REPORT ON THE MID-TERM REVIEW OF THE STRIVE PROJECT
Submitted to: 
Catholic Relief 
Services/Zimbabwe
and 
USAID/Zimbabwe 
July 10, 2003

REPORT ON THE MID-TERM REVIEW OF THE SUPPORT FOR 
REPLICABLE INNOVATIVE VILLAGE/COMMUNITY LEVEL 
EFFORTS FOR CHILDREN AFFECTED BY HIV/AIDS IN ZIMBABWE 
(STRIVE) PROJECT 
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT........................................................................................................... V 
BACKGROUND........................................................................................................................... 1 
MID-TERM REVIEW PROCESS AND METHODOLOGY.................................................... 8 
REVIEW FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ........................................................... 10 
CONCLUSION........................................................................................................................... 36
ANNEXES 
ANNEX 1 SCOPE OF WORK: STRIVE MID-TERM REVIEW, MAY 2003 ....................A-1 
ANNEX 2 CRS/STRIVE MID-TERM REVIEW, APRIL-MAY 2003 OVERVIEW OF 
OPERATING ENVIRONMENT (#2) ...............................................................A-19 
ANNEX 3 CATHOLIC RELIEF SERVICES (CRS) STRIVE PROGRAM 
EFFECTIVENESS................................................................................................A-31 
ANNEX 4 OPERATIONS RESEARCH..............................................................................A-49 
ANNEX 5 PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT – THE WAY FORWARD...............................A-57 
ANNEX 6 FOOD SECURITY ..............................................................................................A-69 
ANNEX 7 EDUCATION ASSISTANCE PROGRAMME................................................A-75 
ANNEX 8 ECONOMIC STRENGTHENING ...................................................................A-85 
ANNEX 9 CAPACITY BUILDING AND GENDER ........................................................A-93 
ANNEX 10 CLOSING THE GAP: SCALING UP ACTION TO IMPROVE THE LIVES 
OF CHILDREN MADE VULNERABLE BY HIV/AIDS IN ZIMBABWE A-101 
ANNEX 11 DISCUSSION DOCUMENTS.......................................................................A-113 
ANNEX 12 PROCESS OVERVIEW AND EVALUATION ...........................................A-122 
iv 
v 
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 
The members of the STRIVE mid-term review team would like to thank all of those who 
generously took time from their busy days to be interviewed, to answer questions, to share their 
views and, in many other ways, to make certain that the team had the information required to 
complete this review. The CRS/STRIVE team and USAID/Zimbabwe's HIV/AIDS team, in 
particular, deserve special recognition for their willingness to give up their weekends and 
holidays to support and interact with the team. Similarly, the STRIVE sub-grantees clearly went 
out of their way to make the team welcome in the field. We are especially aware that many of 
the community members we spoke with walked miles to share their thoughts and concerns with 
us. We hope we have adequately reflected the ideas and sentiments that were conveyed to us and 
that the information and recommendations contained in this report will contribute, in the shorter￾term, to a stronger and more successful STRIVE project and, in the longer-term, to a better 
quality of life for Zimbabwe’s children. 
The mid-term review team would also like to thank the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare, 
the Department of Social Welfare, the National AIDS Committee, UNICEF, CRS/Zambia, 
USAID/Zambia, SCOPE Zambia and COPE Malawi for allowing key members of their staff to 
participate (often over fairly extended periods of time) in the review. Not only were the 
contributions of each person from these organizations invaluable to the team and the results of 
the review, but their participation will help promote inter-agency collaboration which ultimately 
benefits all children at risk. 
Finally, the mid-term review team would like to express its appreciation to CRS/Zimbabwe and 
USAID/Zimbabwe for their willingness to be innovative, take risks and undertake a participatory 
review. Having CRS/STRIVE and USAID/Zimbabwe representatives on the review team 
allowed the team to consult on a daily basis with those closest to STRIVE, discuss alternatives 
and their implications, and ultimately make recommendations, which were better grounded in 
reality. 
Core Mid-term Review Team
Peter McDermott, Team Leader 
Jonathan Brakarsh, Petronella Chigara, Lynne Cogswell, 
Carol Coombe, Tonya Himelfarb, Mark Loudon, John Williamson 
CRS/Zimbabwe and USAID/Zimbabwe Representatives 
Columbus Chimani, Victoria James, Nyasha Mayanga, 
Patrick Osewe, Mollyn Saurombe, Rita Sykes, Kyle Jemison 
Government of Zimbabwe Representatives
Giva Roselyn Dete, Ministry of Health and Child Welfare 
Nellie Dhlembeu, Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare 
Karikoga Kutadzaushe, National AIDS Committee 
vi 
Cooperating Partners
Stefan Germann (REPSSI), Linda Lovick (CRS/Zambia), 
Perry Mwangala (USAID/Zambia), 
Pelucy Ntambirweki (UNICEF), Stanley Phiri (UNICEF), 
Mary Simasiku (SCOPE/Zambia), Brenda Yamba (COPE/Malawi) 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page 1 
Background 
The national context 
Over the past several years Zimbabwe has been severely affected by four interrelated and highly 
destructive crises: economic, political, humanitarian and HIV/AIDS. Any one of these crises 
would pose a severe challenge to any developing country—the combination has had a 
devastating effect on Zimbabwe. No sector of this once vibrant and growing economy has 
escaped damage, nor has any segment of the nation's diverse population emerged unscathed. 
Children, in particular, have been disproportionately affected. 
Zimbabwe's health, economic and social indicators paint a picture of a country in deep crisis. As 
of January 2003, an estimated 7.2 million people, or 60% of the population, were in need of 
emergency food and other humanitarian assistance to survive.1
 An estimated 2.3 million people, 
or one-third of the sexually active population, are infected with HIV, of whom approximately 
600,000 already have AIDS. Deaths from HIV/AIDS are estimated at 3,800 per week and leave 
in their wake a growing number of AIDS orphans.2
 Infant mortality has doubled to over 130 per 
100,000 live births, and life expectancy has fallen to 39 years from 61 years in 1980.3
 The food 
crisis is exacerbating the HIV/AIDS pandemic, with increased malnutrition accelerating the 
onset of AIDS for those infected with HIV and death for those with AIDS. 
Zimbabwe’s GDP declined by some 35% between 1997 and 2002. The annual inflation rate in 
2002 was conservatively estimated at 175%. The market value of the Zimbabwe dollar has 
declined precipitously over the past two years, from the official exchange rate of ZD55:1 USD in 
January 2001 to ZD800:1 USD in May 2003.4
 The drop has virtually wiped out the value of any 
household savings held in local currency. Unemployment is officially estimated to be in excess 
of 60%. 
Situation of children at risk in Zimbabwe 
Zimbabwe, along with Zambia, Malawi, Lesotho and Rwanda have the world’s highest 
proportion of orphaned children (from all causes). The best available estimates5
 suggest that in 
these five countries 17–18% of all children under the age of 15 had lost one or both parents by 
2001. In Zimbabwe, that amounts to just over one million orphans out of a total child 
population of approximately 5.8 million. Of these, 77%, or some 780,000 of the orphans have 
lost one or both parents to AIDS. The next highest proportion of AIDS orphans is in Zambia, at 
65.4%. Zimbabwe will likely have over 1.5 million orphans by the end of the decade. 
 
1
 USAID Interim Humanitarian Assistance Strategy for Zimbabwe, draft, January 31, 2003, page 4. 
2
 Epidemiological data in this report are from UNAID's Report on the Global HIV/AIDS Epidemic 2002. 3
 U.S. Bureau of Census 
4
 Unofficial exchange rates are even more dramatic, declining from approximately ZD110:1USD in January 2001 to 
over ZD2,000:1USD in May 2003. 
5
 Children on the Brink 2002, A Joint Report on Orphan Estimates and Program Strategies, UNAIDS, UNICEF and 
USAID. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page 2 
In addition to orphans, Zimbabwe is believed to have 240,000 children living with HIV/AIDS; 
600,000 internally displaced children; 150,000 children living with disabilities; 12,000 children 
living on and off the streets; 5,000 children in institutions; and 26% of children aged 10-14 
engaged in child labor.6
 It is acknowledged that the number of child-headed households is 
increasing, although the exact magnitude of this phenomenon is unknown. 
Zimbabwe has large numbers of children living in poor households which have taken in 
orphaned relatives. These households try to stretch already inadequate resources even further to 
provide for the additional children. There are also children who live with a parent chronically ill 
due to AIDS. In some cases these children become care providers for the parent. Additionally, 
there are children who themselves have HIV/AIDS. No one knows the total number of all the 
children affected by AIDS, nor does anyone have any idea of the number benefiting from current 
assistance programs. 
 
National policy framework on child well being 
The Government of Zimbabwe (GOZ) has a policy framework in place to provide for the 
protection of children. The National Orphans Care Policy and the National AIDS Policy are the 
core of this framework. The National Orphan Care Policy, adopted by the Cabinet in May 1999, 
focuses on strengthening a six-tier safety net system for children. The National AIDS Policy, 
which was launched in December 1999 following widespread consultation with Zimbabwean 
stakeholders and technical experts, provides clear guidance on matters pertaining to children 
affected by AIDS. To help operationalize this policy, the GOZ introduced a 3% “AIDS levy” 
payroll tax in early 2002 to improve AIDS services (excluding antiretroviral therapy). Funds 
from the levy are deposited with the National AIDS Trust Fund and distributed by the National 
AIDS Council to District AIDS Action Committees to implement AIDS programs. 
To complement these policies, Zimbabwe has a well-developed legal framework for the 
protection of children’s rights and is a signatory to various international conventions on the 
rights of the child, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter 
on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. 
In addition to its policy and legislative framework, the GOZ has social safety net programs for 
assisting children and households in difficult circumstances in place, including the Basic 
Education Assistance Module and the provision of social assistance to vulnerable families. 
Orphan care programs are coordinated through Child Welfare Forums at the district and central 
levels. These programs, however, are severely under-funded and Child Welfare Forums do not 
operate in many districts. 
Subsequent to participating at the Southern Africa regional conference in Namibia on issues 
related to orphans and vulnerable children in November 2002, the GOZ-led delegation has 
embarked on a national consensus building effort to catalyze action among all levels of 
Zimbabwean society to improve the care and support of children at risk. The Ministry of Public 
 
6
 Presentation by Zimbabwean delegation at the Regional Workshop on Orphans and Vulnerable Children in 
Windhoek in November 2002, except children living with HIV/AIDS which is from UNAIDS figures quoted earlier. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page 3 
Services, Labor and Social Services is convening a national meeting of those involved in 
children’s issues in June 2003 to draft the outline of a National Plan of Action for addressing the 
condition of children at risk in Zimbabwe. CRS/STRIVE is actively participating in this effort. 
USAID rationale for assisting children at risk 
Under its Country Strategic Plan for the fiscal years 2000-2005, USAID/Zimbabwe committed to 
significantly broadening the scope of its HIV/AIDS program. Previous USAID efforts focused 
almost exclusively on behavior change interventions, whereas the new plan adopted “HIV/AIDS 
Crisis Mitigated” as its strategic objective. This strategic objective recognized that 
USAID/Zimbabwe’s efforts to combat HIV/AIDS were taking place in a crisis environment and 
indicated that USAID planned to support the full prevention-to-care continuum of interventions 
needed to ameliorate the crisis. 
To achieve its strategic objective, USAID's strategic plan identified three key intermediate 
results (IRs): 
IR1: Behavior change resulting from use of quality services with proven effectiveness 
to prevent HIV transmission and mitigate impact at the household level 
IR2: Enhanced capacity to conduct advocacy to prevent HIV transmission and mitigate 
impact at the national level 
IR3: Enhanced capacity at the regional and locals levels in Zimbabwe to support 
community responses to children affected by HIV/AIDS 
In January 2000, USAID/Zimbabwe conducted a situation analysis of orphans and vulnerable 
children in Zimbabwe, building on the 1999 study undertaken by UNICEF. The study, which 
provided guidance on improving communities’ ability to support children affected by AIDS 
without undermining existing creative and innovative community efforts, also proposed several 
principles for action. 
On the basis of the situation analysis findings, USAID issued a Request for Applications (RFA) 
in March 2001, inviting organizations to submit proposals for a pilot project to support sustained 
and replicable community programs that assist children affected by AIDS.7
 Following a 
competitive process, an independent review panel determined that the application by Catholic 
Relief Services (CRS) best met the requirements of the RFA. 
CRS's proposal to USAID included several benefits expected to accrue from selecting CRS to 
undertake the pilot project, including: 
• Partner relationships already established, thus allowing a faster start-up time; 
• Partners already familiarized with CRS financial and management policies; 
 
7
 While the RFA specifically targeted "children affected by AIDS," the focus of the STRIVE project has gradually 
shifted toward children at risk in communities severely affected by AIDS. Recommendation 2 in Part III, Section 2 
of this document discussed this issue in more detail. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page 4 
• CRS's understanding of the Zimbabwean environment would allow for quick adaptation 
and facilitation of events; and 
• CRS already had experts on staff in the country, regional, and home offices to assist with 
programming, systems structuring and technical advice. 
CRS’s cooperative agreement with USAID 
In December 2001, CRS signed a Cooperative Agreement with USAID for implementation of 
the Support for Replicable Innovative Village/Community Level Efforts for Children Affected 
by HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe (STRIVE) project. Under this Cooperative Agreement, USAID is 
providing approximately $2.5 million in funding (with CRS contributing approximately $1.0 
million) to implement a two and a half year pilot project (ending June 19, 2004) testing 
innovative interventions that allow resources to reach children at risk quickly and efficiently and 
helps determine what basket of support would best meet the needs of large numbers of children 
at risk in Zimbabwe. 
CRS/STRIVE’s strategy is to provide sub-grants to local and international non-government 
organizations to support community efforts to assist children at risk. CRS/STRIVE helps build 
the organizational capacity of its sub-grantees and supports operations research to track and 
document the impact, quality, cost effectiveness and replicability of the community-level 
interventions, as well as the methods of delivering the various interventions. It is anticipated that 
the pilot project will help determine the usefulness of various community interventions/support 
strategies in providing an extensive network of support for larger numbers of children at risk and 
young people. USAID’s RFA envisioned a second phase of STRIVE in which interventions 
identified by the pilot project would be applied more broadly and expanded to reach greater 
numbers of vulnerable children. 
Project goals and objectives8
STRIVE's goal is to improve the care and support of vulnerable children in Zimbabwe.
9
 To 
achieve this goal, CRS outlined three objectives: 
 
! To support and develop appropriate, effective and sustainable community-based approaches 
to support orphans and vulnerable children in Zimbabwe through participatory learning and 
action 
! To improve the organizational capacity of at least eight local organizations enabling them to 
deliver high-quality care, support and prevention services for children at risk and their 
families 
! To increase access to quality education for children at risk, with a special focus on girls 
 
8
 The STRIVE goal and project interventions have, in agreement with USAID, been modified from those presented 
in the original CRS project proposal. The goal and interventions presented in this document are those that were in 
effect at the time of the review. 
9
 Whereas the STRIVE program originally focused narrowly on “children affected by AIDS,” the focus has slowly 
shifted to children at risk. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page 5 
To achieve its goal and objectives, CRS identified five areas in which it would collaborate with 
its sub-grantees to support pilot activities: 
 
! Psychosocial interventions: Child-focused activities to improve the psychosocial condition 
of orphans and other children at risk, as well as their caregivers. 
! Education assistance interventions: Schemes for paying school enrollment and uniform 
costs for children at risk, particularly girls, either in the form of block grants or resource 
exchanges (books and desks in exchange for enrolment of an agreed number of children) that 
improve educational quality for many children in the school. 
! Food security interventions: Community activities and intervention strategies, such as 
nutrition gardens and planting drought-resistant crops, to improve the nutritional status and 
food security of children at risk and their families. 
! Economic strengthening interventions: Activities that strengthen family and community 
financial safety nets. 
! Capacity building interventions: Actions that strengthen the organizational and 
programmatic capacity of sub-grantees to deliver effective services and to advocate on behalf 
of those they serve. 
Operations research is at the core of the STRIVE pilot project. In order to identify models and 
organizational or programmatic lessons that can be applied and/or scaled up in the future, the 
STRIVE project tracks indicators, collects data and undertakes case studies and research that will 
help it answer the following four operations research questions: 
! What is the impact of each intervention? 
! How cost-effective is each intervention? 
! How replicable is each pilot intervention and what elements are unique to each pilot site? 
! What is the quality of care being provided by the various interventions? 
Programming principles 
CRS’s technical application to USAID highlighted three key operating principles that guide 
implementation of the STRIVE project: 
! Community mobilization: Community members must be involved in decision-making and 
program implementation. 
! Gender: Equal participation of men and women is essential for addressing the issues of 
children. 
! Sustainability: Services should be sustainable and able to continue after CRS's involvement 
ends. 
STRIVE accomplishments to date 
Start-up: Following the signing of the cooperative agreement in December 2001, CRS 
moved quickly to set up structures and begin project implementation. CRS was able to take 
advantage of its existing presence in Zimbabwe and its well-established relationships with local 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page 6 
organizations to accelerate its first round of grantmaking. In spite of the need for significant 
investments of time in assisting pre-identified potential sub-grantees in preparing and submitting 
project proposals between July and September 2002 CRS/STRIVE awarded sub-grants and 
disbursed funds to eight local community and faith-based organizations. Dubbed the “pilot 
eight,” or “P8,” these eight sub-grantees are now implementing combinations of psychosocial, 
educational, economic and nutritional support interventions and carrying out operations research 
to determine which interventions and sets of interventions have the greatest potential for 
effectively supporting children at risk on a larger scale. 
Expansion: Under the terms of the cooperative agreement, CRS was required to work with at 
least eight sub-grantees. Escalating numbers of orphans and vulnerable children in Zimbabwe, 
however, required USAID to reassess the STRIVE program. In spite of the fact that the pilot 
activities had not had sufficient time to demonstrate results, USAID and CRS felt that the 
urgency and magnitude of the orphan issue, exacerbated by the deteriorating operating 
environment, demanded a significant additional response. CRS therefore entered into 
agreements with an additional eight sub-grantees in late 2002, including international 
organizations. These sub-grantees, named the “scale-up eight” or “S8,” are not presently 
carrying out operations research. 
PILOT EIGHT SUB-GRANTEE ACTIVITIES 
Sub-grantees Grant 
USD 
Psycho￾social 
Support 
Education 
Assistance 
Food/ 
Nutrition 
Economic 
Strength. 
Target # of 
Children at 
Risk 
Batsiranai Buhera South 
Orphan Program $148,575 
 
x x x 7,450 
Bethany Project $169,085 x x x 8,200 
Archdiocese of Bulawayo $182,978 x x x 5,000 
Diocese of Chinoyi Catholic 
Development Comm. $189,851 x x x 
 
