#u MID-TERM EVALUATION OFTHE NGO SERVICE CENTER CAIRO, EGYPT I Subm~rted to U.S. Agency for International DevelopmentEgypt Y In response lo: IQC Contract No. AEP-00-00-00004-00 wd Task Order No. 804 Development Associates, Inc. 1730 iVonh Lynn Street Arlington. 1;4 22209-2023 August 14,2003 Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................... i\- I. Introduction and Background ............................................................................................. 1 A. Purpose .................................................................................................................... 1 B. Background ............................................................................................................. 1 C. Evaluation Methodology 7 ......................................................................................... - 11. Evaluation Results .............................................................................................................. 3 Evaluation Objective I: Assess the activity's achievements in relation to the expected results ............................................................................................ 3 A. Expected vs. actual results ...................................................................................... 3 ... . . B. Fac~llrat~ng or restralnlng factors? .......................................................................... 4 C. Shift in the role of NGOs from service providers to active community organizers ............................................................................................. 5 D. Public-private dialogue ........................................................................................... 6 ... E. NGO susta~nab~l~ty .................................................................................................. 7 F. Adequacy and effectiveness of the achievements to date in transforming the Center into a sustainable Egyptian entity ............................................................... S G. Adequacy of the activity's monitoring and evaluation function for capturing and reporting on results achieved .......................................................... 9 Evaluation Objective 11: Assess the services provided and their impact for each of the .. 3 act~wty svarious elements ................................................................................................ I I Implementation of the PIE strategy ...................................................................... I I . . 7 Inst~tutlonal strengthening .................................................................................... 1- Effectiveness and responsiveness of the technical assistance (T.A) and the . . 7 training proorams ................................................................................................. 1- . . Activity grants ....................................................................................................... 16 Grant selection process ......................................................................................... 17 Resource Centers .................................................................................................. 1 S Gender promotion and support ............................................................................. 19 Center organization and management ................................................................... 10 Evaluation Objective 111: Review the activity's original design and its impact on . . reahz~ng the intended results ............................................................................................ 11 . . A. Actlv~ty design ...................................................................................................... 2 l B. USAID role in facilitating the achievement of results .......................................... 11 Mid-term Evaluation of the I Augua 14.2003 JVGO Service Center Activiv Cairo. Egypt Development Associates, Inc. C. MISA role in facilitating the achievement of results ............................................ 22 D. Steering Committee role in facilitating achievement of results ............................ 23 E. Role played by the Advisory Board in facilitating achievement of results .......... 23 F. NGO Center support to other USAIDIEgypt strategic objectives ........................ 24 111. Concluding Thoughts: A Recommended Approach to Promoting a Robust Civil Society ......................................................................................................... 26 APPENDICES Appendix A Appendix B Appendix C Appendix D Appendix E Appendix F Appendix G Scope of Work .................................................................................................... A-1 References ............................................................................................................ B-1 Evaluation Team Work Plan ................................................................................ C-1 Evaluation Data Collection Protocols ................................................................. D-1 NGO Sites Visited during Evaluation .................................................................. E-1 Statement of Work ............................................................................................... F-1 Initial Strategy (S03) Encompassing NGO Service Center Compared with the New Strategy (S021) .............................................. G-1 . . Mid-term Evaluation of the 11 August 14,2003 NGO Service Center Activity Cairo, Egvpt ADF BAS A C A CAM CDA cso EEEP ENGOSC GA GOE GTG HDDlDG IDG IT M&E MISA NGO 0 A ORMIM PHNGO PIE RFAs SME SO T A TAP TOT UNDP US AID America's Development Foundation Business Association Strengthening Activity Cooperative Agreement Civic Action Micro Child and Development Association Civil Society Organization Egypt Environmental Policy Program Egyptian NGO Support Center General Assembly Government of Egypt Growth through the Globalization Project Human Development and DemocracylDemocracy and Governance Institutional Development Grants Information Technology Monitoring and Evaluation Ministry of Insurance and Social Affairs Non governmental organization Organizational Assessments Office of Results Monitoring and Information Management Health and Population program NGO activity Prime Implementing Entity Request for Applications Small and Medium Enterprise Strategic Objective Technical Assistance Technical Assistance Planning Training of Trainers United Nations Development Programme United States Agency for International Development ... ,Mid-tern Evaluation of the 111 Augua 14.2003 !\GO Service Center Aniviq Cairo, £apt :Mid-fern Evaluation ofthe !\'GO Service Center Aaivig Cairo. Egtpr This report presents the findings, conclusions and recommendations of a mid-term evaluation of the Egypt NGO Service Center activity. The evaluation was comprised of an American evaluation specialist team leader, an Egyptian social-anthropologist and an Egyptian logistics coordinator. In addition to reviewing documents on the activity and its implementation. the team interviewed key stakeholders in Cairo and site visited twenty NGOs from nine governorates. including all three project field offices and their resource centers. The evaluation was conducted from May 15 to June 2 1,2003. Three evaluation objectives shaped the conduct of the evaluation and provide the layout for this report: 1. Assess the activity's achievements in relation to the expected results: 2. Evaluate the services provided and their impact for each of the activity's various elements; 3. Review the activity's original design and its impact on realizing the intended results. The evaluation team found that the NGO Service Center activity produced results that fit closely (in one instance surpassing) the performance requirements reflected in the four USAID-selected performance indicators. One indicator is at the SO level and three indicators are at the IR level. At the SO level, the NGO Service Center activity assisted NGOs to generate effective actions in public-private dialogue. At the IR level, it assisted NGOs to improve their organizational capacity (as measured by an lndex derived from an organizational assessment (OA) by Center staff) and meet stated milestones in establishing an Egypt NGO Support Center KGO. The activity achieved these results through training and technical assistance to XGOs. -mts to NGOs and resource centers that provide information exchange and nehvorking assistance to NGOs. The grants were aimed at NGO capacity building in several areas. such as organizational design and operations, financial management. advocacy and networking. The performance indicators reflected this purpose by emphasizing NGO outputs (e.g.. effective actions) as the yardstick for measuring achievements. The report documented the Center's success in achieving the goals USAID set for it in the Cooperative Agreement (CA). It also identified areas in which Center performance could be improved. This report concludes with recommendat~ons for developing a USAID civil society strategy that builds on the activity's success by offering suggestions for expanding citizen participation in independent. community-based and sustainable NGOs. Mid-tenn Evaluation of the NGO Service Center Actit7ig Cairo. Egvpt MID-TERM EVALUATION OFTHE NGO SERVICE CENTER CAIRO. EGYPT I. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND A. PURPOSE The purpose of this mid-tern evaluation is to provide USAIDtEgypt Human Development and Democracy/Democracy and Governance Division (HDDDG) with an assessment of the SGO Service Center activity. The assessment will cover 1) the activity's achievements to-date in relation to the expected results; 2) the services which have been provided, their adequacy and impact on achieving the results; and 3) the activity's original design and recommendations to further support the achievements of results. B. BACKGROUND The NGO Center activity was designed to equip NGOs with the tools and means needed for them to play an effective role in the development of E,vt in both service delivery and advocacy. Specifically the NGO Service Center was intended to support development of the following: 1. A strengthened civil society infrastructure linking intermediary and tertiary CSOs to primary CSOs in united action; 2. Greater citizen and CSO awareness of the civil society's necessary role in promoting the interests of all citizens; and 3. Democratic internal governance, sound management practice and effective advocacy methodology and implementation. The effective date of the Cooperative ~greement' (CA) for the NGO Senice Center ("Center,') activity was May 9, 1999. and the Center became officially active on April 1.2000. The C .A was implemented through a Prime Implementing Entity (PIE) comprised of Save the Children (Prime Contractor). America's Development Foundation (ADF). and Infonex. Core USAID funding for the activity was set at S35 million for a six-gear activity (of which only S32.S million was made available at that point through the bilateral agreement). with additional funding from other Mission Strategic Objective Offices (via buy-ins). projected at S23 million. The "Total Program Cost" of the CA as of February 29.2003, is ~39,085.576.' The original activity sought to contribute to USAIDKairo Mission Strategic Objective (SO) 3 and its four Intermediate Results (1~s):' ' Cooperative Asreernen! 263-A-00-99-00034-00- ' Modification of Assistance. Office of Procurement. USAID. February 29.2003. ' Results Packaee: Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) Service Center. USAIDdCairo. Final Copy. March I. 1999. Mid-term Evaluation of the I .-lugun 14.2003 %GO Service Center Activity Cairo. Eapr Strategic Objective 3: Increased Citizen Participation in Public Decision-Making: 1. Intermediate Result 3.1: Increased Civil Society Organization Participation in Public Decision-Making 2. Intermediate Result 3.1.1 : Improved Civil Society Advocacy Skills 3. Intermediate Result 3.1.2: Strengthened CSO Organizational Basis 4. Intermediate Result 3.1.3: Egyptian NGO Center Established The current activity seeks to contribute to USAIDICairo Mission Strategic Objective 21 and one of its Intermediate Results as follows: b Strategic Objective 21: Egyptian Initiatives in Governance and Participation Strengthened 1. Intermediate Result 21.1: Capacity of Civil Society Organizations Improved to Participate in Development The activity design called for a comprehensive approach that included several core activities to be implemented by the Center: 1. An NGO support facility properly equipped with meeting rooms, operating space, basic office equipment including computers and staff; 2. A locus for networking and information exchange, to include a development library and internet access; 3. Technical assistance and training for NGO strengthening and technical advancement; 4. Sub-grants and sub-grant management through the PIE. Two committees assist Center activity. The NGO Advisory Board is comprised of 10 NGOs and meets regularly with the PIE to guide and monitor the activity implementation. The Steering Committee, which met once at the activity outset, is chaired by the Minister of Insurance and Social Affairs (the principal GOE partner with USAID) and includes USAID, the PIE, two NGO and additional GOE representatives. According to the activity Grant Agreement, the Steering Committee is mandated with confirming the eligibility fi of NGOs to receive grants from the Center according to the criteria agreed to in the Grant Agreement namely, that the NGO is registered under Law 32 or under any other law or decree, and that the NGO's program has a social, economic, geographic development focus. C. EVALUATION METHODOLOGY The Team's methodology used a variety of data sources and methods. The data collection protocols and the site selection strategy are provided in the appendix. All of these sources were useful and the team received excellent Center cooperation and access to information. Evalualion Methodology I Review of USAID and Center documents, such as Results Packages and Program Descriptions. lnterviews with Center Management and Staff lnterviews with USAlDlCairo Management and Staff. Site visits to NGO sites and the three Center Field Offices (Cairo, Tanta and Assuit) and their Resource Centers, for interviews and focus group discussions. lnterviews with Project Beneficiaries. lnterviews with Advisory Board and Steering Committee members. lnterviews with members of the Egyptian Intelligentsia familiar with Egyptian Civil Mid-term Evaluation of the 2 August 14,2003 NCO Service Center Activity Cairo, Egypt Societv. 1 The site visits were especially informative. They served to verify the information contained in the various documents provided by US'AID and the Center. They also provided an opportunity to intewiew the presumed. ultimate beneficiaries of the NGO's activities. The Team vetted the site selection strategy and the data collection protocols with USAID and the Center and made appropriate adjustments where necessary. This section of the report will discuss the findings and conclusions pertaining to the three evaluation objectives. Where appropriate, recommendations for Center activity improvements will be discussed. EVALUATION OBJECTIVE I: ASSESS THE ACTIVITY'S ACHIE\%MENTS IN RELATION TO THE EXPECTED RESULTS A. Expected vs. Actual Results Table 1 presents the Center results for the SO and IR performance indicators for which it is contractually responsible. Table 1 SO and IR Results Through 2002 I ! i ! I Sources: US mtegic Objective 2 1 : Egyptian Initiatives in Governance and Participation Strengthened Results Indicator 1 Expecred Resulr i Actual Rcs111r 1. Results indicator: Number of 52 I I I - (in Receipt of Large Grants) I Achieving a Targeted % 18 Improvement on the 1 20 Organizational Capacity Index 90% of target on an Annual Basis i 3. Number of Targeted CSOs I (in Receipt of Small Grants) Completing a Designed ! Activity in Public-Private 3 Dialogue or Specified ! 21 Organizational Improvement 96O. of Target Within the Agreed Period of the Effective CSO Actions in 25 I - Grant i 4. Milestones (1-9) in the Completed \filestones Establishment and Functioning I. Complete Milestones 1.2.3.46 of the Eovotian NGO Sunnorc 1-9' Public Private Dialogue -. . Center 128% of targel . . 