END OF PROJECT PERFORMANCE EVALUATION By George Zimbizi & Sunungurai Chingarande-Mutanga (PhD) December 2017 2 Table of Contents LIST OF TABLES..............................................................................................................................................3 Acronyms......................................................................................................................................................5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................................6 RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................................................................................10 1. INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................................12 1.1 Background to Evaluation.................................................................................................................12 1.2 Project Interventions ........................................................................................................................12 1.3 Purpose and Objectives of the Evaluation........................................................................................13 2. EVALUATION APPROACH AND METHODOLOGY.....................................................................................13 2.1 Methods for collecting information and data...................................................................................14 2.2 Sampling............................................................................................................................................16 2.3 Evaluation challenges........................................................................................................................17 3. FINDINGS OF THE EVALUATION..............................................................................................................18 3.1 Relevance of the Program.................................................................................................................18 3.1.1 Relevance of Project Aims and Objectives.................................................................................18 3.1.2 Relevance and Validity of Project Design...................................................................................21 3.1.3 Strategic Fit with National Policies, Strategies and Plans..........................................................22 3.1.4 Project Alignment with IYF Vision and Mission .........................................................................22 3.2 Project Effectiveness.........................................................................................................................23 3.2.1 Design and Strategy Effectiveness.............................................................................................23 3.2.2 Effectiveness of Management Arrangements ...........................................................................25 3.2.3 Effectiveness of Monitoring and Evaluation System .................................................................26 3.2.4 Effectiveness of Implementation Arrangements.......................................................................27 3.2.5 Effectiveness in Managing Risks ................................................................................................27 3.3 Efficiency of Resource Use................................................................................................................28 3.3.1 Human Resources......................................................................................................................28 3.3.2 Financial Resources....................................................................................................................28 3.4 Project Performance .........................................................................................................................29 3.5 Project Impact...................................................................................................................................37 3.6 Project Sustainability ........................................................................................................................44 4. KEY CONCLUSIONS OF THE EVALUATION ...............................................................................................45 4.1 Project Relevance..............................................................................................................................45 4.2 Project Effectiveness.........................................................................................................................46 4.3 Efficiency of Resource Use................................................................................................................47 4.4 Project Performance .........................................................................................................................47 4.5 Achievement of Results/Outcomes and Impact...............................................................................47 4.6 Project Sustainability ........................................................................................................................47 5. KEY LESSONS LEARNED ...........................................................................................................................47 6. RECOMMENDATIONS..............................................................................................................................48 Annexure.....................................................................................................................................................48 Annexure 1: Data Collection Tools..............................................................................................................48 3 LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Project Targets and Achievements .................................................................................................9 Table 2: Gender distribution of EoPE participants by Tool.........................................................................14 Table 3: List of partners and sampled project areas for FGDs....................................................................15 Table 4: List of partners and sampled sizes for individual questionnaires.................................................17 Table 5: Policy Framework governing Youth Sector and Link with Z:W Project.........................................22 Table 6: Risk and Risk Mitigation Strategies...............................................................................................27 Table 7: Types of Organizations hosting young people for internship .......................................................28 Table 8: Zimbabwe:Works Logframe Results Summaries...........................................................................29 Table 10: Participation of Females in Male Dominated Trades in VTT.......................................................41 Table 11: Project Targets and Achievements .............................................................................................45 4 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Youth Development Analytical Framework .................................................................................38 Figure 2: Status of Young People that Participated in Vocational and Technical Training.........................40 Figure 3: OCAT Partner Performance .........................................................................................................43 5 ACRONYMS BDS Business Development Service DFID Department for International Development FGD Focus Group Discussion ICT Information Communication Technology IYF International Youth Foundation M&E Monitoring and Evaluation MFIs Micro Finance Institutions NGOs Non-Governmental Organizations OCAT Organizational Capacity Assessment Tool OCA Organizational Capacity Assessment PTS Passport to Success Sida Swedish Development Agency SME Small to Medium Enterprise TWG Technical Working Group USAID United States Agency for International Development Z:W Zimbabwe:Works 6 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY EVALUATION BACKGROUND This report discusses key findings of the End of Project Performance Evaluation of phase II of the Zimbabwe:Works (Z:W) project implemented from January 2015 to December 2017 by the International Youth Foundation (IYF) funded by USAID, DFID and Swedish Development Agency (Sida). The evaluation was conducted by two independent consultants between July and August 2017 using key informant interviews with key program stakeholders, focus group discussions, outcome survey and most significant change stories with program participants in all project districts. A desk review of performance data collected by IYF was also conducted. KEY FINDINGS Project Performance The Z:W project’s performance in terms of achieving set targets was good as over 90 percent of the set activity targets were accomplished. This suggests a highly performing project which made great impact on the lives of the targeted beneficiaries. There are however a few areas such as job creation where the project could have performed better but targets were missed due to the impact of the external environment, which IYF had very limited control over. Achievement of Results The project made commendable contributions towards the attainment of the overall objectives. Project activities reached 20,168 against a target of 18,500 direct beneficiaries. The project has promoted access to services and assets, which are essential for promoting voice and influence at household and community levels and has also transformed certain structural factors governing youth behaviour such as lack of access to economic resources. Below is a list of some of the notable achievements of the project: • Overall promotion of youth and women participation in the economy. • Improvement in the general quality of life for young people through procurement of household assets and ability to sustain their livelihoods. • Promotion of social capital among the youth which is important for business growth and general survival in times of stress and shocks. • Youth and women friendly products, for example, the project ensured financial inclusion of the young people, particularly young women through facilitating special interest rates for them. • Reduction of idleness which is linked to illegal behaviour and conflict in communities. • Human capital development among the youth through imparting of knowledge and skills. • Women’s social and economic empowerment evidenced by women’s participation in decision making with men and confidence and self-esteem. • Reduction of domestic violence linked to women’s lack of economic empowerment and knowledge on business management by couples in business. • Employment creation: The Z:W project has generated employment and self-employment for young people. Young people in the project generated 1,944 jobs for others. 7 • Business growth: Young people reported growth in businesses in terms of number of employees, product diversification as well as revenue and profits generated. They also reported that in the past they did not have systems in place and did not do record keeping for their businesses but this has changed and is impacting positively on the performance of their businesses. • Gender Equality and Women Empowerment: The female beneficiaries of the Z:W project constitute 68% against a target of 65%. Efforts were made to improve women participation by selecting organizations specifically representing the interest of women to participate in the Z:W project. These include AWEP, JPV, Thrive, PROWEB and Kunzwana. Young women were encouraged to cross over to male dominated trades under both entrepreneurship and vocational technical training. The project has promoted access to services and promoted procurement of assets by women. • Capacity strengthening of implementing partners: IYF built the capacity of implementing partner organizations in five major areas in youth programming, that is, Cross-Cutting issues of Gender and ICT, Employment, Entrepreneurship, Monitoring and Evaluation processes and systems and Organizational Development. All the partners recorded an improvement of knowledge and capacity in all these areas including those that had no experience in youth programming such as JPV, Deloitte, PROWEB and Kunzwana. Special mention was made of the following areas where capacity was strengthened: financial management, monitoring and evaluation, and gender mainstreaming. With regards to gender mainstreaming, partners reported that they now have strategies, systems and tools in place in their organizations, after receiving training from IYF. These include: o Gender policy in place. o Gender focal person/gender committee in place. o Gender neutral venues for meetings. o Provision of baby minding services for women with little children when they come for meetings. o Timing of meetings to ensure that they do not clash with women and men’s other gender roles. o Encouraging cross over for males and females to venture into businesses traditionally reserved for the other sex. o MFIs gained experience in loaning to young people, an experience they previously did not have. Their interface with the Z:W project has generated an interest in loaning to young people. Project Relevance Relevance of Project Aim The project was aimed at building job skills and improving the employment and self-employment status of Zimbabweans, particularly young women to contribute towards and benefit from economic growth in Zimbabwe. The aim of the Z:W Project is highly relevant and appropriate to the needs and context of 8 youth. Youth in Zimbabwe have been systematically excluded from participating in the economy owing to a gerentocratic culture, unemployment and a lack of capacity of organizations in youth programming. Relevance and Validity of Project Design Project design was based on a sound foundational information base including a labour market assessment completed in 2014, and was therefore largely valid. Strategic Fit with National Policies, Strategies and Plans There is a strong strategic fit between the Z:W project and national and regional policies and frameworks for youth development such as the African Youth Charter, the Constitution of Zimbabwe Chapter 2, Section 19, and the Zimbabwe Agenda for Socio-Economic Transformation (Key Strategy 4) as the objectives are common i.e. of youth economic empowerment for them to effectively participate in national development processes. Project Effectiveness Design and Strategy Effectiveness The design and strategy of the Z:W project was largely effective in facilitating achievement of project objectives. The design was flexible to accommodate more partners when the need was realized. It covered 11 urban, peri-urban and rural districts and implementation was through 17 BDS and 6 MFI partners. Effectiveness of Management Arrangements Management arrangements were largely effective owing to intensive capacity building initiatives targeting implementing partner organizations. Effectiveness of Monitoring and Evaluation System Financial monitoring of the project by IYF was very strong but programming monitoring was affected by limited budgets to support monitoring of activities particularly for partner organizations based in Harare but without office presence in the project areas. Effectiveness of Implementation Arrangements Implementation arrangements were generally effective. The project made use of 17 BDS and 6 MFIs who had experience in the work they were engaged to do. The support rendered to the project by the Advisory Board in Harare and the Technical Working Group in Bulawayo facilitated the achievement of internship placement targets by implementing partner organizations. There was need however to support these BDS organizations with budgets for post care support to ensure sustainability of the benefits. Effectiveness in Managing Risks Project managed risks that were within its control or sphere of influence well, for example, continuous training of implementing partner organizations and promoting collaboration and coordination