6,000 
Diocese of Mutare 
Community Care Program $195,120 x x 
 
x 4,682 
Masiye Camp $186,475 x 8,000 
Rural Unity for Development 
Organization 
$183,176 
x x x 3,000 
Tsungirirai Center $147,208 x x x 2,800 
TOTAL $1,402,468 45,132 
SCALE-UP EIGHT SUB-GRANTEE ACTIVITIES 
Sub-grantees Grant 
USD 
Psycho￾Social 
Support 
Education 
Assistance 
Food/ 
Nutrition 
Economic 
Strength. 
Target # of 
Children at 
Risk 
Intermediate Technology 
Development Group $45,807 
 
x x x 6,000 
Farm Orphan Support & 
Trust $88,070 x x 
 
17,000 
Child Protection Society $83,223 x x 20,000 
Save the Children, UK $649,347 x x 7,000 
Scripture Union $100,665 x 12,000 
Africare $140,351 x x x 25,275 
Bekezela $65,462 x x x 1,000 
Uzumba Orphan Trust $71,069 x x x 8,910 
TOTAL $1,243,994 97,185 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page 7 
Baseline survey: In July 2002, CRS completed a baseline survey against which the pilot 
project's progress could be measured in the geographic locations in which the P8 sub-grantees 
were operating. Although the survey did not adequately meet the operations research needs of 
the project, it did help capture communities’ view on children at risk, documented services 
currently being offered in those areas, assessed the psychosocial impact of parental loss on 
children, identified gender-specific issues, and elicited suggestions for improved services from 
community members. Both P8 and S8 sub-grantees also conducted their own comprehensive 
baseline studies in their operational areas and continued to carry out their own regular 
monitoring and evaluation. 
Building staff capacity: Since project inceptions, building the capacity of CRS/STRIVE 
to carry out its responsibilities has been a principal focus of the project. While individuals to fill 
five key staff positions were identified in CRS’s proposal, only four assumed their positions. 
The other key staff member, as well as several additional staff, had to be hired and trained. 
Building sub-grantee capacity: Once the first round of sub-grants was awarded, 
CRS/STRIVE also began focusing on building the capacity of its sub-grantees. Funds were 
provided to sub-grantees to employ additional staff and CRS/STRIVE held a number of 
capacity-building/technical workshops to orient sub-grantees (Annex 9 for detail). In addition, 
CRS/STRIVE's Capacity Building and Gender Unit worked with sub-grantees to identify 
programmatic and/or organizational areas requiring strengthening and then provided assistance 
to meet those needs. To enable STRIVE to more efficiently support its sub-grantees, 
CRS/STRIVE placed Project Officers in CRS field offices in Mutare and Bulawayo, closer to 
sub-grantees. 
Reaching children at risk: The number of children at risk being reached by the STRIVE 
project through its sub-grantees has continued to climb. STRIVE's January-March 2003 
Quarterly Report indicates that a total of 45,132 children had been reached by March 31, 2003. 
Learning from experience: In each of its quarterly reports, CRS/STRIVE documents its 
constraints and challenges as well as trends and lessons learned. This exercise helps staff and 
sub-grantees recognize and articulate problems and solutions, enables all to learn from others' 
experiences and contributes to STRIVE's goal of documenting lessons to share with others 
involved in child-focused programming. 
Purpose of this mid-term review 
A review of STRIVE activities was included in CRS/STRIVE’s current annual workplan as a 
means of taking stock, learning lessons and making mid-course corrections. Rather than conduct 
a formal external evaluation, USAID and CRS jointly decided that a participatory and 
collaborative process would be more innovative and productive. The purpose of the review was 
to: 
! Assess the current status of the STRIVE project, measured against its original objectives, as 
laid out in the Cooperative Agreement 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page 8 
! Asses the relevance of the STRIVE project in meeting the needs of children affected by 
HIV/AIDS and, more broadly, all children at risk, in Zimbabwe’s deteriorating environment 
! Assess and examine the capacity and ability of the STRIVE Project to adjust to Zimbabwe’s 
rapidly changing socio-political and economic situation 
! Make recommendations to USAID and STRIVE on better planning for future interventions, 
taking the operating environment and lessons learned from the ongoing project into 
consideration. 
The mid-term review was primarily expected to assist CRS/STRIVE and USAID in developing a 
clearer framework for meeting the care and support needs of orphans and vulnerable children in 
Zimbabwe. At the same time, it was anticipated that the results of the review would be widely 
shared and disseminated so that all key stakeholders could benefit from the process. 
Mid-term review process and methodology10
CRS and USAID participation: After deciding to undertake a participatory review, rather 
than a formal evaluation, CRS and USAID jointly defined a scope of work for the review (Annex 
1) and identified experts to serve on the review team. USAID and CRS also selected individuals 
from their organizations to participate as part of the review team. Both CRS and USAID were 
represented on the team at all times during the review. 
Self-assessement: As an integral part of the participatory review, CRS/STRIVE 
undertook a self-assessment exercise, designed to identify its operating and programmatic 
strengths and weaknesses. This self-assessment will be used by CRS/STRIVE as a baseline 
against which to assess the implications of the review findings and recommendations. 
Reference group: A reference group of representatives from the Government of 
Zimbabwe, the international donor community, the United Nations, academia, faith-based 
organizations, international PVOs, and local NGOs was formed to guide and validate the review 
process and its outcomes. The Reference Group met three times: before the arrival of the review 
team to understand and comment on the proposed process; during the review for an update and 
discussion of emerging issues; and at the end of the review to consider the review findings and 
recommendations. 
Government of Zimbabwe involvement: A key recommendation emerging from the first 
Reference Group meeting was to include representatives from the Government of Zimbabwe on 
the review team. This recommendation was endorsed by USAID and CRS and three GOZ 
members joined the team, one from the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare, one from the 
Department of Social Welfare and one from the National AIDS Committee. 
Preparation/tool development: Before the review began, all team members were 
provided with background reports on the STRIVE project, USAID and CRS strategic plans and 
information on vulnerable children. In addition, a report on the economic, social, political and 
 
10 See Annex 12 for a more detailed description of the review process and methodology as well as a summary 
evaluation of the assessment process. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page 9 
health context in which CRS/STRIVE operates was prepared and provided to assist team 
members (Annex 2). The mid-term review team gathered in Harare on May 5, 2003. At an 
opening workshop, CRS/STRIVE staff briefed the team on their programs and the challenges 
they were facing; team members presented their ideas for the review; and the team, CRS and 
USAID forged a common understanding of the expectations for the review. Two days were then 
spent in intensive discussionon the process to be followed and the development of assessment 
tools. 
Field visits: Members of the team assessing the program and operations research 
elements of STRIVE then departed Harare to visit each of the P8 sub-grantees.11 The team 
divided into groups at each site, with some team members interviewing sub-grantee staff, while 
others conducted focus-group and key informant interviews in the communities receiving 
services. Each evening the two teams gathered to compare notes and discuss findings and 
impressions. 
Financial and organizational effectiveness reviews: Two sets of team members did not 
work in conjunction with the others. Two team members reviewed the financial processes of 
both CRS/STRIVE and its sub-grantees on a separate schedule of field visits. Meanwhile, the 
team’s organizational effectiveness expert worked intensively with CRS in Harare on 
organizational issues before making a limited number of field visits. 
Key informant interviews and discussions: After visiting all P8 sub-grantees, the review 
team returned to Harare, where it spent the next ten days consulting CRS/STRIVE staff, the 
directors of the S8 sub-grantees, and other key informants; reviewing relevant literature; and 
holding an intensive series of internal “mini-workshops” focused on STRIVE’s technical 
interventions and key issues arising from the field visits. The team leader also met with USAID 
HIV/AIDS officers, the CRS Regional Director for HIV and with the CRS management team. 
Peer review: In addition, the team consulted with four "peer reviewers" involved in 
similar programs in Uganda, Malawi and Zambia,12 to learn from their ideas and experiences in 
grappling with the difficulties of working at the community level to support children and young 
people at risk. 
Preparing the report and recommendations: Individual team members then presented 
their preliminary findings, conclusions and recommendations to CRS counterparts for 
consideration, comment and validation. Preliminary recommendations were further discussed 
with both CRS and USAID in informal meetings. On May 28, 2003, the mid-term review team 
presented an initial overview to the Reference Group and their comments were incorporated, as 
appropriate, into the draft report. Following distribution of the draft report, there was a two￾week period for broad consultation, followed by two weeks during which the team responded to 
 
11 The mid-term review focused on the P8, as the S8 sub-grantees had barely begun to implement their STRIVE￾funded program. 
12Uganda Women’s Effort to Save Orphans (UWESO) in Uganda, Community-based Options for Protection and 
Empowerment/Scaling Up through Expanded Partnerships (COPE/STEPS) Project in Malawi, Strengthening 
Community Partnerships for the Empowerment of Orphans and other Vulnerable Children (SCOPE) Project in 
Zambia 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page 10 
the advice received. The final mid-term review report was submitted to CRS and USAID in 
early July 2003. 
Follow-up: Even before the team presented its final report, both CRS and 
USAID/Zimbabwe responded generously to the recommendations of the review team. Both 
have already taken initial actions to implement key recommendations. CRS prepared detailed 
matrices that outlined both the steps necessary to implement key recommendations and the 
implications of doing or not doing so. In addition, CRS implemented several of the steps 
outlined in these matrices. USAID/Zimbabwe committed itself to working with CRS/STRIVE 
and sub-grantees to resolve issues raised, particularly those pertaining to financial management 
and changes in the country environment. 
Review findings and recommendations 
The review team was deeply impressed by the STRIVE project, which it believes is an extremely 
important means of testing the assumptions underlying many child-centered interventions. The 
project has vitally important contributions to make in supporting the development and 
demonstration of effective, replicable responses that can scale up an effective, collective national 
response to children at risk. It is particularly timely, if not overdue, in the context of 
Zimbabwe’s extreme levels of child vulnerability. The team was also struck by the 
professionalism and openness of the CRS/STRIVE team. The team was humbled by the obvious 
dedication of the staff and volunteers associated with the sub-grantees and the projects visited. 
Given the extraordinary challenges facing the project – which certainly could not have been fully 
foreseen at the time it was designed – the review team found it admirable that the CRS/STRIVE 
staff and sub-grantees have accomplished as much as they have. 
 
The mid-term review process itself was unusual – perhaps unprecedented – and the team was 
conscious that only an extraordinarily committed organization would voluntarily submit itself to 
this kind of scrutiny. The members of the review team were deeply honored to have had the 
opportunity to learn from all those involved in STRIVE, and hope that the ideas on these pages 
are able to repay, in some measure, the courage and hard work of this impressive group of 
individuals. 
This report offers a wide range of suggestions on how STRIVE may be further improved. These 
recommendations are respectful suggestions from peers, not criticisms or instructions. It is the 
team’s sincere belief that STRIVE has the potential to play an extremely influential role in the 
future of child-related programming. Many donors and international agencies are interested in 
doing more for vulnerable children, but are held back by a lack of convincing data. Providing 
such data is the ultimate goal of STRIVE. 
With this in mind, the team is genuinely concerned that any attempt to significantly expand 
services beyond the current sixteen sub-grantees at this critical stage could result in minimizing 
the impact of STRIVE, with immediate consequences for thousands of children who are already 
receiving support through STRIVE-related activities, and long-term consequences for hundreds 
of thousands of children who could benefit from STRIVE’s models in Zimbabwe and elsewhere. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page 11 
The findings and recommendations of this main report are presented in seven sections. Section 
One of the report identifies key factors in the country environment that are affecting the 
implementation of STRIVE. Section Two presents the overarching themes that emerged from 
the review process and the resulting major recommendations for STRIVE. These 
recommendations do not relate to any single aspect of the review, but rather draw the team’s 
observations together into a set of overall project recommendations. Section Three looks at 
CRS/STRIVE’s management structure. Section Four discusses the four core functions of 
STRIVE: selecting sub-grantees, financial management, building sub-grantees’ capacity and 
operations research. Section Five individually addresses each of STRIVE’s four technical 
interventions: psychosocial support, education assistance, food security and economic 
strengthening. Section Six focuses on developing an adequate large-scale response to orphans 
and vulnerable children. Sections three, four, five and six are executive summaries of the 
detailed reports contained in Annexes 3-10. The annexes not only provide additional 
information in support of the recommendations, but also elaborate on the recommendations and 
provide steps for their implementing. The document concludes with Section Seven, which 
provides recommendations specific to STRIVE for USAID/Zimbabwe as well as 
recommendations for USAID/Zimbabwe for the longer-term. Ten Annexes, including the SOW, 
Zimababwe’s economic and social background, and analysis and recommendations for each 
main sector of CRS/STRIVE activities, follow the main report. 
Section 1: Country environment 
To prepare the mid-term review team for its assignment, a background paper entitled “Overview 
of Operating Environment” was prepared (Annex 2). The paper provides information on 
development indicators in Zimbabwe, discusses the status of orphans and vulnerable children in 
the country and outlines the national framework in which programs to address children’s issues 
must operate. Based on a USAID scenario planning exercise, the paper then presents three 
possible scenarios for Zimbabwe’s future and the implications of each for STRIVE's ability to 
reach children at risk. 
With this information in mind, the review team sought to identify those key factors in the 
country operating environment that are having, and will continue to have, a particularly 
significant impact on STRIVE and its ability to operate successfully. Of particular note were: 
! A moving target: The number of orphans continues to increase. Of particular concern, the 
number of child-headed households appears to be increasing dramatically. 
! Food insecurity: Food shortage and nutritional deficiencies are overriding concerns in many 
areas of Zimbabwe. Addressing this issue is fundamentally important to any short-term 
efforts to improve the well-being of vulnerable children and their caregivers. 
! Communities in crisis: Communities have been severely affected by the concurrent crises in 
Zimbabwe. Traditional “coping” mechanisms are being severely stretched. 
! Staff turn-over: Due to the difficult economic situation in Zimbabwe, increasing numbers of 
qualified people are emigrating, leaving behind a smaller number of qualified professionals. 
This results in aggressive recruiting and a highly mobile workforce. The problem is 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page 12 
compounded by increasing numbers of AIDS deaths. The STRIVE project has already been 
affected by this phenomenon. It can only be expected to become more acute in the future. 
! Political influences: The unpredictable political situation requires that STRIVE and sub￾grantees take steps to ensure that project benefits reach those most in need. Stay-aways and 
polarization increasingly affect ability to get things done. 
! Hyperinflation: Prices in Zimbabwe continue to rise almost daily, challenging planning and 
budgeting and contributing to the impoverishment of the communities served by STRIVE. 
! Lack of inputs: Zimbabwe’s economic crisis has resulted in severe shortages of even the 
most basic commodities. Fuel shortages are of great concern, as they constrain sub-grantees’ 
ability to implement and monitor field programs. 
! Volunteerism: Abject poverty will continue to constrain volunteerism. Resource-poor 
volunteers must support themselves and their families, affecting their ability and willingness 
to sacrifice their time and resources. 
These constraints were taken into account by the team and helped shape the recommendations to 
a significant degree, particularly those on scaling up and diversifying partners. 
Section 2: Overarching themes and recommendations for STRIVE 
The seven recommendations presented below are cross-cutting recommendations, drawn from 
field visits, interviews, documents and experience. While they may reflect or repeat aspects of 
technical recommendations made in Sections 3-6 and their corresponding annexes, these 
recommendations are of broader scope, dealing with the manner in which STRIVE is directed 
and implemented. 
Recommendation 1: Restore and intensify focus on original objectives 
STRIVE’s principle role is not to meet the needs of Zimbabwe’s children at risk, but to 
determine the best ways that this can be done and to disseminate this information to key 
stakeholders. During the second half of the pilot project, CRS/STRIVE should intensify its focus 
on achieving its original goals rather than on expanding the number of sub-grantees. This means: 
! Re-establish operations research as the core of the STRIVE project, thus ensuring that the 
ultimate deliverable of STRIVE is the empirical data that is needed as a foundation for 
much larger and longer-term interventions for vulnerable children by USAID and CRS in 
the future. 
! Concentrate on ensuring that quality services are delivered to the current sixteen sub￾grantees, rather than on increasing the number of sub-grantees supported. CRS/STRIVE 
should not take on additional sub-grantees for the remaining duration of the pilot project. 
Recommendation 2: Strengthen management 
Planning at CRS/STRIVE has been made difficult by the lack of a clear strategic vision and 
weaknesses in the management systems. As a result, daily operations are often “reactive” rather 
than “pro-active,” with more time spent “fighting fires” than working toward organizational 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page 13 
goals. Strategic thinking and project direction need to be revisited and sharpened to provide clear 
short- and medium-term direction for all those involved in the STRIVE project. It is essential 
that this review follow standard CRS practice of involving both USAID and sub-grantees, along 
with key CRS/STRIVE staff. 
Management systems at CRS/STRIVE are inefficient, reducing project efficiency and 
responsiveness. In particular, it is felt that too much decision-making is vested in the host 
organization, CRS, which inadvertently disempowers STRIVE management and results in delays 
that have reduced STRIVE's ability to carry out its activities. In addition, too many people 
appear to have been involved in decision-making and, in some cases, inappropriate staff appear 
to have had decision-making authority. Furthermore, lines of authority, while clearly laid out, 
have not been respected or adhered to and appeared to have been repeatedly undermined. To 
address these issues, it is essential that STRIVE’s management be given a maximum level of 
decision-making and management autonomy. 
The present Director at CRS/STRIVE will step down from this position when a qualified 
replacement is found. CRS urgently needs to replace him with a highly experienced person who 
can provide strategic thinking and skilled management. The issue of the Director has been 
discussed with USAID on numerous occasions and needs to be addressed immediately. Many of 
the specifics of CRS/STRIVE’s future cannot be determined until a new Director is in place. As 
indicated previously, it will be essential to heighten the new Director’s decision-making 
authority to allow him/her the autonomy required to “get the job done.” The new Director will 
also have the urgent, immediate task of re-establishing staff confidence in decision-making and 
communications processes. CRS, as an agency, has internal models of communication upon 
which CRS/STRIVE could draw. 
Linkages within CRS/STRIVE, and between the organization and its many stakeholders 
(government, USAID, sub-grantees), are not clearly defined and communication seems to be 
erratic and unstructured. Important information is not always shared between staff members or 
between CRS/STRIVE and its sub-grantees. The new Director should address communications 
issues as one of his/her top priorities. 
Recommendation 3: Position CRS/STRIVE as a facilitator of processes rather than 
a direct provider of services 
CRS/STRIVE should continue to move toward sub-contracting more services, rather than 
seeking to employ the necessary staff to deliver all services directly. This, in turn, would enable 
CRS/STRIVE to respond more rapidly to the needs of sub-grantees and to focus on operational 
quality, rather than service delivery. By building the capacity of CRS/STRIVE staff to identify 
and manage consultants and sub-contractors, the organization will be better placed to expand in 
future, as it will not be limited by the number of staff it employs, or their range of skills. Sub￾contracting may also be more appropriate in the current operating environment, where staff 
turnover is common. Operations research, nutrition and capacity building for sub-grantees, in 
particular, offer opportunities for sub-contracting. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page 14 
The recommendation to engage in increased sub-contracting is premised on strengthened 
management and improved capacity of STRIVE staff to manage and supervise consultants' work. 
Without these, ensuring the quality and consistency of sub-contractors' work would be difficult. 
Furthermore, when using sub-contractors, it will be incumbent on CRS/STRIVE to determine 
when skills and methodologies used by consultants need to be transferred to CRS/STRIVE and 
sub-grantee staff and then to ensure that sub-contracts contain provisions for these transfers. 
Recommendation 4: Clarify STRIVE’s operating principles and approaches 
The review team believes that it would be better for CRS/STRIVE to adopt a lower profile for 
STRIVE as a project. Participating communities should describe their activities as “our work 
together”, rather than as “the STRIVE project”. Even identifying with the sub-grantee would be 
an improvement, since those organizations consider themselves to be ongoing, community-based 
programs.
CRS/STRIVE needs to continue to remove labels such as "children affected by AIDS (CABA)" 
and orphans and vulnerable children (OVC)" from the children benefiting from the project, 
particularly at the sub-grantee and community levels. As has been recognized for some time by 
CRS/STRIVE staff, these terms stigmatize project beneficiaries, negatively affecting those the 
project is attempting to reach. Rather than OVC or CABA, the project focus should be on 
children who are identified as the most vulnerable by communities severely affected by 
HIV/AIDS. 
To implement this recommendation, CRS/STRIVE should develop strategies to end the use of 
the acronyms “CABA” and “OVC” and the concept that the project is targeting children affected 
by AIDS. First steps should include removing references to CABA and OVC from all 
CRS/STRIVE reporting documents used by sub-grantees, holding participatory discussions with 
sub-grantees on the issue and encouraging sub-grantees to facilitate discussions on the stigma 
associated with these terms in the communities where they work. In addition CRS/STRIVE 
should look critically at other ways in which children and adults are stigmatized, and work with 
their sub-grantees and communities to find ways of mitigating the stigma. In addition, STRIVE 
should take advantage of the June 2003 national consultation meeting and its subsequent 
mechanisms to raise the issue of labels and stigma and help develop strategies at this broader 
level for addressing the problem. 
CRS/STRIVE should be commended on facilitating the involvement of children in the national 
consultation on orphans and vulnerable children in June 2003. However, more work is needed at 
the district and local level, with the outcomes forming part of STRIVE’s operations research. To 
this end, the STRIVE project should explore and develop practical ways in which the voice of 
children can be heard and respected, all the way from the household to the national level. 
CRS/STRIVE should ensure that its sub-grantees receive participatory training in the field in 
ways of effectively involving children and adolescents in decision-making and implementation 
of interventions. The Child-to-Child Trust (http://www.child-to-child.org), the book Stepping 
Forward: Children and Young People's Participation in the Development Process13, UNICEF's 
 
13 Stepping Forward: Children and Young People's Participation in the Development Process, Victoria Johnson, et 
al. eds., Intermediate Technology Publications, 1988. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page 15 
The State of the World's Children 2003 and the report "Assessment of the Alliance/IPC OVC 
Project in Burkina Faso"14 provide examples of child participation and options that could be 
explored by STRIVE. 
 