2. Complele Milestones 1-6'. * 56% oftarget ** 8?% nf rnroer ate Result 21.1: Capacity of Civil Society Organizations Improved to Panicipate in Development Resulrs indicators I E-~pected Re.wlr.s ,4ctunl Res111ts 2. Number of Taroeted CSOs I " AiDEgypt: EGO Service Center. I / Note: Data in table relate to cumulative results 2000 - 2002. This interval was used 10 make the numbers j comparable; 2003 complete results will be available in September 2003. * NGO Service Center, Semi-Annual Activitv Re~on. April - September 2002. I ** USAIDiEgypt. Results Summarv. mimeo, n.d. i IW-term Evaluation ofrhe 3 Augun 14. ZOOS iWo Service Center Activi~~ Cairo, Em Development Associates, Inc The different achievement assessments for indicator #4 reflect that two different expected results were contained in the material provided to the evaluation team. Depending on which source is used, the % completion ranges from 56% to 83%. Partial 2003 results were reported in arch.^ The 2003 target for SO indicator #1 is 44 effective actions; 21 (48%) have been implemented so far. Performance indicator #2 results will be reported in September 2003. Performance indicator #3 has an expected results target of 21 completed activities; so far 12 (57%) have been completed. Thirty-one active small grants are scheduled for completion by September 2003, so the Center staff is optimistic that the target will be reached. On indicator #4, progress was made via a two-day retreat with the Advisory Board in March to complete milestone #5; milestones #s 7-9 are scheduled for completion in 2003. Conclusion The findings reveal that the expected results closely match the actual results for the four performance indicators in the activity. The findings point to fill1 completion by the contract end date. Consequently, the Center has been successful in achieving the expected results to this point in time. It demonstrated that it could achieve the results the four performance indicators represent. B. Facilitating or Constraining Factors? Findings Our discussions with Center management and staff revealed the application of a conscious strategy of working within existing GOE legal boundaries. The Center can neither fund unregistered NGOs nor support activities proscribed by Law 84. Interviews with Center staff and Advisory Board members pointed out that the under-development and weakness of Egyptian civil society as a major limitation. Moreover, the Center purposely selected NGOs for grants that evidenced in the organizational assessment a need for capacity strengthening a~sistance.~ This meant that Center activities, such as training and technical assistance, had to be tailored to the existing NGO absorptive capacity. It also meant that follow-up was essential to ensure that the training had an impact and would endure in improved NGO operations. "Organizations shall not be allowed to conduct any of the following purposes or activities: I. Set up military or Para-military formations or detachments; 2. Threaten national unit)s violate public order or morn lit)^ (emphnsi.~ is authors) or advocate discrimination against citizens on grounds of sex, origin, language, religion or creed; 3. Practice any political activity exclusively restricted to political parties under the parties law of trade union activity exclusively restricted to trade unions under the trade union law: and 4. Seek profit or practice any profit￾oriented activity." Source: Arab Republic of Egypt, Ministry of insurance Social Affairs, Law (84) of 2002 of Non-Governmental Organizations and Foundations, May 2002. 4 NGO Service Center, Semi-Annual Activitv Report, October 2002 - March 2003. in the Center briefing for the evaluation team, it was made clear to the team that the OA was not used as a means to select grantees, but that the OA results were taken into consideration in the selection process, to ensure that some of NGOs that most needed and could benefit from capacity-building assistance would have that opportunity. Mid-term Evaluation of the 4 August 14,2003 NGO Service Center Activity Cairo, Egypt Development Associates, inc Moreover, a debilitating Egyptian economy can also be seen as a constraining factor." It places immense pressure on the majority of Egyptians who earn barely enoua money to support their families, therefore limiting their time and energy to volunteer for XGOs. I! also limits the capacity of poor communities to contribute financially to NGOs, which bears on their sustainability through community support. Finally, many of the NGOs exist to provide senices to poor people and the challenging economy serves to increase the demand for these semices. C. Shift in the Role of NGOs From Service Providers fo Active Communip 0rganizers7 Findings For most of the NGOs visited, the answer to the question about their role as community organizers was an affirmative one, "we are community organizers". and then, several of them would add that they were also sencice providers. Confusion occurred once we started exploring the workings of the NGOs and the way their staff and members understand "community organization". One can understand ability to organize the community and mobilize local resources as the best vehicle for an NGO to serve the community independently (as much as possible) and, if efficient and successful, to build a strong constituency. Few of these links seemed clear in the minds of those we spoke to in the NGOs. Many of the NGOs visited are almost entirely dependant on foreign funding (e.g.. Love and Giving Association, Gharbiya; Childhood and Development Association, Assuit: Center of Eglpt Family Development, Aswan). Many of them do not envision alternative methods of sustaining their prominence and act~vities. Others (e.g. Al-Ahvany CDA in Aswan and Assuit Cniversity Women Association) have managed for years to mobilize local resources. However. they still have a long way to go to build a large and effective constituency, through which they can become capable community mobilizers, whereby the constituency is active in both runnlng and supporting the NGO, and thus further reinforcing its viability. Efforts of the NGO Service Center in promoting a sustainable NGO role are immense. as is the spirit of experimentation that it is inspiring. Nevertheless, altering ways of thinking will take time. Required are encouragement of persistence, and perhaps a more holistic approach than that currently used. However. promise is evidenced in the community dialogues underway both in the north and south of the country. Through a process of round table discussions and community meetings, NGOs are aiming to engage the community in setting its priorities, detining its problems and needs. and planning its work. One can presume that the community at large will take part in addressing these problems. i.e. it will participate in the solutions. One of these schemes is currently undenvay in Xssiut: in the village of Nazzah Qarar. The NGOs received training on dialogue management. and conducted a community needs assessment so as to have material for the dialogue. However. when asked about the "action" expected, which would involve both the community and NGO. the head of the ' Ahmed Abdalla, '.Eg)pt Before and After September 1 1.2001: Problems of Political Transformation in a Complicated Political Setting," Deutsches Orient-lnstitut im Verbund Deursches Ubenee-lnstitut. March 2003. 'Even though this issue was in the evaluation SOW. the Center COP \%me that the -.shift in the .role of NGOs from service providers to active community organizers' is not a major function of the NGOSC." Comment on the Xlid￾Term NGO Service Center Evaluation, ~"ne 19.2003. Mid-term Evaluation of the 5 Aueun 13.2003 Development Associates, Inc NGO explained that this will consist of signing petitions to get the government to address the issues of concern. Conclusion There is a clearly identifiable need for efforts towards changing the role of Egyptian NGOs into that of community organizers. The Center has invested a great deal of energy in this direction, yet more needs to be done, and possibly in a diversified manner. Recommendations 1. Trainings and TA schemes must establish and aim at a comprehensive understanding of the NGOs' work and their relation to the community. 2. More effort is required to clarify the concepts through which NGOs are meant to re-direct their efforts and redefine their roles (e.g. advocacy, governance, as well constituency building, as discussed in the Report section on training and TA). 3. The follow up teams and the evaluation mechanisms need to take into account the qualitative nature of the NGOs' and the local community's experience of action and mobilization, which necessitates the use of different tools of evaluation and assessment, namely more qualitative methodologies, other than the predominantly quantitative ones currently in use. D. Public-private Dialogue In terms of its four mandated performance indicators, the Center has been most successful in reaching and surpassing its expected results in this area. The activity essentially involves creating venues - seminars, conferences - for people and organizations from the public and private sectors to gather and discuss issues. It also includes conducting studies and reporting on findings to public officials presumably to promote corrective GOE action. Each of the following events is defined as an 'effective action' and reported to USAIDIEgypt. Examples of effective actions from recent Center Semi-Annual Activity Reports are: 1. NGO held conference to discuss new tax law and its effect on SMEs, attended by representatives from the Ministry of Finance, Shura Council and People's Assembly, Local Councils and SMEs. 2. NGO established committees to discuss the usage of irrigation water. 3. NGO held four conferences in Port Said, Ismailia, Minya and Cairo to discuss work opportunities through investment in small enterprises, attended by relevant Governors, recent graduates, Ministry of Manpower officials and invertors. 4. NGO conducted field research on the number of working children in Suez governorate and presented the results to the Governor of Suez and the Ministry of Insurance and Social Affairs. In various locations where dialogues with concerned government officials took place (e.g. El￾Atwany in Aswan; Association for the Protection of the Environment and Community Development, Assuit) the activity positively influenced the nature of the relation between the community and its concerned government authorities. "People could for the first time talk freely Mid-term Evaluation of the 6 August 14,2003 NGO Service Center Acrivify Cairo, Egypt Development Associater, Inc to officials directly and get them to answer their questions, no secretaries or people to come in the way" was the comment of a NGO General Assembly (GA) member and a local authority official in Assuit. It is difficult to underestimate the impact of such an improved and direct relationship between the governing and the governed, even if the process is still ongoing. The Team also found less positive examples of public-private dialogue. In Assuit. for example. the public meetings attended by officials that the Environment Protection Association in al￾Waidlyah held did not lead to solving the community's acute sewage problem. Kor do they seem to be leading in this direction. Here the problem is of a specific nature. where a powerful government body is involved (Ministry of Irrigation), and where advocacy and d~alope went nowhere. Conclusion The Center has demonstrated that it can produce the required effective actions in this area of focus of the activity. The applicability of this conclusion to all conditions is limited. as evidenced in the Sewage example, and needs to be more widely examined. E. NGO Sustainability Findings With a few exceptions, the NGOs visited (especially the CAMS) rely heavily on donor support. (e.g., more than 60% of resource base). to provide the range of sen~ices they now supply. Some existed before the donors arrived but they only provided fewer and reportedly lower quality services. Some received GOE hnding as 'service providers.' Others today receive funding From various GOE ministries. Some of these NGOs undoubtedly will return to a reduced service provider role afier donor funding terminates. Some might even expire. as suggested by their lack of a substantive plan for reaching financial sustainability on their own. For example, the Center of Egypt Family Development in Aswan gets only 7% of its funding from local sources: it is otherwise totally dependent on donor funding (including the Egyptian Social Development Fund) and acknowledged that it lacks a post-donor sustainability plan. The donor dependency issue is even more obvious in the case of the Love and Giving Association in Gharbiya, which lacks any base of local support and, while aware of the problem of donor funding dependency. has so far not set in motion a plan for building a local base for financial sustainability. Sustainability is a key part of the Center's dialogue with NGOs. The Center training and TA stress the importance of NGO sustainability and assists them to prepare for it. Nonetheless. most of the NGOs we visited continue to look to foreign donors as the main source of their future financial support. Some have attracted funding From other donors. They stated that the Center _grant was the key factor enabling them to develop the capacity and visibility that enabled them to gamer additional donor support. Others have networked with other NGOs to leverase their appeal. Mid-tern Evaluation of the 7 Augm 142003 NGO Service Center Aoiviq Cairo. Empt Development Associates, Inc. This current donor dependency is less threatening for NGOs that have successfully established a solid, community-based constituency that will sustain the NGO when donor support ends. They have made an effort to attract broad community participation through public forums and other venues. One NGO took the step of purging its Board of 'ineffective members' and reached out to the community to recruit members who would offer more vigorous and potent input.' Site visits revealed however that very few of the NGOs have reached the participatory plateau whereby they can rely on the community for sustainability. Conclusion Although Center grantees are exploring alternative sources of funding, most persist in looking to the foreign donors as their main source of funding. Few have developed the community as a base for sustainable operation. Recommendations NGOs should be assisted to broaden and intensify their base of community support. Expanding citizen participation in all aspects of the NGOs policy making and operations will move NGOs in that direction. F. Adequacy and Effectiveness of the Achievements to Date in Transforming the Center into a Sustainable Egyptian Entity Findings Formation of a permanent Egyptian NGO Support Center (ENGOSC), the name selected by the Advisory Board, is critical for supporting the work and accomplishments of the Center beyond the period of USAID funding. Planning for the ENGOSC began very early in the implementation of the activities; the Advisory Board has played a proactive role in this process, developing in June 2000 a 'sustainability strategy' that the Center (according to the COP) is following. The plan is for ENGOSC to be established as an NGO and registration is tentatively scheduled for 2003; the COP stated that he saw no problem in completing this milestone. x Children and Development, Assuit. Site visit, June 3,2003. Mid-term Evaluafion of the X Augusf 14,2003 NCO Service Center Activig Cairo, Egypt Milestones in Plan for Establishment of ENGOSC I. Draft sustainability plan 2. Draft internal governance structure 3. Draft mission statement and services profile 4. Founding Board ofDirectors 5. ~h~~~ year plan for organizational developmentand financing 6. Staffing plan and job descriptions 7. Legal registration of ENGOSC as an NGO 8. Proposal to for ENGOSC endowment 9. Proposals submitted to non-USAID donors. foundations and private sector for financial support Securing financial viability for the ENGOSC looms as the prevalent challenge. The ENGOSC will seek to