among partner organizations. Other external risks such as an unstable political and socio-economic environment 9 and the donor environment were difficult to manage as IYF had little control over some of the risk factors. IYF and partners should however be commended for maintaining a non-partisanship approach in an environment characterized by political polarization. Efficiency of Resource Use The project efficiently managed available human and financial resources through following grant management procedures and efficient financial monitoring of partners. More project resources were committed to programming issues compared to staff salaries and benefits. Project Sustainability Although the project has established a strong foundation for sustainability through intensive capacity building and technical support to implementing partner organizations, limited participation and ownership of the project by relevant government stakeholders and financial instability of some of the implementing partner organizations are the major threats to overall sustainability of project activities and benefits. Without further financial support for post care support, the prospects for sustainability are slim. This is likely so, considering the dynamic nature of the target group, the youth. KEY LESSONS LEARNED The following were the key lessons learnt in implementing the Z:W Project • Investing technical and financial resources in post care support is crucial for projects of this nature. • Advisory board and Technical Working Group (TWG) played a major role in opening internship opportunities. • Partner coordination in private sector engagement is key to developing relationships across multiple sectors. • Involvement and participation of local stakeholders in the design and implementation of project activities is key to ensuring ownership and sustainability of project activities and benefits. • The sustainability of youth programming work largely depends on the level of technical, human resource and financial capacity of the implementing partner organization and hence all the three key tenets need to reach sustainable levels before weaning off these organizations. Some of the partners like AWEP were weaned too early as they were struggling financially to continue with the work. Some partners such as BPC received other contracts as a result of the capacity built under the Z:W project. • Effective implementation of activities on the ground requires presence of the implementing partner in the program area. • Mentorship, entrepreneurship training, group cohesion and regular monitoring are key to projects like Z:W. There is need for more focus and investment in these areas in particular due to economic instability in Zimbabwe, where most young people are informally employed or struggle to finance their businesses. As such, increasing trainings, and providing additional operational and technical support in these areas, incentivizes local implementing partners to deliver quality programming. 10 CONCLUSIONS The evaluation found the project to be highly relevant as it sought to address well acknowledged gaps in the youth sector. The Z:W approach promotes sustainability of results and this yielded significant impacts at both the micro and macro levels. Although, one major threat to the sustainability of the project is the prevailing economic environment, which has affected both the employability and entrepreneurship components of the project; as well as the financial situation of the implementing partner organizations. However, it was pleasing to note the following results: Table 1: Project Targets and Achievements Project component Target achieved Comment Target beneficiaries 109% Project reached 20 168 beneficiaries against a target of 18 500 Loan beneficiaries 81% Target missed by 19% Financial literacy training 150% Target surpassed Entrepreneurship training 111% Target surpassed Work readiness training 104% Target surpassed Internship placement 117% Target surpassed Vocational and Technical Training 121% Target surpassed Young people with improved resilience 64% The project missed the target by 11%. The target was 75% Young women participating in SME mentorship in occupations underrepresented by women 43% The project target was 20%, hence the project surpassed the target Youth participating in SME mentorships 79% The project target was 26% hence the project surpassed the target by 53% Youth participating in internships placed into formal sector employment 6-month ex post 80% The project target was 30% hence the project surpassed the target by 50% RECOMMENDATIONS The evaluation recommends an investment in post-care support. This support will ensure completion of outstanding work on mentorship and sustainability of benefits. Consideration should be given to supporting implementing partners which have produced good results, and for partners with a presence in the areas where project activities will be implemented. Commuting from Harare frequently to monitor activities is strenuous, cost ineffective and minimizes contact period between the beneficiaries and the 11 implementing partners. In order to reach out to more youth, a working model of using local grassroots structures such as those put in place by the various government departments including Agriculture Extension Officers, Ward Coordinators and Youth Officers could be developed. The evaluation further recommends a long project gestation period, more than three years to allow more time for business incubation and placement, considering the challenging economic environment, particularly for internship placements. Engagement with national and local stakeholders: For ownership and sustainability of the project, there is need for more engagement with relevant government sectors at both national and district levels on the part of implementing partners. This promotes buy-in by the stakeholders. 12 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to Evaluation This report contains findings of an independent End of Project Performance Evaluation of the Zimbabwe:Works (Z:W) project (Phase II, January 2015-December 2017) implemented by the International Youth Foundation (IYF). The project was supported with US$7.6 million by USAID, DFID and Sida. It focused on implementation of program activities through Zimbabwean local NGOs and selected private sector entities who scaled up proven models, innovated through ICTs and mainstreamed gender in their programming. The goal of the project was build job skills and improve the employment and self￾employment status of Zimbabweans, particularly young women, to enable them to contribute towards and benefit from economic growth in Zimbabwe. The following were the objectives of the Z:W project: • Component 1: Partner Capacity Strengthening and Gender Mainstreaming Gender integration into partner programming, strategic planning, resource decision-making, and monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems and processes. • Component 2: Enterprise Start-up and Growth: Improved access to relevant entrepreneurship and business training/development services, mentorship, business awards, and networking opportunities. • Component 3: Financial Inclusion: Increased young women and men’s access to financial services, linked to entrepreneurship and business training activities. • Component 4: Access to Formal Sector Employment: Increased private sector partnerships focused on supporting youth, particularly young women, to access employment in key growth sectors through internships, mentorships, and job placement services. 1.2 Project Interventions To achieve these objectives, the project Theory of Change espouses the following interventions to be implemented by IYF and its partners: • Conduct Organizational Capacity Assessments (OCA) and development of capacity building work plans, • Conduct gender audits and operationalize gender action plans, • Provide gender mainstreaming technical support in beneficiary recruitment, selection and in gender responsive service delivery and product development, • Establishment of private sector advisory board and technical working groups, • Provision of post placement support to interns, • Establish feasibility of job portal, • Vocational technical training, • Placements with Master craft persons, • Integration of business and life skills training, • Career guidance, mentoring, role modelling to young women in male dominated trades, • Establish feasibility of business incubators, 13 • Scaling the delivery of Passport to Success (PTS) in Zimbabwe through training of trainers and development of master trainers, • Training beneficiaries in PTS and partners’ existing life skills curricula, • Gender sensitive delivery of PTS and partners’ life skills curricula, • Use diagnostic tool to assess entrepreneurial aptitude, • Business Development Service (BDS), entrepreneurship training and strengthening of curricula, • BDS linkages with MFIs, banks and venture capitalists, • Mentorship and business advisory targeted primarily at young women, • Train youth in financial literacy, • MFIs supported with loans and products to youth, particularly women, • Provision of mobile banking services and integration of ICT in financial service provision, • Linkages to finance for BDS entrepreneurial training beneficiaries, and • Establish feasibility of entrepreneurship portal 1.3 Purpose and Objectives of the Evaluation The purpose of the evaluation was to assist IYF and its donors USAID, DFID and Sida to determine the effectiveness of the implemented activities and assess strengths and weaknesses in program design and implementation. The evaluation captured key lessons learnt so that these can feed into the future interventions. The specific objectives of the evaluation were to: • Assess impact, efficiency, design and relevance, effectiveness, sustainability of the Zimbabwe:Works project. • Focus on programmatic areas, operational as well as the organisational capacity to implement, monitor and evaluate the project. 2. EVALUATION APPROACH AND METHODOLOGY A participatory and consultative approach was adopted for this evaluation where all key stakeholders, including direct beneficiaries, participated in the evaluation process either as key informants or focus group discussion participants. The study was coordinated and supervised by two adult and experienced evaluators, and two youthful graduate assistants who were recruited to assist in carrying out focus group discussions and face-to-face interviews with their same age-group peers. Partner organizations also assisted in administering the outcome survey structured tool. The threats to the validity of the evaluation findings include the evaluator’s prior involvement with the project as a consultant in supporting implementation of Z:W, in gender mainstreaming. The assignment involved gender audits and gender policy development for seven partners, namely, SMEAZ, AWEP, PROWEB, Restless Development, Virl, Zambuko and RBCT. Another threat to the validity of the findings was the involvement of implementing partner staff in administering the Outcome Survey tool. However, this was done in a minor enough capacity (less than 5% of program work) that it was determined they could still maintain objectivity for the EoPE. 14 2.1 Methods for collecting information and data Secondary and primary data was collected for this EoPE. For secondary data, relevant project documents, including logframe document, Theory of Change document, Log frame matrix, gender audit reports, annual and progress reports and other relevant documents were reviewed by the evaluation team prior to the commencement of fieldwork and during report compilation. The evaluation also made use of FGDs with young women and men and interviews with key informants who included the IYF Director, the Internship and Private Sector Engagement Specialist, the M&E Officer, Entrepreneurship Officer and the Gender and Women Economic Empowerment Specialist; implementing partner staff and representatives of government departments to generate their views on the performance of the project. A structured survey tool was developed by the Consultants with the assistance of IYF M & E staff. This was used to collect primary data on resilience measured using the CD-RISC1 , incremental income for entrepreneurs, employees of youth owned businesses, average number of jobs created in youth owned businesses, number of persons receiving employment or better employment, gender perceptions analysis, percent of entrepreneurs receiving SME mentorships, percent of women receiving mentorships in sectors underrepresented by women, percent of intern supervisors satisfied with intern performance, and incremental income for tertiary graduates transitioning to full-time employment among other project outcomes. Narratives were also collected from young people on the most significant changes that they have witnessed resulting from interaction with the project. The narratives entailed thick descriptions of how change occurred and the factors that were central to making it happen. The narratives are presented in this report as case studies or most significant change stories. The following table presents the gender disaggregation of the evaluation participants by data collection tool. Table 2: Gender distribution of EoPE participants by Tool Tool Source of information Distribution Male Female Key informant interviews 5 interviews with IYF staff 2 3 12 interviews with implementing partners 6 5 7 interviews with representatives of government departments 4 3 9 interviews with community leaders 4 5 FGDs Young males and females 116 164 Outcome survey 1,509 young people 463 1,046 Narratives 13 5 8 1 1 All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the authors at mail@cd-risc.com. Further information about the scale and terms of use can be found at www.cd-risc.com. Copyright © 2001, 2003, 2007, 2009, 2011 by Kathryn M. Connor, M.D., and Jonathan R.T 15 The following table shows the list of partners visited for FGDs and project areas that were sampled for the evaluation. In these areas, relevant stakeholders working with these partners such as government departments and MFIs were interviewed. On average, each FGD had 8 people. Table 3: List of partners and sampled project areas for FGDs Name of Partner Thematic Focus Sampled Project Areas Number of FGDs and composition of FGD participants AWEP Entrepreneurship Masvingo 1 Females only FGD Junior Achievement Zimbabwe Employability Harare, Mutare, Kwekwe and Bulawayo 4 male and 4 female FGDs Entrepreneurship Mutare 1 male and 1 female FGD Thrive Entrepreneurship Harare 1 females only FGD BOOST Employability Harare 1 male and 1 female FGD Young Africa Employability Harare and Bulawayo 2 male and 2 female FGDs RBCT Entrepreneurship Harare, Gweru and Mutare 3 male and 3 female FGD Entrepreneurship Bulawayo 1 male and 1 female FGD PROWEB Entrepreneurship Harare and Goromonzi 2 male and 2 female FGDs Kunzwana Entrepreneurship Chitungwiza 1 females only FGD Restless Development Employability Bulawayo 1 male and 1 female FGD BPC Entrepreneurship Bulawayo 1 male and 1 female FGD Empretec Entrepreneurship Umzingwane and Bubi 2 male and 2 female FGDs KTA Entrepreneurship Kwekwe 1 male and 1 female FGD The evaluation team visited project activities such as business enterprises to see first-hand how those projects were performing. 16 2.2 Sampling For qualitative evaluation data, sampling was purposively done to ensure: • coverage of implementing partners and MFIs • coverage of all project thematic areas • rural and urban mix • geographical coverage of all the administrative provinces where project is being implemented Individual Beneficiary Outcome Survey Questionnaire Sample Size Calculation The individual beneficiary survey questionnaire sample size was calculated as the number of youth who benefitted from the project referring for those who were recruited and participated in trainings. The sample size is calculated using a confidence level of 95%, an acceptable margin of error of 5%, and a response distribution of 50%. These preconditions yield a statistically representative sample size of a minimum of 400 entrepreneurship and 360 employability beneficiaries to be interviewed (http://www.raosoft.com/samplesize.html). Due to the high mobility of young people as well as improving the levels of confidence in the data collected, a sample of 830 and 440 was generated for entrepreneurship and employability respectively. The sample size was allocated proportionally in line with the number of project beneficiaries reached by each partner in different districts. 