CRS/STRIVE needs to enhance its efforts to help sub-grantees develop and implement 
approaches that measurably benefit vulnerable children at a low cost per child. The most cost￾effective and sustainable programs are usually those that are owned and managed by the 
communities themselves. However current STRIVE programming appears to concentrate more 
on programs where communities are participants, rather than owners. CRS/STRIVE should 
organize a study visit to the COPE and SCOPE-OVC programs (in Malawi and Zambia, 
respectively) which have extensive experience in this area, and collaborate with these and other 
programs in the region to develop a community mobilization network for information exchange 
and training. 
The programming regulations and procedures of USAID are inappropriate to the massive, long￾term impact of HIV/AIDS on children and families. The STRIVE Operations Research Unit 
should take the lead in identifying those aspects of the regulations and processes which hinder 
effective programming for children and identify the means of addressing these constraints. Steps 
should include convening a series of meetings with partners to identify the most onerous 
financial rules and regulations retarding implementation; holding a joint meeting with USAID to 
review processes and policies; and hosting a tripartite meeting to openly discuss identified 
constraints and jointly develop options for removing or working around these constraints. 
Before the tripartite meeting, USAID/Zimbabwe financial staff should visit project sites with 
STRIVE staff to familiarize themselves with the constraints faced by both the P8 and S8 sub￾grantees. 
Recommendation 5: Integrate technical intervention areas 
It is essential to place the child at the center of CRS/STRIVE’s activities, so that each receives 
STRIVE support in an integrated manner. The present structure of CRS/STRIVE allows for a 
high degree of independence between food security, education, psychosocial and economic 
support interventions with the result that a child frequently does not benefit from all of these 
interventions, at a time when the original intent of STRIVE was to test different, integrated 
baskets of support for children. 
STRIVE's structure is designed to help eliminate this risk by positioning “generalist” 
intermediaries such as Project Managers (at sub-grantee level), Project Officers (within 
CRS/STRIVE) and the CRS/STRIVE Project Development and Management (PDM) Unit in key 
coordinating roles. However, this structure does not appear to be working optimally. It is 
essential that the roles of the PDM Unit be reviewed and reinforced as part of an overall review 
of STRIVE's management structures (Section 3 of this report and Annex 3). One option might 
be for STRIVE to consider its PDM Unit and staff more as an "integrator of activities and 
facilitator to the other Units," with responsibility for continuously monitoring the services 
 
14 "Assessment of the Alliance/IPC OVC Project in Burkina Faso," John Williamson and Bridgette DeLay, February 
2002. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page 16 
reaching children to ensure that they are, indeed, integrated and holistic. Improved management 
should enable STRIVE to successfully integrate services. 
Recommendation 6: Adapt to the operating environment 
Zimbabwe has changed significantly since STRIVE was designed. While STRIVE has taken 
many steps to adapt to these changes, the review team is concerned that more needs to be done 
and that aspects of the project need to be reviewed in light of the country environment. For 
example: 
! Are STRIVE-related activities and structures adequately prepared for (and protected against) 
hyperinflation, fuel shortages and accelerating staff turnover? A number of practical 
suggestions have been made in the main body of the report, but more consultation – 
especially with USAID and between the 16 sub-grantees – is needed. STRIVE should 
request that USAID convene a meeting with CRS and all sub-grantees to develop strategies 
for dealing with these constraints. STRIVE should also consult further with other USAID￾supported organizations to see how they address these issues. 
! Can the STRIVE interventions make an impact in the context of shrinking resources such as 
fuel, electricity and potable water, and public services delivered by the dwindling number of 
school-teachers, social welfare officers and other public servants? If not, what can be done to 
restructure the interventions so they can function more effectively? Options for establishing 
linkages and partnerships with the GOZ, United Nations agencies, international PVOs and 
other local organizations need to be explored so that available resources can be used in a 
coordinated, collaborative manner. In addition, increased community ownership of activities 
(Annex 10) will increase impact and enable STRIVE to stretch resources. 
! Can and should STRIVE-related activities and structures be more closely integrated with 
existing structures such as district and local AIDS and development committees, child 
welfare forums, and activities like voluntary counseling and testing, home-based care, 
prevention of mother-to-child transmission etc.? STRIVE should pro-actively reach out to 
these structures, identifying options and exploring the implications of integration. 
! What can be done to motivate unpaid community-level service providers (“volunteers”) who 
are themselves in need of food and support? Can they be provided with the tools for their 
work (bicycles, shoes, gloves, uniforms)? Can STRIVE ensure they are first in line for 
whatever benefits are available within the program (food, training)? Can they be assured of 
seeing the fruits of their work (data/information collected) being appropriately recognized 
and thanked? Alternatively, can the “volunteer” approach be revised so that communities 
decide what and who they are most concerned about, what capacities and resources they 
bring to bear, and what actions they are prepared to take? (Annex 10, Table 1) STRIVE 
should convene a meeting with P8 and S8 sub-grantees to discuss these issues and develop a 
uniform approach. UNICEF, international PVOs, and child-focused programs in other 
countries should be consulted for their experiences and approaches to dealing with these 
issues. Programs similar to STRIVE in neighboring countries (COPE/Malawi, 
SCOPE/Zambia) provide examples of options for volunteers. Such programs should be 
visited and consulted. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page 17 
Recommendation 7: Contribute to developing an adequate large-scale, national 
response 
As a major role player in child-focused activities in Zimbabwe, CRS/STRIVE should be 
prepared to adopt a higher profile in influencing and advising national policy. It should not 
attempt to assume roles properly carried out by the Government, but it should continue and more 
actively seek to influence the Government and other key stakeholders to adequately fulfill their 
essential roles. STRIVE's ongoing involvement in the National Stakeholder's Forum is an 
excellent beginning. The national consultation on orphans and vulnerable children in June 2003 
will provide an ideal opportunity for CRS/STRIVE to develop higher public profile and to 
advocate the ideals STRIVE promotes. 
Many of the recommendations in this report (particularly Section Six), will help to prepare 
CRS/STRIVE to fulfill this role. In particular, reinforcing the project's vision and capacity to 
deliver (acting more as a facilitator than as a service provider), ensuring that children have a 
greater say in decision-making, and improving linkages at all levels will help strengthen 
STRIVE's position. 
In addition, CRS/STRIVE needs to work more closely with UNICEF to develop a strategic 
alliance for children at risk at the national level. STRIVE should also establish close linkages 
with USAID/Zimbabwe's Zimbabwe AIDS Policy and Advocacy (ZAPA) Project and work 
closely with ZAPA on policy-related issues. 
Section 3: CRS/ STRIVE’s management structure 
Although STRIVE has been working to improve its management systems, those currently in 
place are not conducive to effective management, decentralization or decision-making. As 
mentioned previously, STRIVE's management structures within CRS are too interdependent and 
cumbersome with lines of authority, and roles and responsibilities, which, while clearly laid out, 
are not adhered to or respected. In addition, planning has been very fractured, resulting in 
“reaction” rather than “pro-action.” STRIVE’s vision, strategic thinking and project direction 
seem unclear, particularly in light of changes within the project and the rapidly shifting operating 
environment. Furthermore, information is apparently not shared effectively nor passed along as 
necessary, hindering STRIVE’s ability to respond to its sub-grantees. 
Over-involvement by USAID in STRIVE’s day-to-day activities and management was also 
reported to have hindered STRIVE’s ability to manage its own work. USAID countered that that 
without its continued involvement certain activities would not have been carried out 
satisfactorily or certain issues might not have been adequately dealt with. Though it appears that 
USAID and CRS/STRIVE discussed these issues several times, apparently no action was taken 
by CRS/STRIVE, thus encouraging USAID to feel that continued involvement in the project was 
necessary. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page 18 
STRIVE’s administrative systems appear sound and the current STRIVE staffing complement is 
more than adequate to handle present activities, in terms of both numbers and qualifications. 
Current staff levels would not be sufficient, however, to handle any growth. Staffing challenges 
identified by the review team include: 
! The current Director plans to step down as soon as a qualified replacement is identified 
! The roles and responsibilities of the Project Development and Management Unit staff and 
overall purpose of the Unit appear to be constantly evolving, causing confusion among other 
STRIVE Units and sub-grantees 
! Core staff skills in planning, program management and supervision need reinforcement 
! Staff need a solid grounding in HIV/AIDS and children at risk issues 
! Sub-contracting seems to be inadequately used, as staff appear to want to take on many 
service delivery tasks themselves, rather than supervise delivery by others. 
Linkages and relationships at all levels of the STRIVE project seem to be tenuous. STRIVE 
does not appear to have clarified its relationships with USAID, CRS, its sub-grantees, or the 
communities served by its sub-grantees. 
 
Key recommendations for strengthening STRIVE’s management structures were informed, in 
part, by a discussion with S8 Directors, and summarized in Annex 3 and include: 
1. Hiring a seasoned, experienced director immediately. This person must be a skilled 
manager and strategic thinker. 
2. Revisiting and sharpening STRIVE’s vision, adjusting the strategic program plan and 
timeline accordingly. 
3. Separating and simplifying STRIVE management structures and procedures within the 
CRS context. 
4. Increasing the decision-making autonomy of STRIVE within the CRS context. 
5. Reinforcing adherence to and respect for lines of authority within, and between, CRS and 
CRS/STRIVE. 
6. Conducting a facilitated discussion around the issues raised in the "strengths, weaknesses, 
opportunities, threats (SWOT)" exercise and in-depth interviews carried as part of the 
mid-term review. 
7. Reengaging the present Director in an appropriate alternative capacity, such as Senior 
Technical Advisor on Children/Quality Assurance. 
Section 4: CRS/STRIVE’s Core Functions 
CRS/STRIVE’s four main project implementation functions can be summarized as: 
! Selecting sub-grantees to deliver services to Zimbabwean children at risk 
! Providing assistance to sub-grantees to help them carry out their activities better 
! Providing assistance to sub-grantees to help them better manage and account for their staff 
and funds 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page 19 
! Studying what happens and how it happens—and using this information to identify useful 
lessons, notable or commendable practices, and strategic principles and practical actions that 
can be applied or replicated elsewhere 
Each of these functions is discussed below. 
Sub-grantee selection 
CRS/STRIVE has implemented a comprehensive, multi-step process that has been used to award 
two rounds of sub-grants. The process was modified slightly for the second round (S8), based 
largely on lessons learned in the first round (P8). 
The sub-grantee selection process itself appears to be thorough and has resulted in the selection 
of sub-grantees that match the selection criteria well. To expedite project start up, potential sub￾grantees for round one were pre-identified based on previous relationships with CRS. For Round 
2, a transparent selection process was followed. Some S8 sub-grantees felt that the application 
and selection process helped build capacity within organizations applying for sub-grants. At the 
same time, however, the process was time-consuming, particularly for smaller community 
organizations. Similarly, participation in Round 2 took many key CRS/STRIVE staff away from 
their programmatic responsibilities for extended periods of time, affecting project 
implementation and their ability to respond effectively to the needs of P8 sub-grantees. 
The review team has recommended that CRS/STRIVE not expand its services further during the 
pilot phase of STRIVE. Should CRS/STRIVE continue beyond the pilot phase and decide to 
expand, the review team recommends that the project review its sub-grantee application and 
selection procedures to: 
1. Determine whether there are options for streamlining the process (including, if appropriate, 
establishing sub-committees to be involved in selection at different stages of the process, thus 
freeing up staff at the same time). 
2. Consider hiring an external consultant to help with the process. 
Building sub-grantee’s capacity 
Achieving STRIVE’s second main project objective, “Improve the organizational capacity of at 
least eight local organizations to deliver high quality care, support, and prevention activities to 
benefit children affected by HIV/AIDS and their families,” is the primary responsibility of the 
Capacity Building/Gender Unit.15 Although some activities have been affected by the delay in 
hiring a Program Manager and Project Officer for the Unit, many key activities have taken place 
as scheduled. Of particular note, organizational capacity assessment tools were adapted and 
administered during individual workshops with sub-grantees; a master plan for capacity-building 
 
15 This section does not address financial capacity building or operations research capacity building as these capacity 
building activities do not fall under the purview of the CB/G Unit. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page 20 
activities was designed based on the assessment results; and a management skills capacity￾building workshop was held for sub-grantee Directors. Improved capacity will be measured 
against the baselines established for each P8 sub-grantee (using the organizational assessment 
tool) once more capacity-building activities have been carried out. The Capacity 
Building/Gender Unit anticipated conducting the next interim assessment by December 31, 2003. 
The S8 sub-grantees are presently being assessed using the same tool. 
Several P8 sub-grantees indicated that they welcomed capacity-building activities and felt they 
were valuable. To date, most capacity building has transferred knowledge and understanding to 
sub-grantees. Skills and the ability to develop or use specific systems have not yet been 
sufficiently transferred. Because each Unit of CRS/STRIVE independently conducts capacity￾building activities, many sub-grantees felt overwhelmed by the number of activities going on at 
the same time, with staff of least one sub-grantee reporting that they had spent at least one month 
per quarter in workshops and/or training sessions, some of which were not significantly different 
from others. There was also a concern expressed that capacity-building activities were often 
diluted by erratic communication, lack of coordination and less-than-adequate materials. 
Sub-grantees also expressed concern that usually only STRIVE-funded staff were involved in 
capacity-building activities, creating divisions among sub-grantee staff. The adoption of "a 
project within a project" has created a degree of tension in sub-grantees, with a number of the 
smaller sub-grantees feeling genuinely threatened by the STRIVE element within their 
organization and the disparity it is creating. To achieve STRIVE's objective of building the 
capacity of at least eight local organizations to deliver high-quality care and support for children 
at risk and their families, STRIVE needs to assess the needs of each organization beyond 
STRIVE-funded staff (including other staff, management, board members, etc.) and develop 
individual capacity-building plans for each sub-grantee. What is needed for and by one sub￾grantee may not be what is needed by another. 
In spite of what has been achieved, many P8 sub-grantees still need significant organizational 
capacity building. Usually several different types of activities are required to ensure that a staff 
member or volunteer has learned a skill and can use it. Creating buy-in, treating sub-grantees 
appropriately and developing relationships will help sub-grantees accept and implement changes 
within their organizations. Gender has not been adequately addressed in STRIVE’s capacity 
building activities and needs to come out more strongly. 
The Capacity-Building and Gender Unit at STRIVE currently has enough staff who are highly 
qualified and professional. A skills bank is being put in place that will allow the Unit to access 
expertise for designing, organizing and conducting capacity-building activities on a broader 
range of topics. 
Key recommendations include: 
1. Coordinating the capacity building activities of all STRIVE Units to reduce overlaps and 
burdens on sub-grantees and to organize, oversee, and assure quality. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page 21 
2. Creating a menu of capacity-building topics from which all sub-grantees can choose. 
Developing a combination of activity styles, such as formal, informal, and organizational 
one-on-one alternatives to workshops. 
3. Developing more creative capacity transfer programs including not only formal workshops, 
but also informal inter-program visits, and peer group or self-study opportunities. Relying 
more purposefully on good quality materials (study guides, procedural manuals, information 
on HIV and AIDS, children at risk, community mobilization) as alternatives to workshops 
which take staff and volunteers away from their sites. 
4. Developing a complete organizational capacity assessment package to improve the quality of 
the assessment to be administered, i.e. provide greater variety and more modules that focus 
on special issues, such as gender. 
5. Developing a clear set of specific indicators to assess capacity-building activities and the 
appropriateness of methodologies used. 
6. Adding a gender target to the STRIVE plan and develop appropriate indicators. 
Financial management 
One of CRS/STRIVE’s core functions is to effectively manage the CRS cooperative agreement 
funds and to ensure that the sub-grants awarded to the implementing partners/sub-grantees are 
equally well managed. 
Based on staff interviews, randomly tested financial documents, written policies and procedures 
review, and examination of management systems and policies, the mid-term financial review 
team assessed the financial status of CRS and its sub-grantees to determine whether: 
! Acceptable, properly documented financial management systems for controlling, accounting 
and safeguarding USAID resources were in place both at CRS and grantee level. 
! Direction and building of implementing partners financial systems was provided by 
CRS/STRIVE. 
! Capacity building of sub-grantees financial officers was provided by CRS/STRIVE. 
! On-going project implementation is cost effective. 
! Financial capacity to manage and absorb additional funds for scaling up or out existed within 
CRS and sub-grantees. 
The focus areas for the financial review were financial management systems; computerized 
accounting systems; auditing; procurement; administration; travel and per diem; and personnel. 
Systems were further broken down into smaller processes; e.g. the financial management system 
was broken down into cash payments, payments, bank reconciliation, accounting, reporting and 
internal controls. Individual, confidential reports for each sub-grantee and CRS were prepared. 
CRS and USAID received copies of all reports. The sub-grantees received the report on their 
organization. The section below summarizes general findings, conclusions and 
recommendations. 
Sub-grantees 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page 22 
Funding: In July 2002 the sub-grantees were awarded a total of US$1.4 million, 
targeting 45,132 vulnerable children. CRS/STRIVE funding to the sub-grantees equals an 
average of 70% of total sub-grantee funding. Expenditures amounting to US$254,000 had been 
recorded as of April 2003, benefiting 24,545 vulnerable children at an average cost of US$10 per 
child. 
ORGANIZATION
Total Amount 
of Sub-grant 
(US$000) 
First year 
budget 
(US$000) 
Funds 
disbursed 
(US$000) 
Pipeline 
(US$000) 
 07/02-06/03 07/02-04/03 As of 04/2003 
Pipeline as a % of 
1st year budget 
Batsiranai 149 74 29 45 61
Bethany 169 85 12 73 86
Diocese of Bulawayo 183 91 48 43 47
Diocese of Chinhoyi 190 95 31 64 67
Diocese of Mutare 195 98 25 73 74
Masiye Camp 186 93 55 38 41
RUDO 183 92 32 60 65
Tsungirirai 147 74 22 52 70
 
TOTAL 1,402 700 254 446 64
 
 
Pipeline: It was observed that most sub-grantees had an excess pipeline ranging from 
41% to 86%. It was also noted that there is no relation between the number of children reached 
and the funds expended. In the current Zimbabwean environment it is difficult to understand 
how, for example, 96% of the targeted children were reached with 39% actual funds spent. 
*Expenditure figures are for the period July 2002 to April 2003 
Internal Controls: The financial review team tested the adequacy of internal controls and 
observed that the internal controls of each sub-grantee were generally ranked "inadequate." 
Although the absence of internal controls is common in small organizations, an effort to establish 
internal controls to the extent possible is important to discourage the misuse of funds. 
Adherence to Policy: CRS/STRIVE's grants management unit worked with sub-grantees 
during regular visits to ensure that USAID policies were being adhered to within their 
organizational framework. However, sub-grantees expressed concern that CRS/STRIVE was 
creating a better remunerated “sub-office” within the sub-grantees (i.e. sub-grantee staff funded 
by CRS/STRIVE are more highly paid than other employees of the sub-grantee organization), 
which was unsustainable and causing divisions within the whole organization workforce. There 
was also a general misunderstanding among sub-grantees of USAID policy and financial 
guidelines. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page 23 
 