Source: NGO Service Center build a diversified financial base. In addition to fees for service, the plan is to develop potential donor support, including potential support for the creation of an endowment. The Center has begun the 'fee-for-service' element of the plan (based Development Associoter, Inc on a subsidized fee schedule), to gauge the potential market for ENGOSC services. Observation tours to several countries (e.g., India, South Africa) assessed the operations of similar, successfUl organizations. The Center held a retreat this year to discuss the draft of the ENGOSC technical design. The advisory recently approved three new initiatives aimed at strengthening the Center's role as a sector support institution, those being: 1. Collaboration (invited) with the World Bank in planning and financing a pilot progam of "Development Market-place Skills" grants to generate innovative ideas in labor skills and job creation; 2. Implement Advisory Board ideas to award especially effective -mantees; and 3. Liaise with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to develop a 'network of NGO networks' active in the sectors of the UN Millennium Development ~oals.' Conclusion The Center began in 2000 to develop a strategy for its eventual transition to an E~~tian NGO. It has followed the strategy, adjusted it when appropriate, and taken concrete steps towards its realization. The major barrier by all accounts will be securing a solid financial support base to guarantee its sustainability. G. Adequacy of the Activity's Monitoring and Evaluation Function for Capturing and Reporting on Results Achieved Findings The Center established an Oftice of Results Monitoring and Information Management (ORMIM) to manage its monitoring and evaluation (M&E) process. ORMlM uses an impressive array of M&E tools to track Center activities, gather information on implementation effectiveness and convey results. These include organizational assessments. effective actions reports and customer satisfaction surveys. The organizational assessments (OA) are comprehensive appraisals of NGO organization and operation in four key areas: internal governance. advocacy, NGO management and financial management. They are conducted before and after grant awards. Gender is an integral dimension of all four areas. The assessments are conducted as part of the pre--man1 award process for all large grantees, and the score is part of the annual performance indicator set and planned results are compared to actual results. Seventeen NGOs have received one annual assessment, while three have had a second annual assessment. 10 9 NGO Service Center. Semi-Annual Activitv Repon. October 2002 - March 2003. 10 NGO Service Center. "List of Organ~zations that Have Received at Least One Annual Assessmen! of Organizational Capacity to May IS. 2003". PDF File. M*I-term Evaluation ojrhe 9 August 14 ZOO3 NGO Service Center Adivig Cairo. Eapr The effective action reports track the accomplishment of 'effective actions,' comparing actual actions completed, to expected actions for a given time period. Effective actions are part of the CA performance indicator set. A third aspect of the CA performance indicator set is the founding of an Egyptian NGO Service Center as an enduring successor to the Center. Progress on the indicator is reported in terms of completed milestones, presumably leading to full realization of an Egyptian Center. The customer satisfaction surveys seek timely feedback from the 'NGO customers' on the quality and effectiveness of the training, Technical Assistance (TA), and other assistance provided by the Center. They are very candid and revealing. Center staff reportedly uses the survey results to adjust Center operations to enhance their responsiveness, efficiency and effectiveness. The Center does not collect data on the 'ultimate beneficiaries' of their NGO customers. These include, for example, the people purportedly served by the NGOs receiving Center grants. Namely, the mothers of children with learning disabilities getting help from a Center-funded NGO and the would-be community members who recently acquired access to potable water. The Team understands that these 'people-level' results, or beneficiary results, were not part of the CA (or its 'results set') and, fittingly, the Center should not be held accountable for their achievement. Nonetheless, beneficiary results data complete the story of the extent to which citizen participation through NGOs is an effective means to enhance the lives of community members. Conclusions The Center has established an M&E system that compares favorably with successful NGOs in the United States. Comprehensive M&E information is collected not only on the results reported on the four performance indicators, but also on the NGO organization and management processes that produced them. This information enables both results tracking and Center-NGO performance improvement. The Team did not have the time to do a thorough data quality assessment; hence, for the most part it accepted the reported results at face value. Inten~iews with ORMIM staff and site visits, however, revealed a commitment to collecting credible information. The main drawback to the M&E system, in the Team's opinion, is the absence of people-level impact data. Recommendations The Team collected 'beneficiary results data' from a subset of the NGO sites visited. The purpose of this exercise was to assess the feasibility of collecting this information, both from a cost and utility perspective. The Team found it was feasible and therefore recommend that the Center allocate part of its remaining resources to collecting beneficiary results data. WJ Mid-term Evaluulion of the 10 August 14,2003 NGO Service Cenler ActivitJ. Cairo, Egypt I I, Developmenf Associates. Inc EVALUATION OBJECTIVE 11: ASSESS THE SERVICES PROVIDED A!VD THEIR IMPACT FOR EACH OF THE ACTIVITY'S VARIOUS ELEMENTS A. Implementation of the PIE Strategy Interviews with Center management and staff and the site visits showed a close fit between the implementation strategy followed and the plan presented in the CA pro-gram statement. The organization of the Center and the activities undertaken are basically those proposed. The four critical assumptions underlying the design of the activity for the most part seem to hold." The GOE has allowed the Center to independently approve sub-pts. NGOs have shown a willingness to pay for a fee for services though it is unclear to the Team how much of the Center's operating costs could be covered by these fees.'' The third assumption refers to Law 32 (1964), which has been replaced, by two successive laws. Law 153 (repealed) and Law 84 (current Law). Law 84 sets the terms under which an NGO may exist and operate and therefore defines the conditions under which the Center may work with NGOs. Under the Law. for example, the Ministry of Insurance and Social Affairs can dissolve an NGO by administrative decree, without a judicial determination. By logical extension, Law 84 will affect the establishment of an Egyptian NGO Support Center as an NGO, as well as its ability to receive funds and work with other NGOs. The final critical assumption is that the registration (as an NGO) and functioning of an Egyptian NGO Support Center reportedly is on schedule to be registered as an NGO by the end of 2003.'' A discussion with the COP indicated several adjustments to the proposed strategy. One notable change was to increase the number of Institutional Development Grants (IDG) to deal with a deficit in the quality of large grant proposals. Another was to raise the funding ceiling on the small grants from LE 10K to LE 25K, and then eventually to LE 5OK. Another realization was that the Steering Committee was playing a minimal role in the Center activities. This meant that most of the external guidance and advice would come from the Advisory Board, which has continued to play an active and constructive role. Such a pr0actiL.e role for the Advisory Board was foreseen in the design and is clearly stated in activity's documents and in the Grant Agreement. Conclusion The Center activity has been implemented in accordance with the original PIE strategy. Minor adjustments have been made in response to project learning and changing circumstances. The basic PIE strategy. nonetheless, has remained the same. 11 Results Package. Non-Go\~ernmental Orpnizations (NGO) Service Center. Final Copy March 1. 1999. tinited States Agency for International Development. Cairo. Egypt. " The evaluation team leader requested information on the total amount of fee paymenrc collected to date (June 2003), from the Center COP. but as of the writing has not received this information. I' NGO Service Center. Semi-Annual Repon. October2002 - March 2003. .Mid-term Evaluation of the 11 August 14.2003 AGO Service Center Acriviq Cairo. Egvpr Development Associates, Inc. B. Institutional Strengthening Findings The field interviews yielded substantial evidence that the Center has been successful in strengthening NGOs as institutions. Many of the grantees had heretofore lacked even the basics of a modem organization, such as a mission statement or personnel and financial management plans. The Center's grant selection process was intended to assist a good portion of these less developed NGOs. The Center training and TA aimed at increasing the capacity of NGOs to operate as efficient and effective organizations. As stated in a Center briefing for the Team, its " .... focus is on organizational development rather than personalities."'4 Virtually all of the NGOs visited, even those who expressed some reservations, credit the Center with providing them with useful tools that many did not have beforehand. Some NGOs also credit the Center with strengthening their capacity to attract funding from other donors. Their improved capacity appealed to the donors. A good example is the Love and Giving Association (Gharbiyah) that was able to attract a large grant from the Egyptian-Swiss Development Fund to expand it services. The Center implemented a 'customer satisfaction survey' to appraise its training and TA performance with large grant recipients. The surveys were very frank in their appraisals, pointing out specific criticisms of a particular training exercise. Staff purportedly uses these data to fine￾tune their training programs. The organizational assessment is another tool used by the Center to monitor its institutional strengthening effort. NGO grantees receive an OA in both the pre-award and post-award periods to measure their growth as an organization. Although a bit abstruse in its scoring methodology (e.g., score weighting procedure), the OA index score is intended to provide a quantitative measure of institutional strengthening progress and is included in the Center's results set. Conclusion The Center is doing a good job of strengthening the NGOs it works with. It uses basic, sound organizational development principles and techniques to improve NGO institutional capacity. C. Effectiveness and Responsiveness of the TechnicaIAssistance (TA) and the Training Programs Findings It is important to note that many of our interviewees do not clearly distinguish between the process of organizational assessment, technical assistance, and the training schemes the Center implements. They see them as parts of a single process of technical assistance. Many complained about the length and difficulty of the organizational assessments the Center conducts in the pre￾14 Center Briefing for Evaluation Team, May 20, 2003. Mid-term Evaiua?ion of the 12 Aug~rst 14,2003 NGO Sewice Center Aeriviiy - ' - CI.", Development Associntes, Inc grant stage (as discussed elsewhere in this report). However, in every NGO this evaluation covered, all agreed that the process was an educational and highly beneficial one. Their view of the work of the three-member TA teams was always positive. "They guide us to bener ways of doing our work" was a refrain we heard repeated in many NGOs. One commonly agreed-upon positive impact of the TA is much better documentation. which in many cases did not exist before the Center's intervention. This was not only done for better management but also to keep records that are open to a larger number of individuals. thus making these organizations more transparent and more open to review by their constituencies. Many of the Center's trained and supported NGOs keep the minutes of their board meetin, US on public display for all interested individuals who visit their premises. These displays documented discussions and differences as well as decisions taken. As a result of the TA and the Center's training, the majority of the NGOs we reviewed had changed their financial systems to fit USAID standards. Understandably some felt forced into this change to qualify for the Center's funding. Yet the accountants and treasurers we spoke to commend the work of the Center in the area of financial training and follow up. Man?; of them see the current system of work they achieved with the Center's help to be superior. The response of interviewees to the training was mostly positive. They felt the training was of high quality: the trainers professional, the material helpful and informative, and the training facilities and logistics most convenient (ironically, and as the field data indicates. some respondents felt that too much money was spent on hotel accommodation). The trainees ageed that their comments on the evaluation forms they filled were seriously taken into consideration. Many of them detected changes in the way the training was subsequently conducted that corresponded to their (and others') comments in previous workshops. Finally. many who got an opportunity to attend training anended by trainees from other parts of E,gpt saw the workshops as an opportunity for networking and exchanging experiences. There were also some conflicting assessments expressed about the training regarding the amount of Center consultation with NGOs about their specific training needs. Center management says that it has an 'open door' to training suggestions. According to the Chairperson of the Assuit University Women's Association, however, the NGOs there had no say in choosing the training subject matter their staff members received. In the case of Al-Shadidah in Aswan. the Team heard a similar story. That NGO received, through the Oflice of the Regional Federation of NGOs, a form listing training workshops to fill out with the names of attendees. Al-Shadidah stated that it had no say in choosing the workshop subject matter. A more positive assessment was stated by the Network for the Advocacy of Women's Civil Rights in Sohag. where the person interviewed stated that a thorough consultation process took place. A significant point highlighted by an internal governance TOT trainee. also in Assiui. is the need to "Egyptianize" the training content, i.e. to bring it closer to the Egyptian reality. find local examples and experiences to present. even if they are negative. A Center pro-gam officer in Assiut involved in managing the community dialogues. (see discussion above). ayeed with that critique. Nevertheless, and even if there is still a long way to go, an achievement of the Center's work in TA and training is the introduction of new concepts into NGOs work in Egypt and into the Mid-term Ewluntion of the .\'GO Serwice Center Arriviq Cniro, E~pr Development Associates, Inc. common use of the Arabic language. Concepts such as networking and advocacy were hardly used in Egypt before, nor did they have a clear equivalent in Arabic. Now they do, thanks to the Center's efforts. The Team's field interviews provided examples of the impacts of the training and TA. To begin with, thanks to emphasis on constituency building, in many NGOs, the size of the General Assembly increased, and coupled with a higher level of NGO activities, the TA at times led NGOs to become more involved in local activities. To quote the secretary of an NGO in Aswan that worked with the Center (Al-Aaqab): "Before [working with the Center] we [the NGO's staff] used to sit alone, now our premises are a whole building that replaced the two rooms we had before, and you can hardly find a place to set your foot, our Association is everyone's hangout.. . we never have trouble getting people to attend our activities." It should be noted that Al-Aaqab is an atypical example in which a small grant included training that led to a larger role for women thereby enhancing this constituency and aiding the NGO to successfully approach other donors. The amount of non-monetary resources this NGO had (e.g., social capital) plus the resources it received from the Center is unique. More common is the situation where a relatively impoverished NGO (e.g., weak community ties and low social capital) receives a small grant and a limited amount of training even though it says it needs and wants more training. 