17 Table 4: List of partners and sampled sizes for individual questionnaires 2.3 Evaluation challenges Due to the high mobility of young people it was difficult to meet with some of the project beneficiaries who were difficult to trace as they were now scattered in different geographical areas. A lot of time was spent trying to visit the beneficiaries who seemed to be scattered in various places. Where the potential respondent was eventually not found, sample replacements were done. Despite this challenge, through sample replacements as well as triangulation, that is, using various data collection methods to generate the same kind of information, the evaluation team is convinced that the results of the evaluation are valid and a true reflection of the performance of the project. Partner ENTREPRENEURSHIP SAMPLE EMPLOYABILITY SAMPLE Partner Sample Target Number of Respondents/ Interviewed Partner Sample Target Number of Respondents/Interviewed JAZ 140 126 150 159 SMEAZ 40 40 60 61 PROWEB 50 47 40 40 Restless Development N/A N/A 130 128 BOOST N/A N/A 60 61 Empretec 60 60 RBCT 140 137 AWEP 60 60 Thrive 70 71 BPC 80 80 Jekesa Pfungwa 70 70 KTA 70 70 Kunzwana 50 50 Young Africa ( VTT) 260 248 Totals 1,090 1,059 440 449 18 3. FINDINGS OF THE EVALUATION The following sections provide the main findings of the evaluation mission in terms of key thematic areas of evaluation as required by the terms of reference covering project relevance, impact, effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability. 3.1 Relevance of the Program Relevance of the program was assessed in terms of the extent to which program objectives were in alignment with the development needs, aspirations and contexts of the targeted groups, institutions and country; the extent to which the design of the program was informed by sound and valid informational base reflecting actual realities on the ground; and the extent to which the program strategically dovetailed into national, regional and international policy priorities and frameworks on youth development. 3.1.1 Relevance of Project Aims and Objectives The overall objective of the program was to build job skills and improve the employment and self-employment status of Zimbabweans, particularly young women, to enable them to contribute towards and benefit from economic growth in Zimbabwe. The Z:W project was implemented against the backdrop of high youth unemployment levels in Zimbabwe. ILO (2006) reported the rate of youth unemployment in Zimbabwe as over 75%. Data from the 2012 Census indicates that unemployment was higher for urban provinces or those providing formal employment. Unemployment challenges were high in urban areas because most youth migrate into the urban areas in search of job opportunities. These statistics show the high relevance of the project to the young people in the selected geographical areas that include Harare and Bulawayo. Kanyenze et al (2000) attribute youth unemployment to the following factors: • Irrelevant curriculum and lack of skills due to limited access to skills development institutions and programs. • Decline of the formal sector • Inadequate and obsolete equipment, • Mismatch between technology used in institutions of learning and industry, • Lack of experience among the youth. • Low growth rate of the economy, • Lack of information on opportunities available to young people • Poor economic policies, and • Lack of work experience by the youth Young people at present are faced with economic, social and political forms of exclusion that hamper their optimum growth and development into responsible adults. Deeply rooted in socio-cultural stereotypes that attach inferiority to youth views and perspectives, these forms of exclusion have resulted in young people playing peripheral roles (if any) in as far as development processes are concerned. Zimbabwe Youth Scoping Study, DFID, 2008 19 Despite the situation of youth unemployment and youth social exclusion being considered a time bomb, not only in Zimbabwe but in Africa as a whole, there has been very limited investment in the youth sector. The Z:W project thus became one of the flagship programs in the youth sector in Zimbabwe. A detailed discussion about how the project was relevant is provided below. Here we discuss beneficiaries perceptions. Beneficiary youth interviewed during the evaluation all concurred that the objectives of the project were highly relevant to their needs. Making reference to how the project addressed challenges of unemployment linked to lack of relevant experience, 100% of respondents in an FGD concurred with one female beneficiary who remarked, Box1: Covering the Gap of Lack of Relevant Experience and Mismatch between University Curriculum and Needs of the Labour Market With regards to the relevance of the entrepreneurship and vocational technical training components of the project, beneficiaries reported that due to closure of companies, the shrinking job market and the associated expansion of the informal sector, entrepreneurship, and vocational skills have become the only livelihoods avenues for young people. Stakeholders indicated that young people lack the entrepreneurship knowledge, skills and financial support to boost their enterprises. From this perspective, entrepreneurship training, vocational technical training, mentorship and financial support have been relevant interventions for the youth sector in Zimbabwe. Youth in Zimbabwe and other parts of the world have lacked access to loans because of lack of collateral, which is linked to ownership of assets (ZIMSTAT 2015). It is a fact that ownership of assets guarantees access to certain services and enhances youth empowerment and participation. Young people are particularly disadvantaged with respect to asset entitlements. This is so because of three major reasons, namely: We were motivated to be part of this program by the fact that we lacked relevant experience. It is good that the program combined training with placement. The program was very relevant because it taught us on areas that University curriculum did not cover. These areas include: business ethics, corporate governance, time management, how to write a curriculum vitae, dressing, presentation skills, and interview skills. This training, coupled with placement helped us to gain the necessary experience that most employers require for full time employment. Owing to the closure of most big corporates, placement was in small to medium enterprises where we were expected to multi-task. This gave us vast experience in so many areas, not just the ones we trained in. This experience has led some of us to transition to full time employment. Youth participating in JAZ projects in Mutare, Manicaland Province 20 a) they have not had the time to accumulate such entitlements; b) social and cultural norms are such that asset and exchange entitlements are formally transferred to youth as they grow older; and c) youth are generally expected to be engaged in acquiring the social and economic skills to enhance their future participation in society and in the economy, hence they are not normally expected to have such entitlements. A consideration of ownership of land or houses in Zimbabwe shows that the percent of men who own land or a house either alone or jointly increases with age (ZDHS 2010/11). This implies that a smaller percent of young men then older ones own land in their own right. For both women and men, ownership of either asset increases with age, with younger women and men much less likely to own house or land, either alone or jointly compared to older women and men (ZDHS, 2010/11). Thus, the need to impart asset and exchange entitlements as well as social and human capital, to young people is relevant and key. The Government of Zimbabwe even identified the gap in access to finance by young people and in 2006, established a Youth Development Fund, a revolving micro-loan facility to support youth entrepreneurship development (Zimbabwe Youth Development Report, 2015). This was not successful owing to implementation gaps. Establishing a revolving fund, administered by micro finance institutions and embracing a holistic approach to youth funding was therefore very relevant. With regards to young women, the relevance of the financial inclusion component to entrepreneurship was justified and very relevant because of the fact that they face double exclusion related to both age and gender. A key stakeholder from the Ministry of Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development remarked, Women have traditionally lacked collateral because of lack of control over resources and have therefore not been able to access loans as men. Owing to this, the Ministry has established a specific fund to support women’s enterprises, the Women Development Fund. Furthermore, there are plans to open a Women’s Micro Finance Bank to assist women with access to funds. The work that IYF has done in promoting financial inclusion for young women is very relevant and commendable, because it is addressing a gap which government itself has identified and is working towards addressing. Providing a special interest rate for women was relevant to addressing the challenges of financial exclusion that women, particularly young women face. Interviews with representatives of Inclusive Financial Services revealed that the interest rate was 5 percent per month for men while for women it was 4 percent per month. Under normal circumstances, the interest rate is 9.5 percent /month. The loan amount given ranged between $100 and $500 (however for the project the amount ranged from $60 to $800) and the repayment period was three to six months with payments done monthly or bi-monthly depending on the type of enterprise and cash flows. Although the young women interviewed were concerned about the loan amounts which they thought were low for their project types, they viewed the program as relevant. 21 Vocational Technical Training was also noted to be relevant particularly considering lack of vocational skills among the young people owing to low regard for vocational skills at community levels. Vocational training provided an opportunity to those that missed an opportunity for such training, and from this angle it was relevant. Owing to the fact that the program worked with organizations, some of which had never worked in youth programming e.g. JPV, Kunzwana , the organisational capacity building components in areas such as youth programming and gender mainstreaming were relevant. One participating organisation remarked. As an organisation, we had no experience at all in youth programming, despite the fact that we were working with women of various age groups. The capacity building components of IYF work have helped to cover the gap in youth programming in our organisation. They were very relevant. (PROWEB) The objectives of the program in terms of supporting youth empowerment through work readiness training, placements, entrepreneurship training, mentorship and access to finance were perceived to be highly relevant by both stakeholders and the youth beneficiaries themselves. 3.1.2 Relevance and Validity of Project Design The evaluation team assessed the relevance and validity of the Z:W project design to determine the extent to which its design would facilitate achievement of project goal and objectives. The evaluation also assessed the validity of the foundational information base that informed project design as well as level of participation of stakeholders (including beneficiaries) in project design. The design of phase II of the Z:W project was informed by the first phase where IYF implemented similar programming with the six of the same partners. The results of the evaluation of phase 1, the Labor Market Assessment and the Gender Scoping Study informed the design of phase II. Implementing partners from phase I interviewed during the evaluation reported that they were adequately consulted in the design process of the project. In some districts, key stakeholder ministries, for example Ministry of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment under which the youth portfolio falls, however reported that they were not very familiar with the Z:W project as implementing partners seemed to be closely working with the Ministry of Small to Medium Enterprises and Cooperative Development. In fact, IYF itself only had a standing Memorandum of Agreement with the Ministry of Small to Medium Enterprises and Cooperative Development. In the majority of districts visited, Z:W project implementing partners were not effectively collaborating with sector ministries and consequently the project did not benefit much from stakeholder input at both design and implementation stages. Lack of stakeholder ownership of the project creates fault lines in validity of project design and threatens overall sustainability of the project. 22 3.1.3 Strategic Fit with National Policies, Strategies and Plans The evaluation noted that the objectives and thrust of the Z:W project dovetailed strategically into national and regional policies and frameworks supporting the youth sector. The following are some of the policy frameworks that resonate strongly with the Z:W aim and objectives: Table 5: Policy Framework governing Youth Sector and Link with Z:W Project Policy Framework Policy Statement or Objective African Youth Charter • Every young person shall have the right to participate in all spheres of society. The Constitution of Zimbabwe (Chapter 2, Section 19) • Youth have access to appropriate education and training; have opportunities to associate and to be represented and participate in political, social, economic and other spheres of life National Youth Policy (August 2011) • To ‘empower the youth by creating an enabling environment and marshalling the resources necessary for undertaking programs and projects to fully develop the youths’ mental, moral, social, economic, political, cultural, spiritual and physical potential in order to improve their quality of life’ • To provide opportunities for sustainable livelihoods and productive employment for all young men and women • To assist young men and women in attaining the knowledge, skills and experiences required to enable them to effectively participate in national development • To involve young men and women at the planning, decision-making and implementation levels of all youth development projects Zimbabwe Medium-Term Plan (2011-2015) • To promote youth participation in policy issues and development • To provide opportunities for youth employment and initiatives; and promote the value and development of vocational and skills training, among others Zimbabwe Agenda for Socio-Economic Transformation (Key Strategy 4) • Availing and increasing economic opportunities for women, youth and the physically challenged in communities in conformity with the indigenization, empowerment and employment creation thrust Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995) • Seeks to address inequalities between men and women in the sharing of power and decision making at all levels. The declaration adopted Gender Mainstreaming as a strategy for achieving gender equality and attaining women empowerment 3.1.4 Project Alignment with IYF Vision and Mission IYF is committed to empowering youth to be healthy, productive and engaged citizens. There is a strong alignment between the Z:W project objectives and the vision and mission of IYF. The Z:W project sought to economically empower 22,500 Zimbabweans, particularly young women to enable them to contribute towards and benefit from economic growth in Zimbabwe. This target was reduced to 18,500 in light of 23 the foreign currency exchange losses affecting program funding. Work Readiness training, placements, financial literacy, mentorship, financial inclusion as well as gender mainstreaming efforts of the project were all in aid of IYF’s mission and vision. 