Financial Management Capacity: It was observed that the sub-grantees were at different 
levels in financial management capacity. Each implementing partner was ranked, with overall 
ranking ranging from 2.6 to 3.8 on a scale of 1 (low, needs improvement) to 5 (high, excellent). 
There was also evidence of a slow start up process, which had an adverse impact on 
implementation and expenditures. 
Staffing & Personnel: The ratio of CRS/STRIVE employees to the total number of 
employees in P8 sub-grantees was examined. In three of the eight sub-grantees, CRS/STRIVE 
employees constituted a majority. This indicated to the reviewer that five of the eight sub￾grantees were not overly dependent on CRS/STRIVE funding for existence and might be able to 
carry on STRIVE-related activities once STRIVE funding ends. 
Documentation: It was noted that written policies, rules and regulations and operational 
guidelines were either unavailable or inadequate for several of the sub-grantees. This finding 
was not surprising, as the absence of documented procedures is common in small organizations. 
However, given the increase in funding received through STRIVE, it is recommended that the 
sub grantees make a serious effort towards addressing this concern. 
Results: Interviews indicated that there was good work to benefit children at risk being 
implemented by the sub-grantees. The financial review team observed, however, that the sub￾grantees were at different levels in both financial management and program implementation. 
There is evidence of a slow start up process that adversely impacted implementation and 
expenditures. There is also a need to build capacity of the sub-grantees and develop policies and 
procedures in personnel, financial management and procurement. 
Challenges: The need to improve CRS/STRIVE’s response time to payment and budget 
revisions and the need for a clear exchange rate and inflation policy were concerns raised by 
most of the sub-grantees interviewed. 
Key recommendations for strengthening sub-grantee financial management systems include: 
1. Ensuring that policies, rules and regulations and operational guidelines are documented 
2. Improving internal controls through segregation of duties 
3. Using CRS/STRIVE's capacity-building unit to improve sub-grantees’ financial management 
capability. The review team recommends that financial management capacity be built within 
the entire sub-grantee organization--not only among those specifically funded by STRIVE. 
4. Ensuring that recommendations made to each sub-grantee are addressed. 
Catholic Relief Services 
The mid-term financial review team assessed the financial status of CRS to determine whether: 
! CRS has acceptable, properly documented financial management systems for controlling, 
accounting and safeguarding USAID resources both at CRS and sub-grantee level, 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page 24 
! CRS provided direction and capacitated P8 financial systems, 
! On-going project implementation is cost effective 
! CRS/STRIVE has the financial capacity to manage and absorb additional funds by “scaling￾up/out interventions”. 
Methodology: The review team interviewed CRS staff, randomly tested financial documents 
and reviewed documented policies and procedures to determine the status of management 
systems and policies. The focus areas were financial management systems; computerized 
accounting systems; auditing; procurement; administration; travel and per diem; and personnel. 
These systems were further broken down into smaller processes. For example, the financial 
management system was broken down into cash payments, payments, bank reconciliation, 
accounting, reporting and internal controls. 
Conclusions: CRS has good, properly documented financial management systems that 
ensures proper use of program funds and effectively safeguards them. 
Challenges: The major challenge emerging from the review was the transfer of financial 
management skills to sub-grantees. 
Principle recommendations for strengthening CRS's financial management include: 
1. CRS should capacitate the financial, personnel, administration and procurement systems of 
the P8 through skills transfer. 
2. The time it takes CRS to respond to P8 requests for payment and budget reviews should be 
shortened. 
3. CRS should work with USAID to formulate a clear exchange rate and inflation adjustment 
policy. 
4. Excess pipeline be addressed immediately. 
5. The disparity between the number of children reached and actual expenditures should be 
investigated. 
6. CRS/STRIVE should conduct reviews to ground-truth the figures submitted by sub-grantees 
such as "number of children reached") to avoid double counting errors. 
7. CRS/STRIVE should integrate the STRIVE unit at the sub-grantee level to avoid creating a 
“separate” entity. 
Operations research 
The STRIVE project design was centered on a rigorous operations research (OR) agenda that 
would enable the project to assess the impact, cost effectiveness, replicability and quality of 
various community-based, child-focused interventions. It was designed specifically to identify 
which interventions and combination of interventions had potential for application in new 
geographic areas or to reach larger numbers of children at risk. Operations research was 
intended to provide lessons and guide future programming not only for USAID, but also for 
others working on programs aimed at children at risk. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page 25 
In spite of this intensive focus, most operations research activities did not begin until early 2003, 
almost one year into project implementation. CRS/STRIVE’s original proposal to subcontract 
the operations research to a local firm did not materialize and STRIVE did not move rapidly to 
find a replacement or establish in-house expertise for this critical component. A baseline survey 
was finally completed in July 2002, but was inadequate to meet the research and monitoring 
requirements of STRIVE. A consultant was hired to reanalyze raw data and reorganize 
information according to STRIVE indicators. Although the resulting product was an 
improvement, the baseline survey document continues to be of little practical use for OR 
purposes. 
In early 2003, CRS hired an experienced Operations Research Advisor has who has worked hard 
to strengthen the OR component of the STRIVE. In recent months the Operations Research Unit 
has undertaken a number noteworthy activities, including an operations research training 
workshop, the development of uniform data collection instruments for all sub-grantees, and 
updates to the original operations research work plan. 
The operations research training workshop brought together OR staff from both CRS/STRIVE 
and the P8 sub-grantees. The workshop was instrumental in clarifying definitions and concepts 
of operations research and its methodologies and helped reaffirm the operations research 
objectives of the STRIVE project. The workshop forged, for the first time, a common 
understanding of the OR agenda, set priorities and outlined future steps. 
The standardized research tools developed recently have clearly been useful to the P8 OR staff 
and have enhanced the ability of STRIVE to collect useful and pertinent data. Given the 
centrality of the OR agenda for the successful outcome of the STRIVE project, a review of the 
tools by OR specialists to ensure that they are sufficient to capture and provide the necessary 
information required, as set out in the original objectives of the project, may be useful. Costing 
of child-focused interventions is particularly fraught with conceptual, methodological and 
operational difficulties. Recent attempts by Chris Desmond and Geoff Gow in South Africa 
have illustrated some of these difficulties and may be of interest and use to STRIVE's Operations 
Research Unit. 
As a result of recent OR Unit activities, all but one of the P8 sub-grantees now has a trained 
operations research manager on staff. Within all the sub-grantees, however, these OR managers 
are required to perform non-OR functions, including monitoring and evaluation and basic 
fieldwork. 
Sub-grantees uniformly reported improvement in the quality and timeliness of support and 
guidance being received from CRS/STRIVE since the arrival of the new operations research 
advisor, and on the benefits they perceive emanating from the operations research program. 
The first overarching theme/recommendation of this report was to re-establish operations 
research at the core of STRIVE. Key steps for implementing this recommendation and for 
strengthening STRIVE's operations research program include: 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page 26 
1. Convening an operations research tools review workshop, with external specialist assistance, 
to rigorously review existing STRIVE OR tools, methodologies and proposed analysis to 
ensure their adequacy for project objectives. Revise and/or adapt existing tools, as 
appropriate, or develop new ones, if required. USAID/Zimbabwe and USAID/Washington 
can provide assistance in identifying appropriate expertise. 
2. Following the OR tools review workshop, reassess staffing needs, external technical 
assistance needs and other requirements. Identify additional funding needs for an expanded 
operations research agenda and submit a revised budget for OR activities to USAID. 
3. Identifying and subcontracting a recognized local or international operations research 
organization to rapidly expand operations research activities. The Operations Research 
Advisor should manage the contractor(s) to ensure that what they are doing is consistent with 
the objectives of STRIVE and USAID. 
4. Putting a mechanism in place to collect data and analyze the cost effectiveness and quality of 
different child support interventions, both individually and with regard to STRIVE's 
categories of (a) psychosocial support, (b) economic empowerment initiatives, (c) food 
security and nutrition interventions and (d) education assistance, as outlined in the 
cooperative agreement. STRIVE should subcontract an organization or engage the assistance 
of an individual(s) with expertise in cost effectiveness analysis. In addition, the Operations 
Research Advisor should participate in the forthcoming interagency costing meeting for 
children at risk programs to be held in July 2003 in South Africa. 
5. Undertaking a similar, but scaled down, OR training workshop for senior management of the 
P8 sub-grantees, OR/M&E staff of the S8 sub-grantees, and non-OR staff of CRS/STRIVE. 
6. Encouraging and providing financial support to sub-grantees for hiring additional staff 
dedicated to operations research. 
7. Considering the extension of operations research to the S8 organizations to validate the 
assumption that larger organizations can scale up rapidly and more efficiently; ensuring that 
S8 monitoring and measurement tools and methods are consistent with and supportive of the 
P8 OR objectives. 
8. Designing operations research questions to track community capacity building and/or 
empowerment allowing them to make their own decisions and manage their own programs. 
9. Closely examining staffing needs at the central and sub-grantee level to address the 
operations research issues raised above. Since the various interventions require a variety of 
skills—some short-term and others long-term—adopt maximum flexibility in structuring 
human resource needs to make STRIVE a cutting edge program in programming and 
operations research for children at risk. 
10. Requesting that STRIVE become one of the field test sites for the ten proposed indicators 
developed at a recent consultative meeting in Botswana on children at risk.16
Section 5: Sub-grantee programming 
Intermediate Result 1: Psychosocial support (PSS) interventions piloted 
 
16"Draft Report on the Technical Consultation on Indicators Development for Children Orphaned and Made 
 Vulnerable by HIV/AIDS," Gaborone, Botswana, 2-4 April 2003. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page 27 
Children living with HIV/AIDS have specific and special needs. STRIVE funding has enabled 
sub-grantee organizations to expand existing PSS services and to provide additional PSS 
interventions to these children and their communities. Home based care volunteers are now 
providing counseling services to children living in AIDS-affected families; child galas provide 
children with an opportunity to demonstrate their skills to the community; and Speak Out 
Workshops give children a forum to voice their concerns to community members. Through 
STRIVE funding, more children have been able to attend community camps and a greater 
number of teachers and peer counselors have received training in counseling. 
Successful implementation of PSS activities, however, faces several challenges. Of primary 
importance is the lack of a common understanding of the term “psychosocial support” not only at 
CRS/STRIVE, but also internationally, nationally, within STRIVE sub-grantee organizations and 
in the communities receiving STRIVE assistance. This has made it difficult to obtain 
meaningful baseline data, to design appropriate interventions, and to measure the efficacy of 
these interventions. As a result, the focus has been on the number of children receiving services 
and the number of PSS interventions, rather than on qualitative changes in the child’s life and 
behavior. 
STRIVE’s definition of PSS as a separate intermediate result has led to sub-grantees’ 
implementing stand-alone PSS interventions, mainly replications of successful models such as 
camps, leadership training and counseling, rather than creatively weaving PSS into all aspects of 
their programs. Because sub-grantees have not developed integrated plans that involve services 
to the child across key developmental stages of their lives, services tend to be disjointed and are 
unable to take advantage of synergies to increase their impact. Furthermore, few sub-grantee 
organizations have involved communities in “dialogues of discovery” to determine what 
communities did before and do now when children lose parents, how communities might define 
positive change in their children or why they think children misbehave. 
Topics that are not being sufficiently addressed by current STRIVE PSS interventions include 
sex abuse and preparing a child for the death of a parent. Groups that may not be effectively 
reached by current interventions include HIV positive children and children living in infected 
families, children not in community care (street children), guardians and volunteers caring for 
orphans, vulnerable children and child-headed households. 
It is recommended that STRIVE build capacity in the sub-grantees by: 
1. Helping communities build children’s resilience in the face of multiple risk factors by 
strengthening the child’s problem-solving skills, daily living skills, and their ability to utilize 
external and internal resources. 
2. Promoting the psychosocial well being of children, rather than placing emphasis on 
implementing psychosocial support activities. They should encourage the community to 
identify the components of children’s well being (their accomplishments), the threats to well￾being (the impact of AIDS, social isolation) and what the family and community can do 
about these. 
3. Strengthening the communities’ ability to provide continuity of care, beginning before a 
child is orphaned and extending well beyond the initial period of bereavement. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page 28 
4. Working with communities to clarify the meaning of “psychosocial support.” Have 
communities identify a word or phase (in the vernacular where possible) that summarizes 
their understanding of the term and adopt the resulting word/phrase and definition for use 
within STRIVE. 
5. Involving the community in formulating and implementing interventions that address the 
well being of children. 
6. Working with the Mildmay International group currently setting up operations in Zimbabwe 
and learn from their clinic and community PSS work with children in Uganda, particularly on 
how to communicate with children. 
Intermediate Result 2: Food security interventions piloted 
The SADC Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Vulnerability Assessment Committee’s 
December 2002 report concluded that the number of Zimbabweans in need of food assistance 
was nearly 7.2 million people, an additional 480,000 people since the last assessment conducted 
in August 2002. The Famine Early Warning Systems Network’s February 24 Food Security 
Emergency report on Zimbabwe stated that food insecurity is expected to worsen, since the 
2002/2003 grain harvest could be as much as 20 percent below last year’s poor performance. 
Zimbabweans in more than two-thirds of the country’s districts are expected to experience either 
moderate or extreme food insecurity during 2003/2004. The impact on vulnerable children of 
another poor harvest is likely to be severe. 
The impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic exposes individuals and communities to, and lowers the 
threshold at which, any additional shocks such as a complex food crisis and an increase in child 
vulnerability can be absorbed or tolerated. HIV/AIDS directly impacts the social and economic 
capacities of households and communities and, at the same time, socio-economic changes can 
directly affect--negatively or positively--the spread of HIV/AIDS. An understanding of the 
interrelationship between HIV/AIDS and food security in Zimbabwe is crucial for any effective 
response to the current crises, the longer-term recovery strategy and the national response to the 
orphan and vulnerable child crisis in the country. 
STRIVE has attempted to address food security issues as they relate to children affected by 
AIDS by supporting sub-grantees promotion of drought tolerant crops and crop diversification, 
labor saving agricultural techniques, nutritional gardens, chief’s gardens and micro-nutrient-rich 
vegetables. Interventions, including irrigation drip kits, a seed fair with vouchers, community 
fields and horticultural gardens, were piloted. In addition, STRIVE increasingly assumed a 
direct role in providing supplementary feeding in primary schools and early childhood education 
centers. 
A review of STRIVE’s food security interventions indicates that they have met with mixed 
success. Some community and chief’s gardens are successfully providing food for vulnerable 
children. Attempts to introduce seed fairs and irrigation drip kit pilots were less successful. 
Supplementary feeding programs are unsustainable for STRIVE and its sub-grantees as STRIVE 
does not have a comparative advantage in this area, particularly in view of the number of 
experienced groups involved in the large humanitarian effort underway in Zimbabwe.
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page 29 
It is recommended that STRIVE: 
1. Review food security interventions and refocus on activities that directly benefit the 
vulnerable child. 
2. Reorient its food security activities to focus on more measurable nutritional outcomes for 
children at risk, including nutrition support to vulnerable children in and out of school, 
vulnerable pre-school children, and community activities that provide additional food for 
vulnerable children. 
3. Strengthen its food security and nutrition baseline by incorporating information from recent 
vulnerability assessments, district-level nutritional surveys and other related data. 
4. Assist sub-grantees in establishing nutritional monitoring systems for vulnerable children in 
both school and non-school settings; provide linkages to organizations that can provide food 
relief, school feeding or other nutritional support. STRIVE should move away from the 
direct implementation of food relief and food security services. 
5. Reduce agriculture-based food security activities. 
Intermediate Result 3: Education assistance interventions piloted 
It has been documented that education and keeping children in school are key elements in 
reducing the risk of HIV/AIDS among young people. STRIVE has the potential to catalyze 
programs that will keep Zimbabwe’s children in school, and keep them alive and healthy through 
its Education Assistance interventions, particularly during the current period of material 
deprivation and emotional turmoil. 
STRIVE’s education programs were designed to ‘increase access to quality education for 
children affected by AIDS, with a special focus on girls’.17 Recently, interventions have targeted 
all those broadly at risk. Funds are used to improve quality of local education: getting more 
children, especially girls, into school; providing books, furniture, other consumables and minor 
repairs to sub-grantee schools; and providing supplementary feeding. The principal direct 
benefit is to children at risk whose school-related costs are subsidized or completely assumed by 
STRIVE sub-grantees. Preliminary reports suggest girls’ interests are well catered for. 
In carrying out its education assistance program, STRIVE faces significant challenges. Within 
the wider operating environment, drought and hunger inhibit school attendance even when 
subsidies have been provided and increasing numbers of children at risk are in need of 
assistance. Inability to pay school fees and levies continues to prevent many vulnerable children 
from attending school, even though schools have been instructed by the GOZ not to exclude such 
children. Within the STRIVE project, delays in disbursing funds, variable management capacity 
at the sub-grantee level and difficult decisions to be made at the community level have hindered 
progress. 
Effectiveness of education assistance interventions has been compromised by lack of linkages 
with other STRIVE-supported interventions, particularly food security/nutrition and 
 
17 Education Assistance Implementation Strategy, February 2003 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page 30 
psychosocial support. HIV prevention programs, originally included in STRIVE’s design, have 
not been implemented and constitute a major gap in STRIVE’s education assistance package. 
Until the Government of Zimbabwe abolishes fees and levies and open schools to all, 
CRS/STRIVE’s education management and planning capacity needs strengthening: 
1. Concentrate education assistance on subsidizing enrollment costs, linked to improved 
nutrition, care and counseling, and HIV/AIDS prevention programs. 
2. Streamline selection of candidates for subsidies, transfer of resources between levels of the 
organization, and management of systems and processes at all levels. 
3. Increase education staff at sub-grantee level and improve the skills of all education personnel 
with regard to HIV/AIDS and education, orphaning and children at risk, and community￾based programming. 
4. Assist sub-grantees in developing systems for continual monitoring of attendance to identify 
children dropping out of school either because of sickness at the household level or as a 
direct result of hunger/poverty. 
5. Improve linkages within CRS/STRIVE, among its levels, and with other organizations. 
Better analysis of operations research feedback will improve both management and planning 
capacity. 
6. Link the scholarship program with: 
! a revitalized HIV/AIDS prevention program delivered by selected teachers and 
paraprofessional peer health educator teams in sub-grantee schools; 
! programs that promote the psychosocial well being of children to reach children and 
young people in and out of school; 
! school nutrition programs – supervised or sub-contracted to specialists in humanitarian 
relief by STRIVE P8 and S8 sub-grantees – for all children in sub-grantee primary 
schools, or at least those in the hardest hit ‘hotspots’ within STRIVE’s areas of operation. 
7. Form strategic partnerships with groups such as Save the Children and USAID's ZAPA 
Project to advocate for education policy reforms. 
Intermediate Result 4: Economic strengthening interventions piloted 
CRS/STRIVE’s economic strengthening intervention seeks to enhance household and 
community economic resources through community-based approaches. The assumption is that if 
household economic activities are strengthened, both households and communities will be better 
positioned to care for their children at risk. Economic strengthening activities under STRIVE are 
not funded by USAID (CRS is using its own funds) as technical provisions on the use of “child 
survival” funds exclude such activities. 
Economic strengthening activities were launched much later than other STRIVE-assisted 
interventions. To date, the internal savings and lending (IS&L) scheme is the only household 
economic strengthening activity that has been initiated by STRIVE, and that was begun only two 
months prior to the mid-term review. No community safety net initiatives have been launched 
by STRIVE, although several are being undertaken by sub-grantees and communities without 
CRS/STRIVE support. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page 31 
 
Two sub-grantees are currently implementing IS& L programs, with a third poised to begin soon. 
To provide technical services on the IS&L model to the STRIVE sub-grantees, CRS contracted 
with CARE International in Zimbabwe. CARE is the institution that developed the IS&L model 
and has extensive experience in using it in Zimbabwe. 
 