1s Even with its resource base, a major threat to al-Aaqab's future is the security of financial support or lack thereof. Here, as in many cases the evaluation team covered, foreign funding (from the Center and other sources) brought a new life to the NGO. The proposal writing skills the Center provided seemed, in the opinion of interviewees, to be the immediate response to funding needs. The few who have already incorporated proposal writing into their organization are either running well endowed NGOs (originally), or are trying to find ways to establish such endowments, i.e. obtain funding for profit making projects that will sustain the NGO. The exceptions to this are organizations that usually managed to obtain funding from local sources, be it donations, government support or other sources (e.g., Women Society of Assuit University for Integrated Health & Social Development and Health Improvement Association in Darnanhour, Behirah, a member of the Aman Network). Here, as is evident in the section above on the organization's role as community organizers, the newly acquired capability of proposal writing, coupled with a new willingness to approach foreign donors, was not properly combined with the comprehensive understanding of the NGOs' work that would make the ultimate goal of all the new skills and knowledge the organization'sindependence and hence sustainability in the long run, even if at a lower, yet easier to sustain level of activity. A positive impact that may have not been clear to the Center's TA and training planners is the new way the NGOs' internal govemance mechanisms relate to the community, particularly in Upper Egypt. Beyond more democratic internal govemance and a larger constituency, a story we repeatedly heard in Upper Egypt, both in Assiut and Aswan, is that many of the community development associations the Center worked with used to function along tribal lines. Their boards were divided between the various big families in their communities. The concern was that of community balance rather than effective community service (let alone empowerment or l5 Association for the Protection of the Environment and Community Development in Assiut, site visit, June 3, 2003 Mid-term Evaluation of the 14 August 14,2003 NCO Service Center Activig Cairo, Egypt Development Associates. Znc mobilization). In several of these organizations the Center's intervention changed this situation and raised the significance of open elections of board members, emphasizing efiiciency rather than family origin. In Upper Egypt where tribalism is still powerful this is a significant achievement. The success case mentioned above, (al-Aaqab), is one where the NGOSC-funded project and training on gender awareness worked well. There are currently a larger number of women in the GA and women are the majority of the NGO's board members. This type of change apparently is occurring in other Center-assisted NGOs as well. Overall the interviewees commended trainers and TA's work, yet the evaluation ream could detect shortcomings, which mostly stemmed from either resistance to the change the Center aims to achieve or from (seemingly) failing to fully understand the concepts the Center is reaching. In an extreme example of misunderstanding is the chairwoman of an NGO in Alexandria who touted her organization's impressive achievements in the field of advocacy. Her evidence for this claim was their great success in marketing mushrooms (a project of the NGO) since she (incorrectly) assumed that the success in marketing mushrooms was an indicator of successful advocacy work. Moreover, in this particular case and others, there was evidence of clear resistance to a more democratic praxis inside the NGO, and also an unmistakably condescending attitude towards both community members at large and other NGOs. Problems with internal governance, in spite of training and TA follow up. were clarified during our short meetings with NGO heads and board and staff members. In many cases one person dominated the NGO presentation throughout the meeting, allowing very little opportunity for others to say much if anything at all. And in other cases a strict hierarchy was plainly visible. in which (in a certain case in Behira), the network's head was ordering members of other YGOs around and insisted on speaking for the present (yet largely silent) beneficiaries. These examples and others support the Team's distinct impression that the Center's training on internal governance, in spite of NGO endorsements, has so far not taken hold to the degree that NGO managers exhibited new and different behaviors (during some of the Team site visits) that do reflect a highly participatory and democratic governance philosophy. The Team's field work suggests that the training has emphasized the technical (i.e.. more 'academic') aspects of governance and some Center efforts seem to have limited the use of new modes of thought and action. Conclusion The Center's training assistance reportedly has been a great help to the assisted KGOs. The site visits found, however. that there still existed a need for a more integrative approach to the training materials and the concepts taught. There is aiso a need for more involvement of the NGOs in choosing their training if the activity strives to be demand driven. Finally. it was obvious from the site visits that the Civic Action Micro grants (CAM) grantees desired more training and follow-up. Mid-tern Evaluation of the 15 August Id. ZOO3 NGO Service Center ActivirJ. Cairo. Ewpt Development Associafes, Inc. Recommendations 1. Trainings and TA schemes must start from a comprehensive understanding of the NGOs' work and their relation to the community. 2. More effort is needed for illuminating the concepts through which NGOs are meant to re￾direct their efforts and redefine their roles (e.g. advocacy, governance, and constituency building). 3. The follow up teams and the evaluation mechanisms need to take into account the qualitative nature of the NGOs' and the local community's experience of action and mobilization, which requires different tools of evaluation and assessment other than the predominantly quantitative ones currently in use. 4. A more consistently applied process of consultation with the NGOs to identify their specific training needs and adapt the training to those needs would help avoid the situation where NGOs felt that they were supplied training yet were not asked about what specific training they needed and wanted. 5. The approach to training in internal governance needs to underscore the interdependence of the concepts (e.g., internal governance and community advocacy) and how action in one sphere (internal governance) is necessary to gain legitimacy in another (community advocacy). D. Activity Grants The majority of our interviewees agreed that the Center's grants responded to their NGOs' needs and made a positive contribution. On the other hand, it was also evident that the communities these NGOs purportedly serve played a negligible role in choosing the projects the Center funded. This small community role was acknowledged by one of the Center's senior officers in Assiut who explained that "we know these projects were not chosen through a thorough process of community participation or even consultation, yet we work to make this the case in their [i.e. the NGOs] future activities." The positive impact of the grants on the community was highly evident in some cases. In the case of a network in Sohag and an NGO in Aswan that works on women's civil rights, identity cards were issued for women who previously had no legal identity, let alone a modicum of status. Many of the advocacy campaigns seem to have succeeded in attracting government attention and, more importantly, encouraged the community to be more open about its grievances. It is clear that in many cases the Center's support brought the NGO activity to the forefront of attention and allowed NGOs to gain the attention of their communities. Interviewees suggested that the shortcomings of the grants always stemmed from what they perceived as a rigidity and narrowness. In almost all the locales we visited, interviewees wished the Center's grants could have covered the acquisition of assets for the NGOs (or networks), either to avoid future expenses (for example the grant would cover rents but would not pay for purchase of a premise, even though the cost might have been the same), or for the possibility to Mid-ferm Evaluation of the 16 August 14,2003 NCO Service Center ActiviQ Cairo, Egypt Development Associates, Inc invest part of these grants in projects or an endowment that would sustain the NGO in the long run. Perhaps a more pervasive concern, and as one of our interviewees strongly argued for. is that the grants should also invest in their service delivery activities, rather than focus only on training and technical assistance. As a mayor of a village in Mennoufiyah put it. "we want more than all of this talk talk talk." The fundamental premise of this point is that bener services for an NGO's target group will enhance the very goals the TA and training schemes aim to achieve. Enhancing an NGO's constituency and achieving its sustainability is impossible without proper investment in its role as a service provider. Conclusion Overall, the grants vitalized the NGOs, and in some cases seem to have succeeded in improving the condition of the groups the NGOs serve. Grantees. however expressed the clear perspective that grants should go beyond just TA and training to encompass improvement of service to the community themselves. E. Grant Selection Process Findings The Center uses a comprehensive grant review process. The process is designed to select XGOs that show the most active interest in participating in the Center's activity. express a need for institutional strengthening and would benefit from the Center's training and TX. To date. approximately 13 RFAs have been issued, 134 proposals have been approved for final processing and final changes and 120 grants worth LE 27,320,362 or 53.7% of the sub---\ fund were awarded.I6 There are a few NGOs that received more than one Center grant. Interviews rendered a positive assessment of the selection process. They felt the process was very advantageous to them. It identified important weaknesses (e.g.. financial management) in their NGO operations and they received some beneficial TA (eg, application and proposal writing workshops) to help them prepare their final application. Although there was some petulance about the financial reporting requirements (relating to L'SAID regulations). and limitations on NGO investments, all of the NGOs expressed satisfaction wvith the selection process. None volunteered suggestions on its improvement. Conclusion The grant selection process appears to be working well and is viewed by the grantees as valuable to them. 16 NGO Service Center. Semi-Annual Activitv Renon, October 2002 - March 2002. Mid-term Evaluation of the 17 Augua 142003 ?VCO Senice Center Acrivify Cairo. Eglpt Development Associates, Inc. F. Resource Centers Findings The Center activity includes the Resource Centers, one at each of the three field offices in Cairo, Tanta and Assuit. The evaluation team visited all three Centers. The Resource Centers are equipped with computers, including Internet access, (www.ngocenter.org.eg), documents and other relevant reading materials (English and Arabic) and workspaces for visitors. They also distribute the Center's Newsletter, 'Partners,' and other materials, such as those produced by CIVICUS. There are currently over 160 subscribers to the Resource Centers. The centers are intended to serve as a 'locus for networking and information exchange.' NGOs can now access some of the Center's resources via the Internet; future plans are to put their entire holdings on the Internet. This should prove practically convenient to some NGOs visited that said that travel to the Center was difficult because of its distance from them. In April 2003, Resource Center started to register all visitors, noting why they came to the Center and the materials and assistance provided to them. Conduct of a user satisfaction survey is under consideration. In addition to providing information and assistance, the Centers implement outreach activities. They host roundtable discussions and community dialogues designed to provide information and stimulate discussion on important issues for NGOs, such as financial management, gender, Law 84, advocacy and governance. Interviewees who used the Centers reported that they obtained good help and their visit was worthwhile. As noted, the one problem mentioned was the long travel time to the Resource Centers from some of the more remote communities. Conclusions The Resource Centers reportedly provide useful services and information to those who make the effort to use them. It has begun in 2003 to generate hrther improvements in the form of expanded Internet materials, visitor registration, which should enhance efficiency and provide a basis for tracking results. The Resource Centers do not collect data that would enable a credible assessment of their impact on NGOs or the NGO sector." The collection of user satisfaction data on the Centers services would begin to form a basis for such an assessment. 17 lnteniew with Coordinator - Resources Center, Cairo Office, NGO Service Center, June 2003 Mid-term Evaluation of the 18 August 14,2003 NCO Service Center Activify Cairo, Egypt Developmeru Associates, Inc G. Gender Promotion and Support Findings The Center has emphasized that its gender activities are not for 'w0men only.' Its focus has been on examining and understanding relations between them to create a balance. 1 include the vision. interests and needs of both men "To ensure women's participation in development. they need to be more than jug recipients of services. and play an active role as co-pmen in the design, implementation and evaluation of the differences betweenmen and and the socio-economic roles they play. It seeks to address the sources of women's rights and duties in relation to men and the formation of 1 and women. " development interventions. In this regard. access to information, service and resources should be equal for both, NGOs can play an role in [he process needed to bring about the necessa? transformations of the development asenda to I The Center's Gender Plan contains the I Source: NGO Sewice Center following approaches: 1. Provide NGOs with necessary TA to analyze target populations in their socio-economic contexts and promoting consultation and participation of the NGO constituency for women and men. 2. Promote policy dialogue approaches and provide NGOs with mechanism for conducting advocacy campaigns that focus the attention of women and gender issues at the national policymaking level. 3. Support existing networks or forming sub-sector clusters interested in addressing gender disparities. 4. Stimulate public awareness and dialogue to identify and address gender-based needs and to reduce gender discrepancies. 5. Promote increased and equitable participation of women in governance and decision￾making positions in their respective NGOs. 28% of the Center grants concern women's issues, ranging from raising awareness of women's civil and legal rights, to issues related to female-headed households. and to empowerment of women. As an imperative pan of the organizational assessment of individual NGOs. a sender analysis is conducted and assistance provided as considered necessary. to improve the NGO's adoption of gender concepts in its organizational policies as well as its pro-gams~activities."" 