3.2 Project Effectiveness The evaluation team assessed the effectiveness of the project in terms of its design and strategy, management arrangements, implementation arrangements, monitoring and evaluation and management of risk. These components were assessed to determine the extent to which they facilitated the achievement of project objectives. 3.2.1 Design and Strategy Effectiveness The Z:W project was based on a model where IYF played a pivotal role in supporting NGOs and the private sector organizations dotted across the country with particular focus on employability and entrepreneurship support for employment and self-employment. Project objectives were achieved through work readiness training, vocational technical training, placements, entrepreneurship training, mentorship, access to finance and gender mainstreaming. The implementing partners worked with local level stakeholders and this promoted buy-in of project activities by the communities and other stakeholders such as community leaders. For example, in Goromonzi, the local councillor, village heads, Agriculture Extension Officers and Youth Officer reported that they were involved in beneficiary selection, support to enterprises, as well as follow up on loans repayment. From their perspective, this has resulted in a good loan repayment record among the youth who received loans in their area. They believed that follow up by people known to the loan beneficiary yields better results than by total strangers. It is however important to point out that even in areas where local level stakeholders did not play a part in loan follow up, repayment rates were high. This shows the effectiveness of the IYF model which combined training, access to finance and mentorship. Overall, the Z:W project registered 82% loan repayment success, while under the government of Zimbabwe’s Youth Development Fund, repayment rate was 8% (ZYC, 2015)2 . With reference to the success rate in loan repayment, a number of factors were cited as follows: • Training in financial literacy • Due diligence before the loan is given to the applicant, including assessment of the business and its viability by experts • Loans not given to pursue a business idea but to support an already existing business • Post disbursement visits • Regular reminders on loan repayment dates. Respondents at Inclusive Financial Services reported that they call the loan beneficiaries every fortnight to remind them about loan repayment. • Stakeholders involvement in following up on loan repayment The other critical factor was the linkages between the BDS and MFIs. 2 http://www.myiee.gov.zw/index.php/archived-news/46-report-on-the-performance-of-youth-empowerment￾facilities-and-youth-development-fund-for-the-period-2009-2013 24 Supporting the youth sector through NGOs and the private sector with track record in the areas they were supporting was an effective way of addressing the real concerns of the youth. The establishment of the Advisory Board in Harare from business executives from large corporates such as Barclays Bank, Delta Beverages, Transerve and Profeeds, among others and a Technical Working Group in Bulawayo comprised mainly of Human Resource Managers reviewing curriculum was strategic and helped in ensuring the effectiveness of the project. This approach enabled the effectiveness of the delivery of the services IYF meant to deliver to the young people. Challenges to design and strategy effectiveness In some areas like Mutare and Masvingo 70% of the beneficiaries underwent a three-day training while in others the training lasted for a week or even more complimented by assigning of a mentor to young people as individuals and as groups. Considering the importance of mentorship to young people, notwithstanding the fact that the project had a 20% target for mentorship, results of the outcome survey revealed that 80% of the beneficiaries interviewed were not assigned to a business mentor and of these 72.5% were female, while 27.5% were male. Results of the survey further show that 76% of those who received mentorship argued that it was very useful, 23% reported that it was fairly useful while only 1% reported that it was not useful at all. A number of reasons were cited for the positive assessment of the mentorship as summarised by one respondent in an FGD in Harare, Mentorship was very good because we were being mentored by successful business people who could link us to service providers. We kept in touch with the mentors. We acquired practical skills from our mentors and our businesses have grown as a result. (FGD with female beneficiaries for PROWEB) There was no standard measure on the part of all implementing partners on who a mentor should be and from which fields. Lack of uniformity affected project delivery effectiveness. Considering that some of the implementing partners such as PROWEB lacked experience in youth programming, they needed a model to guide them. The approach could be made more effective through massive capacity building hand￾holding in the initial stages and continuous support until the organizations reached certain levels of sustainability. The Z:W project supported young people trained in entrepreneurship with access to finance. The finance was provided by selected micro finance institutionsthat include Thrive, Zambuko Trust, VIRL, MOB Capital, Inclusive Financial Services and Portify. Two models of lending were used, the group and individual models. Group lending was proposed to address the challenge of collateral that most young people, particularly young women face with regards to access to finance. Availability of two lending options was effective because it allowed the applicants the flexibility to choose the options best suited to their circumstances. While some had a positive perception of group loans citing the reason that they ensure group accountability and collective monitoring of each other’s projects, others viewed it negatively arguing that innocent individuals can suffer if a group member defaulted. A major challenge cited with regards access to finance was that some MFIs were not willing to be flexible on some of the loan conditions and requirements. For example, MFIs such as Virl did not consider the 25 cash flows and gestation period of some of the businesses that young people were involved and this affected the number of young people willing to apply for loans as they felt it would be difficult for them to repay the loans. Furthermore, young people were concerned about the short loan tenure, which was between 3 and 6 months and this affected access to finance. Others indicated that they were just afraid of taking loans. The time-line of project implementation was considered short by some partners particularly those focusing on youth entrepreneurship that included PROWEB, AWEP, RBCT, and JAZ, Entrepreneurship needs more time to be nurtured and the time line of the project was considered inadequate by stakeholders. In some cases, beneficiaries were recruited during the second half of 2016 and had not had sufficient follow up support from the project. The effectiveness of the project could therefore be improved through an increase in the project time frame considering the time taken for businesses to grow and begin to contribute meaningfully to individual livelihoods. 3.2.2 Effectiveness of Management Arrangements The director of IYF was the overseer of the project responsible for reporting to donors, expenditure approval and monitoring and evaluation. The project was also supported by specialists for specific components of the project, for example, those in charge of entrepreneurship and employability as well as M&E specialist and a gender expert. These experts worked closely with related program officers at implementing partner level. The responsibilities and obligations of the parties in the project were clear. Other factors influencing the effectiveness of IYF were its experience in working with the youth and in bringing them together; clear roles and responsibilities of the various organizations, both NGOs and the private sector and IYF staff members; limited staff turnover within IYF as well as open communication with partner organizations. IYF became a mentor to the organizations and this enhanced its effectiveness. Furthermore, IYF regularly brought together the partners, for example, BDS-MFI linkages and networking meetings, giving them a learning platform and this enhanced project effectiveness. IYF coordinated its activities with the donors quite well. Review meetings were held and reports were made on certain components that were not supported by all donors. The effectiveness of IYF was enhanced by taking on board the recommendations of phase 1 of the project such as bringing on board a variety of MFIs. For example, the recommendations of the Gender Scoping Study which was conducted in an effort to understand gender related barriers that compromise young women and men’s full participation in the Z:W project were implemented. In light of the recommendations, Gender Audits were conducted for 13 BDS partners (Boost, JAZ, YA, RD, RBCT, Empretec, SMEAZ, BZ, AWEP, KTA, JPV,BPC & Kunzwana)and 3 MFIs (Zambuko, Virl and MoB) Z:W partners, gender training, development of gender policies and gender action plans as steps towards strengthening the gender mainstreaming capacities of implementing partners. Organisational capacity assessments were conducted and the capacity gaps were addressed through training. For example, 26 financial management training was conducted for implementing partners, including Business Development Service (BDS) partners and Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs). Overall, management arrangements for the Z:W project were effective. 3.2.3 Effectiveness of Monitoring and Evaluation System The following methods were employed by IYF to monitor and evaluate implementing partners to ensure that the Z:W resources were used according to the grant agreements: a. Organisational Capacity Assessments and development of action plans which would then be monitored for implementation. b. Attending implementing partner activities to assess the outcomes of the project interventions and identify gaps which led to IYF offering technical assistance on project implementation. c. Financial monitoring visits to assess adequacy of systems to manage the grants and provide technical assistance to improve record keeping as well as improve the implementation of projects. IYF supported partners to develop their M&E systems, through capacity strengthening in M&E and data base management. Most of the partners did not have a systematic way of collecting information and proper data bases. Through support in M&E, all BDS partners had an Ms Access database for capturing beneficiary demographic information as well activities received under the program. The data base also assisted in generation of program related report, with just a click of a button. The evaluation noted that the M&E strategies such as capacity strengthening and provision of tools used by IYF, were particularly effective in monitoring grant management practices and compliance of partners. Implementing partners reported during the evaluation that this was one of IYF’s strengths as partners vastly improved their M&E and financial management systems. The M&E system also enabled partners to disaggregate data by sex in their monthly reports to give a clear picture of the gender composition in the project. The evaluation also revealed that some facilitators of the various modules were not involved in monitoring the performance of the young people they trained, yet M&E by these could help in the review and improvement of the modules. The evaluation noted that IYF’s M&E visits were balanced between those linked to financial or grant monitoring and those related to activity implementation on the ground. Some of the implementing partners were headquartered in Harare and they did not have field officers on the ground in the areas they were implementing project activities. This provided a challenge for these organizations to adequately monitor activities on the ground as they had to make frequent visits to the project sites from Harare. Stakeholders interviewed attributed the lack of sustainability of some of the enterprises supported by the project to inadequate monitoring by both the implementing partners and IYF. 27 3.2.4 Effectiveness of Implementation Arrangements Implementation of project activities was done by the NGOs, BDS partners, and MFIs in their different operational areas with support from IYF. The evaluation noted that a lot of activities were taking place on the ground with youth participants interviewed reporting that they had participated in a whole range of activities. 20,168 direct beneficiaries were reached by the project. The project reach reflects a good measure of effectiveness of implementation arrangements. A number of challenges that affected implementation of activities were however noted by the evaluation. Firstly, some of the implementing partners such as AWEP and PROWEB are headquartered in Harare and they do not have field offices or officers in the areas that they operate in. Given this scenario, it became a challenge for these organizationsto frequently visit their project areas and youth interviewed expressed reservations about the long absence from the field by some of the organizations. This tended to dampen the enthusiasm and zeal of the youth participating in project activities. The lack of collaboration between some implementing partner organizations such as AWEP and local stakeholders that include the Ministry of SME in Masvingo, weakened collaboration between these local stakeholders and the implementing partner organizations. In such instances, challenges for project sustainability were created. 3.2.5 Effectiveness in Managing Risks The evaluation assessed the extent to which the project was able to manage the identified risks. The following table summarises the evaluation’s assessment of how the project effectively managed each of the identified risks. Table 6: Risk and Risk Mitigation Strategies RISKS MITIGATION Evaluation Assessment Unstable socio-political environment which may affect operations of civil society Involvement of Ministry of Small to Medium Enterprise Development IYF made use of its standing Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Small to Medium Enterprises and Cooperative Development in Harare and encouraged implementing partners to get police clearance as well as engage fully the Ministry of Small to Medium Enterprise Development. In some districts, there was limited collaboration between the implementing partners and this key government department. Access to finance for youth projects after termination of grant being limited Linkages with MFIs IYF is seeking loan disposition which would allow the 6 MFIs to keep about $750,000 for the sole purpose of continuing youth lending 28 Lack of placement opportunities due to companies closure and the general economic environment prevailing in the country Partnership with the private sector Placements have mostly been in small organizations which exposed them to different roles. Partnerships with Human Resource Managers also helped to secure placements for interns. The outcome survey results confirm the observation that young people were mostly placed in SMEs as the following table shows. Table 7: Types of Organizations hosting young people for internship Type of Organisation % placed SME 56% Large corporates 15% NGOs 27% Government 2% Some of the organizations where young people were placed did not give stipends to the interns. 87 percent of those placed reported that they received stipends. This presented a risk of the intern sitting at home because of lack of funds to support internship. 