Although the IS&L groups have only recently been launched, those participating in the schemes 
are both enthusiastic and clear about the potential benefits of participation. Because IS&Ls are a 
variation of traditional “merry-go-round” lending schemes, they have been readily accepted by 
communities and immediately become community owned and managed. The simplicity of the 
model means that groups often form spontaneously once the scheme is initiated. 
Challenges facing the nascent IS&L program include: spontaneous replication may not include 
the same level of training and monitoring offered by STRIVE sub-grantees; the program could 
become dependent on the sub-grantee field officer; and STRIVE needs to ensure that CARE 
technical assistance successfully transfers skills to sub-grantee counterparts. 
Key recommendations include: 
1. STRIVE should wait (for at least six months) for results from the first three IS&L programs 
before replicating the model. Criteria for assessing results should include (a) an increase in 
economic resources (assets) at the household level and (b) evidence that any increase is 
benefiting vulnerable children and improving their welfare. 
2. If the six-month results prove positive, CRS/STRIVE should present USAID with a well￾documented and justified request for direct USAID funding for economic strengthening 
activities. 
3. The operations research unit at STRIVE should use baseline information available to develop 
tools to track the impact of IS&L activities on vulnerable children. 
4. Operations research should be designed around the IS&L initiative. Possibilities include: 
! Comparing results in an IS&L community versus a non-IS&L community 
! Tracking cash inflows versus seasonal, agriculture-related income fluctuations to identify 
the real incremental differences accruing from IS&L participation 
! Using teacher observation and records to track benefits to vulnerable children 
! Checking on the improved health care/nutritional status of children under five and 
relating this to whether the children are under the care of an IS&L member 
! Determining whether the gender of IS&L members related to the benefits received by 
vulnerable children in the household 
5. STRIVE should ensure that sub-grantees develop trainers from within their IS&L schemes 
who can serve as trainers for new IS&L groups. 
Section 6: Developing an adequate large-scale, national response to children at 
risk 
STRIVE, along with many other partners in Zimbabwe, is doing much to address the needs of 
children at risk. However, an enormous gap clearly remains in meeting children’s material wants 
and their rights as human beings. Neither the size of the gap, the deficiencies in the collective 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page 32 
national response, nor the costs of implementing a truly adequate national response have been 
measured. Orphaning and vulnerability due to AIDS and its partners—poverty, trauma, hunger 
and disease—are massive long-term problems for communities, the nation and the world as a 
whole. 
The operations research component of STRIVE is intended to provide information needed in 
order for USAID and its partners in government, non-government organizations and the 
international community to plan large-scale responses appropriate to the size of this challenge, 
and to broadly understand how to deliver integrated support services to vast numbers of 
disenfranchised children in Zimbabwe and elsewhere. 
Closing the material and human rights gap for children affected by AIDS in Zimbabwe will 
require a variety of approaches, which include: 
! Carrying out a collaborative national situation analysis 
! Developing and implementing a collaborative national plan of action 
! Forging strategic alliances with the GOZ, UNICEF and other organizations actively 
promoting children's well being 
! Reviewing and revising national policies relevant to children’s safety, well being, and 
development and revisiting Zimbabwe's commitments to international conventions 
! Developing mechanisms, from national to community level, through which partners can 
exchange information and find ways to work together 
! Scaling up individual programs to benefit more children 
! Scaling out effective programmatic approaches by enabling more organizations to replicate 
them 
! Monitoring and evaluating actions 
STRIVE is a significant participant, but it cannot and should not be expected to close the gap for 
children at risk in Zimbabwe. Rather, STRIVE's role is to demonstrate, on a limited scale, how, 
through adequate collective and collaborative effort, the gap can be closed. To this end, 
Zimbabwe needs STRIVE to develop into an established program whose priorities include: 
! Ensuring that resources are mobilized to meet children’s basic physical needs 
! Enabling children to attend school so that they are both educated and socialized, and can gain 
skills to better support themselves and others 
! Strengthening the economic and other capacities of vulnerable households to protect and care 
for their children 
! Mobilizing and strengthening community action to protect and promote the well-being of the 
most vulnerable children, including their psychosocial well-being 
! Helping children and adolescents to avoid HIV infection. 
Because resources will never be enough and the gap is so large, the principle of low-cost 
community-based action is undoubtedly the best strategy during the current phase of the 
epidemic in Zimbabwe. Although experience so far suggests that families and communities must 
be the first line of response to HIV/AIDS, little is being done within the STRIVE program of 
action to strengthen communities’ own capacities to respond to HIV/AIDS and poverty. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page 33 
STRIVE clearly needs to empower sub-grantees to mobilize, support, and extend community￾owned, led and managed activities. This will require a strong shift in the support paradigm of 
current staff, but is both necessary and possible. 
Recommendations for developing a sustainable, large-scale response to the needs of childen at 
risk and their communities include: 
1. Play an active leadership role in the national consultation on orphans and vulnerable children 
in June 2003 and, on an ongoing basis, help to mobilize an adequate collaborative national 
response to the country’s most vulnerable children, using the operations research lessons of 
STRIVE. 
2. Forge strategic alliances with both the GOZ and other agencies, such as UNICEF, to foster a 
coherent national and scaled up response to children 
3. Adjust STRIVE’s capacity-building programs to enable sub-grantees to design and 
implement community-appropriate approaches that measurably benefit vulnerable children at 
a low cost per child. 
4. Organize a study visit to COPE and SCOPE-OVC programs in Malawi and Zambia, and 
collaborate with these and other organizations or programs in the region to develop a 
community mobilization network for information exchange and training. 
5. Calculate, through the STRIVE Operations Research Unit, the cost per child beneficiary of 
selected interventions and gather quantitative and qualitative information on the respective 
results for children of these interventions. 
6. Ensure that sub-grantees receive training in methods of involving children and adolescents 
effectively in decision-making and interventions. 
7. Identify, through the STRIVE Operations Research Unit, with cooperation from 
USAID/Zimbabwe, aspects of USAID programming regulations and processes that hinder 
effective child-focussed programming at the community level, by community-based 
organizations and parents. 
8. Diversify and expand the CRS funding base for STRIVE. 
Section 7: Recommendations for USAID 
Regarding STRIVE 
The review team welcomes and fully endorses USAID’s commitment to support a long-term 
scaled up program for children at risk in Zimbabwe. Given the deteriorating socio-economic, 
political and health situation and the increasing impact of HIV/AIDS on children, this decision is 
timely and necessary. To increase the range and effectiveness of its support to children at risk in 
Zimbabwe, the review team recommends that USAID continue its current support to STRIVE, 
extending the current pilot project through May 2005 to ensure the completion of the S8 scaling 
up and operational research activities. USAID should also consider providing additional funds to 
STRIVE, should they be required, to ensure that the operational research agenda findings are of 
the highest standard possible and that they are widely disseminated for comments and analysis. 
Specific proposals on how this could be done are included in Annex 4. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page 34 
Team discussions with CRS/STRIVE staff and sub-grantees highlighted several concerns 
pertaining to USAID’s role in supporting the STRIVE project, including: 
! Financial rules and regulations and their application: Several sub-grantees felt that 
USAID's financial reporting requirements were creating tensions within their organization. 
One respected STRIVE sub-grantee had to set up a completely separate financial system for 
accounting for USAID funds. Other sub-grantees felt that the application of financial rules 
and regulations, along with reporting requirements, were applied in too rigorous a manner for 
community-based programs. The need for “finance with a human face” was highlighted. 
Sub-grantees observed that STRIVE staff were under enormous pressure to apply USAID 
rules rigorously without the flexibility appropriate to the deteriorating country environment. 
Recommendation: The mid-term review team welcome's USAID's commitment to 
addressing these issues and is encouraged by the agreement of the USAID controller and 
CRS's financial and program staff to convene a meeting with representatives of both the P8 
and S8 sub-grantees to discuss the issues raised by the partners, to agree on specific actions 
to apply the USAID rules and regulations in a more flexible and friendly manner appropriate 
to conditions (when possible) and to hold a training session with CRS/STRIVE staff on 
USAID financial regulations. 
! Staffing: CRS/STRIVE staff reported that USAID/Zimbabwe staff were over-involved in 
day-to-day project management. The inevitable result of such involvement was a feeling of 
disempowerment among CRS/STRIVE staff. USAID responded that any "over 
involvement" resulted from concerns over staffing, management and financial delays. It 
might also be explained in part by the relative inexperience of both CRS/STRIVE and 
USAID staff, in particular with regard to applying and interpreting financial and management 
regulations. A compounding factor was the rapidly deteriorating country environment. It is 
to the credit of both STRIVE and USAID staff that this issue did not flare into the open. 
Recommendation: USAID/Zimbabwe needs to address the perception of over-involvement. 
The hiring of a new STRIVE director presents a unique opportunity for initiating a "fresh" 
relationship. Increased decision-making authority for the CRS/STRIVE director will also 
enable him/her to be more responsive to USAID.
! Achievements and outputs: Both CRS/STRIVE staff and sub-grantees were concerned about 
the intense focus of USAID on coverage and results. CRS/STRIVE staff felt that the nature 
of the relationship changed once USAID/Zimbabwe began to emphasize, approximately one 
year into project implementation, the need to scale up interventions and show measurable 
“results.” CRS/STRIVE staff felt this changed the “rules of the game” mid way through the 
project and required a major reorientation of the STRIVE pilot project--that the need to scale 
up took precedence over the initial objectives of the P8 and the core operations research 
agenda. The focus on showing and reporting on results/coverage added additional pressure. It 
is USAID's opinion that CRS/STRIVE was fully consulted in the decision to scale up and 
that CRS/STRIVE indicated that they were in favor of and ready to play a larger role in 
programming to meet the needs of children at risk. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page 35 
Recommendation: The team has recommended that no further scale up occur during the pilot 
project. USAID/Zimbabwe should support STRIVE in consolidating its current program and 
ensuring that the operations research agenda produces the results required to move beyond a 
pilot effort. 
! Changing context: USAID/Zimbabwe has, in CRS/STRIVE staff's opinion, been sensitive in 
its support for the project within the changing country environment, in particular regarding 
issues of hyperinflation, fuel shortages and staffing. It is clear, however, that as the situation 
in the country deteriorates further, even greater support will be required from USAID/ 
Zimbabwe. 
Recommendation: USAID/Zimbabwe will, to a large extent, address this issue through the 
tripartite meeting(s) on financial procedures mentioned above. In addition, USAID/ 
Zimbabwe should convene a meeting of CRS/STRIVE and sub-grantee representatives to 
identify constraints due to the country context and develop strategies for addressing the 
constraints. USAID/Zimbabwe should furthermore encourage and facilitate meetings 
between CRS/STRIVE and other USAID partners to discuss coping strategies and develop 
joint responses to contextual issues. 
For the longer-term 
The review team believes that the procedural, programmatic and financial regulations of USAID 
as an organization are inappropriate if a large-scale response to the massive, long-term impacts 
of HIV/AIDS on children and families is to be mounted at the national, district and community 
levels. In a situation requiring innovation and creativity, USAID’s complex regulations are 
telegraphed through STRIVE to its partners, slowing, limiting, and frustrating programmatic 
action. 
To overcome these barriers, USAID/Zimbabwe should: 
1. Make a substantial, long-term commitment to help develop an adequate, collective large￾scale response to the impacts of HIV/AIDS on children and families. 
2. Use the five-point strategic framework and the 12 programming principles in Children on the 
Brink 2002 as foundational guidance and gear its program toward achievement of the 
UNGASS goals for orphans and vulnerable children. 
3. Provide substantial support for programming by multiple lead organizations. 
4. Work actively and play an advocacy role with UNICEF and the Government of Zimbabwe. 
5. Participate in and support development of effective national to community level networks for 
stakeholder collaboration. 
6. Support policy analysis and development. 
Given the magnitude and severity of the situation of children at risk in Zimbabwe, compounded 
by the current food crisis, USAID/Zimbabwe should: 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page 36 
1. Consider expanding its partner base to scale up responses to children at risk beyond STRIVE 
through a variety of possible mechanisms. 
2. Consider funding CARE to scale up its village saving and lending approach, which it 
developed and has the unique capacity to implement. 
3. Ensure the CARE project has a strong operations research component concerning benefits to 
orphans and vulnerable children, which USAID/Washington could help to design. 
4. Consider funding other organizations already working in Zimbabwe which have a distinct 
comparative advantage in providing assistance to vulnerable children. 
5. Give serious consideration to widening its partner base through a buy-in to an existing global 
HIV/AIDS mechanism. The partner should be one that has extensive experience in 
programming for orphans and vulnerable children, including experience in the sub-region. 
By diversifying its partner base, USAID would be able to rapidly expand its activities and 
improve the quality of services provided to orphans and vulnerable children in Zimbabwe. 
6. Because one implication of the above recommendation would be an increased management 
burden on USAID/Zimbabwe, the review team also recommends that USAID consider the 
implications of expanding its partner base for its management structure and address the 
staffing implications accordingly. 
CONCLUSION 
The STRIVE mid-term review team was deeply impressed by the STRIVE project—by its goals 
and objectives, by its accomplishments and by the people and communities involved in the 
project. With its unique operations research focus, the team believes that STRIVE has the 
potential to play a critical role in informing child-centered programs not only in Zimbabwe, but 
also globally. The recommendations contained in the body of this report, supplemented and 
further defined in the report annexes, are meant to help STRIVE to better fulfill that potential. 
The review team is encouraged and impressed by the rapidity with which CRS/STRIVE has 
moved to develop action steps for implementing key recommendations. 
The team would like to conclude this report by reinforcing the message that STRIVE, while 
clearly a key player in reaching Zimbabwe's children, is not expected to "do it all." Forging 
strategic alliances with the Government of Zimbabwe, UNICEF, ZAPA, international PVOs and 
NGOS, and local NGOs and organizations involved in child-focused programming is essential 
for any large-scale response. Through such partnerships and collaborative efforts, STRIVE will 
be better able to ensure that the well being of Zimbabwe's children improves. 
 
ANNEXES 

USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-1 
Annex 1 
Scope of Work: STRIVE Mid-Term Review, May 2003 
Background 
Zimbabwe, which is at the epicenter of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, has experienced a drastic 
decline in socio-economic indicators over the past 10 years. This decline is the result of a 
combination of political, environmental, and economic factors; current inflation is over 208%, 
80% of the population live below poverty, 80% unemployment, over 6 million people (half of the 
population) face starvation, and a highly polarized national community. However, the most 
salient factor is the rising prevalence and incidence of HIV/AIDS. The following statistics depict 
the gravity of the situation: 
• 34% of sexually active adults (15-49 years) are HIV-infected (UNAIDS, 2001); 
• 2.3 million Zimbabweans are infected (UNAIDS, 2001); 
• Life expectancy has fallen from 61 years to 39 (US Bureau of Census); 
• There are an estimated 780,000 orphans in Zimbabwe; a number expected to increase to 1.1 
million by 2005 (UNAIDS, 2001); 
• There are an estimated 3,846 deaths due to AIDS each week in Zimbabwe (UNAIDS, 2001). 
Children orphaned by HIV/AIDS and children affected by AIDS (CABA) are among the most 
vulnerable of Zimbabwean society. CABA face burdens of caring for an ailing parent and 
younger siblings, the loss of family income as parents become ill or die, and withdrawal from 
school to care and provide for other siblings. Children also experience psychological distress 
when caring for ailing parents and grieving for them when they die. Yet, children’s psychosocial 
needs received little attention until recently. 
Many extended families and communities are under unprecedented strain because of HIV/AIDS. 
However, there are hundreds of small, humble, yet powerful local initiatives where ordinary 
people are doing extraordinary things to care for and support children. 
Increasingly, NGOs and donors are recognizing that these community initiatives —when taken 
collectively— produce the most significant and extensive response to CABA. With very little 
public funds invested in CABA, it is all the more urgent for local organizations and communities 
to enhance their capacity to respond to the impact of HIV/AIDS on children in an effective and 
sustainable manner. There is need for local organizations to scale-up their activities to match 
escalating numbers of CABA. 
UNICEF/USAID recently hosted a Southern African regional conference in Namibia 
highlighting OVC/CABA issues. A delegation from Zimbabwe representing GOZ, USAID, 
UNICEF and civil society attended this event and presented the current situation of OVC/CABA 
in the country. As a result of that conference, the delegation committed to embarking on a 
national consensus building effort designed to catalyze action among all levels of Zimbabwean 
society to improve the care and support of OVC/CABA in Zimbabwe. CRS/STRIVE is a 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-2 
member of the interim OVC steering committee that is charged with initiating the consultative 
process. The CRS/STRIVE mid term review will be linked to this effort in a number of ways: 
• CRS/STRIVE will engage a consultant to conduct a brief update of Zimbabwe’s situational 
analysis for OVC/CABA. The OVC steering committee will use the same information at the 
first National Stakeholders’ workshop scheduled for mid June 2003. 
• This same consultant will assist the OVC steering committee in the design and logistic 
arrangements for the National Stakeholders’ workshop. 
• CRS/STRIVE will be a key informant in the desk review that will proceed the National 
Stakeholders’ workshop. 
• CRS/STRIVE will invite key members of the steering committee to sit on an advisory 
committee that provide input to the mid term review (PAC) 
• The National Stakeholders’ workshop will be a key forum through which to disseminate 
information resulting from STRIVE activities in general and the mid term review specifically 
For more information, the review team can refer to the two situational analyses on OVC/CABA 
conducted by USAID and UNICEF respectively; as well as USAID’s OVC RFA document. 
US Government Support for HIV/AIDS Programs in Zimbabwe 
The USAID/Zimbabwe “HIV/AIDS Prevention and Mitigation” Strategic Objective is focused 
on the following components: 
• Changing behavior and attitudes of individuals and communities through increased access to 
quality health services, including condoms and contraceptives, voluntary HIV counseling and 
testing (VCT), community-based HIV/AIDS education and VCT referral, 
• Decreasing stigma and strengthening leadership through improved advocacy and policy, 
• Enhancing the capacity of communities to assist orphans and other children affected by 
HIV/AIDS, 
• Sustaining the condom and contraceptive supply in the public sector, as well as the social 
marketing sector, 
• Supporting “post-test services” to provide VCT clients with long-term psychosocial support, 
counseling and referral to other support services, 
• Expanded access to economic opportunities for HIV infected and affected households, and 
• Supporting peer educators and increasing access to condoms at border sites for truckers and 
commercial sex workers under the Regional Corridors of Hope program. 
The USAID/ Zimbabwe programs have focused on assisting Zimbabweans to mitigate the HIV/ 
AIDS crisis since 1994. Given the high transmission and prevalence rates, efforts by 
Zimbabweans, donors and other partners have helped to ameliorate some of the effects of the 
HIV AIDS pandemic, but not succeeded in decreasing the transmission, hence the increase 
numbers in mortality. In 2000 USAID/ Zimbabwe updated its Health Strategic Plan and with 
increased funding, made a strategic decision to initiate additional programs which would further 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-3 
assist Zimbweans to mitigate the HIV/AIDS crisis, to include care and support to orphans and 
children made vulnerable by the AIDS pandemic.
In January and February 2000 USAID/Zimbabwe commissioned a team of experts to assess the 
impact of HIV/ AIDS and its effects on children affected by HIV/AIDS. The purpose of the 
assessment, was primarily to provide a foundation for USAID actions to enhance capacity at the 
regional and local levels, leading to possible interventions by USAID, such as increased support 
for community responses to children and families affected by the epidemic. Secondly the 
assessment also served to highlight unanswered questions about the impact of HIV/AIDS on 
Zimbabwean children. Examples included questions such as how the government of Zimbabwe 
(GOZ), donors, and others can coordinate and communicate about their efforts to mitigate the 
impact in children. 
The key findings; 
• The HIV/AIDS epidemic is leaving increasing numbers of vulnerable children in need of 
special care and protection. 
• Children are affected by AIDS in many ways, from the burdens of caring for sick parents and 
younger siblings, to the absence of a mother who is caring for a family member in another 
household, to the loss of income and work as adults become ill or die, to the loss of capital 
expended on medications and funerals. 
• In severely affected communities, HIV/AIDS has an impact on children, families and 
communities that is incremental. 
• Continuous deaths among young adults lead to social and economic consequences that 
increase with the severity and duration of the epidemic. 
• The effect of HIV/AIDS on children and families is compounded by the fact that many 
families live in communities that are already disadvantaged by poverty, poor infrastructure, 
and limited access to basic services. 
• It is imperative for any initiative to link the provision of care and support activities to HIV 
prevention seen more clearly than with children affected by AIDS. 
• Care programs are an ideal entry point for prevention programs and have the potential to be 
effective in preventing the future transmission of HIV. 
• Strengthening the efforts of communities responding to children affected by AIDS is not only 
an investment in development—it is also an investment in the prevention of future HIV 
infection and an investment in the shrinking HIV epidemic. 
• If USAID decided to do initiative on orphans, children affected by AIDS and other 
vulnerable children, its support should not undermine or kill community efforts but enhance 
them.
Given the assessment findings and the growing number of children USAID sent out an RFA 
soliciting for applications from organizations to implement sustained and replicable community 
programs to assist children affected by AIDS under Intermediate Result 3 “Enhanced Capacity 
At the Regional and Local Levels In Zimbabwe to Support Community Responses To Children 
Affected by HIV/ AIDS.”
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-4 
The Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) works directly with its counterpart The 
Ministry of Health and Child Welfare (MOH) as well as The National AIDS Council (NAC) and 
other public and parastatal sector organizations to transfer applicable skills, strategies and 
assistance critical to a strengthened national response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. However, 
given the political and economic conditions affecting the national health system, this facet of 
CDC’s work has become increasingly complex. As CDC continues to work closely with this 
sector, its program of assistance also includes support to and collaborations with strategic 
partners. In addition, CDC's program of technical and financial assistance has been constructed 
to ensure complimentary with the assistance provided by USAID. 
The CDC Zimbabwean program of assistance is focused on the following components: 
• Supporting the implementation and expansion of the national Prevention of Mother to Child 
Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV infection program, 
• Supporting the implementation of a behavior change program (Modeling and Reinforcement 
to Combat HIV/AIDS or MARCH) to prevent HIV infection among youth and young adults, 
• Improving the quality of HIV/AIDS care with a special focus on biomedical interventions 
such as treatment of Opportunistic Infections (OIs) and preparation for the introduction of 
Anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment program, 
• Supporting the implementation and institutionalization of strategic HIV/AIDS surveillance 
programs, and 
• Strengthening monitoring and evaluation capacities. 
The STRIVE Project 
The 2000 USAID/Zimbabwe funded Situational Analysis study on the impact of HIV/AIDS on 
children resulted in the Mission’s inclusion of support to programming around community 
responses to children affected by HIV/AIDS. In December 2001, USAID awarded a US$2.5 
million award to Catholic Relief Services/ Support to Replicable Innovative Village/ Community 
Level Efforts (CRS/ STRIVE) to implement a US$3.5 million 2½ year pilot project to support 
children affected by HIV/AIDS. The pilot project is supporting innovative interventions, which 
allow resources to reach CABA quickly and efficiently. Ultimately, STRIVE intends that these 
pilots will scale up and out, to reach significant numbers of CABA. In order to do so, attention to 
techniques that result in cost effective processes will be extremely important. 
CRS/STRIVE is working through local and international NGOs. STRIVE addresses sub￾grantees’ capacity to deliver quality services to CABA through a capacity building strategy. 
Similarly, STRIVE provides the financial resources that sub-grantees lack and which hamper 
their ability to scale-out and up activities to reach more CABA. 
Currently the piloted interventions revolve around four results oriented “packages”, which 
comprise STRIVE’s intermediate result areas: 1) Psychosocial Support 2) Food Security 3) 
Educational Assistance with an emphasis on improving girls’ access to education and 4) 
Economic Strengthening of household and community safety nets to support CABA. The 
following table provides an illustrative list of the activity packages: 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-5 
Intermediate results Examples of activity packages 
Psychosocial Support • Raising awareness within communities to support programming to 
meet emotional, physical, spiritual, mental and social needs of CABA,
• Capacity building of network organizations and community volunteers 
in the coordination of PSS for CABA,
• Establishment of community based counselling services, for CABA
• Establishing support systems and widening social networks of trusted 
people to which CABA can turn for safety and counselling services, 
• Organising and supporting PSS camps and annual galas for peer 
socialisation, development of self-esteem, confidence building and life 
skills for CABA.
Food Security • Enhance the capacity of communities to grow drought tolerant crops 
for food production, 
• Promote the use of community fields and gardens to enhance food 
security of especially vulnerable households (overlap with ES) 
• Encourage allocation of fields to CABA for nutritional crop 
production and promotion of permaculture, 
• Increasing access to inputs and market information for CABA 
guardians and to older CABA for production of cash crops 
Educational Assistance • Support and increase access to basic education for CABA through 
block grants and direct assistance with school fees and uniforms, 
• Resource mobilization activities 
• Community schools 
Economic 
Strengthening 
• Promotion of self-managed, internal savings and lending groups, 
• Facilitation of market linkages between producers and markets 
(overlap with food security) 
• Promotion of innovative community resource mobilization such as: 
fundraising, community gardens, identifying community assets, 
creating an inventory of skills and talents within communities. 
Capacity Building • Promotion of participatory self assessments of organizational 
capacity of sub-grantees, 
• Supporting gender audits of sub-grantees, 
• Supporting the development of sub-grantee capacity building action 
plans, 
• Coordinating master plan for technical assistance and other I.R. 
workshops for sub-grantees, andCoordinating the OVC-NGOs skills 
bank. 
The focus of the STRIVE project’s Operations Research agenda centers on the initial eight sub 
grantees’ (the P8) interventions. This agenda began with a baseline situational analysis. A 
thorough M&E system built from STRIVE’s Performance Management Plan (PMP) and regular 
monitoring visits by the OR unit staff facilitates the process of generating ongoing data showing 
progress on project indicators and operations research variables. The OR research variables are: 
1) replicability; 2) cost effectiveness; 3) quality of care; and 4) impact. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-6 
The OR Unit carefully analyses and observes trends that emerge from the M&E and field 
monitoring visit process to detect practices that appear to contribute towards fulfilling project 
indicators. STRIVE sub-grantees are also piloting different combinations of interventions. In 
addition, they will carry out these combinations in different settlements; urban and rural sites of 
high-density suburbs, peri-urban informal, mining, communal, small-scale commercial and 
resettlement sites. Each of these combinations is a potential “model” representing the sum of 
“best practices” for that combination. 
The OR Unit will document these emerging “best practices” as well as the combinations of 
intervention areas, which appear to achieve significant positive impact on the well-being of 
children and on community responses. The “best” practices and intervention combinations will 
form the core of follow on support promoting future projects. The major thrust of this future 
support will be to scale up programming in support of community initiatives so that community 
members and caregivers are better able to support and care for children. 
In addition to the M&E system, stand-alone studies (e.g. case studies or focus group discussions 
using qualitative and participatory research methods) will fill information gaps and explore cross 
cutting issues of perceptions and behavior of community members, children, caregivers, etc. as 
they engage in activities to care and support CABA. Other potential areas for studies revolve 
around issues related to the effectiveness and/or sustainability of sub grantees’ activities. Finally, 
STRIVE may conduct studies to better understand the implications of Zimbabwe’s changing 
environment and its affect on CABA, caregivers and communities. Cross cutting issues currently 
identified by STRIVE during discussion with its sub grantees include: 
• Identification of psychosocial support tools and activities (to measure psychosocial well 
being), 
• Perceptions of volunteers and volunteerism and their role towards eliciting community 
participation, and their impact on cost effectiveness, scaling up and sustainability, 
• Community and children’s perception and definition of vulnerability of children. 
Purpose of the Mid-Term Review 
Rather than conduct a formal external evaluation, this review is intended to be an evaluative 
process based on self-assessment, participatory and collaborative processes, including peer 
reviews by OVC experts within Zimbabwe and from neighboring countries. 
• A mid term review of STRIVE activities was written into the original project design as a 
means of taking stock, learning lessons and for providing a means of mid-course correction. 
More specifically, the purpose of the participatory and collaborative mid-term review is to 
guide the STRIVE Project, CRS/ZW and USAID to: 
• Assess the current status of the STRIVE Project, measured against its original objectives as 
laid out in the RFA/Project design document, 
• Asses the relevance of the STRIVE project in meeting the needs of children affected by 
HIV/AIDS in the deteriorating environment, 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-7 
• Assess and examine the capacity and ability of the STRIVE Project to adjust to Zimbabwe’s 
rapidly changing socio-political and economic situation, 
• Make recommendations to USAID and STRIVE on how to Better plan for future 
interventions taking into consideration the operating environment and lessons learned from 
the on going project. 
The mid-term review will assist the STRIVE Project and key stakeholders to develop a clearer 
framework for meeting the care and support needs of OVC/CABA in Zimbabwe. This scope of 
work proposes a participatory and collaborative peer review. 
The review process will involve the key stakeholders s in the STRIVE project; USAID, CRS, 
key government ministries (MOESC, DSW, MOHCW), other donors, Unicef, STRIVE sub￾grantees, and peer reviewers drawn from similar OVC/CABA programs in Africa and key other 
key informants. The review will examine the three distinct but inter-related components: 
A. Zimbabwe’s operating environment (food insecurity, socio-economic and political situation, 
HIV/AIDS epidemic), including the OVC/CABA context within Zimbabwe. 
B. CRS/STRIVE, and 
C. Sub-grantees. 
Work to be Accomplished 
The following (5) five priority objectives will guide the steering committee and the peer review 
team to come up with concrete recommendations for STRIVE, CRS/ZW and USAID on future 
support and implementation of OVC/CABA programming in Zimbabwe. 
Objectives 
Objective 1: The Operating Environment in Zimbabwe 
The STRIVE team together with a consultant will look at their operating environment and 
produce a document which puts the STRIVE operating environment into context18. This 
document will be compiled based on information obtained through 
• a literature review of key OVC documents on Zimbabwe 
• previous comments from CRS which outline their perception of the operating environment 
• facts on OVC from USAID 
This document will suggest how the situation in Zimbabwe might evolve in the next 6 and 
12 months, and for these scenarios provide: 
• concrete suggestions on how STRIVE will respond to the key issues or indicators 
• what the possible mitigatory strategies will be, and 
• describe the implications for STRIVE, CRS, USAID and other key stakeholders. 
 
