub-regional and country level needs to be tested with at least one sub-regional Trust.

Fourthly, the potential to build the voice of IPACC from the ground up through strengthened members and strengthened practice can be realised through a process of focusing increasingly on the ground.

Comments from Norwegian Church Aid
We see it as important that IPACC's members feel ownership to the organisation. We also mean that the secretariat need more admin people to lighten the burden for the EXCO so he can concentrate on what he can best work in the field, developing people and strategy and identifying opportunities for building alliances and challenging resistance.