42% of the in-country training opportunities were provided to women NGO representatives. Training covered areas of internal democratic governance, tinancial management, networking. advocacy skills, women participation in public decision-making and strategic planning. In addition, 26% of participants attending the in-country training events. international conferences, workshops and symposiums were women. The evaluation fieldwork confirmed the importance of women in the Center's activities and the Egypt NGO sector in general. The emphasis in the Center's NGO training on gender equity was evidenced in the participation of women in NGO leadership positions. This balance was Much of the information for this discussion of gender was provided by the Center in a series of computer tiles. Statement of Work Mid-Term Assessment of the Gender Activitu: NGO Service Center (263-0268). Mid-term Evaluation of the 19 Augua 14.2003 ?GO Service Center Acfiviv Cairo. EgpI Development Associates, Inc observed not only in NGOs focusing on women's issues (e.g., Women's Business Association) but widely across the sites contacted. A success story of the Center's efforts in the areas of both networking and gender is the Network for Advocacy for the Civil Rights of Women in Sohag. The network includes 13 NGOs that have been working on expanding awareness about women rights as well as issuing legal documents for women who previously had no legal status (birth certificates, Identity Cards, etc.) So far the network, in collaboration with concerned local bodies managed to issue hundreds of identity cards and birth certificates, which in their own turn gave the beneficiaries a legal status they did not enjoy before. The team had the chance to interview one of the project's beneficiaries, who had obtained a birth certificate, with which she obtained an ID. With the latter she obtained a small loan (L.E. 5000) and is now running her small dairy products business. With the new ID she is also about to attend literacy classes, which she was previously unable to attend due to the lack of necessary documents. Much of the awareness about these possibilities, according to her, came from workshops the network held. This network, it is worth noting, is considering converting into a federation (of NGOs), and thus obtain a more stable and permanent form. Conclusion The Center has implemented a comprehensive strategic plan to advance its gender agenda. Gender is a key part of the organizational assessment, and gender training is incorporated into the provision of assistance. The NGO site visits indicated that this effort is paying off in women's expanded involvement in NGO leadership positions and policy making. H. Center Organization and Management. Findings The Center has evolved into an organization characterized by several positive attributes, including: 1. A matrix organization with delegation of key functions to Cairo Office departments; 2. Decentralized decision making-authority to its two field offices in Tanta and Assuit; - 3. Transition of management to Egyptian personnel; 4. Centralized financial management controls in Cairo; 5. A modem management information and IT system to provide timely information to management; and 6. A close working relationship with its Advisory Board. Interviews with the COP and department managers revealed a strong commitment to the success of the Center and in-depth knowledge of its operations. Of particular note is the conscientious effort to transfer management authority to Egyptians in the planning for the eventual establishment of the Egyptian NGO Support Center. As of this writing, the COP is the remaining non-Egyptian in a top Center management position and, in fact, is the only full-time nowEgyptian in the Center. Mid-term Evaluation of the 20 August 14,2003 NCO Service Center Activig Cairo, Egypt Development Associates. Inc The field offices reportedly are managed by Egyptians, who have a large degree of decision￾making authority, such as adjusting grant activities in light of new circumstances. They keep the Cairo office informed via e-mail and other means. The PIE team appears to be working according to its planned collaboration. The team did hear that there is a high level of staff turnover but obtained no direct information on the causes or consequences of that turnover. Conclusion The Center appears to be functioning efficiently and effectively. It has installed the systems of a well-managed organization and is moving steadily towards an ultimate goal of transferring the Center to full Egyptian control as a registered NGO. EVALUATION OBJECTIVE 111: REVIEW THE ACTIVITY'S ORIGIKAL DESIGlV AND ITS IMPACT ON REALIZING THE INTENDED RESULTS A. Activity Design Findings The NGO Service Center was designed in 1998 under SO 3, "Increased Citizen Participation in Public Decision-Making." While the citizen was and still is a central component of all Democracy and Governance activities, the primary focus and emphasis of the %GO Service Center activity is and has since its inception been building the capacity of NGOs. The activity provides NGOs with the tools and means to play a more active role in the social and political development of Egypt. Even though the project was conceived under SO 3. the NG0:'CSO was the target and focal point for the assistance. As designed. the project intended to build strong organizations capable of voicing citizen concerns, increase the frequency with which they voice these concerns, and to secure recognition of NGOsICSOs as a legitimate voice in decision making. At the time, as well, the indicators identified for measuring success where geared towards measuring improvements in NGO capacity and the actual engagement of XGOs in the public sphere, through dialogue with the government, awareness campaigns among other venues. In the course of revisiting USAIDiEgypt overall strategy in 2000. the democracy and governance objectives were consolidated and modified (SO 2 1 being the new objective) to bring them more in harmony with Egyptian political reality. At that time. the project was already designed and contracted out to Save the Children. This modification of the level and wording of the strategy was not seen as necessitating a modification of the rational. objective or design of the NGO Service Center. The change in wording of the IR (from "Increased Civil Society Organization Participation in Public Decision Making" to "Capacity of Civil Society Organizations Improved to Participate in Development") can be viewed as a less direct way of expressing the objective. thereby reflecting Egyptian political reality. In other words, since it was thought that the intent of SO3 and its respective IR 3. participation in public decision making, would be perceived by the Egyptian Government as an overly intmsive role for a donor to play, it therefore had to be clarified. Mid-tern Evaluation of the ? 1 Augun 14 2003 AGO Service Cenrer Activiq Coiro. Egpt Development Associates, ZnC In conclusion, under both strategies, the old and the new, the NGO was the focal point for assistance, and hence the indicators were designed to capture this increased capacity of NGOs and their ability to participate in the public arena. Conclusion The Center has followed the course set by USAID in the activity design. It has methodically followed the activity design and implementation. It has undertaken activities compatible with the prevailing NGO law. It has also worked to achieve USAID performance indicators. 19 Recommendations USAID should reassess the utility of relying solely on the present strategy in its efforts to strengthen civil society in Egypt. Whether USAID is the appropriate agent to initiate a legal reform activity aimed at changing Law 84 is debatable. The Team believes this to be a foreign policy issue that clearly is beyond the scope of the Center. Nonetheless, the success of such an initiative would greatly benefit the NGO sector in Egypt and thereby contribute to a strengthened Egyptian civil society. Likewise, the performance indicators should be re-examined to see if they are providing the type of information needed to track progress in stimulating and expanding citizen participation in civil society through NGO involvement. This examination may point to a need to collect more qualitative data on the local community's perception of the efficacy of NGOs working with the Center in stimulating citizen participation to play a larger role in the management of their communities. B. USAID Role in Facilitating the Achievement of Results The activity was in danger of never getting off the ground in the May 1999 - April 2000 period. Law 153 was issued in 1999, just as the project was being readied for launch. It was decided that the launch of the NGO Service Center be delayed until the time when the law's executive regulations were issued. Delays in its launch seem to be linked to U.S. objections to the nature of the relationship between the project and the GOE, namely that the Center would have to operate under the confines of the Egyptian NGO law 153 and the presumed negative implications of this requirement. USAIDIEgypt management and staff managed to keep the activity alive and it was launched in April 2000. It was clear to the Team that the Mission people managing the activity are highly committed to the activity goals and take a proactive approach towards supporting the Center in its implementation. Interviews with Center management and staff reinforced that impression, noting that the Mission staff has been routinely supportive and helpful. '' It is worth noting the way 'effective actions' are treated conceptually and, hence, numerically in Center progress reports. The reports do not distinguish among effective actions in terms of their substantive importance (or significance) as measures of Center progress or achievement. Every effective action is conceptually equal to every other effective action when they are added up and reported. A more qualitative analysis of these actions in terms of their substantive contribution to the Centers purpose would meaningfully extend the analysis beyond simply counting the number of effective actions. Mid-term EvaIuation of rhe 22 August 14,2003 NGO Service Center Activity Cairo, Egypt Development Associates, Inc Conclusion USAIDEgypt management and staff working on the Center activity made possible its activation and have continued to provide timely and effective support to Center mana, uement. C. MZSA Role in Facilitating the Achievement of Results Findings The NGO Grant Agreement specifies The Ministry of Insurance and Social Affairs (MISA) as the GOE implementing entity, since, as mentioned earlier, all NGOs must register with the Ministry. At the same time, several specific tasks and responsibilities were assigned to the Steering Committee rather than to MISA. Early on in the activity. MISA attempted to go beyond the responsibilities defined in the activity Agreement, and instead assumed the role of the Steering Committee, an even broader role than was envisioned by the design for that Committee. Some Ministry staff attempted to expand the role of MISA by taking responsibility for confirming NGOs eligible to receive grants from the Center. This was seen by USAID as undue interference, causing delays in the processing of grants. The issue was resolved by the Mission through an agreement with the Minister to confine the roles and responsibilities of each party to those delineated in the Grant Agreement. Conclusions MISA has not played an important role in facilitating the achievement of Center results. Recommendations The relationship of MISA to the Center should be monitored to ensure that the Ministry is adhering to the agreement to confine it roles and responsibilities as stated in the Grant Agreement. D. Steering Committee Role in Facilitating Achievement of Results Findings The Minister of Insurance and Social Affairs (MIS.&) chairs the Steering Committee. which includes USAID. the PIE, and some other GOE representatives. In theory. the Committee is responsible for providing overall guidance and oversight for the Center acrivity. Inteniews with MISA and Center personnel revealed that the Committee has met once since the project began and our impression is that it has had no role in 'facilitating the achievements of results.' Conclusions The Committee has not functioned to provide either guidance or oversight. Recommendations The Recommendations regarding MISA in C. above applies here. Mid-term Evaluation ofthe !VGO Service Center Adiviv Coiro. Egypt Development Associates, Inc. E. Role Played by the Advisory Board in Facilitating Achievement of Results Findings The Advisory Board ("Board") is comprised of 10 NGOs and works closely with the PIE in guiding and monitoring the Center's activities. It meets monthly. According to interviews with Board members, it serves an advisory, not a decision-making role. As one member described it, the Board is a sounding board for the Service Center management team. One member commented that the Board members are all very busy people and, therefore, have to budget their time accordingly. They expressed confidence that the Center was operating according to its work plan and effectively the Board did not feel the need to play a more 'hands￾on' role. 20 Members of the Board also serve as gatekeepers for grant applications. " They may review the Center's annual work plan and offer suggestions, as they deem appropriate. Center management states that the Board has been very helpful in advancing the Center's objectives. By all accounts, the Board and the Center have developed an effective working relationship. Conclusions The Board is functioning according to its anticipated role and providing timely and useful advice to the Center. A productive working relationship has evolved. . NGO Center Support to Other USAID/Egypi Strategic Objectives Findings The Center activity provides a buy-in mechanism for other USAID SOs to obtain NGO strengthening assistance. Center staff provides capacity-building training. These buy-ins are displayed in Table 2. To date, there have been only two buy-ins, Health and Population and Economic Growth. Table 2: NGO Service Center Buy-ins Of the SO offices listed above, the Evaluation Team completed interviews with, and received written material from, SO offices 16, 19 and 20. The reported findings apply to these offices. SO 20 Total -- - - 20 According to the Center COP, the Board ". ..suggested an independent External Review Committee and nominated members for it. This is the current system. The CAMS were not presented to an external review committee." Written comments on the draft, Mid-Term Evaluation of the NGO Service Center, June 19,2003 " Interview with Member, NGO Advisory Board, Cairo, May 2003 Mid-term Evaluation offhe 24 August 14,2003 NGO Service Center Activig Cairo, Egypt Strengthened $1,500,000 Healthier, Planned Family $7,000,000 $8,500,000 !rid Developmenr Associates. Inc Assistance to SO 16 was limited to the Business Association Strenglhening ActiviIy (BXSA). The BASA objective is to' "...assist the evolution of an exit strategy for Gro\vth through the Globalization Project (GTG) and the transition from 'Aid to ~rade.'