18 The OVC steering committee will use the same general information at the first National Stakeholders’ workshop 
scheduled for mid June 2003 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-8 
The review team will go through this document and be guided by it when they examine the 
following questions: 
• What implication does the operating context have for (or how will it affect) STRIVE, 
CRS/ZW, and USAID’s OVC strategy? What are the general implications for OVC 
programming in Zimbabwe? 
• What might STRIVE, CRS/ZW and USAID have to do differently given Zimbabwe’s 
changing environment? Could STRIVE, CRS/ZW and USAID play new/additional roles in 
OVC programming. 
Objective 2: The STRIVE Project 
The review team will: 
• Assess adequacy of processes developed for: 
# Grant making—How adequate and efficient and effective is the grant making 
process? 
# Grants management—How adequate and sound/efficient are the financial systems? 
# Building capacity—Are the needs of the sub-grantees being met (TA, OD, data 
monitoring support, etc?) 
# Operations Research—Are OR objectives/questions still relevant? How can data be 
accurately collected? Is the information gathered so far being used to adjust as the 
project goes along? Will OR processes provide us at the end of pilot the results we 
want (tangible options for the future)? 
# Future Direction (Scaling up). How should the STRIVE project adjust to respond to 
the changing environment and other factors in Zimbabwe?
Objective 3: STRIVE Management Structure 
The review team will: 
• Assess the adequacy of the management and staffing structures and systems of 
CRS/STRIVE to meet the technical and financial support needs of sub-grantees currently 
and make recommendations for improvements. 
Objective 4: Sub-grantee Programming 
The review team will: 
• Determine whether the interventions of the Pilot 8 (P8) STRIVE sub-grantees are moving 
towards what they intend to achieve as spelt out in the RFA and contract. 
• Determine also whether the interventions of the Scale-Up 8 (S8+) STRIVE sub-grantees 
are moving towards what they intend to achieve? 
• What is their implication for the Phase II scale-up? 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-9 
Stakeholders and Review Team Composition and Roles 
A. Stakeholders – “Review Think Tank” 
A steering committee of Stakeholders called the ”Review Think Tank” will provide advice on 
what the mid-term review should focus on and how it should be conducted. The Review Think 
Tank will be drawn from key stakeholders and will provide a mechanism to lend authority and 
validation to the mid-term review process and to the outcome of this process. 
1. They should discuss scope of work, including the criterion used to assess the various 
objectives. 
2. They should validate the 6 and 12-month scenarios developed in light of the changing 
operating environment. 
3. They should provide a means of gaining information on the big picture regarding OVC/CABA 
in Zimbabwe. 
Composition: 
This will have a membership of around 10 professionals drawn from key stakeholder 
organisations and experts on OVC/CABA programming. This committee will be comprised of 
professionals drawn from CRS (Backson Muchini & Kyle Jemison), USAID (Victoria James & 
Patrick Osewe), UNICEF (Betty Mukiba, Myke Huijbregts), DSW (Mrs. Dhlembeu,), MOESC 
(Mrs. Chirewa, Mr. Clement Jumbe), MOHCW (Mrs. Dete), and leaders in children’s issues like 
Linda Dube, Greg Powell, Geoff Foster, Jonathan Brakash and Stefan Germann. 
Roles: 
• Meet at the beginning of the process for one day (Week of April 28) to gain comprehensive 
understanding of the Mid-Term Review process, and review the whole process of the review. 
• Meet the review team at the beginning of the review May 5th. 
• Attend presentation of preliminary findings May 22 to offer insight and reactions to findings 
and suggest what other information might be needed within the time remaining for the 
assessment. 
• Convene to review the final draft on May 28th and recommend to STRIVE ways to 
disseminate information about project activities/findings 
B. Assessment Review Team 
In order to achieve the four (4) objectives of this Mid-Term Review, an Assessment Team will 
be assembled from key stakeholders, experts on OVC programming (including peer reviewers), 
an organizational development expert, a financial auditor, a technical writer, and a logistician. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-10 
Composition 
The team will include the following people: 
• Peter McDermott - Team leader (USAID/Washington); will provide leadership, coordinate 
and facilitate the team, focus on OR component, ensure that all key objectives for the review 
are answered and that the final report meets the requirements of SOW. He will be assisted by 
USAID staff as required. Victoria James will assist with interviews, meetings, background 
information, data collection etc. 
• Lynne Cogswell - Organizational Development Consultant; will focus and lead the team on 
assessing CRS/STRIVE organizational and management systems and structures (human 
resources) as they relate to sub-grantees. Lynne will also provide an OD document to be 
included in final the Midterm Review document. 
• John Williamson - Will look at issues of scaling up to meet the scope of the AIDS impact on 
OVC/CABA. Provide global perspective on OVC/CABA issues. 
• Mark Loudon – Logistician;
As follows:
Before the review:Will provide logistical support before and during the review
• Develop a document which puts the STRIVE operating environment into context: This 
document will be compiled based on information obtained through a literature review of key 
OVC documents on Zimbabwe, previous comments from CRS which outline their perception 
of the operating environment, and facts on OVC from USAID. 
• Assist Lynne Cogswell in developing a separate OD piece. 
• Walk the STRIVE team through the OD piece and operating environment context piece. 
• Develop an action plan for the review, produce a timetable of who needs to go where, and 
work with someone in USAID or CRS (who can negotiate the issues of payment and travel 
authorisation) to make the necessary arrangements. This includes setting up interviews, field 
visits, and all other review related appointments.
During the Review: 
• Facilitating discussions among Review Team members to agree on procedures, content etc - 
both before and after their arrival; 
• Assist with desk reviews, preparation of abstracts, preparation of questionnaires; 
• Maintain a schedule of activities/appointments for FGD's, interviews, field trips etc (this 
should be done with the assistance of programme staff at USAID and CRS for contacts, 
introductions, payments etc); 
• Work closely with regional peer reviewers (Stan, Pelucy, Brenda) to facilitate and document 
their findings; 
• Support Tanya where necessary (for example reporting on interviews/FGD's/field visits, 
taking photographs, compiling data); 
• Preparing and /or helping Peter or Tanya to prepare presentations to update the Steering 
Committee on progress. 
Stefan Germann, Geoff Foster; 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-11 
• In addition to their role as members of the think tank will provide consultancy services to the 
team and team leader on key issues of scaling-up. 
Brenda Yamba, Stanley Phiri, Pelucy Ntambirweki and Perry- Regional Peer reviewers; 
• will focus on general programming and management quality issues bringing their 
experiences from similar OVC/CABA programmes in Africa. 
Tanya Himelfarb - Technical Writer; 
• will write-up the mid-term review draft and final report with input from all the review 
teammembers and deputize the Team Leader. 
Rita Sykes and Molly Saurombe (USAID/ZW) and Arthur Jani (CRS-STRIVE) - Financial 
Reviewers; 
• will focus on financial systems of CRS/ZW/ STRIVE and at sub-grantee levels to determine 
compliance with 22 CFR 226, OMB Circulars and Standard Provisions, and general financial 
management issues. 
Responsibilities and Tasks 
The review team will: 
• Review the operating environment for the STRIVE Project. 
• Review the Scope of Work and an action plan to implement it19. 
• Review reference documents and other relevant documentation. 
• Conduct interviews and focus group discussions with CRS/ STRIVE sub-grantees, selected 
members of sub-grantee communities, other donors, USAID key partners and key 
stakeholders (to include Department of Social Welfare, MOHCW, MOESC). 
• Conduct field visits to CRS/ STRIVE sub-grantees. 
• Review management structure of CRS/ STRIVE and financial systems of CRS and 
STRIVE sub-grantees. 
• Prepare middle and end of assessment debrief to USAID, the CRS/ STRIVE teams, other 
donors and key stakeholders on their findings and recommendations. USAID, CRS/ 
STRIVE and key stakeholders will provide comments at the presentations, which the 
assessment team will incorporate in the draft report. 
• The technical writer will be responsible for preparing the final report20. 
Methodology 
The review team will use participatory methods, have interviews with key informants, and do 
some desk reviews in assessing some documentation in order to collect information for the mid￾term review for STRIVE. In order for this mid-term review to be a learning experience for all 
key stakeholders, the review team will periodically debrief key staff from CRS/ZW, USAID and 
 
19 The team will review the Scope of Work and action plan with the USAID and CRS/ZW STRIVE before 
conducting the assessment. 
20 The technical writer will work under the direction of the Team Leader, 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-12 
other key stakeholders from government and donor/NGO community. Key methods will be as 
follows: 
• Participatory methodologies using Focus Group Discussions21 (FGDs) 
• Individual interviews with key informants and 
• Review of key secondary information 
• Work closely with peer review steering committee 
• Hold discussions with the donor community 
• Involve children as much as feasible 
Review Target Groups 
The following key project stakeholders will be targeted as sources of information: 
• Key government ministries and departments e.g. National AIDS Council, the Ministry of 
Education, Sports and Culture, the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare and the 
Department of Social Welfare. 
• Other donors, like SIDA, DFID, OXFAM, UNAIDS, CDC, UNICEF, 
• STRIVE staff, 
• USAID staff, 
• STRIVE sub-grantees, 
• Children, and families affected by HIV/AIDS 
• OVC/CABA 
• Community leaders and 
• USAID key partners – Futures Group, Advance Africa, PSI, PACT, DAI/LEAD, & 
ZNFPC. 
• Private Sector - Anglo-American Corporation, TA Holdings 
Period of Performance 
The dates for the mid-term review are April 2822 – 28, 2003. Illustrative timing of major events 
by week follows below. The day-to-day schedule for the period of performance to follow. 
Prior to Review 
Review statement of work, develop action plan, set up appointments, interviews 
and meetings. 
 Review operating environment of STRIVE document. 
 STRIVE team self-assessment 
 