3.3 Efficiency of Resource Use The evaluation made an analysis of how resources in the project were utilized to determine efficiency of use. 3.3.1 Human Resources The evaluation noted that all the project staff are well qualified and managed to implement the project through teamwork and commitment. There was need for implementing partners such as AWEP, RBCT and PROWEB to have field officers on the ground to increase contact period between the organizations and the project beneficiaries. Commuting from headquarters in Harare to implement activities in the project areas proved difficult and expensive for the resource limited organizations. 3.3.2 Financial Resources An analysis of the project budget shows effective use of resources where the largest proportion went to support activities that directly benefit targeted beneficiaries as opposed to a situation where the biggest proportion goes to staff salaries and benefits. The grant management system of the project was very strong ensuring that resources were utilized for the purpose they were budgeted for. Implementing partners could not receive funding before acquittals for the previous grants accompanied by a report on activities accomplished. Organizations that failed to comply with the reporting conditions would not 29 receive further support. Financial monitoring visits to implementing partner organizations coupled with capacity building training ensured effective management and utilization of financial resources. One challenge though which affected finances was currency exchange. There were project budget reductions due to currency exchange losses (estimated at US$340,000) and time cuts which affected the six last contracted partners out of the 23. As stated earlier, as a way of addressing this challenge, IYF adjusted project targets. A further challenge noted related to the economic environment was about some local banks refusing to receive international funds. One implementing partner organization reported that when its bank stopped receiving international funds, the organisation approached IYF which resolved to receive the funds through its bank and transfer it to the partner’s bank. This flexibility in handling finance issues helped in ensuring smooth flow of the project. Sida supported IYF with an additional $100 000 to complete the impact evaluation according to the original plan by keeping the office open with a skeleton staff for three months from October to December 2017. Overall, the evaluation team concluded that there was efficient use of financial resources. 3.4 Project Performance In reviewing performance of the Z:W Project, the evaluation assessed the level of achievement of set targets for each specific indicator by comparing what was actually achieved (outputs) vis-a-vis what was planned. The evaluation critically looked at factors that were central to the achievement or non￾achievement of the set targets. In the following Matrix, we look at the achievement of targets under each of the indicators of the Z:W Project. Table 8: Zimbabwe:Works Logframe Results Summaries Zimbabwe:Works Logframe Results Summaries Z:W INDICATORS Original Program Targets Revised Overall Target Cumulative Achieved by 30 September 2017 % of Revised Target Achieved Broad empowerment of youth, and particularly young women, to contribute towards and benefit from economic Impact indicator 22,000 young women and men are economically empowered through their improved employment and self￾employment status. 22,000 18,500 20,168 109% Female 14,300 12,025 13,311 Male 7,700 6,475 6,857 Outcome Indicator 1 30 Zimbabwe:Works Logframe Results Summaries Z:W INDICATORS Original Program Targets Revised Overall Target Cumulative Achieved by 30 September 2017 % of Revised Target Achieved growth in Zimbabwe. Percent of young women and men with improved measures of resiliency 75% 75% 64% 86% Percent of females 75% 75% 65% Percent of males 75% 75% 63% Outcome Indicator 2 Value of incremental income -- including in-kind income attributable to the Z:W project -- earned by beneficiaries (entrepreneurship and employability tracks)(Summation of indicator 2.5, 2.6 and 4.6) (Incremental income calculation is based on a 12 months projection) $65,799,216 $40,338,000 $31,171,482 78% Outcome Indicator 3 Percent of youth participating in internships placed into formal sector employment 6-months ex￾post 40% 30% 80% 267% Outcome Indicator 4 Percent of participating young women and men starting their own enterprises 6-months ex￾post 40% 15% 18% 120% Outcome Indicator 5 Average # of new jobs created in youth-owned businesses (disaggregated by start-ups and existing SMEs) 3 1 0.13 13% Outcome Indicator 6 Proportion of female participants in USG-assisted projects designed to increase access to productive economic resources (e.g., credit, income or employment). 65% 65% 66% 102% USAID Standard Indicator 1 31 Zimbabwe:Works Logframe Results Summaries Z:W INDICATORS Original Program Targets Revised Overall Target Cumulative Achieved by 30 September 2017 % of Revised Target Achieved Standard USAID Indicators Number of persons receiving employment or better employment as a result of participation in USG-funded workforce development projects 12,150 12,150 14,401 119% Female 7,898 9,572 Male 4,252 4,829 USAID Standard Indicator 2 Proportion of target population reporting increased agreement with the concept that males and females should have equal access to social, economic and political opportunities. 70% 60% 50% 84% USAID Standard Indicator 3 Number of clients at USG￾assisted microfinance institutions (This refers to clients who receive loans from MFIs). 3,000 4,590 3,685 81% Females 2,699 Males 986 Output 1 Output Indicator 1.1 Financial services tailored to the needs of youth, and particularly those of young women, available in the market # of youth participating in financial literacy training tailored towards accessing and utilizing microfinance 6,000 6,000 9,029 150% Female 3,900 3,900 6,181 Male 2,100 2,100 2,848 Output Indicator 1.2 Percent of young women participating in financial literacy training tailored toward accessing and utilising microfinance 65% 65% 68% 105% Output Indicator 1.3 Percent of youth who access formal financing 50% 34% 24% 74% Females 26% Male 20% 32 Zimbabwe:Works Logframe Results Summaries Z:W INDICATORS Original Program Targets Revised Overall Target Cumulative Achieved by 30 September 2017 % of Revised Target Achieved Output Indicator 1.4 Value of portfolio outstanding (disaggregated by product type and loans made by individual investors) (US$) $250,000 $400,000 $484,821 121% Output Indicator 1.6 Percent of formally financed youth who are current on repayment 98% 95% 81% 85% Female 82% Male 70% Output Indicator 1.7 # of young people participating in ISALs 2,000 1,000 599 60% Female 1,300 650 373 Male 700 350 226 Output Indicator 1.8 Average amount of savings mobilized per ISAL $350 $350 $335 96% Total savings from ISALs 24,762 Total # of ISAL groups 74 Output Indicator 1.9 Average amount lent per ISAL $350 $350 $225 65% Total amount lent 16,620 Total number of ISAL groups 74 Output Indicator 1.10 Percent of ISAL participants accessing loans from microfinance institutions 20% 15% 11% 74% Female 11% Male 11% OUTPUT 2 Output Indicator 2.1 Business development services strengthened, Number of youth accessing business development services (disaggregated by type of 17,000 13,500 14,950 111% 33 Zimbabwe:Works Logframe Results Summaries Z:W INDICATORS Original Program Targets Revised Overall Target Cumulative Achieved by 30 September 2017 % of Revised Target Achieved expanded, with particular relevance and accessibility to young women entrepreneurship training and SME awards participation) Female 11,050 8,775 10,114 Male 5,950 4,725 4836 Output Indicator 2.2 Percent of young women accessing BDS services 65% 65% 68% 105% Output Indicator 2.3 Percent of youth participating in SME mentorships 20% 26% 21% 81% Females 19% Males 22% Output Indicator 2.4 Percent of young women participating in SME Mentorships in occupations underrepresented by women 12% 20% 27% 135% Output Indicator 2.5 Number of youth accessing BDS services who were referred by microfinance institutions 640 700 1,282 183% Female 416 455 Male 1,172 224 245 110 Output Indicator 2.6 Value of incremental net profit earned by young business owners $11,180,016 $22,194,000 $ 21,256,957 96% Output Indicator 2.7 Value of incremental income earned by employees of youth￾owned businesses $51,163,200 $16,200,000 $ 2,899,851 18% Output Indicator 2.8 Percent of referrals that receive loans 50% 50% 47% 94% OUTPUT 3 Output Indicator 3.1 34 Zimbabwe:Works Logframe Results Summaries Z:W INDICATORS Original Program Targets Revised Overall Target Cumulative Achieved by 30 September 2017 % of Revised Target Achieved Labor market￾responsive and holistic vocational training programs expanded and strengthened, with particular relevance and accessibility to young women # of participating youth accessing holistic vocational training (integrating technical, life skills and entrepreneurship training) 900 900 1,087 121% Female 585 585 608 Male 315 315 479 Output Indicator 3.2 Percent of young women accessing holistic vocational training (integrating technical, life skills and entrepreneurship 65% 65% 56% 86% Output Indicator 3.3 Percent of youth enrolled in vocational training participating in SME mentorships 40% 40% 79% 198% Female 75% Male 84% Output Indicator 3.4 Percent of young women participating in SME mentorships in sectors underrepresented by women 12% 12% 24% 200% OUTPUT 4 Output Indicator 4.1 Internship projects and partnerships expanded and strengthened, with particular relevance and accessibility to young women. Number of participating youth participating in work readiness (life skills) training (Under employability track) 5,000 5,000 5,218 104% Female 3,250 3,250 3,198 Male 1,750 1,750 2,020 Output Indicator 4.2 Percent of young women participating in work readiness training who participate in internships 65% 65% 61% 94% Output Indicator 4.3 Percent of youth completing work readiness training who participate in internships 40% 30% 35% 117% Female 35 Zimbabwe:Works Logframe Results Summaries Z:W INDICATORS Original Program Targets Revised Overall Target Cumulative Achieved by 30 September 2017 % of Revised Target Achieved Male Output indicator 4.4 Percent young women participating in internships in occupations underrepresented by women 12% 30% 47% 157% Output Indicator 4.5 Percent of intern supervisors satisfied with intern performance 100% 100% 96% 96% Output Indicator 4.6 Number of private sector partners participating in the internship project, disaggregated by those who contribute toward internship stipends 80 380 745 196% Number of private sector partners in internship project contributing to stipends 595 Number of private sector partners in internship project not contributing stipend 150 Output Indicator 4.7 Value of incremental income earned by interns who successfully access full-time employment $3,456,000 $1,944,000 $7,014,674 361% OUTPUT 5 Output indicator 5. 1 Improved partner capacity to design and deliver products and services for youth, young women specifically Number of partners that reach 80% of milestones in their capacity building actions plans per year 10 10 11 110% Output indicator 5.2 Number of partners that reach 80% of gender-specific milestones in their capacity building action plans per year 10 10 11 110% The targets for over 90 percent of the indicators were surpassed. This is evidence of a highly performing project which made great impact on the lives of the targeted beneficiaries. Below we give a critical appraisal of the indicators that were not achieved. However, it is important to highlight that the project 36 had set very high targets, some of which had to be revised downwards owing to the prevailing economic climate. Table 9: Analysis of Missed Targets Indicator Comment Outcome Indicator 1: Percent of young women and men with improved measures of resilience. The attainment of this indicator was heavily affected by using a mix of both PTS and partner customized life skills curricular. PTS which produces better results requires 3-6 weeks of implementation, yet partner customized life skills was covered in maximum of 3 days. Also in future, there is need to relook at the use of CD-RISK tool for measuring resiliency. Outcome Indicator 2: Value of incremental income -- including in-kind income attributable to the Z:W project -- earned by beneficiaries (entrepreneurship and employability tracks) (Summation of indicator 2.5, 6.6 and 4.6) This is projected monthly incremental income annualized. Indicator 2.6 on job creation did not perform as expected. The target was 1 additional job per enterprise, achieved was only 0.13jobs per entrepreneur. The economic climate affected business operations of young people which resulted in less number of enterprises creating new employment for their peers. Outcome Indicator 5: Average number of new jobs created in youth owned businesses. The evaluation revealed that the economic climate affected business operations of young people which resulted in less number of enterprises creating new employment for their peers. USAID Indicator 3: Number of clients at USG assisted MFIs This was affected by poor economy. The high amount of loan sizes offered to young people, compared to what previous was envisaged. Also a high proposition of repeated loans implied same young people were receiving loans. About 1,448 loans were repeated loans giving a total cumulative loan disbursed of 5,388. Output Indicator 1.3: Percent of youth who access formal financing This was affected by high amount of loan sizes offered to young people, compared to what previous was envisaged. Also, a high proposition of repeated loans implied same young people were receiving loans. About 1,448 loans were repeated loans yet the indicator measured unique beneficiaries who received loans. In addition the target of 40% was set against 13,500 young people trained. The project instead managed to train 14,950. 37 Output Indicator 1.6: Percent of formally financed youth who are current on repayment Although the target of 95% was missed, 82% is high achievement considering a loan repayment rate of 8% under the government of Zimbabwe’s Youth Development Fund. Factors contributing to this high repayment rate include: skilling the youth first; size of loan disbursed; regular follow up by the financier, amongst others. Output Indicator 1.7: Number of young people participating in ISALs ISAL are more prevalent in rural areas than urban areas hence the low uptake of ISALs in urban areas. Project shifted focus on ISALs and concentrated more of formal financing from MFIs Output Indicator 1.10: Percent of ISAL participants accessing loans from MFIs See above comment Output Indicator 2.3: Percent of youth participating in SME mentorship For some implementing partners, this was affected by reduced implementation periods and grant cuts. Output Indicator 2.8: Percent of referrals to receive loans This was mainly due to BDS and MFI grants coming to an end almost at the same time. When BDS contracts expired, they stopped referring clients to MFIs. However significant progress was made with an achievement of 47% against 50% target. Output Indicator 3.2: Percent of young women accessing holistic vocational training This was largely due to mentorship with master craft person which in some cases like Lupane, could be away from the young people’s homes, hence young women were then put at a disadvantage Output Indicator 4.2 Percent of young women participating in work readiness training who participate in internships (under employability component) The reason is more on young men taking up the training and responding more to the adverts placed due to the media used to advertise. Output Indicator 4.5 Percent of intern supervisors satisfied with intern performance The satisfaction levels are very high, at 95% 3.5 Project Impact The evaluation team assessed the impact of the project. The IFAD Impact Evaluation Guidelines define impact as the attainment of development goals of the project or program or rather the contributions to their attainment. In the section below, we analyse how the project impacted on the youth sector in Zimbabwe. We use the conceptual framework below to explain the impact of the project on youth development. The framework looks at youth development through three basic lenses namely ‘access to services and assets’, a lens