~' It seeks to do this b:- strenglhening governance and leadership of the Egyptian business associations in order to boos1 their capacity to support export gowth through enhanced business competiriveness. The Center adapted its grant and service delivery procedures for BASA cluster sub--mnts. B.AS.A -mnr applicants followed a two-stage competitive grant selection process. Follo\ving a preliminary selection, BASA TAP teams work with the applicants to help them develop their proposals. The TAPS also complete an OA to establish a baseline. In the post-award phase. the TAP teams assist the suh-grantees in carrying out their activity and building their capacity as an NGO. d Interviews with USAIDEgypt staff working on BASA were mixed in their appraisal of the Center's contribution. They credit the Center with expanding the knowledge base about business associations through preparation of a Directory of Business Associations at the start to find out rr' how many existed. They were, however, unimpressed by the proposals for sub--gants. asserting that they were poorly prepared. They also stated that there was no evidence on the impact of the J BASA training effort since the cluster grants have only existed for a short period of time and so far have not generated results data. rp The Health and Population program NGO activity (PHNGO) seeks to strengthen the NGO sector's contribution to National Health Service provision. The Center supports this objective through NGO capacity development at the PHNGO and sector levels. The buy-in presumably d combines the Center's NGO expertise with the USAID's experience in health and population services. USAID/Egypt Health and Population staff interviewed did not report a substantial contribution of the buy-ins to their program. Collaboration was marked by disagreements over the sub--mtee selection process, perceived delays in the Center's assistance delivery and the claimed absence of concrete results from the Center's activities. One person stated that the Center lacked the appropriate, specific substantive expertise to help their program. This person also said that her program did not plan to invest more buy-in funding because the expected results from the buy￾ins so far had not come to pass. The environment sector (ENR-SO 19) manages the Cairo Air project. a S60 million effort in the Egypt Environmental Policy Program. EEPP has $60 million for TA and S1 10 million in direct grants. The NGO component, although it has had funding, has been dormant for several years. ENR is in the process of finalizing its buy-in to the NGO Service Center CA. The Center's role will be to involve NGOs in the EEPP pro-pm activities. It seeks to build up NGOs in the environment sector. It plans to work with 40 - 80 NGOs through about 20 rants. Center activities will include: raising awareness of issues about the following: the Red Sea: monitoring Nile river water; outreach activity: training in NGO skills; networking; and helping GOE do strategic thinking. No actual work has been initiated so there are no results to report. >, -- Business Association Strengthening Activitv (BASA): Prowsal for Phase I and 11, July 15.2001. mimeo. Mid-fern Evaluation of the 25 Augusf Id. 2003 AGO Service Cenfer Aniviq Cairo. Eglpr Developmenr Associares, Inc The Team has documented the degree of success of the Center in achieving the goals set for it in the CA. It has also identified areas in which the performance of the Center could be improb-ed. This report concludes with recommendations for an improved approach to promotion of civil society, one that builds on successful Center components. It also offers suggestions for expanding citizen participation as the basis for creating independent, self-sustaining NGOs. The strategy focuses on possible actions at the national level and the cornmunit). level. NATIONAL LEVEL The report has alluded to the restrictive nature of Law 84. Law 84 constrains XGOs and other civil society organizations (e.g., human rights) organizations in the arena of citizen participation.23 An interview with a former E,gptian Anorney General, a member of the Center's Advisory Board, suggests that some of its restrictions (e.g., pertaining to freedom of association) are, unconstitutional.'% this context, we recommend that USAID make known its support for legal reform aimed at demonstrating the developmental benefits of an active. energized civil society. A three-step process is outlined below for how USAID might structure its support for such reform: 1. Commission an analytic report on Law 84 that details its most constraining provisions and where it might be adapted or improved; 2. Support the establishment of suitable forums with key stakeholders in the public and private sectors to review and discuss the report's findings and help shape sugsestions for the NGO Law; and 3. Generate a dialogue with those GOE decisionmakers who would be key to any deliberations regarding the Law. Such an initiative could enhance the Center's efforts but realistically should not be a Center responsibility. The decision to launch the initiative must be informed by the advice and input from all relevant, public and private sector stakeholder groups. COMMUNITY LEVEL The NGO Service Center activity hypothesizes that NGOs offer a viable channel for stimulating and directing citizen participation towards affecting development in Egypt. In order to envision how such participation might embody a more robust, proactive role, the evaluation team has proposed a model (see Figure 1 on the following page). This model conceptualizes the role of citizen participation in the context of the Service Center. It also poses a cause- "The citizen must be at the center of democracy governance pro-pms. Civil society and its constituent CSOs are onl>- as strong as citizens themsel\es - and an informed and acrive citizen is ready and eazer to exercise his her rizht to engage in responsible civic action for the public good." Source: Pro~nm Descriotion. NGO Senice Center activity. USAID Ezp. mimeo. " For a recent example of this control see: .'News from Democracy Egypt: Human Rights Organizations Denied Registration Under New Law of Associations," Lawven Committee for Human Rirrhts. June I I. 2003. " NGO Advisory Board member, Cairo. May 2003 . - Mid-term Esoluarion of the 26 August I4 2003 !VGO Service Center Arriviq Cairo. E~pf Development Associates, Inc. and-effect sequence in the form of link,ages between citizen participation, the role of the Center in strengthening citizen capacity to act on its own behalf, the achievement of meaningful change through social action, and culminating in the empowerment of citizens to continue to act on their own behalf to elicit beneficial social and economic change. Key to this is the role of the Center as an intervention in providing training, TA and grants to NGOs, resulting in the empowering of NGO memberships to act on their own and their communities' behalf. The Center has so far provided significant capacity to the NGOs, but it is the team's perception that it has not yet reached the point where citizens themselves, through their NGOs, have begun to take on the broader role of citizens in a civil society. Our envisioning of what is possible is not intended as a criticism of the Center per se. Rather it is meant to empower the Center and the NGOs it serves to move to the next critical stage of development, namely to promote a broader, more proactive participation of citizens in their and their communities' development. Several linkages determine the validity of the model. The most essential is the active, widespread participation of citizens in the design and operations of the NGOs. This participation extends beyond the activities of the NGO members to include members of the larger civil society. This ensures that the NGO represents the interests of citizens, and that citizens come to view themselves as NGO stakeholders. They see their participation influencing what the NGO does and therefore feel connected to the results it achieves. The Center intervention assumes that the package of training, TA and grants will increase NGO capacity to produce effective actions that ultimately will lead to improving citizen's (i.e., stakeholders) lives. They will meet important citizen needs. Mothers with leaming-disabled children will get effective help and citizens will gain access to potable water. They will also develop NGO advocacy skills that will help expand the potential benefits of Center activities beyond the immediate beneficiaries by raising the potential for influencing policy choices on a broader level. The next component is critical: the NGO stakeholders must see that their participation in the NGO reaps material benefits for them. This is the "return on their investment" (ROI) of their time and energy. The ROI has to be real and tangible; it must make a positive difference in their lives. This benefit is especially important in a country such as Egypt with its wilting economy in which most people are struggling just to survive. The opportunity costs of participating in the NGO have to be offset by worthwhile benefits." It is the linkages among citizen participation, effective NGO actions meeting important citizen needs, and the understanding that this participation returned concrete benefits that will lead to increased citizen participation in the community at large. Absent these linkages, the call for "citizen participation in civil society," despite its laudatory appeal, is just one more demand on their time and one that offers uncertain payback. '' The Center COP wrote, ''In my opinion, the low participation of Egyptian citizens in NGOs is due to the low perception of NGOs and, therefore, reform of the NGO sector is necessary for any significant improvement of citizen participation." (Comments on the draft report, Mid-Term Evaluation of the NGO Service Center, June 19, 2003.) The recommended model discussed in this report notes the issue of citizen awareness of NGOs as important to participation, positing that this 'low perception' will improve to a higher level of awareness (and hence participation) as citizens see the tangible results of their participation in the form of substantial benefits for themselves and their community. The Center COP'S comment on the need for 'reform of the NGO sector' parallels this report's recommendation and rationale for USAlD support for legal reform aimed at a review of Law 84. Mid-term Evaluation of the 27 August 14,2003 NCO Service Cemr Activiv Cairo, Egypt bw kid Uu) id a81 brr bin Pub 'urn Wli id* lib \.id Yd L w Development Assoc&es, Inc FIGURE 1 Citizen-Based Model of the NGO Service Center Proposed by the Evaluation Team Chapter I1 noted that the activity was initiated in a period of a heated Egyptian political-legal environment. The Center has been sensitive to this environment, therefore designing and implementing activities that were realistic and practicable. It has not, however, contributed to the already heated environment by taking on this "cause" of proactive promotion of civil society ideals or action. It is not proposed here that the Center play such a formal, advocacy-based role. Rather, it is its focus on citizen participation through the NGOs it supports and the issues those organizations espouse that is its strength. Advocacy in the context of the continuing heated debate over Law 84 and civil society generally is frankly too big a role and too far astray for a program or activity such as this to play. The Center has clearly raised the capacity of NGOs, as affied earlier in this report. It was also reported that this increased capacity has resulted in NGO provision of needed sewices to ultimate beneficiaries, as indicated in the positive responses of the limited number of beneficiary interviews cited. The linkage of improved NGO capacity and services to a broader base of the population, however, is not self-evident. First, citizen participation in the policy and operations of the NGOs is unclear. The impression from the field interviews is that 'citizen participation in NGOs' in fact refers mainly to NGO staff and some of the members and less to the broader citizenry. Only a few of the NGOs visited, for example, reported that a broader base of the citizenry actively participated in the NGO grant application process. Citizen participation in NGOs beyond that of its membership (e.g., public forums) is necessary to sharpen the Mid-!em EvoZunfion of the NGO Service Center A&&y Cairo, Eg~pr 28 August 14.2003 Dwelopment Associates, Inc perceptions of NGOs as providing viable opportunities for widespread citizen involvement in civil society. The second linkage in our model (Figure 1) encompasses the realization by citizens that their NGO participation produced tangible benefits. They see the utility of their participation and that it has led to the provision of effective services to meet important needs. This realization reinforces their participation and leads to more widespread, sustained future civil society involvement. CONCLUSION The Center activity strategy in theory remains viable and has been implemented in a feasible manner within a restrictive political-legal environment. Less clear are the implementation results pertaining to the two linkages discussed: 1) general citizen participation in NGO policy and operations; and 2) citizen awareness that their NGO participation has led to the provision of effective services (i.e., member benefits). It is not that the Center has failed in building on these linkages, since they were not integral to the design of the Center to begin with. Rather, given its accomplishments to date, the Center should now consider directing some effort towards ensuring that citizen participation in NGOs is widely based in the community. This would mean expanding citizen participation in NGOs to encompass the broader community through training and TA in establishing public forums. Such forums would become integral to the NGO policy process. Achievement of citizen awareness requires assistance to NGOs to proclaim their accomplishments in a way that enables the public to appreciate and apprehend the linkage between citizen participation and the provision of effective services. This will ensure that citizen participation in NGOs promotes the development of a citizenry in key influential areas of their society. Egypt, Mid Term Evaluation ofthe NGO.dodEvalQCJ0 Mid-term Evaluation of the 29 August 14,2003 NGO Service Center Activity Cairo, Egypf Appendix A Appendix B Appendix C Appendix D Appendix E Appendix F Appendix G Scope of Work .................................................................................................... A-1 References ............................................................................................................ -1 Evaluation Team Work Plan ................................................................................ -1 Evaluation Data Collection Protocols ................................................................. D-1 NGO Sites Visited during Evaluation .................................................................. E-I Contact List .......................................................................................................... F- I Original Strategy (SO) Encompassing the NGO Service Center Compared with New Strategy .................................................... G-I :Wid-tem Assessment of the JuIy 9.2003 NCO Service Center Adivivif). Em. Cairo APPENDIX A To provide Human Development and DemocracyDemocracy and Governance Division (HDDDG) with a team to conduct a mid-tern assessment of the NGO Senice Center activity with regards to: 1) assessing the activity's achievements to-date in relation to the expected results; 2) assessing the services which have been provided. their adequacy and impact on achieving the results, and 3) reviewing the activity's original design and providing recommendation to further support the achievements of results. USAID assistance to Egyptian non-governmental organizations (XGOs) dates back to 1976. Over the years, assistance to the NGO sector has shifted from focusing on 3GOs as mainly service providers to promoting the potentially broadened role that NGOs can and should play as partners in the development of Egypt. This shift has been in sync with the increasingly apparent linkages between the ability of a country to achieve and sustain economic, social and political gains in national development, and the prevalence of transparent and good governance. citizen participation being one of its main foundations. In this regard, NGOs (and the broader civil society in general) assume a leading role as they represent a legitimate venue through which people can participate and take an active and influential role in shaping decisions that affect their lives. The NGO Service Center is USA1DIEg)pt's prime assistance to the NGO Sector. The activity contributes to the achievement of Intermediate Result 21 .I: "Capacity of Civil Society Organizations Improved to Participate in Development,- which in turn contributes to SO 21 "Egyptian Initiatives in Governance and Participation Strengthened." The NGO Service Center. which was designed in collaboration with Egyptian NGO representatives is equipping NGOs with the tools and means needed for them to play an effective role in the development of Egypt. in both service delivery and advocacy. The activity is implemented via a Cooperative Agreement with Save the Children FederatiodUS in partnership with American Development Foundation and lnfonex. referred to as the Prime Implementing Entity (PIE). The NGO Service Center Grant Agreement was signed with the GOE in 1998, the Cooperative Agreement with STC in 1999, and actual implementation began in April 2000. Implementation of the activity is guided by two committees. the NGO Advisory Board (NC). and the NGO Service Center Steering Committee (SC). The first Committee, SC, is comprised of I0 NGO representatives. and is active is guiding and monitoring the implementation of the activity along side the PIE. The Steering Committee which is chaired by the Minister of Insurance and Social Affairs (MISA) includes among it members a USAID representative. the PIE, two NGO representatives and some other GOE representatives. This Committee is responsible mainly for providing overall guidance and oversight of the activity. Mid-tem Assessment offhe NGO Service Center Acfiviy Eglpf. Cairo Dwelopment Associates, Inc. I& To achieve the intended result "Capacity of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to participate in Development Improved", the PIE has identified three principle areas of focus that could be '* summarized as follows: ib@ b Supporting the technical and institutional capacity of individual NGOs: This entails providing NGOs with knowledge and practice in the areas of internal democratic governance; civic action; sound and efficient management, financial management, gender, and networking. lir Supporting the infrastructure of civil society at large: By promoting networks and U.IW information exchange among NGOs, promoting dialogue with government and the business sector, formation of gender network, development of a website, newsletter, media and conference for public awareness . UY 1 Leaving behind a sustainable Egyptian entity capable of providing NGOs with a range of services from training, technical assistance and material support to networking .4L4 opportunities and information. Three Performance Indicators (PIS) are used to measure achievement of results at the IR level as Q follows: b PI #I - Number of targeted CSOs (in receipt of large grants) achieving a target uu percentage improvement on the Organizational Capacity Index on an annual basis. 