21 Review team will be responsible for final development of tools used for FGDs in collaboration with CRS/ZW 
STRIVE staff. 
22 Core review team will begin May 5 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-13 
Week 1 
STRIVE team presented and walked through self-assessment document. 
Review additional documents, conduct interviews and field visits, and debrief 
CRS and USAID. 
Meeting of PAC to gain comprehensive understanding of the Mid-Term Review 
process 
Meeting of Review team 
Begin interviews and field visits 
Week 2 Continue with interviews and field visits (where necessary), and debrief CRS/ 
STRIVE and USAID. 
Week 3 Meeting of stakeholders on preliminary findings 
Prepare draft report and present to stakeholders. 
Week 4 Incorporate comments from stakeholders into final report 
 Complete final report 
Convene to review final report 
A more comprehensive schedule for the STRIVE Midterm Review will be forwarded to all 
participants and stakeholders once more specific arrangements have been determined. 
Output - Deliverables 
a) Before Review by CRS/ STRIVE 
• Document describing the Operating Environment of the STRIVE Project. This document 
should: 
# Summarise the current situation in Zimbabwe in terms of the principal political, socio￾economic and key child development indicators that define the operating environment. 
# Identify and elaborate on strategic programming, which allows CRS and USAID to bring 
value-added support to OVC/CABA programming in Zimbabwe. 
• Document containing the outcome of the STRIVE staff self-assessment (following the 
objectives for this review). 
b) After Review 
• Report on the Mid-Term Review of the STRIVE Project. This report will cover the key 
objectives of this assessment, having a section on each objective and providing concrete 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-14 
recommendations for addressing key issues within the program. The sections will also 
include; 
# management quality assessment (management structure) will focus on; 
o key human resource and administrative systems that have contributed to quality of the 
STRIVE Project in setting trends towards meeting its strategic objectives and intermediate 
results. 
o identifying trends and describing what to build on and lessons learnt. 
o providing for a plan for addressing weaknesses in human resource performance systems 
and in management and administrative systems in a follow-on phase. 
# program quality assessment (programming processes) will focus on: 
o key programming processes that have influenced the quality of the STRIVE Project in 
setting trends towards meeting strategic objectives and intermediate results of STRIVE. 
o providing for a plan for addressing weaknesses in programming strategies, interventions 
and processes in a scale-up phase. 
# Each section will provide concrete recommendations on how the project should proceed in 
the next six and twelve months. 
Reference Documents To Reviewed Before Arrival (Information on CD) 
• Situational Analysis Document (USAID 1999 and UNICEF) 
• Baseline Survey (CRS/STRIVE 2002) 
• Collection of P8 & S8 technical proposals 
• Technical Proposal (CRS/ STRIVE) 
• PMP (CRS/ STRIVE 2002 and USAID 2002) 
• Annual Work Plan (CRS/ STRIVE) 
• USAID HIV/AIDS Crisis Mitigated Design Document 
• CRS/ STRIVE Sub-grantees Technical Proposals and Budgets 
• Zimbabwe Orphans Policy (DSW) 
• Operating Environment of the STRIVE Project 
Logistics 
• CRS/STRIVE will handle all contractual arrangements with consultants and peer reviewers 
coming from the region. USAID will arrange travel logistics from the U.S. to Harare for 
USAID/ WASH. USAID will also pay for any in-country air travel. 
• Scheduling of meetings: A consultant logistician will handle appointments of the review 
team with sub-grantees, government ministries, other donors and key informants based in 
and out of Harare. 
• A consultant logistician will also arrange for air transportation for field visits by the review 
team. 
• Meeting room/place: CRS/ZW conference room and hotel meeting facilities. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-15 
• Transport: CRS/ZW will provide vehicle transportation for field visits; team can use taxis 
for appointments in Harare. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-16 
Illustrative questions per assessment objectives23
Objectives Illustrative questions 
Assess the Operating Environment for 
STRIVE (before review). 
• What is the current situation for OVC/CABA in Zimbabwe? 
• What are the key indicators for this situation? 
• How is the current situation affecting the work of STRIVE? 
• What are the possible mitigatory strategies of dealing with the challenges faced in this 
environment? 
• What are the implications of these strategies for STRIVE, CRS, USAID and key 
stakeholders in OVC programming in Zimbabwe? 
• What are three possible scenarios in which this current situation can evolve to? And in 
each scenario: what are the key indicators, what are the possible mitigatory strategies, 
and what are the implications for STRIVE, CRS, USAID and other key stakeholders? 
Assess the adequacy of the current 
management systems and structure of 
CRS/STRIVE to meet the technical and 
financial support needs of sub-grantees and 
other core players. 
• Is the current management structure at CRS adequate in meeting the programming 
needs for sub-grantees and OVC/CABA in Zimbabwe? 
• What is required for the current STRIVE management structure to adequately support 
sub grantees. 
• How prepared is it in managing a scale-up phase? 
• What is required of CRS, USAID and other key stakeholders involved in programming 
around OVC/CABA for maximum impact? 
Assess adequacy of processes followed in: 
# Awarding grants, 
# Building capacity, 
# Operation Research, 
# Scaling up (CRS / sub-grantee 
levels) 
• Is the current grant making process adequate for meeting the needs of sub-grantees, 
OVC and communities? 
• Is the current capacity building strategy adequate in addressing the capacity of sub￾grantees? 
• How can STRIVE, CRS and USAID continue to learn from OVC programming in a 
scale-up phase? 
• Is the current programming strategy of working through partners adequate in meeting 
the needs of CABA/OVC in Zimbabwe? 
23 Assessment team will review this list with USAID and CRS in order to refine, add or subtract questions. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-17 
Objectives Illustrative questions 
Determine whether the strategies used by 
STRIVE effectively address the needs of 
CABA. 
• Are the current interventions in the CRS/ STRIVE project addressing the needs of 
children affected by HIV/AIDS? 
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of the strategies used in grant making, scaling￾up, building capacity of sub-grantees, etc.? 
• Does funding meet the guidelines of the Child Survival and Health Program Fund? 
• Is the STRIVE management structure adequate to respond to the needs of implementing 
partners to date? 
• Did resources (technical, human and financial) reach the intended beneficiaries in an 
efficient manner that did not undermine community ownership? 
• What were the roles of community members, CABA and their families in determining 
project activities and in carrying them out? 
• What was the process used to engage community level actors? How inclusive was it? 
• Did the process lead (or is it likely to lead) to broad community involvement? 
• How did CRS/STRIVE sub grantees define CABA and vulnerability in implementing 
interventions addressing the needs of beneficiaries? Were there any differences? 
• How relevant are the original objectives for STRIVE given the changing environment? 
• Are there interventions left out the current agreement that should be included in the 
scale up phase? 
• What is required for CRS/STRIVE and current sub grantees to cost effectively scale up 
identified best practices on a nationwide scale? 
• Can sub-grantees and communities scale up their current interventions? Why or why 
not? 
• Should CRS/ STRIVE consider teaming up with other partners in phase 2 scale up? 
• How can CRS/ STRIVE involve diverse faith based organizations in the scale up phase? 
• What is required of CRS, USAID and other key stakeholders involved in programming 
around children for reaching out to the greatest numbers of OVC/CABA in Zimbabwe? 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-18 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-19 
Annex 2 CRS/STRIVE Mid-term Review, April-May 2003 
Overview of Operating Environment (#2) 
By Mark Loudon 
INTRODUCTION 
This report is designed to assist CRS/STRIVE staff and members of the mid-term Review Team 
to make decisions on future policies and actions for STRIVE, its beneficiaries and donor. 
This report is divided in three parts: 
• Sections 1-6 which summarise current data on development issues such as HIV/AIDS and 
orphaning from a range of sources (quoted in the footnotes and bibliography), and 
• Section 7 which discusses possible scenarios for the future, and the implications of each 
scenario for STRIVE and its partners. Note that this section is simply intended to stimulate 
discussion, not to persuade anyone to a particular point of view. 
• Sections 8 and 9 which offer some concluding remarks and list the key documents referred 
to. 
1. DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS 
These are standard indicators used to assess the development status of a country, extracted from 
the UNAIDS Epidemiological Fact Sheet on HIV/AIDS and STIs, 2002 Update: 
Indicator Year Estimate 
Total population 2001 12,852,000 
Population aged 15-49 2001 5,972,000 
Urban Population 2000 35% 
GNI per capita 1999 US$530 
GNI per capita growth rate 1999 -2.6% 
Per capita expenditure on health 1997 US$49 
Govt budget spent on health 1998 17.0% 
Total adult literacy rate 1997 86% 
Male primary school enrolment ratio 1996 114.8 
Female primary school enrolment ratio 1996 111.3 
Male secondary school enrolment ratio 1996 52.4 
Female secondary school enrolment ratio 1996 44.6 
Crude birth rate (per 1,000 pop) 1995-2000 37 
Crude death rate (per 1,000 pop) 1995-2000 18 
Maternal mortality rate (per 100,000 live 1995 610 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-20 
Indicator Year Estimate 
births) 
Life expectancy at birth 1995-2000 43 years 
Total fertility rate 1995-2000 5.0 
Infant mortality rate (per 1,000 live births) 1995-2000 65 
Under 5 mortality rate 1995-2000 108 
2. HIV/AIDS 
UNAIDS, working closely with Government and research institutions, estimates as follows24: 
• Number of adults and children living with HIV/AIDS by end 2001 = 2,300,00025 
made up as follows: 
• adults (15-49) 2,000,000 Adult rate 33.7% 
• women (15-49) 1,200,000 
• children (0-15) 240,000 
• Estimated number of deaths due to AIDS during 2001 = 200,00026 ie: 3,850 per week 
3. ORPHANS AND VULNERABLE CHILDREN (OVC) 
Zimbabwe shares with Zambia, Malawi, Lesotho and Rwanda the dubious honour of having the 
world’s highest proportion of orphaned children (from all causes). The best available estimates27
suggest that in these four countries between 17-18% of all children under the age of 15 had lost 
one or both parents by 2001. 
 
In Zimbabwe this amounts to just over a million orphans, out of a total child population of 
around 5.8 million. However Zimbabwe is unique in that 77% or 780,000 of her orphans have 
lost one or both parents to AIDS. The next highest proportion of AIDS orphans is in Zambia, at 
65.4%.
Orphan trends 
Illustration 1 (overleaf) reflects data for Zimbabwe from Children on the Brink 2002. 
It has been projected28 that by 2005, Zimbabwe will be one of only four countries in the world 
where more than one out of every five children will be orphaned (by all causes). The others are 
Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland. Unfortunately, Zimbabwe is expected to maintain its lead in 
terms of AIDS orphans, with 85.7% of orphans having lost one or both parents to AIDS, 
followed by Botswana at 84.0% and Swaziland at 75.9%. 
It is important to note that these data were collected in 2000. Since then poverty has increased 
sharply. As discussed later in this report, the accelerated decline during 2002 must have 
 
24 UNAIDS Epidemiological Fact Sheet on HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections, 2002 Update 
25 Range of uncertainty 1,800,000 – 2,700,000 
26 Range of uncertainty 155,000 – 242,000 
27 By UNAIDS, UNICEF and USAID in Children on the Brink 2002, published July 2002. Similar figures were used 
by a Zimbabwean delegation to the Regional Workshop on OVC in November 2002. 
28 Ibid. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-21 
implications for the rate of orphaning – which means the orphan data, frightening though they 
are, are almost certainly optimistic. 
Vulnerable children 
In addition to orphans Zimbabwe is believed to have 240,000 children living with HIV/AIDS; 
600,000 internally displaced children; 150,000 children living with disabilities; 12,000 children 
living on and off the streets; 5,000 children in institutions; and 26% of children aged 10-14 
engaged in child labour29. number of children 0-14 number of orphans
orphans due to AIDS
maternal orphans
paternal orphans
double orphans
1990
1995
2001
2005
2010
0
1000000
2000000
3000000
4000000
5000000
6000000
7000000
Illustration 1: orphan data for Zimbabwe from Children on the Brink 2002. 
 
29 Presentation by Zimbabwean delegation at the Regional Workshop on OVC in Windhoek in November 2002, 
except children living with HIV/AIDS which is from UNAIDS figures quoted earlier. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-22 
4. POLICY 
The Government of Zimbabwe has developed two relevant policies30: 
The National Orphan Care Policy (adopted by Cabinet in May 1999) represents a commitment 
to national and community support to OVC, including allocation of resources to enhance access 
to education and health services. Implementation is led and coordinated by the Child Welfare 
Forum in partnership with local authorities and NGOs. Whilst the policy is being implemented, it 
lacks concrete indicators and a timeframe. [copy?] 
The National HIV/AIDS Policy was developed in 1999 and guides present and future responses 
to the epidemic in Zimbabwe by all stakeholders. The Policy encourages a multi-sectoral 
approach and contains guiding principles and strategies for many aspects of the fight against 
HIV/AIDS. 
It also includes a component on care and support programmes for OVC in relation to issues such 
as child abuse, stigma and counselling. 
 
UNGASS goals 
Zimbabwe sent a delegation to the Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Workshop on OVC in 
Windhoek in November 2002. This workshop was designed to help 20 countries in the region 
prepare action plans to fulfil their commitment to the goals of the UN General Assembly Special 
Session (UNGASS) on HIV/AIDS in June 2001, as they relate to OVC. Clauses 65-67 of the 
Declaration of Commitment provide that by 2003 member countries will develop, and by 2005 
they will (fully) implement a range of national policies and strategies to support and protect 
OVC. 
At the conclusion of the workshop the Zimbabwean delegation, which included government, 
NGO and donor representation, presented an action plan covering the following activities: 
• Review the National Orphan Care policy based on a participatory situation analysis (of OVC) 
leading to a concrete National Action Plan, to be finalised by 2003 and implemented by 
2005; 
• Establish coordination mechanisms and partnerships for OVC interventions; 
• Build consensus and commitment among all OVC stakeholders through advocacy; 
• Exchange experience, positive practice and lessons learned through regional linkages; 
• Scale up response at all levels for OVC; 
• Review the legal framework with regard to child-friendly services and protection; 
• Build consensus on OVC programme indicators. 
 
30 The Situation of Orphans and other Vulnerable Children in Zimbabwe – A Country Report for the Eastern and 
Southern Africa Regional Workshop on Orphans and other Vulnerable Children, GoZ, UNICEF and others, 
November 2002. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-23 
An ad-hoc committee is working under the leadership of the Ministry of Public Services, Labour 
and Social Services to convene a national meeting of OVC stakeholders in June, which should 
produce the basic outline of a National Action Plan. 
As part of this process, the Futures Group has agreed (within the USAID-funded Zimbabwe 
AIDS Policy and Advocacy Project) to develop a national inventory of OVC-related 
organisations and services. 
 
5. LEGISLATION31
Zimbabwe has a well-developed legal framework for the protection of children’s rights – 
including vulnerable children. The Government is a signatory to the CRC and to the African 
Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. Relevant statutes include the Children’s 
Protection and Adoption Act, the Children’s Protection and Adoption Amendment Act, the 
Education Act, the Guardianship of Minors Act, and the Sexual Offences Act. 
 
While these instruments apply to all children, they are not specific to OVC. In addition, more 
effort is needed to interpret and implement these laws, and children need to be empowered to 
claim their own rights, particularly on issues relevant to orphanhood such as inheritance. 
6. CHILD CARE AND PROTECTION PROGRAMMES32
Government has adopted a decentralised approach to care and support for vulnerable children 
through Community Capacity Development programmes. Orphan care programmes are 
coordinated through Child Welfare Forums at district and at central level. Programmes targeting 
the most vulnerable children include: 
• The Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM) is a form of social protection that 
Government provides to 690,000 vulnerable children through a tuition fee, levy and 
examination-fee assistance module. 
• In addition to BEAM, Government provides social assistance of Z$1,500 per month for 
935,000 vulnerable families to assist with basic living costs. 
• An AIDS Levy on employees of 3% was introduced to support the National HIV/AIDS 
Policy. The National AIDS Council administers the National AIDS Trust Fund which 
supports programmes for persons affected by HIV/AIDS, especially OVC. 
• Other OVC programmes are implemented in partnership with CBOs and NGOs. There are 
well over 100 local and international NGO’s working specifically for OVC in Zimbabwe. 
More than half of these NGOs work specifically in the context of HIV/AIDS. Programming 
within these organisations includes child rights and advocacy; child abuse; OVC (eg: home￾based care, skills training, VCT, material and psycho-social support, will writing projects); 
ECCD; children with disabilities; and children living on and off the streets: 
 
31 Extracted from The Situation of Orphans and other Vulnerable Children in Zimbabwe – A Country Report for the 
Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Workshop on Orphans and other Vulnerable Children, GoZ, UNICEF and 
others, November 2002. 
32 Ibid. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-24 
7. SCENARIOS 
The value of scenario planning 
Scenarios are essentially a set of educated guesses about the future. The accuracy of the 
scenarios depends both on the quality of data used in formulating these guesses and the 
(un)predictability of the situation. Traditionally scenarios are divided into optimistic, pessimistic 
and neutral viewpoints. Management decides which is the most likely, and plans accordingly. 
However there are two facts which suggest a modification to this approach. Firstly, the situation 
in Zimbabwe is so volatile and politically charged that a detailed discussion of what might 
happen would be, at best, wild conjecture. Secondly STRIVE is working for large numbers of 
children whose lives are being shaped by the situation in which they find themselves and who, in 
their turn, will play a significant role in shaping the future of this country. 
It is therefore not necessary or useful, for this exercise at least, to predict which scenario is most 
likely. It is only required that we agree each scenario is, at least theoretically, “possible”, and that 
there is no other “possible” scenario which should be included. Once there is agreement that 
these scenarios are broadly representative of what is possible, it makes sense to plan for the 
most pessimistic scenario, using the argument that one should “hope for the best, but plan 
for the worst”. 
It is important not to see this approach as any kind of moral judgement on the future of 
Zimbabwe – the same approach would be indicated wherever one sets out to protect the rights 
and values of the next generation. The stakes are simply too high to gamble the future of our 
children on our hopes, no matter how optimistic we may be. Note that the following scenarios 
avoid statistics which could lead to a sterile debate on detail, when this is essentially a “big￾picture” exercise. 
 
Defining the scenarios 
STRIVE exists to support and evaluate community-level projects which, in turn, aim to protect 
the rights of orphans and other vulnerable children. The vulnerability of children, and the ability 
of communities to protect those children, is directly related to the socio-economic situation and 
to the state of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. 
 
All sources agree there is a “basket of factors” influencing the socio-economic situation, starting 
with the weather and the HIV/AIDS epidemic, extending through political and policy 
developments, and culminating with external factors – such as the behaviour of neighbouring 
states toward Zimbabwe and the commitment of donors. 
There seems to be consensus that, at present, these factors are 
making Zimbabwe weaker. All that is required for the country 
to slip further into crisis is that nothing changes. Thus, the 
“neutral view” is not that living conditions will remain the 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-25 
same, but rather that thing will continue to get worse at the same rate (first curve). 
The “optimistic view” is that some factors will change for the 
better (like good rainfalls or political reform). Positive change 
does not necessarily mean that Zimbabwe will return to what it 
was a few years ago – it could simply mean that the rate of 
decline slows down or stops (second curve) so that living 
conditions for the average person get no worse. 
The “pessimistic view” is that the negative factors will become 
stronger – possibly by reinforcing each other (like hunger and 
HIV/AIDS) – which means the rate of decline will accelerate 
(third curve). 
 
A worrying possibility is that the rate of decline in Zimbabwe is 
already accelerating, as in the third curve. If this is true, it 
means that positive change is needed simply to achieve a 
straight-line decline (the first curve) and that much more profound change is needed to halt the 
decline (the second curve), let alone reverse it. It also means that the pessimistic scenario shown 
above could in fact be neutral, requiring no change in influencing factors. 
The status quo. 
It is a matter of record that the economy of Zimbabwe is in decline, with negative growth and 
triple-digit inflation. Drought, unemployment and other factors have contributed to widespread 
hunger, necessitating the distribution of food-aid to hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans. Late 
rains may not be enough to resolve maize shortages during 2003. 
Foreign debt servicing has fallen into arrears, undermining the Government’s ability to raise 
further loans abroad, and an acute shortage of foreign currency is affecting Zimbabwe’s ability to 
import essential commodities such as food, fuel and agricultural inputs. The absence of these 
commodities has dire implications for the economic future of the country. 
As regards the future, there seem to be no data to suggest that the above trends are changing for 
the better. Long-range weather predictions suggest erratic rainfall particularly in the south and 
east of the country. Shortages of seed and fertilizer, and a reduction in the national herd, will 
contribute to a continued decline in food production. 
 
The International Monetary Fund and World Bank believe the Government’s policy of tighter 
foreign exchange controls and fixing prices will not improve the economic situation and could, 
in the medium term, result in even more business bankruptcies and unemployment. 
A number of factors are negatively impacting on the ability and willingness of bi-lateral and 
multi-lateral agencies to support development and humanitarian relief programmes in Zimbabwe. 
These include concerns about the human-rights record of the Government and priorities 
elsewhere, such as the Horn of Africa and the Middle East. Debates about the acceptability of 
genetically-modified grain are also complicating the delivery of food aid. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-26 
Underpinning the decline of the economy, and weakening Zimbabwe’s ability to recover is the 
HIV/AIDS epidemic (described earlier in this report) which is seriously affecting the ability of 
households to produce food or generate income, and is undermining commercial production and 
consumption in all sectors. The epidemic also weakens the ability of Government and non￾government agencies to deliver essential services such as schooling and health-care. 
Is almost impossible to overstate the effect which HIV/AIDS has on a nation and, unfortunately, 
Zimbabwe’s epidemic ranks with the worst in the world. The enormity of the situation is masked 
by stigma, denial, and the fact that AIDS has no symptoms of its own but renders the body 
vulnerable to other infections, while it makes society vulnerable to socio-economic decline. 
 
In its turn, socio-economic decline and poverty are thought to contribute to the spread of HIV. 
One reference says that, over the past year, Zimbabwe has had the fastest rate of economic 
decline of any nation not at war, which raises the horrifying possibility that the epidemic in 
Zimbabwe may have gained renewed momentum during this period. 
 
The implications for children are dire. General vulnerability due to poverty, displacement and 
denial of essential services such as schooling and health care will increase. Orphaning as a result 
of AIDS, but also through starvation and violent death, will also increase. Grandmothers, who 
are often the last layer of the family safety net, are particularly vulnerable to poverty and a lack 
of health care services, which means that more children will find themselves in child-headed 
households or living off the streets. 
Scenario one: continuation of status quo 
In the absence of positive change, things will get worse in Zimbabwe. How much worse depends 
on whether the country is currently on a straight-line decline or an accelerating decline (as 
described earlier). 
 
In this “neutral” scenario the level of hunger will continue to increase from year to year, 
although there will be seasonal fluctuations. It should be borne in mind that access to food is not 
only a function of the crop size, but also of the cost and the availability of staple foods. This 
means factors other than the weather are impacting on food security. 
By the first quarter of 2004 it seems likely that as many or more people will be dependent on 
food-aid. However food handouts cannot provide complete nutrition to all who need it. Hunger 
and malnutrition will increase. And with increasing hunger, people who are HIV-positive will 
progress more rapidly to AIDS and death. 
 
HIV/AIDS will lead to growing rates of absenteeism in the workplace, as workers fall ill and 
when they stay home to care for sick relatives or attend funerals. This will increasingly affect all 
business sectors (and therefore employment and income levels) as well as the delivery of 
services by Government and NGOs. The social safety net provided by these institutions, along 
with communities and families, will therefore get progressively weaker as more and more people 
who were helpers and income providers instead need help and support themselves. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-27 
 
The Zimbabwean dollar has already lost much of its value, and this trend seems set to continue. 
Eventually only movable assets – livestock, vehicles, food, furniture etc – and foreign currencies 
will have value, and people will increasingly barter goods rather than exchange them for cash. 
Inflation and poverty will together conspire to deprive families of their assets, including 
productive assets like agricultural implements, which they need to survive and, eventually, 
recover. 
Continuing shortages of foreign exchange will impact on all aspects of life, further increasing 
unemployment and making essential imported commodities such as fuel, drugs and spare parts 
increasingly expensive and/or difficult to find. The number of skilled Zimbabweans leaving the 
country will grow, contributing to the decline of institutions such as schools and hospitals, and to 
the withering of infrastructure such as telephones, electricity and roads. 
Unskilled and unemployed people will also leave the country, of course, some as illegal 
immigrants to neighbouring states, while others will turn to crime. At the same time the army, 
immigration services, police, courts and prisons will be weakened by emigration, HIV/AIDS and 
potentially the inability of Government to pay their salaries. Among other consequences, this 
could lead to increased corruption, smuggling and human trafficking, while alternative judicial 
systems such as “people’s courts” and vigilante groups may emerge. 
 