which essentially seeks to understand the extent to which the youth have access to publicly or privately provided socio-economic resources in the country; ‘voice and influence’, 38 which investigates whether the youth as an excluded group can in fact influence decisions that had a bearing on their lives, that is youth participation issues; and ’rules of the game’, that is socio-cultural norms, legislative and policy frameworks that have a direct bearing on youth exclusion. Figure 1: Youth Development Analytical Framework Source: DFID, 2007 The project has had various impacts on youth sector in Zimbabwe. It has promoted access to services and assets, which are essential for promoting voice and influence at household and community levels and has also transformed certain structural factors governing youth behaviour such as lack of access to economic resources. To this end the project has had the following impacts: • Promotion of youth participation in the economy, for example owing to the project a number of youth, as stated under the Project performance section, are participating in the economy through formal employment, informal employment and entrepreneurship. • Improvement in the general quality of life for young people through procurement of household assets and ability to sustain their livelihoods, • Promotion of social capital which is important for business growth and general survival in times of stress and shocks. Young people in all areas reported that they have created whatsapp groups where they share experiences and ask each other ideas about business. • Financial inclusion: The project ensured financial inclusion of the young people, particularly young women through facilitating special interest rates for them. Young people who received loans and C. Rules of the game B. Voice & influence A. Access to services &assets Household, community, economy and society What norms and laws govern behaviour? Who gets what? Can excluded groups influence the decisions that affect them? 39 have repaid them indicated that they now have a loan record which will help them to access loans in future. They have also established good working relationships with the financiers which will help them in their businesses. Experiences of repeat loans were reported. • Reduction of idleness which is linked to illegal behaviour and conflict in communities. Youth idleness is linked to risky sexual behaviours such as having multiple sex partners in exchange for money and having inter-generational sexual partners (that is young girls and teenagers having sex with men 10 years or more older than them) as a source of livelihood. This presents the risk of contracting HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). This partly explains the HIV prevalence for women aged 15-19 and 20-24 of 4,2% and 10, 6 % respectively while for men these figures are 3.4 and 3.8 % respectively (ZDHS, 2012). Drug abuse becomes an avenue for countering boredom in the pretext of temporarily forgetting their troubles. Drug abuse is closely linked to high crime rates. • Women and men in all project areas reported the reduction of idleness and active participation in the economy particularly among young women. In Mutare, young women in an FGD reported that they would meet at their meeting place which they had named, ‘chill spot’ as early as 8am to gossip until around mid-day. They concurred with a young woman who remarked. We would meet at ‘chill spot as early as 8am to gossip. We would be there until around mid-day. Chill spot gossip brewed conflicts amongst women in the community, but since we joined Z:W project, we no longer have time for gossip. We are always busy. • Human capital development among the youth through imparting of knowledge and skills which have contributed to livelihoods development • Women’s social and economic empowerment through promotion of power with and power within models, that is participation in decision making with men and confidence and self-esteem respectively, • Reduction of domestic violence linked to lack of knowledge on business management by couples. Women in Mutare and Masvingo reported that they would always suspect that their husbands were abusing business funds because there was no record keeping of business transactions. This in most cases resulted in domestic violence. Related to that is, because women are now contributing meaningfully to household income, they are now being involved in household decision making. This has brought transparency and reduction in conflict which would ordinarily lead to domestic violence. • Employment creation: The Z:W project has generated employment and self-employment for young people. Young people reported that they have generated employment for others. Overall, 88.7% of the beneficiaries rated their self-employment status as better than what it was before they joined the Z:W project, 6.3% rated it as the same while 5% rated it as worse due to the harsh economic environment prevailing in the country. For those under employability track , 80% of the young people on internship managed to transition to full time employment. 40 An analysis of the employment status of young people who participated in the VTT programme revealed that 18% were already running their businesses, while 22% were formally employed, while 9% were in the process of establishing their own businesses as Figure 2 shows. Figure 2: Status of Young People that Participated in Vocational and Technical Training It was noted that 43% of those who established businesses were into buying and selling, 14% in dress making, 14% hairdressing and 8% in catering. 85% of those that underwent vocational training sought employment after training. The fact that most of the young people trained in vocational technical training were into buying and selling and some even searching for employment is a reflection of the prevailing economic environment. Young people reported growth in businesses in terms of product diversification, as well as profits generated. They also reported that in the past they did not have systems in place and did not do record keeping for their businesses but this has changed and is impacting positively on the performance of their businesses. Some of the young people indicated that they have opened business email addresses, have business cards, and have registered their companies. Owing to pitching platforms promoted by Z:W partners, some young people have had the confidence to participate in youth expos and trade fairs. In Mutare, it was revealed that one of the beneficiaries of the Z:W project won at the Manicaland Youth Expo. Summarising the impacts of Z:W project on her life, a young woman from Harare trained by PROWEB remarked, I am a woman who offers cleaning services. I started with a contract to clean two branches but now I have 12 branches that I am cleaning. My company is now cleaning in branches that are located in Harare, Bulawayo, Bindura, Gokwe. I started interfacing with PROWEB under the Z:W project in 2016. I received entrepreneurship training. Since that time I have responded to over 50 Running own business 18% Formally employed 22% Establishing own business 9% searching for employment 48% Still under mentorship 3% 41 tender requests. I was using Nemchem chemicals for cleaning but I am now producing my own detergents, under the brand, Cleanvest. I produce pine gel, thick bleach, dish washing liquid and floor polish. I am now selling these in the supermarkets that my company cleans. I started with 6 people, but now I have 52 employees. My monthly profit from cleaning business, excluding the sale of detergents is $3,090. Another young man remarked, After receiving training on entrepreneurship, I started to run my business professionally. I now have an office and I employed an accountant and an intern. I submitted a bid to the Ministry of Health and Child Care and won it. The tender was worth $96,000. To tell you the truth, I have been in construction business but I had never received a loan, but through the Z:W project I managed to secure a loan of $35,000 from Lion Finance. The lessons I received from my mentor about how to handle a loan helped me. I am now a mentor in my own right. Because of my loan payment record, I have been contracted by Lion Finance to renovate a training centre in Ruwa. Gender Equality and Women empowerment: The Z:W project sought to mainstream gender into its activities. In implementing project activities, IYF and its partners were conscious of the need to achieve gender parity and ensure women empowerment. The overall female beneficiaries of the Z:W project constitute 68 percent. Project reports also disaggregated data by sex there by providing a reflective overview of the gender dynamics in the project. Efforts were made to improve women participation by selecting organizations specifically representing the interest of women to participate in the Z:W project. These include AWEP, PROWEB, JPV and Kunzwana. Young women were encouraged to cross over to male dominated trades under both entrepreneurship and vocational technical training. However, the evaluation shows that although there is an appreciation of crossing over to non-traditional areas, more still needs to be done. It seems both males and females feel comfortable in their traditional trades. For example, with regards to vocational training, the following figures obtain. Table 10: Participation of Females in Male Dominated Trades in VTT Course # Females Trained # Males Trained Total Car Servicing 52 159 211 Welding 18 48 66 Building 0 47 47 Carpentry 4 0 4 Motor Vehicle Mechanics 3 60 63 Spray Painting/Panel Beating 20 0 20 Plumbing 2 3 5 Total 99 317 416 42 It was revealed that encouraging cross over to male dominated that have crossed over owing to stereotyping and negative perceptions of the services offered by the woman who has crossed over to a male dominated field. The project has promoted access to services and promoted procurement of assets by some women. In Mutare, women reported that they had procured residential stands from the proceeds from their businesses. Such assets are important as they can act as collateral, for women, who previously were constrained from accessing finance by lack of collateral. Capacity strengthening of implementing partners: IYF built the capacity of implementing partner organizations, in light of the results of Organisational Capacity Assessments (OCAT) conducted. The OCAT session is intended to provide users with a clear conceptual framework, tools, and materials to take a “snapshot” of technical and organizational capacity in various areas. Snapshots are taken at baseline and the review is conducted after 12 months. Through the OCAT process, relative strengths and challenges so that IYF and its partners may prioritize appropriate interventions to address them. Because capacity development is one of the core outcomes of the Z:W program, a rigorous analytical approach was developed.. The OCAT focuses on five Components: 1. Cross-Cutting; 2. Employment; 3. Entrepreneurship; 4. Monitoring and Evaluation; and 5. Organizational Development. Each component encompasses various Technical Elements that are critical to successful youth programming. The OCAT reviews were a continuous process done after 12 months from baseline. The last reviews were conducted in June 2017.The results show an improvement for all the partners in all components. 43 Figure 3: OCAT Partner Performance A representative from PROWEB remarked, Our organisation did not perform well on the area of gender mainstreaming so we received capacity strengthening in this area. We were invited to a number of training workshops by IYF including those on gender mainstreaming. Gender audits were conducted and as an organisation with support from IYF we have responded to the gaps identified by the audit. We now have a gender policy and a gender focal person. We also received capacity strengthening in other areas that include M&E and financial management. We received a number of tools to use in M&E including the Indicator Tracking Table, a monthly data collection tool, and a recruitment form as well as a survey tool. We were also taught on how to input data into the database and how to use the database. We had no experience in working with young people and through working with IYF we are now experts in this area. With regards to gender mainstreaming, partners reported that they used a number of gender mainstreaming strategies in their organizations, after receiving training from IYF. These include: • Gender policy in place • Gender focal person/gender committee in place • Gender neutral venues for meetings • Provision of baby minding services for women with little children when they come for meetings, • Timing of meetings to ensure that they do not clash with women and men’s other gender roles, 363 319 363 283 247 271 224 263 189 277 445 311 243 384 274 407 469 516 468 522 308 411 542 288 366 496 422 404 484 470 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 OCAT Baseline Reviews - Phase II Partners Baseline Scores Review Scores 44 • Encouraging cross over for males and females to venture into businesses traditionally reserved for the other sex Female respondents in all the areas visited reported that they were free to attend Z:W meetings because children would be looked after during the meetings. They had no challenges of trying to find someone to remain with children while they went to attend meetings. However, owing to the fact that at the time of crafting program budgets, implementing partners had not been trained in gender responsive budgeting, they did not budget for gender mainstreaming activities. This affected some of their gender work. Apart from capacity strengthening, participating organizations also reported that they benefitted from networking with organizations that were involved in Z:W project. This social capital helped even in future programs. 3.6 Project Sustainability The ingredients for project sustainability include consultation and participation of stakeholders in the project cycle, a strong sense of project ownership by key stakeholders, capacity enhancement of local stakeholders and project beneficiaries, and the ability to enhance the financial capacity of the project. The evaluation took all these factors into consideration in evaluating potential for continuity of project benefits and activities. Phase 2 of the Z:W project sought to entrench a sustainable foundation for the project by signing MOUs and encouraging stakeholder involvement, and stepping-up capacity building initiatives. The evaluation established that capacity building activities for both IYF and implementing partners under the Z:W project were quite extensive, which resulted in improved performance and attainment of targets and financial reporting. Stakeholder involvement in the project, particularly with regard to government ministries at both national and district levels has been weak. This threatens the sustainability of the project particularly after the official ending of project support. On the part of IYF, the exit and sustainability plan was laid out. For example, with regards to the fund given to MFIs to disburse as loans to young people, the arrangement is that at the end of the project, USAID will use its loan disposition powers to give the funds to some MFIs, after a satisfactory evaluation of the MFIs concerned. However, there will not be special interest rates for young people because the assumption is that young people’s businesses should grow and cannot continue to rely on special interest rates. Some of the implementing partners that include AWEP and RBCT had no sustainability plans that were operational at the time of the evaluation. The main reason being lack of financial resources to implement the sustainability and exit plans. Those without alternative sources of funding were virtually stopping activities and some were about to close down their offices and project staff were already leaving to seek for alternative employment. 45 The knowledge and skills generated through the Z:W project is going to continue being useful and utilised and shared outside the program framework. 