1 PI #2 - Number of targeted CSOs (in receipt of small grants) completing a designed activity in public-private dialogue or specified organizational improvement within the bn agreed period of the grant. b PI #3 - Milestones (1-9) in the establishment and functioning of the NGO Service Center. w As for measuring the activity's contribution to SO- level result, one indicator is used as follows: Li b Number of effective CSO actions in public-private dialogue. (This includes all effective CSO actions achieved by large and small grants). ubd The Center provides four forms of support to eligible NGOs: technical assistance and training, grant assistance, networking and information exchange services, and operational support. The PIE adopts a systematic approach for intervention principally centered around Targeted u yl Assistance Packages (TAPS) which are comprehensive service packages tailored to the needs individual NGOs. To ensure, national coverage, the NGO Service Center operates in Cairo with two field offices, one in Tanta and the other in Assuit. ~UIU To date, implementation is proceeding in a timely and smooth manner resulting in satisfactory achievements, both in terms of delivery of assistance and the achievement of results. LUY In addition to the core activities aimed at achieving IR 21.1, the PIE provides an umbrella mechanism for supporting NGO strengthening objectives under other USAID/Egypt Strategic Ulr Objectives (SOs). To date, the PIE is providing support to two USAIDIEgypt SOs, namely, Population and Health (SO 20) and Economic Growth (SO 16). L,u -" Mid-Term Assessment of the A-2 July 9,2003 NGO Service Center Activity Egypt, Cairo 31 Y-8" Development Associates, Inc. The evaluators should use the following questions as a broad framework for addressing the three main objectives of the mid-term assessment as follows: OBJECTIVE 1: ASSESSING THE ACTIVITY'S ACHIEVEMENTS 1% RELATI05 TO THE EXPECTED RESULTS To what extent, in terms of adequacy and effectiveness, has the NGO Service Center actiwi~ been able to achieve the ZR sought and contribute to the intended higher IeveiSO results? Did the NGO Service Center achieve the expected results relevant to the targets set for this point of time? How have the accomplishments contributed to the achievement of the intermediate result, and contributed to the achievement of the SO level result? Identify facilitating and constraining factors. To what extent did the activity succeed in promoting a shift in the role of NGOs from service providers to active community organizers for sustainable development? Identify best practices to achieve role change? Assess a number of the public-private partnerships realized in terms of quality and effectiveness. Assess the extent to which these public-private dialogues!partnerships reflect a change in the nature of the public discourse, and trends in NGOs participation in the economic, social and political spheres? To what extent are the realized capacity improvements of individual NGOs and improvements in the sector at large sustainable? How adequate and effective have been the achievements to-date with regards to transforming the Center into sustainable Egyptian entity capable of providing services to the sector beyond USAID assistance? Assess the activity's monitoring and e~aluation function and in terms of its adequacy in capturing and reporting on the results achieved. OBJECTIVE 2: ASSESSING THE SERVICES PROVIDED AND THEIR IMPACT FOR EACH OF THE ACTIVITY'S VARIOUS ELEMEKTS To what extend are the services provided by the Center - training, rechnical assistance, grants, networking and information exchange senices, and operational support - appropriate, and have had an impact on each of the activity's areas of focus? b How adequate and in sync was implementation vis-a-vis the strategy outlined in the PIE'S program statement? Mid-Term Assessment of the A-: July 9.2003 AGO Service Center Activity Eepl. Cairo Development Associktes, Inc I..d r What has been the impact of institutional strengthening for NGOs? How effective and LIW responsive have the technical assistance (TA) and the training programs been to NGOs' needs? Specifically, what has been the quality and impact of technical assistance and training provided to the NGOs? Was appropriate TA provided to sub-grantees? Will the tiil TA and training program have a lasting effect? Has there been effective and adequate follow-up to ensure this? lw r How effective and adequate are the TAP teams in providing the services to the NGOs? r How have the grants enhanced the capacity of NGOs? Assess the utility of providing w grants and their potential for sustainability. Are the kinds of different types of grants provided responsive to the needs of the NGOs? Was the review process for awarding grants adequate? What was the impact of these grants on building local NGO capacity? w What lessons have been learned? b What has been the impact of the three Resource Centers? How have they been helpful to LJ the NGO community served? Are the services provided through the Resource Centers making a difference in NGO capacity? LJ b How active has been the NGO Service Center in promoting networking among NGOs? Have the strategies adopted to promote networking been effective? Have networks been established as a result of the activity's efforts? What are the roles of these networks and UP what impact have they had? r Assess the PIE'S efforts with regards to promoting and supporting gender issues? b~ b How adequate and effective has the NGO Service Center's organizational and management structures and processes been in supporting the achievement of the expected kt results? Review and assess the functions performed by the field offices, and are they fulfilling the objective of extending the outreach and widening access to the activity? hv OBJECTIVE 3: REVIEW OF ACTIVITY'S ORIGINAL DESIGN AND ITS IMPACT ON REALIZING THE INTENDED RESULTS but Was the activity as designed responsive and realistic for achieving the results set? r Are the critical assumptions still valid in light of the new NGO Law and the government C*P discourse and practices in dealing with NGOs? b Assess the role played by both USAID and MISA in facilitating the achievement of the WI. activities results. b Review and assess the role played by the activity's two committee, the Steering wii Committee and the Advisory Board in facilitating achievement of results. b Review and assess the decision to utilize the NGO Service Center as an umbrella \is w mechanism for supporting other USAID/Egypt strategic objectives work with NGOs. Iwll Mid-Term Assessment of the A-4 July 9,2003 NCO Service Center Activity Egypt, Cairo 3f td# Development Associates, Inc LEVEL OF EFFORT AND TIMING The assessment requires two consultants, preferably one international and one local. It is anticipated that the contractor will conduct the evaluation in six weeks. with a six-dav workweek authorized. The assessment is to begin o/a early May 2003. The final time line fir performance will be negotiated between HDDDG and the contractor subsequent to their arrival in Cairo. COMPOSITION OF TEAM Team LeaderKivil Society (NGO) Specialist: (expatriate position) Social Scientist with proven experience leading teams in design or evaluation of similar t?pes of projects. He /she has extensive experience with democracy and governance issues. community development and participation, NGO capacity building programs, systems of operation and types of activities. Heishe has experience with institutional analysis and operations research. and familiarity with qualitative and quantitative data collection methods and their application. Also. hekhe has excellent facilitation and interpersonal skills. Helshe is familiar with USAID procedures and reporting requirements. Experience in Middle East countries preferably in Egypt is an asset. The team leader shall be responsible for the overall coordination of the assessment including the initial design and methodology. Helshe will be responsible for the preparation and submission of the final report. Social Scientist/Commtmir): Development Specialist: (local hire position) Social Scientist with proven experience in community development activities. He"she has extensive experience with NGO capacity building. community development and panicipation. and NGO operation and management systems. Familiarity with the broader Egyptian political scene is needed. Znterpreter/Administrazive Assistant: (local hire position) InterpreterIAdministrative Assistant with good command of both the English and Arabic languages. METHODS AND PROCEDURES It is expected that the evaluation will be firmly based on relevant documentation and interviews with relevant individuals. 1. The team will visit a sample (selected randomly) of the NGOs participating in the project activities - both the grant component and the capacitlt building support services component. The team should ensure in their random selection geogaphic coverage. and inclusion of wide range of NGO including small remote NGOs. Mid-Term Assessment of the :WO Service Center Acrivip Eapt. Cairo Development Associates, Inc 2. The team shall base their findings, conclusions, and recommendations on data, documents, and other information provided by the NGO Service Center, the sub-grantees and, and USAID staff through site visits and interviews. 3. The team shall consult and review the appropriate and necessary documentation to complete their task. The documentation consulted shall include the RP Document, the RP Agreement and its amendments, the Cooperative Agreement and its amendments, quarterly reports, semi-annual reports, the PIE'S records, and other documentation as requested and as deemed relevant. 4. The team shall interview appropriate USAID (Front office, DG staff, other SO staff as appropriate), Ministry of Insurance and Social Affairs (MISA), NGO Service Center in Cairo and the two field offices, and US Embassy staff as appropriate. REPORTS AND DELIVERABLES AII reports shall be submitted in English, unless otherwise stipulated, to the USAID Team Leader. The team shall submit 10 hard copies of the final Report to USAID, in addition to the Report on disk in Word. 1. Workplan: The evaluation team shall submit a detailed work plan to USAID within four days of commencing work. 2. Mid-course Briefing: Halfway through the assessment, the team will brief USAID and the PIE on progress to date. At this time, a draft outline of the final evaluation report should be presented. 3. Draft Report and Briejhg: The team will submit a draft report to USAID four and one half weeks after they commence work in Egypt. In addition they will conduct a briefing to present preliminary findings and recommendations of the evaluation. USAID, the PIE and MISA will review the report. USAID will provide written comments on this draft within five days of this report submission. The team should provide 10 hard copies of this report. 4. Final Evaluation Report: Three days after receiving USAID comments, the team will submit the final report to USAID that reflects USAID written comments. The format of the final report will be as follows: b Executive Summary of findings, conclusions and recommendations, not to exceed three pages. This is to be provided in both English and Arabic. The remainder of the report will be in English only. b Table of Contents b Introduction and Background (including program description and methodological summary, not to exceed three pages) b Body of Report organized as follows for each component, guided by the evaluation questions presented in the Statement of Work section, not to exceed 35 pages Mid-Term Assessment of the A-6 July 9,2003 NCO Service Center ActiviQ Egypt, Cairo ?4 Development Associates. Inc. - Major Findings with their analysis (Evidence) - Conclusions and Recommendations b Annexes to include the following: Statement of Work. list of documents consulted, list of Persons contacted (and affiliation). Methodology (including a discussion of the limitations of the methodology employed), and other supporting documents. All reports shall be submitted in English, unless otherwise stipulated, to HDDIDG. The team shall submit 5 hard copies of the mid-term assessment report to USAID, in addition to the Repon in an electronic form- Microsoft Word - RELATIONSHIPS AND RESPONSIBILITIES The contractor shall perform the specific tasks described above under the general guidance of the, NGO Service Center Team Leader of USAIDIEgypt Democracy and Governance Division. The contractors will be responsible for their own secretarial. information technology. and printing requirements. ~ - Mid-Tern Assessment of the :W Service Center ActiviQ' Eg)pt, Cairo APPENDIX B REFERENCES NGO CENTER DOCUMENTS Semi-Annual Reports Quarterly Progress Reports Grant Summaries (CAP, CAM, IDG) Customer Satisfaction Surveys Capacity Profile Reports (Organizational Assessments) Results Monitoring Reports List of Training Providers Field Office Documents: resource center activities; networking activities NGOICairo office resource center information Evaluation Team briefing papers Gender Activity Reports Center RP Work Plan Work Shop Reports Proposal for Center Results Package (same as Results Package Plan) Results Package documentation RP performance indicators description Modifications of Assistance :U&Tenn Assessmenr of the YGO Service Center Activiv Egypt, Cairo Methodolow review Cairo interviews Cairo interviews Alexandria Alexandria GO-May Fri w 3 I-Mav Sor Favoum x I 42 ; I-Jun S~or Gharbehah 1 2-Jun .Jfm Assuit-Sohag 3Jun Tue Assuir-Sohag j i 4Jun ll'd Aswan I I i 5-Jun Tim Aswmn Mid-Tern Assessmenr of the C- l JU~F 9.2003 NGO Service Center Acliviq Empr. Cairo 34 Development Associates, Inc. Mid-Term Assessment of the C-2 July 9,2003 NCO Service Center Activity Egypt, Coiro NGO DATA COLLECTION FORM Name of the NGO Date of the interview People interviewed Purpose of this study: To assess the impact of the NGO Service Center on individual XGOs and on the NGO community. We have information on your activities, and are specifically interested in how the Center has changed the way NGOs operate? What is the goallpurpose of the NGO? a. Who benefits and how? b. Is the NGO a 'service provider' or 'community organizer' for development? c. Has this purpose changed recently? (1.5) I. If yes, why? What do you see as purpose of the NGO Senrice Center? a. Has the Center been responsive to your needs? i. If yes, How? . . 