4. KEY CONCLUSIONS OF THE EVALUATION The evaluation found the project to be highly relevant as it sought to address a well acknowledged gap in the youth sector. The approach taken by the project promotes sustainability of results and this yielded significant impacts at both the micro and macro levels. Although, one major threat to the sustainability of the project is the prevailing economic environment which has affected both the employability and entrepreneurship components of the project as well as the financial situation of the implementing partner organizations, it was pleasing to note the following results: Table 11: Project Targets and Achievements Project component Target achieved Comment Target beneficiaries 109% Project reached 20 168 beneficiaries against a target of 18 500 Loan beneficiaries 81% Target missed by 19% Financial literacy training 150% Target surpassed Entrepreneurship training 111% Target surpassed Work readiness training 104% Target surpassed Internship placement 117% Target surpassed Vocational and Technical Training 121% Target surpassed Young people with improved resilience 64% The project missed the target by 11%. The target was 75% Young women participating in SME mentorship in occupations underrepresented by women 43% The project target was 20%, hence the project surpassed the target Youth participating in SME mentorships 79% The project target was 26% hence the project surpassed the target by 53% Youth participating in internships placed into formal sector employment 6-month ex post 80% The project target was 30% hence the project surpassed the target by 50% 4.1 Project Relevance Relevance of Project Goal, Purpose and Objectives The purpose and objectives of the Z:W Project are highly relevant and appropriate to the needs and context of youth. Youth in Zimbabwe have been systematically excluded from participating in the economy owing to a gerentocratic culture, unemployment and a lack of capacity of organizations in youth programming. 4.1.2 Relevance and Validity of Project Design 46 Project design was based on a sound foundational information base and the active involvement of the Ministry of Small to Medium Enterprise Development. It was as therefore largely valid. 4.1.3 Strategic Fit with National Policies, Strategies and Plans There is a strong strategic fit between the Z:W Project and national and regional policies and frameworks for youth development such as the African Youth Charter, the Constitution of Zimbabwe Chapter 2, Section 19, and the Zimbabwe Agenda for Socio-Economic Transformation (Key Strategy 4 as the objectives are common i.e. of youth economic empowerment for them to effectively participate in national development processes. The gender mainstreaming elements of the project are also in line with the National Gender Policy. 4.2 Project Effectiveness 4.2.1 Design and Strategy Effectiveness The design and strategy of the Z:W project was largely effective in facilitating achievement of project objectives. The design was flexible to accommodate more partners when the need was realised. It covered 11 urban, peri-urban and rural districts and implementation was through 17 BDS and 6 MFI partners. 4.2.2 Effectiveness of Management Arrangements Management arrangements were largely effective owing to intensive capacity building initiatives targeting implementing partner organizations. 4.2.3 Effectiveness of Monitoring and Evaluation System Financial monitoring of the project by IYF was very strong but programming monitoring was affected by limited budgets to support monitoring of activities particularly for partner organizations based in Harare but without office presence in the project areas. 4.2.4 Effectiveness of Implementation Arrangements Implementation arrangements were generally effective. The project made use of 17 BDS and 6 MFIs who had experience in the work they were engaged to do. The support rendered to the project by the Advisory Board in Harare and the Technical Working Group in Bulawayo facilitated the achievement of targets by implementing partner organizations. There was need however to support these organizations with budgets for post care support to ensure sustainability of the benefits. 4.2.5 Effectiveness in Managing Risks Project managed risks that were within its control or sphere of influence well, for example, continuous training of implementing partner organizations and promoting collaboration and coordination among partner organizations. Other external risks such as an unstable political and socio-economic environment and the donor environment were difficult to manage as IYF had little control over some of the risk factors. IYF and partners should however be commended for maintaining a non-partisanship approach in an environment characterized by political polarization. 47 4.3 Efficiency of Resource Use The project efficiently managed available human and financial resources through following grant management procedures and efficient financial monitoring of partners. More project resources were committed to programming issues compared to staff salaries and benefits. 4.4 Project Performance The Z:W project’s performance in terms of achieving set targets was good as most of the set activity targets were accomplished. There are however a few areas where the project could have performed better as targets were missed. The evaluation took note of the impact of the external environment, which IYF had very limited control over, that affected performance of some project components 4.5 Achievement of Results/Outcomes and Impact The project made commendable contributions towards the attainment of the overall objectives. As reported elsewhere in this report, project activities reached 20,168 direct beneficiaries and this is a significant contribution in youth empowerment. Intensive capacity building initiatives have also improved the capacity of both the youth and the implementing partner organizations in various aspects. 4.6 Project Sustainability Although the project has established a strong foundation for sustainability through intensive capacity building and technical support to implementing partner organizations, limited participation and ownership of the project by relevant government stakeholders and financial instability of some of the implementing partner organizations are the major threats to overall sustainability of project activities and benefits. Without further financial support for post care support, the prospects for sustainability are slim. 5. KEY LESSONS LEARNED An review of the documents as well as interviews with Z:W project staff revealed the following lessons learned during project implementation: • Investing resources in post care support is crucial for projects of this nature • Advisory board and Technical Working Group played a major role in opening internship opportunities and this model should be replicated in future interventions. • Partner coordination is key in private sector engagement. • Involvement and participation of local stakeholders in the design and implementation of project activities is key to ensuring ownership and sustainability of project activities and benefits. • The sustainability of youth programming work largely depends on the level of technical, human resource and financial capacity of the implementing partner organization and hence all the three key tenets need to reach sustainable levels before weaning off these organizations. Some of the partners like AWEP were weaned too early as they were struggling financially to continue with the work. • Effective implementation of activities on the ground requires presence of the implementing partner in the program area. • Mentorship, entrepreneurship training, group cohesion and regular monitoring are key to projects like the Z:W and there is need for more focus and investment in these areas. 48 6. RECOMMENDATIONS ▪ The evaluation recommends an investment in post care support. This support will ensure completion of outstanding work on mentorship and sustainability of benefits. Consideration should be given to supporting organizations that have already recruited beneficiaries, have run successful mentorship programs, have produced good results in this phase and have a presence in the areas where the project activities will be implemented. In order to reach out to more youth, a working model of using local grassroots structures for project support, such as Agriculture Extension officers and Ward Development Officers could be developed. ▪ The evaluation further recommends a long project gestation period, of 5 years, considering the challenging economic environment, particularly for internship placements. ▪ Engagement with national and local stakeholders: For ownership and sustainability of the project, there is need for more engagement with relevant government sectors at both national and district levels on the part of implementing partners. This promotes buy-in by the stakeholders. ▪ Encouraging cross over to male dominated trades without general community awareness on gender issues affect the businesses of people that have crossed over owing to stereotyping and negative perceptions of the services offered by the woman who has crossed over to a male dominated field. To this end, a recommendation is proffered that community gender awareness be considered as central to the program. Annexure Annexure 1: Data Collection Tools 49 End of Project Performance Evaluation of the Z:W Program FGD Guide for Program Participants Thank you for taking time to participate in this Group Discussion. We are independent consultants engaged to conduct a final evaluation of the Zimbabwe: Works Programme. The purpose of the end-term/ performance evaluation will be to assist IYF and its donors USAID, DFID and Sida to determine the effectiveness of the implemented activities and assess strengths and weaknesses in program design and implementation. The evaluation will capture key lessons learnt so that these can feed into the future interventions. The information you provide will be combined with information from other people and relevant documents to understand this programme and the role of your institution and other key actors. Your participation in this programme evaluation consists of a Group Discussion that will last about one and half hours. We would like to audio-record our conversation. To protect your confidentiality, the recording will not contain information that could be used to identify you and will be stored on a password￾protected device, which will be in the custody of ONLY the evaluation team members or in a locked place until the recording is transcribed. After we transcribe it, the recording will be deleted. All your responses will remain confidential and your name will not be linked to your interview. Participation is entirely voluntary, and you can change your mind and decide not to take part at any time before or during the interview. Choosing to withdraw from any part of the interview will not have any consequences for you whatsoever. If you have any questions or concerns pertaining to your participation in this programme evaluation, please contact the evaluation team leader: George Zimbizi on 0772 166 705 or email gzimbizi@yahoo.com or Elizabeth Chigwidi of International Youth Foundation on 0782703047 or email: e.chigwidi@iyfnet.org. Name of youth organization implementing programme:___________________________________ Name of Programme:____________________________________________________________ Project Geographical Location (District/Province): ______________________________________ Ward/Site_____________________________________________________________________ Name of FGD Facilitator: _________________________________________________________ Name of Notetaker:_____________________________________________________________ Confirm the length interviewees have participated in programme (give a range)__________________ Number of Participants:_______Females:______________Males:_______________ Date of Focus Group Discussion :________________________________( dd/mm/yyyy) Starting Time_______Ending Time________Total Time Taken_____________________ 50 1. How and when did you start participating in the programme? 2. What were the main reasons that made you join the programme? 3. What activities have you participated in? 4. What motivated you to participate in these activities? 5. To what extent are the programme activities addressing the needs and aspirations of the youths? • In what way? • What specific needs is the programme addressing? • What other needs did the programme not adequately address? 6. To what extent did the programme benefit the following groups? • Youth in general • males and females- married and singles • youth living with disability • youth living with HIV and AIDS • the environment 7. To what extent did the programme meet the needs of young women and men (gender sensitivity) at the following stages: • Identification and recruitment of beneficiaries • Training • Internship placement • Work placement • Monitoring 8. To what extent did the programme promote, amongst you the participants, the following: • Control and management of resources • Decision making on key issues concerning our lives, including utilisation of benefits from the organisation 9. How efficiently were programme activities and outputs delivered by the organization? • timeliness of delivery • capacity of the youth organization to deliver • responsiveness to your needs and challenges you faced during participation in the programme by the youth organization? 10. What specific impacts did the programme activities have on the lives of participating young men and women? 51 • positive impacts • negative impacts • intended impacts • unintended impacts 11. Are non-participating young men and women any different from those participating in the programme? • If yes in what way? 12. What is the likelihood that programme benefits and activities will continue after external support from IYF? 13. Z:W incorporated series to help females overcome barrier to accessing and completing training and worked to support women in male-dominated occupations, did you benefit from any of these services? If so, what and were the services successful? What else could have been provided/done? 14. What were they key lessons learnt from participating in this programme? 15. What could have been done differently to enable the programme activities to have a more positive impacts on the youths? 16. Any other comments? 52 Section A: Demographics (To be Completed by All) Instructions: Circle the appropriate Code or Complete in white blank spaces A1: Partner A2: District 1) BOOST 2) Empretec 3) JAZ 4) RBCT 5) Restless Development 6) Young Africa 7) AWEP 8) PROWEB 9) SMEAZ 10) KTA 11) BPC 12) Thrive MFI 13)JPV 14) Kunzwana 1) Harare 2) Chitungwiza 3) Goromonzi 4) Mutare Urban 5) Bulawayo 6) Umzingwane 7) Bubi 8) Gweru Urban 9) Masvingo Urban 10) Kwekwe Urban 11) Lupane A3: Name of Beneficiary A4: Sex 1 = Male 2 = Female A5: Mobile No. A6: Age A7: Beneficiary National ID number A8: Intervention (at recruitment on Z:W program) 1 = Entrepreneurship – Start-Up (Have been operating for 6 to 11 months) 2 = Entrepreneurship – Existing (Have been operating for 12 or more months) Final Evaluation Outcome Survey Tool June 2017 Guidance Notes to the Enumerator: My name is ………………………………… ………………., I work for ………………………………………………, an organization that is implementing Zimbabwe:Works(Z:W) project. • As you might be aware, the funding support to the Zimbabwe:Works(Z:W) project is/has come to an end. A final evaluation has been commissioned to assess the extent to which the project improved the lives of the project participants/beneficiaries, their families and respective communities. You have been randomly selected for this survey because you were trained under the Z:W project. The information that you give will be confidential and no reference to your name will be used. The information will be generalized to all project beneficiaries and will be used to prepare the evaluation report. There will be no way to identify that you gave this information. Could you please spare about 20-30 minutes to respond to the questions? • Date of Interview: ………………………………………………………… Date / Month / Year 53 3 = Employability A9: When were you recruited under the Z:W project? ……………….Year ………………..Month Section B: Entrepreneurship Beneficiaries Only B1: Type of Business (multiple responses) 1 = Buying and Selling 2 = Agriculture, poultry, forestry and fishing 3 = Accommodation and food activities 4 = Manufacturing 5 = Energy and construction 6 = Mining and Quarrying 7 = Cosmetology 8 = Art, Entertainment culture education and sport 9 = Transport and Storage 10 = Finance, Insurance and Real Estate 11 = ICTs and Web Development 12 = Artisan 13 = Services 14. Other (Specify)……………………………………………………………………………….. B2: Number of YEARS and MONTHS business has been operating (select the longest if in more than 2 businesses) …………Years ………….. months (B3-B8 refers to the past 6 MONTHS) BEFORE Recruitment Under Z:W CURRENTLY B3: Monthly net profit (monthly turnover minus monthly expenses including salaries) in US$ (NB: Entrepreneur’s salary is not part of the expenses) $........................... $...................... B4: For how many months have you been getting this net profit ………………………………. months B5: Number of FEMALE Employees = = B6: Number of MALE Employees = = B7: Monthly turnover (Total Sales/ Total Revenue for a month) in US$ $........................... $...................... B8: MONTHLY Salary/Wage Bill for FEMALES employed in your business (US$) (EXCLUDING OWNER) $........................... $...................... 54 B9: Monthly salary/Wage Bill for MALES employed in your business (US$)(EXCLUDING OWNER) $........................... $...................... B10: How do you rate your self-employment status – comparing before joining Z:W and after 1= Better 2 = Same 3= Worse B11: Explain reason for your response …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… B12: What do you consider to be the Most Significant Change in your life (either positive or negative) that has resulted from your participation in this programme? ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… B13: Why do you consider this to be the Most Significant Change ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… B14: Does your business fall under the male dominated enterprise? 1 = Yes 2 = No B15: If your business falls under the male dominated enterprise, specify the sector/ business type Sector/ Type of Business ………….………………………………………………… 99 = Not Applicable B16: Were you assigned to a specific business mentor(S) to mentor you on specific business issues? 1 = Yes 2 = No 3 = Not Applicable (Skip to B18) 55 B17: How would you describe the mentorship that you received? 1=it was really very useful for my personal development 2=It was fairly useful 3 = it was not useful at all B18: Which type of life skills training did you receive 1= Partner Life Skills Curricular 2=PTS Curricular 3 = Both 4 = None B19: Which types of intervention did you receive under Z:W? (Circle all that apply) 1= Entrepreneurship Training 2=Financial literacy Training 3 = Access to loans (Specify loan amounts received below) First loan Amount $........................... Second Loan Amount $.......................... Third Loan Amount $.......................... Section C: Employability Beneficiaries Only C1: What educational qualifications do you hold? 1= O level/ A level 2 = Certificate/Diploma 3= Degree C2: Which type of life skills training did you receive? 1= Partner Life Skills Curricular 2=PTS Curricular 3 = Both 4 = None C3: How many MONTHS ago did you complete work readiness training? ……………… months C4: Have you been placed on internship 1= Yes 2 = No (Skip to C13) C5: For how many months did you await Internship placement following completion of work readiness training? ……………… months 99 = Not Applicable 56 C6: How long is/ was your internship? ……………… months 99 = Not Applicable C7: How many months ago did you complete your internship ……………… months C8: Was/ Is your internship under male dominated occupations? 1 = Yes 2 = No 99 = Not Applicable C9: If Internship was/ is under male dominated sectors, specify the occupation Occupation………………………………………………… 99 = Not Applicable C10: Select the one which best suites the type of company you are placed / you were placed. 1= SME 2= Large Corporate Company 3= NGO/ Not for profit 4= Government / Parastatal 99 = Not Applicable C11: Did/ does the internship host organization pay stipend either cash or in-kind towards transport / lunch? 1 = Yes 2 = No 99 = Not Applicable C12: How much did you receive / are you receiving/month? Convert in-kind payment to cash. Cash amount $.............................. In-kind Transport $....................... In-kind Meals $.......................... In-Kind Goods $........................ 99 = Not Applicable C13: Which of these statements best describes your PRESENT situation: 1 = I completed work readiness training but am waiting for internship placement 2 = I completed work readiness training, was placed on internship but I quit 57 3 = I am on internship 4 = I completed my 6 months internship and it has been extended 5 = I completed my internship and I am currently looking for employment 6 = I secured fulltime employment on completion of work readiness training 7 = I secured fulltime employment whilst on internship 8 = I transitioned to full-time employment following completion of my internship 9 = Other (specify)………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… C14: If you have transitioned to fulltime employment, what is your current net monthly income? US$......................... 99 = Not Applicable Section D: Resiliency/ Personal Outlook3 (To be completed by all) Please mark the box below that best indicates how much the young person agrees with the following statements as they apply to them over the last month. If a particular situation has not occurred recently, they should answer according to how they think they would have felt. # Question Not true at all Rarely true Someti mes true Often true True nearly all the time 0 1 2 3 4 D1 I am able to adapt when changes occur.      D2 I have at least one close and secure relationship that helps me when I am stressed.      D3 When there are no clear solutions to my problems, sometimes fate or God can help.      D4 I can deal with whatever comes my way.      D5 Past successes give me confidence in dealing with new challenges and difficulties.      D6 I try to see the humorous side of things when I am faced with problems.      D7 Having to cope with stress can make me stronger.      D8 I tend to bounce back after illness, injury, or other hardships.      D9 Good or bad, I believe that most things happen for a reason.      All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the authors at mail@cd-risc.com. Further information about the scale and terms of use can be found at www.cd-risc.com. Copyright © 2001, 2003, 2007, 2009, 2011 by Kathryn M. Connor, M.D., and Jonathan R.T. Davidson. 58 # Question Not true at all Rarely true Someti mes true Often true True nearly all the time 0 1 2 3 4 D10 I give my best effort no matter what the outcome may be.      D11 I believe I can achieve my goals, even if there are obstacles.      D12 Even when things look hopeless, I don’t give up.      D13 During times of stress/crisis, I know where to turn for help.      D14 Under pressure, I stay focused and think clearly.      D15 I prefer to take the lead in solving problems rather than letting others make all the decisions.      D16 I am not easily discouraged by failure.      D17 I think of myself as a strong person when dealing with life’s challenges and difficulties.      D18 I can make unpopular or difficult decisions that affect other people, if it is necessary.      D19 I am able to handle unpleasant or painful feelings like sadness, fear, and anger.      D20 In dealing with life’s problems, sometimes you have to act on a hunch without knowing why.      D21 I have a strong sense of purpose in life.      D22 I feel in control of my life.      D23 I like challenges.      D24 I work to attain my goals no matter what roadblocks I encounter along the way.      D25 I take pride in my achievements.      SECTION E: GENDER PERCEPTION (TO BE COMPLETED BY ALL) For each question given below, circle the number that best describes your opinion on the issue highlighted. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements? Use the key provided below. # QUESTION 1 2 3 4 5 Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree E1 Women should have equal rights with men and receive the same treatment as men do? E2 On the whole, men make better political leaders than women and 59 should be elected rather than women? E3 When jobs are scarce, men should have more right to a job than women? E4 There are jobs or professions that must be strictly for men (that women cannot do) and others strictly for women (that men cannot do)? Thank you for your time and your willingness to answer our questions. All responses will remain confidential. 60 End of Project Performance Evaluation of the Z:W Program Key Informant Question Guide for Implementing Partners Thank you for taking time to speak with us today. We are independent consultants engaged to conduct a final evaluation of the Zimbabwe: Works Programme. The purpose of the end-term/ performance evaluation will be to assist IYF and its donors USAID, DFID and Sida to determine the effectiveness of the implemented activities and assess strengths and weaknesses in program design and implementation. The evaluation will capture key lessons learnt so that these can feed into the future interventions. The information you provide will be combined with information from other people and relevant documents to understand this programme and the role of your institution and other key actors. Your participation in this programme evaluation consists of an interview that will last about an hour. We would like to audio-record our conversation. To protect your confidentiality, the recording will not contain information that could be used to identify you and will be stored on a password-protected device, which will be in the custody of ONLY the evaluation team members or in a locked place until the recording is transcribed. After we transcribe it, the recording will be deleted. All your responses will remain confidential and your name will not be linked to your interview. Participation is entirely voluntary, and you can change your mind and decide not to take part at any time before or during the interview. Choosing to withdraw from any part of the interview will not have any consequences for you whatsoever. If you have any questions or concerns pertaining to your participation in this programme evaluation, please contact the evaluation team leader: George Zimbizi on 0772 166 705 or email gzimbizi@yahoo.com or Elizabeth Chigwidi of International Youth Foundation on 0782703047 or email: e.chigwidi@iyfnet.org. Name of Respondent____________________________________________________ Position in the organization: _______________________________________________ Length of stay in the position_______________________________________________ Venue of Interview: _____________________________________________________ Date of Interview :____________________________________________(dd/mm/yyyy) Starting Time_______Ending Time________Total Time Taken_____________________ 61 Section A: Background 1. Can you please give a brief background of your organization • How was it formed? • When was it formed • What are the organisation’s objectives • How relevant are your organisation’s objectives to the needs of the youth in the country and to what extent are the organisation’s objectives in alignment with the country’s policy thrust on youths? • Current membership, structure and recruitment process 2. Explain briefly the background/processes that led to your engagement with IYF and specifically, the support you received under the Z:W programme. Section B: Capacity Strengthening 3. What Specific capacity strengthening activities did IYF support during the lifespan of this phase of the programme? Type of Capacity Strengthening Specific Activities Technical Capacity Institutional Capacity Operational Capacity Human Resource Capacity Gender Mainstreaming 4. How relevant and appropriate were the capacity strengthening activities to the different capacity needs of your organization? 5. How effective were the capacity strengthening activities in enhancing your organizational capacity? 6. What impact (intended & unintended, negative & positive) did the capacity strengthening activities have on your organization? Capacity Element Situation before CS Situation now Technical Capacity 62 Institutional Capacity Operational Capacity Human resource capacity Gender Mainstreaming 7. How efficiently were the capacity strengthening activities/initiatives implemented in terms of: • timeliness of activities • Cost effectiveness within budget estimates • Cost vis-à-vis benefits • Models of delivering the CS activities (could the same results been achieved through a different methodology/model but using less resources?) 8. To what extent are the CS activities and benefits sustainable in the long-term without external support from IYF? 9. What key lessons did your organization learn from the CS activities supported by IYF. 10. What key recommendations do you propose for similar support in future to make it more effective in meeting the needs of the youth organizations and their members. Section C: Specific Youth Interventions/Project 11. What specific projects or interventions has your organization been implementing/implemented under the Z:W programme? 12. How many youths have you reached out to under this programme and how? • Membership by gender (how many female, how many male?) • Geographical coverage • Age groups • Youth living with disability and HIV and AIDS 13. Do you think as an organization you had enough capacity to effectively reach out to your members? 14. How relevant were the interventions to the needs of the youth in this country and to what extent are the interventions in alignment with national, regional and international policies and protocols on youths? 15. How effective were the methods/models used in implementing these interventions? 63 16. Achievements: Logical Framework Analysis (Progress to date to be obtained form ITTs from IYF) • What progress did the project make towards meeting its purpose and stated objectives? • What progress did the project make towards achievement of programme goal? • How effective was the project’s M&E system 17. How effective was IYF/the programme in promoting interaction among implementing partner organizations for learning and knowledge sharing? 18. How do you rate IYF’s capacity to effectively support youth organizations? 19. How responsive was IYF to the needs and aspirations of your organization and your membership? 20. What key challenges did you meet in implementing the Z:W programme? 21. What were the key strengths and weaknesses of the Z:W programme? 22. To what extent and in what ways did you mainstream gender, other marginalised groups, and the environment into your programme activities and with what impact? 23. What were the specific impacts (intended and unintended, positive & negative) of the programme interventions on the targeted youths and their respective communities? • How do youth participating in this programme compare to non-participating youths? 24. How efficiently were the programme activities implemented in terms of: • Timeliness of support from IYF (financial, technical, logistical etc) • Timeliness of activities • Cost effectiveness within budget estimates • Cost vis-à-vis benefits • Models of delivering the programme activities (could the same results been achieved through a different methodology/model but using less resources?) • What could have been done differently? 25. To what extent are the project activities and benefits sustainable in the long-term without external support from IYF? 26. What key lessons did your organization learn from implementing programme activities supported by IYF. 64 27. What key recommendations do you propose for similar support in future to make the interventions more effective in meeting the needs and aspirations of the youth organizations and their members? 28. Any other comments?