11. If no, why not? b. Has the Center had an impact on the NGO community in Egypt? Explain. Center training/TA (2.3,2.4) a. What was its impact on the NGO? (2.3) b. How would you rate the effectiveness (quality) of the training'TA? (2.4) i. Was it useful and (if yes) and how? . . 11. Do you thmk it will have a lasting impact? Why or why not? (2.6) . . . 111. Was there any Center follow-up to the trainingTA? If yes, \\as it useful? (2.7) c. How useful to the NGO was the TAP team? (2.8) d. Do you have any suggestions on how the trainingTA could be improved? TraininglTA provided for sub-Grantees: (2.5) a. Do you have sub-grantees? b. If yes. did they get Center trainingiTA? c. Was it effective? Mid-Term Assessment of the NGO Service Center Activin Eapr, Cairo Dwelopment Associates, Inc. &a 5. Center Grants (2.9 - 2.15) a. What is your assessment of the grant review/approval process? (2.13) 1. . . Was it helpful to your NGO? 11. Is there any way it could be improved? b. Did it meet an immediate need of the NGO? What was it? (2.12) c. Has the grant changed your NGO? Impact on the NGO? 1. Expanded) the capacity of the NGO? How? Examples? (2.9) d. Do you think the grant will have a lasting impact? Why or why not? (2.1 1) I. How about a lasting impact on the NGO community? e. What have been the effective actions resulting from the grant? f. What has been the impact of the effective actions on the NGO beneficiaries? 1. Who has benefited (e.g., target group of the NGO) and how? 6. Resource Centers (2.16 - 2.18) id a. Has your NGO used one of the Center's Resource Centers? 1. If yes, what did you use it for? If no, why not? 2. Did you find the Resource Center useful? How? (2.16) LW 3. Has the resource assistance increased the effectiveness (capacity) of your NGO? How? (2.17) 4. Do you think the RC has helped other NGOs in your area? (2.18) If yes, bu how? 5. Do you think the effectiveness of the Resource Centers could be improved? How? Ue 7. Field Offices (2.26 - 2.28) irri a. What do you see as the main function of the Center's field offices? (2.26) b. Has your NGO had any contact with a Center Field Office? 1. Has the field office helped your NGO? (2.27) iqp 2. What was the result of this help? 3. Do you think the field office has expanded access to useful Center activities? (2.28) aU 8. Data on beneficiaries a. Do you collect data on beneficiaries? b. If yes, could we see examples of the data? 9. NGO resource base a. What are the chief sources of funds for the NGO? Internal vs. external sources? IW1 b. What % of the NGO funding comes from the Center grant? a. From other external donors? c. Has the NGO done anything to raise funds to replace the Center grant funds? To (w enhance the financial base of the Center? \ dm Mid-Term Assessment of the D-2 July 9,2003 NCO Service Center Activity Egypt, Cairo rY Development Associates. Inc d. Do you think that the fimdinghrainingTTA from the Center has made the KG0 more independent? (~indciali~, operationally, influence policies, etc) Mid-Term Assessment of the D-3 JU(F 9.2003 !VGO Service Center Aaiviy Egrpt, Cairo NGO SITES VISITED DURING EVALUATION -- Name of NGO I Location I Future for Giza Family and Environment Develo ment Egyptian Earth Cairo Construction Association Egyptian Youth / Cairo Association for ' Environment and / Development 1 NGO Regional / Beheira Federation of Beheira Start Date Sector I August 0 1 Children's Cultural Rights I5 August 0 l Appropriate Building National Gardens 15 August 02 1 Coordination and Enhancement of Care Effons for Disadvantaeed - Children Social Defense Beheira 15 December Ol Advocacy to Association Reduce Children Beheira Deviance El-Mabarh Alexandria 1 August 02 Network Society - Nutritional and Health Care of Pre-School Size I Date Visited Large-IDG I- i $lay 21 7003 r 319.912LE 1 Large / \fay 27.200: Small, 10.000 1 May 27.200: Children Environmental Alexandria 15 June 02 Environment Small May 18.700; Pioneers and Women Association De\,elopment and Anti￾Smoking I Activities Business Alexandria 1 Ij December 01 Advocacy for Small Ma&- 2s. "3 Women Enhancine I b Association ! Expon Capacity Love and Giving Gharbyah ! I5 December Ol Axvareness Small Ma>- 1 I. 200.; Association Raising about Children with Special Needs Community Menoufia 1 July 02 Adxocacy for Smll. 1 1.015- \la). 3l.200i Development Association of Prohibiting CAM 4 Peciicidec ~ Kafr Wahb Sohag Assoc. for Sohag 25 March 01 Women's Civil Large June 2.2003 Children with Rights Special Needs lid-Term Assessment of the E- 1 Juk 9.2003 AGO Service Center Aflivig &PI. Cairo )f Assiut Jniversity for nteerated I cares for the I rights of the Retarded 1 3eaith and Social Jevelopment 4ssiut Assiut I November 02 Awareness Small June 3,2003 Environment Building Protection Campaign for Association Environment Protection Benevolent Assiut 1 May 01 Urban Sanitation I Small June 3,2003 Society for Environmental Protection Atwany CDA Aswan i 1 October 02 Enhancing Large June 4,2003 NGOs I Capacities to Address Environment 1 I I 1 youut1on Center for Aswan 1 March 02 National Forum / Large June 4,2003 for I Mid-!em Assessment of the E-2 July 9,2003 NCO Service Center Activity ~gypt, Cairo q/w NGO SERVICES CENTER - CAIRO Mr. Duncan Miller, PhD - Chief of Party Mr. Ashraf Rammeya - Director of Finance Mr. Magdi Sidhom - OPOCS Director Mr. Magdy El-Sanady - Population & Health Activity Manager Ms. Weaam - Resources Center Coordinator Ms. Nihad Rageh - Gender Officer, Cairo Mr. Gary Robbins -Economic Growth Mr. Glen Rogers, Ph.D. - Economic Growth Mr. Emad Yami -Population & Health Ms. Alia El-Mohandes - Population & Health Ms. Sylvia Attala - Environment Ms. Naglaa Mostafa - Civil Society Oficer Ms. Mervat Shoukry - PVO Development Assistant Ms. Dana Fisher - Democracy and Governance, Office Director EMBASSY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - CAIRO Mr. Ian MacCary - Second Secretary MINISTRY OF INSURANCE AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS (MISA) - CAIRO Mr. Ahmed Abul Kheir - Consultant to the Minister of Insurance and Social Affairs Advisory Board Mrs. Malak Madkour - Social Worker Volunteer Mr. Mohamed El-Guindey - P. Attorney General CEOSS - CAIRO Mr. Nabil Samuel Abadir - Director General and Advisory Board member Mr. Gamal Assad - Head of lnt'l Relations Office Mid-tern Assessmenl of the F-1 Ju1.r 9.2003 :VGO Senk-e Center Acliviw Egl'pl, Cairo .--------- _- Development Assocwres, Inc. EGYPTIAN EARTH CONSTRUCTION ASSOCIATION - CAIRO Mr. Ziad Amer - Chairman Mr. Ali Abdel A1 -Treasurer Mr. Karim Ibrahim - Board Member Mr. Wael Sabry - Board Member Mr. Mohamed Fakhry -Architect Ms. Nashwa Ibrahim - General Secretary HAWA' AL-MOSTAKBAL - GIZA Ms. Soaad Hussien-Advocacy Specialist Mr. Hany Fathy - Financial Accountant Mr. Mohamed Farouk - Network Officer Ms. May Shehab -Project Manager EGYPTIAN YOUTH ASSOCIATION FOR ENVIRONMENT AND DE CAIRO WELOPMENT - Mr. Mamdouh Rashwan - Secretary General AL-AHRAM NEWSPAPER - CAIRO Dr. Mohamed El-Sayed Saeed - Center for Political & Strategic Studies ENVIRONMENTAL PIONEERS ASSOCIATION - ALEXANDRIA Dr.Wafaa Menessy - Chairwoman Mrs. Kawthar Abdin, Board Member and Project Coordinator Colonel Mamdouh Anwar, Projects Executive Officer. America's Development Fozmdation - Alexandria Mr. Michael Miller - President Al-Mabarah Association, Alexandria Mrs. Hoda El-Deeb - Chairperson Dr. Essam Ghoniem - Project Director Mr. Mahmoud abd el-Sadiq - Financial Manager Mrs. has Shanan - Director of the Kindergarten and Project Advisor Mr. Mohamrnad Ahmad el-Emary - Executive Manager Mid-tern Assessment of the F-2 July 9,2003 NGO Service Center Aclivily Empt, Cairo Development Associates, Inc. DEVELOPMENT OF BUSINESS WOMEN EXPORT ABILITY ASSOCIATIOS - ALEXANDRIA Ms. Nadia Abou Auf - Chairman Ms. Safia Mohamed - Board Member Ms. Nouran Gouda - Executive Director Mr. Hazem Fouad - Accountant AMAN PROJECT - BEHEIRA Mr. M. Hosny Yones - Chairman Mr. Abdel Megeed Makled - Auditor Mr. Moharned A.Borol - Coordinator Ms. Zeinab Fadly - Public Relation KAFR WAHB - MENOUFIYAH Mr. Esmat Shousha - Chairman, Mr. Moharnrnad Abd El-Sami - Executive Manager of the NGOs Mr. Ahmad Hassan Ibrahimn - Treasurer Mr. Ahmad Abd EI-Aziz Bayoumi - Member of the Board, and Financial Manager of the Grant Mr. Abd el-Wakil Abd el-Hasib -Member of the Board SOCIAL DEFENSE ASSOCIATION - BEHEIRA Mr. Refaat Aly - Social Specialist Mr. Ramadan El-Saeed - Child Mr. El-Saeed Abdel Monem - Parent Mr. Abdel Megeed Abdel Satar - Executive Director Mr. Mohamed Abdel Moneem - Executive Director LOVE AND GIVING ASSOCIATION (GEARED TO THE SERVICE OF CHILDREN AND ADULTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS), THE UMBRELLA ORGANIZ.i\TIOS OF A NETWORK -CHARBYAH Mrs. Mothla Ishaq Abd el-Wahid -Chairperson of the Board Mr. Moharnd Fathy Fawy - Executive Secretary of the Organization Mr. Wael Gomrna - Social Worker and Specialist of the NGO Mr. Mossad Abu Shamiah - Public Relations Officer Mrs. Soaad Hassan Abu el-Fadl - Member of the Board Miss Mama Badwai Abd el-Hamid - Public Relations Officer & Coordinator of the NGOs Service-Grant Program Mid-tern Assessment of the NCO Service Center Activig Eapt, Cairo NGO SERVICE CENTER - TANTA Mr. Shareef Ghoneim - Lower Egypt Regional Office Director Mr. Islam Sharaf - Resources Center Coordinator Mr. Ahmed Abdel Karim - Senior Program Officer ASSIUT UNIVERSITY WOMEN ASSOCIATION FOR DEVELOPMENT - ASSUIT Dr. Aliaa Mohammad Harnmad el-Hosseiny - Chairperson of the Board Mr. Baha el-Din Galal - Head of the Fund Raising and Resources Committee and the NGO's Communication Officer, also Manager of the Physiotherapy Center of the Handicapped Mr. Sameh Mahfouz - Manager of the NGOSC funded project ASSOCIATION FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT - ASSIUT Mr. Hassan Hussein Mahfouz -Member of the Board. Mr. Ismail Muhammad Abd el-Rahman - Treasurer Mr. Ahmad Ali Muhammad Ali -Member of the GA Mr. Fathy abd el-Mohsen - GA member CHILDREN AND DEVELOPMENT - ASSUIT Dr. Galal el-Din Zaki Said - Chairperson and Founder Mrs. Nismat - Executive Director of the NGO NGOSC IN ASSUIT - REGIONAL OFFICE Mr. Mohamed Hassan - Resource Centre Coordinator Mr. Ahrnad Anas - Senior Program Officer Mr. Riffat abd el-Karim - Regional Training and TA specialist Mr. Moahmed A. Hendawy - Program Officer ASSOCIATION FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND CARE FOR CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS, THE UMBRELLA ORGANIZATION FOR THE PROJECT OF ADVOCACY FOR WOMEN'S CIVIL RIGHTS - SOHAG Mr. Medhat Mahmoud Ahmad -Deputy Project Manager and the Coordinator of the Project's Network Mr. Muhammad Mahmoud Fahmy - Secretary of the Board of Trustees for the Network and the Head of the Community Development Association in Saqultah (another member of the Network, Sohag) Mrs. Samia Yousef Muhammad -Beneficiary Miss Ghada el-Sayed Ahmad - Staff Member of the umbrella NGO Mrs. Sharbat Jad abd-el-Rahim - Women's Care Specialist, Community Mr. Salah Hussein Taha - Accountant for the Community Development Association, Society for Children with Special Needs Mid-tem Assessment of the F-4 July 9,2003 NCO Service Center Activity Egypt, Cairo - ~ Development Associot~~, Znc ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION ASSOCIATION - ASSUIT Mr. Talaat Bekhit - Member of the Local Popular Council Dr. Abd el-Hakim Abu el-Ela - Board member and Head of the Executive Authority of East Assiut Mr. Salah el-Din Karnel Mahrous Shoeib - GA Member and Director of the Awareness Program (NGOSC funded) Mr. Adil Hafiz Othrnan -Vice Chairman of the Board Mr. Morad Fahmy Younan - Treasurer Mr. Mehny Abu el-Leil - Board Member Miss Noha Mohammad Said Ahmad - GA Member Miss Iman Ibrahim Ahmad - GA Member Miss Mama Aharnd Fouad el-hir - GA Member AL-AQAB AL-KOBRA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION) - ASW.A!% Miss Rabia Hussein - Member of the GA and a Project Worker Miss Nour el-Sabah - GA member and Project Worker Miss Nagla Abd ei-Raziq - GA Member and Project Worker Miss Awatef abd el-Baqi - GA and Project Worker Miss Samira Abu el-Kheir - GA Member and a Beneficiary Mr. Muhammad Faris - Treasurer Mr. Muhammad Awad Allag - NGO Secretary COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION OF AL-SHADIDAH - ASWATT Miss Soheir Abbas - Manager of the Project (the NGOSC funded one) Miss Hoda Abd el-Rasoul - Project Staff Miss Siham Hamdy - A Beneficiary Mr. Saad Salih - Al-Shadidah NGO Board Member Miss Safa Hussein Abbas - Project Staff Member (the NGOSC funded) COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATIOS OF AL-ATWAXY. UMBRELLA ORGANIZATION FOR THE "NETWORK FOR FIGHTISG ISDUSTRIAL POLLUTIONn - ASWAN Mr. Mohammad Kheir Abd Allah - Director of the NGOSC grant Mr. Adb el-Kareem Mohammad Mikki - Project Coordinator Miss Nemat Ali Hamid - Project Accountant THE CENTER OF EGYPT FAMILY DEVELOPMENT - ASWAN Dr. Soheir Ahmad - Executive director of the NGO and one of the Founders Miss Dalia Mahmoud - Training Coordinator of the Forum Miss Sahar abd el-Qader - A Staff Member Miss Amira Assem - Information Specialist Miss Amira Moatissem - Coordinator of the Forum of Teenagers Rights Mid-tem Assessment of the F-5 Ju& 9.2003 XGO Service Center Aclivits Empt, Cairo Development AssocioIes, Inc. Mr. Monatsser Mohammd - Lawyer Mr. Saber el-Laithy - Head of the Board of Trustees Mr. Ahmad Khalil- Coordinator of the Forum (the NGOSC funded project) Mr. Hatem Moussa - Director of the Education Project Mr. Moharnrnd El-Nouby - Accountant AL-HAJJAB COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION, A SUB-GRANTEE OF THE NETWORK FOR THE PROTECTION OF RIVER NILE FROM POLLUTION, THE UMBRELLA ORGANIZATION OF WHICH IS THE REGIONAL FEDERATION OF NGOS - ASWAN Mr. Ali Hasan - Board Member Mr. Hamzah Ali -Board Member iru Mid-rem Assessment of the F-6 July 9,2003 NCO Sewice Center Activiry Egypt, Cairo s'! - ORIGINAL STRATEGY (SO) ENCOMPASSING THE NGO SERVICE CENTER COMPARED WITH NEW STRATEGY* Increased Citizen Participation in Public Decision Making Performance Indicator: Organizations Egyptian Initiatives in Governance and Participation Strengthened Performance Indicator: Public decision-maker acknowled-gnents of positions held by Civil Society Number of Effective CSO actions in public￾private dialo-we 1 iii) Milestones ( 1-9) in the esrablishment 1 and functioning of the Son governmental Organization Service Center Performance Indicator: Performance Indicators: Sub IR 3.1.1: 1 ! Actions to influence public policy. practice or attitudes I I Improved CSO advocacy skills I 1 i) # of targeted civil Society Organizations ? (in receipt of large grants) achieving a target percentage change in improvement on the 1 Organizational Capacity lndes on an annual 1 basis I! , ii) # of targeted Civil Society Organizations a (in receipt of small ?rants) completing a designed activity in public-private dialope I or specified organizational improvement within the agreed period of the ,orant. on an annual basis t ! ' I Performance Indicator: Civil Society Organizations i demonstrations of stronger advocacy i 1 skills I :t i g .Mid-tern Assessmenr of the G- I Juh. 9.2003 !\'GO Service Center Activil). E&w. Cairo Development Associates, Inc. 11 Sub IR 3.1.2: I 11 I Performance Indicator: Civil Society Organizations Il~tren~thened CSO organizational bases I Sub IR 3.1.3: I NGO Center Established demonstrations of improved institutional and managerial capacity Performance Indicator: NGO Center established as a legal entity and knctioning L 1 * While the strategy encompassing the Service Center changed, the purpose of the Cente~ did not. Matrix provided by USAIDIHDDiDG Office, 7/10/03. Egypt Mld Term Evaluaicon of the NbO hppcndxes A-G doi1tvalQC-30 bm Mid-rem Assessment of the G-2 July 9,2003 NGO Service Center Activi?l. Egypt, Coiro