Implications for STRIVE 
STRIVE and its partners will be increasingly stretched as the number of children needing 
protection grows. Indeed, STRIVE is already being scaled up – both in number of employees and 
in the number and size of its partner (sub-beneficiary) organisations – and it is likely that these 
partners are also going through rapid growth in the demand for their services, and probably in the 
range of services they offer and the number of staff and volunteers they employ. 
However scaling up presents its own challenges. STRIVE staff are distracted from their core 
business of supporting partners at the very time that partners need them most, while STRIVE 
recruits and trains additional personnel. Partners will be similarly distracted from serving their 
clients – children and their caregivers – and their situation may be compounded rather than 
helped by too many interventions by STRIVE and others. 
Clearly it falls within STRIVE's capacity-building mandate to help its partners through this 
process of growth. However, this task presents its own set of challenges. Firstly, it will be 
difficult (but not impossible) to manage the growth of STRIVE and to support the growth of its 
beneficiary organisations at the same time. Secondly, too much “help” can distract a partner 
(particularly a community-based organisation) from its core business, which means their clients 
can suffer. This effect needs to be carefully considered and, if possible, measured. 
Organisations going through rapid expansion, like STRIVE and its partners, are prone to losing 
touch with their strategic goals as they grapple with day-to-day challenges, and are particularly 
vulnerable to poor internal and external communication. This can place stress on staff￾management relations and on key relationships with donors, government and other stakeholders. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-28 
In the business world, times of rapid growth and change are recognised as being so risky and the 
challenges posed are seen to be so unique that special “change management” personnel are 
sometimes brought in to oversee the process. 
Effective planning is very difficult in a fast-changing environment such as Zimbabwe. A 
common mistake in is to plan for current needs rather than for anticipated needs. For example it 
may be short-sighted to plan for the number of OVC currently in a particular village, and to 
design interventions which rely on existing skills and commitment in that community. Instead 
one should anticipate growth in the number of OVC, and changes in the resources likely to be 
found in that community, and plan accordingly. Failure to do so means that interventions will 
always be too little, too late – if they succeed at all. 
Working in a changing situation also presents challenges in measuring the results of one’s 
interventions. Outcomes need to be measured against a moving baseline (plotting the situation 
expected without the intervention, against the situation with the intervention in place). This 
baseline needs to be continuously reviewed and updated to reflect changing circumstances, if the 
results of the intervention are to be considered authoritative. 
Of course the growing number of OVC will not be the only challenge facing STRIVE and its 
partners. It would be naïve to believe that our people are in some way immune to the socio￾economic and health issues which are attacking the nation. As skilled and experienced people 
become harder to find in Zimbabwe, it will be harder to keep our key people, and harder to 
replace them when they leave. Burn-out will be a growing problem, as will illness and competing 
family priorities. STRIVE should therefore anticipate the loss of personnel at ever-increasing 
rates, and plan for their replacement at short notice, without losing the continuity of its services. 
Scenario two: positive change 
Various factors could result in an improvement in the economic situation in Zimbabwe such as 
an improved harvest, good rainfalls in the second half of 2003 and political developments 
leading to stronger economic performance, a re-engagement by donors and a return of the IMF 
and World Bank. 
Already the Famine Early Warning Systems Network has announced the current harvest could be 
160% better than the 2001/2 season, and that the expected 1.3 million tons of maize may be 
almost enough to feed the country. However a full report on food security by the UN will only be 
available in May. Obviously an improved harvest would do much to alleviate short-term hunger, 
but deeper structural problems are likely to inhibit a full recovery of the agricultural sector for 
many years. 
 
The positive effects of policy reform will also take time to unfold, although improved access to 
foreign exchange would mean fuel and basic foodstuffs could become available almost 
immediately. However, as we have seen in the past weeks, Government does not have the 
resources to subsidize these commodities and rising prices will place them beyond the means of 
most consumers. 
 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-29 
Recovery in employment through business expansion will take longer still and, unfortunately, 
will continue to be undermined by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. 
 
In general, as discussed above, to plan for an optimistic scenario is an indulgence which we 
cannot afford – not because such a scenario is impossible (as recent positive developments have 
illustrated) but because to do so would mean gambling with the future of our children. 
Scenario three: accelerated decline 
This scenario differs from the “neutral” scenario mainly in relation to the speed of decline. In 
most respects the same things will happen, but they will happen sooner. 
But there are differences. In an accelerated decline scenario we are more likely to witness 
catastrophic collapse of programs and institutions – such as food-security and agricultural 
support programs, hospitals and schools, and the criminal justice system. This in turn could lead 
to social unrest and the displacement of people, both within Zimbabwe and across her borders. 
 
In extreme circumstances foreign governments may close their embassies and withdraw funding 
of social programs, while private donor agencies and humanitarian relief organisations may be 
influenced by considerations of safety to withdraw. At a certain point, even domestic agencies 
may have difficulty moving around and interacting with people working at grass-roots level. 
Implications for STRIVE 
There is perhaps little point in anticipating a scenario in which STRIVE ceases to function. 
However, long before this situation is reached (if it ever is) STRIVE and its partners will need to 
operate in very different and creative ways, if we do not want to abandon Zimbabwe’s children 
to their fate. 
In an environment where state authority breaks down, and survival depends on black markets 
and crime, gangsters or warlords often emerge to fill power vacuums. In such circumstances 
STRIVE should be alert to changes in the social dynamics within partner communities, and the 
“rules” in terms of which community-level organisations operate. For STRIVE personnel to 
move safely and engage constructively in those communities will require careful negotiations. 
 
If circumstances become more extreme externally, they are likely to become more extreme 
internally as well. The occasional loss of a staff member to another agency, another country or to 
serious illness could turn into a steady exodus. Planning for this eventuality will be expensive 
and onerous, but the cost should be measured against the importance of STRIVE's work to the 
future of Zimbabwe. 
 
For example an internship program – in which all staff members have “understudies” – would 
place enormous strain on STRIVE’s budget and infrastructure but may be the only way to ensure 
continuity under extreme conditions. Alternatively, producing detailed written reports of all 
activities would place a major burden on staff and seriously affect productivity, but would enable 
a replacement to rapidly pick up where the previous incumbent left off. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-30 
 
Perhaps the most challenging task will be to help STRIVE's partners (sub-grantees) to operate in 
uncertain and potentially dangerous conditions, while facing a massive growth in demand for 
their services. One approach may be to work with each partner to develop a survival strategy, 
looking at their unique circumstances and resources. Another would be to establish a mobile 
support unit, which could offer temporary support to partner programs which are faced with 
unforeseen gaps in people or skills. 
8. CONCLUSION 
About the only thing we can be sure about in Zimbabwe is that nothing is certain. This makes 
effective planning a very challenging exercise. 
 
Fortunately in one area at least, STRIVE has a key advantage. As we have found, the fact that 
the program is funded in US dollars means that the weaker the Zimbabwean dollar, the more 
money we have to spend. However, this also means that if the slide of the local currency is 
halted, the resources available to STRIVE will be fixed – even though the level of need is likely 
to continue to grow. 
Ultimately most decisions – about policies, funding, people and relationships – are likely to 
come down to a single question: “how far should we go?” Answering this question, in turn, has 
as much to do with how important we perceive STRIVE's work to be, as it does with our 
expectations of the future. The more important our work, the more conservative our planning 
must be. 
 
Clearly this is a decision which needs to be taken by the STRIVE team, with the advice and 
support of their key stakeholders – including the Reference Group and Review Team members 
from the mid-term review. It is hoped that this document is able to stimulate this process. 
9. MAIN REFERENCES
• Epidemiological Fact Sheet on HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections, 2002 
Update; UNAIDS 
• Children on the Brink 2002; UNAIDS, UNICEF and USAID, July 2002. 
• The Situation of Orphans and other Vulnerable Children in Zimbabwe – A Country Report 
for the Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Workshop on Orphans and other Vulnerable 
Children; Government of Zimbabwe, UNICEF and others; November 2002. 
• Presentation by Zimbabwean delegation at the Eastern and Southern Africa Regional 
Workshop on Orphans and other Vulnerable Children; November 2002. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-31 
ANNEX 3 
CATHOLIC RELIEF SERVICES (CRS) STRIVE PROGRAM 
EFFECTIVENESS 
PREPARED BY LYNNE COGSWELL, ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 
SPECIALIST (EXCEPT ADDITION ON S8 MEETING) 
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 
A. Findings 
• Planning seems to be very fractured resulting in “reaction” not “pro-action.” 
• STRIVE vision; strategic thinking and project direction seem to be unclear. 
• Present management structures do not appear to be conducive to effective management, 
delegation, or decision-making. 
• Lines of authority, roles and responsibilities, while clearly laid out, do not appear to be 
adhered to or respected. 
• Over-involvement from USAID in STRIVE’s day-to-day activities and management has 
apparently hindered its ability to manage its work. 
• Administrative systems appear to be sound, but insufficient staff is in place. 
• The present Director is stepping down, though he will remain until he is replaced. 
• Roles and responsibilities of PDM staff and the overall purpose of the PDM Unit appear to 
be constantly evolving, causing confusion among Units and partners alike. 
• Outsourcing seems to be inadequately used; staff appears to want to take on many service 
delivery tasks themselves. 
• Linkages and relationships at all levels seem to be tenuous. STRIVE does not appear to have 
clarified whether it should and needs to formalize its linkages at all levels. 
• Information is often not effectively shared nor passed along and in some cases has been 
withheld. Communication flow seems to be hindering quality responsiveness. 
B. Conclusions 
• Strategic program planning is fragmented and insufficient and needs to be undertaken anew 
to strengthen STRIVE’s vision and provide clear direction for the short- and long-term. 
• Management systems are inefficient and require overhauling and adherence and respect for 
lines of authority has been abused. 
• A new Director is urgently needed. 
• The PDM Unit needs to define its role and structure, and clearly communicate this to staff. 
• Core staff needs reinforced skills in planning, program management and supervision and a 
solid grounding in HIV/AIDS and OVC issues. 
• The staff complement is sufficient, except for administrative needs, to handle STRIVE’s 
present activities. It would not be sufficient to handle any growth or scale up. 
• Outsourcing has great potential for STRIVE staff, especially in its ability to allow STRIVE 
to effectively “facilitate” for its partners. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-32 
• STRIVE needs to define its desired “linkages mandate” and clearly determine the 
implications of not doing so. 
• Communication systems need to be clearly established and followed. 
C. Priority Recommendations 
• Hire a seasoned, experienced Director immediately—someone who is a solid manager and 
strategic thinker. 
• Restore STRIVE’s vision and revise present strategic program plan and timeline. 
• Separate and simplify management structures of STRIVE within CRS. 
• Institute decision-making autonomy of STRIVE from CRS. 
• Reinforce adherence and respect for lines of authority. 
• Engage the present Director in an appropriate capacity, i.e. Senior OVC Technical 
Advisor/Quality Assurance. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-33 
I. BACKGROUND 
In May 2003, a multi-disciplinary team conducted a mid-term review of the program 
effectiveness of the Catholic Relief Services’ (CRS) Support to Replicable, Innovative, 
Village/Community Level Efforts (STRIVE) for Children Affected by HIV/AIDS (CABA) in 
Zimbabwe, and to make clear recommendations on how to move forward. This report looks 
specifically at the effectiveness of the STRIVE program’s ability to carry out its goals and 
objectives. Its goal is to improve the care and support of vulnerable children in Zimbabwe with 
specific program objectives comprising: 
1. Support and develop appropriate, effective and sustainable community-based approaches 
to support for CABA in ZM through participatory learning and action. 
2. Improve the organizational capacity of at least eight local organizations to deliver high 
quality care, support, and prevention activities to benefit children affected by HIV/AIDS 
and their families. 
3. Increase access to quality education of children affected by AIDS, with a special focus on 
girls. 
II. INTRODUCTION TO EFFECTIVENESS 
The ultimate goal of most organizations or programs is a combination of achieving an 
identifiable mission and maintaining its own existence. This is becoming increasingly more 
difficult as the economic, political, social, and physical environments become more turbulent in 
Zimbabwe. 
Organizational or program effectiveness is an interconnected process comprising development, 
environment, and outcomes, with the first two areas working conjointly to meet an 
organization/program’s mission and deliver the promised services to its stakeholders moving it 
towards its goals and objectives. Figure 1 (next page) demonstrates the interconnectedness of the 
three areas of effectiveness: 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-34 
Figure 1: Three Areas of Effectiveness 
Depending on an organization/programs’ internal and external operating environment, it is also 
often necessary to look at leadership/vision and change management within the organization. 
More specifically, each of these five areas has certain issues or elements to be examined: 
1. Development comprises the systems, structures, plans, and resources (human resource and 
financial) necessary to run an organization. 
2. Environment encompasses the environment in which an organization functions. 
3. Outcomes are the essence of organizational work. They are the reasons, rationale, purpose, 
and mission, for which an organization does its work—to make a change or to have a 
positive impact. The environment and structures of an organization affect its organizational 
outcomes. 
4. Leadership and Vision go hand-in-hand and are essential to an effective organization. As 
the needs of an organization change, so to do the skills and qualities needed for its leadership. 
5. Change Management is the ability to manage change and is critical to the long-term success 
of an organization. Change can be internal, e.g. new policies, new leadership. It can be 
external, e.g. competitive pressure, funding pressure. Effective organizations learn how to 
adapt and succeed whatever the source of change. 
There are four levels of effectiveness – basic (0-50), intermediate (51-75), advanced (76-90), and 
ideal (91-100). The level of effectiveness is important in understanding and gauging an 
organization/program’s overall effectiveness. Programs or organizations are not expected to 
excel in every aspect of all areas. Though all are capable of implementing services regardless of 
their effectiveness level, the key assumption is that “a more effective organization or program 
can improve the impact it has and increase the quality of its services.” In the short-term, 
most organizations/programs are able to provide sufficient services. However, in the long-run, 
Development 
Environment 
Clients/Beneficiaries 
Clients/Beneficiaries 
Clients/Beneficiaries 
Clients/Beneficiaries 
Clients/Beneficiaries 
Clients/Beneficiaries 
Efficient 
Development
combined with
a fostering 
Environment
engenders desired
 Outcomes
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-35 
these services and their ultimate outcomes can be greatly improved and expanded by (1) 
implementing tools and processes that aid in effectiveness; (2) encouraging an environment that 
facilitates and nurtures effectiveness; and (3) promoting client feedback and program/services 
adaptation to assure desired impact. 
This report examines each of the five areas cited above as they relate to STRIVE as a program 
within CRS. A combination of quantitative tools and qualitative methods (SWOT assessment - 
strengths/weaknesses/opportunities/threats, interviews, observations) were used to gather 
substantive information, each type reinforcing and validating the other. While data has been 
collected primarily from STRIVE staff, key CRS staff were also interviewed. Based on these 
findings, specific recommendations have been made (see Section VII). For purposes of this 
report, STRIVE will refer in all cases to CRS/STRIVE program staff in Harare. Also this 
assessment is unique in that, while it looked at STRIVE, STRIVE is a program within CRS and 
could not be looked at in isolation from CRS. Therefore, CRS was also examined 
organizationally, to the extent that it impacts on STRIVE’s ability to achieve its goals and 
objectives. 
III. OVERVIEW OF STRIVE EFFECTIVENESS 
Figure 2 below reflects how STRIVE staff views its effectiveness in each of the five areas. As 
can been seen, according to staff, all areas but one—development—have reached a level of 
intermediate effectiveness. While intermediate effectiveness does not preclude STRIVE from 
improving in these areas, the real work appears to be needed in the Program Development area, 
which is at “basic level” of effectiveness (42). STRIVE appears to have fostered a reasonably 
positive program environment (71) with a continued focus on its program outcomes (70). 
I. Figure 2: Overview of STRIVE Overall Program Effectiveness 
42
71 70
0
25
50
75
100
Development
Environment
Outcomes
IV. KEY FINDINGS 
STRIVE has continued to carry out activities under extreme growth pressures and in spite of the 
detrimental operating environment. It is important to note that STRIVE’s self-image is very 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-36 
positive (except in the area of program management) as can be seen by the way STRIVE staff 
described themselves: 
“We are facilitators/helpers/midwives, intermediaries, explorers/pioneers, 
torchbearers, responsible/responsive, empowering, keeping children at the heart, 
and a “Big Bus slightly out of control.” 
Unfortunately, the apparent benefits of using CRS to carry out this cooperative agreement have 
not materialized to the extent anticipated. The reported benefits of selecting CRS for this work 
included: 
• Already established partner relationships for a faster start-up time; 
• Partners already familiar with CRS financial and management policies; 
• CRS’s understanding of the Zimbabwean environment thus allowing for quick adaptation 
and facilitation of events; and 
• Experts on staff to assist with programming, systems structuring and technical advice from 
the CRS country office, regional office, and home office. 
The quantitative summary of STRIVE’s levels of effectiveness in each area detailed in Figure 2 
has been substantiated by qualitative information. The need for improvement in Program 
Development was also quite evident from the feedback received. The following provides more 
detail on the Program Development elements that need attention if STRIVE is to improve its 
effectiveness. It also provides some insight into Environmental and Outcome issue that require 
consideration. 
A. Development 
Development assesses eight elements – Technology, Contacts/Relationships, Management, 
Administrative Systems, Planning, Communication, Assets, and Staffing/Human Resources. All 
but one (Technology/51) fell below 50into a “basic” level of effectiveness. All of these elements 
impact on STRIVE’s ability to carry out its activities. The seven elements that reportedly are at a 
“basic level” have been discussed in detail below. Figure 3 below delineates the effectiveness 
score of each of the elements of concern as seen by the STRIVE staff. 
51
44
38 37
45 40 43 41
0
25
50
75
100
Technology
Management
Administration
Human Resources
Relationships
Planning
Communication
Assets
Figure 3: Details of STRIVE Program Development Effectiveness
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-37 
Management Systems 
To what extent does the STRIVE management structure and systems allow it to respond to 
and support its implementing partners? 
STRIVE has been working to rectify and improve its management systems and has made some 
significant changes, e.g. changes in procurement and administration. However, based not only 
on quantitative results, but qualitative results as well, the management systems and structures 
presently in place are insufficient. STRIVE’s ability to effectively identify, respond, and meet 
the needs of its implementing partners/sub-grantees has been greatly hampered as a result. 
Responsiveness and timeliness of responses are heavily tied to the management systems 
presently in place and they are suffering as a result. There appear to be several reasons for the 
inefficiencies: 
• Final decision-making is too centralized in CRS and insufficient decision-making autonomy 
rests within STRIVE itself. 
• STRIVE program management structures are too dependent on management structures 
within CRS. 
• CRS management systems are too onerous and cumbersome to perform necessary STRIVE 
management functions in a timely and responsive manner. 
• Lines of authority, roles and responsibilities, while clearly laid out, are not adhered to or 
respected. 
• Over-involvement from USAID in STRIVE’s day-to-day activities and management has 
reportedly been evident. Though the apparent rationale for this over-involvement might be 
understandable, its effect on STRIVE program management has hindered its ability to 
manage its work. 
Administration Systems 
To what extent does the STRIVE administrative structure and systems enable it to support 
and respond to the needs of its implementing partners? 
Administration systems within STRIVE and within CRS are, for the most part, in place. CRS and 
STRIVE have also been working steadily to improve and to modify their administrative 
processes and structures and much progress has been made, as noted by staff. 
The challenge for the present seems to be that more staff is needed to carry out the processes and 
procedures established, both within CRS and within STRIVE. The systems and procedures 
themselves, however, appear to be sound. 
Human Resources and Staffing 
To what extent does STRIVE staffing and human resources impact on its ability to 
effectively carry out its goal and objectives? 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-38 
STRIVE staff is highly skilled, professional, and committed to its work. There have been 
substantial delays, however, in getting qualified staff on board and this has significantly impeded 
the progress of activities, especially in the first year. While staffing and human resources for the 
most part are now in place, there are a couple of notable challenges facing STRIVE if it wishes 
to move effectively forward: 
• Director – It is unanimously acknowledged that his vision, his commitment, and his 
understanding of the CABA/OVC/AIDS issues are practically unparalleled among CRS and 
STRIVE staff. It also appears that while there is a lot of discussion about his ability to 
management the project adequately, it is unclear whether he was actually ever given an 
opportunity to do so. The result is that the STRIVE project has been inadequately managed. 
The present management structures do not appear to have been conducive to effective 
management, delegation, or decision-making, resulting in minimal strategic thinking and 
unclear project direction. The present Director will be stepping down from the Director seat 
as soon as a new Director has been hired, but he will continue in a consultative role with 
STRIVE. He will act as a “caretaker” of the project until his replacement is found. While 
there has been some talk of creating a Deputy Director position and hiring from within CRS 
to fill this position, it seems premature to make this staffing decision before a new Director 
comes on board. 
• Unit Staff – Most staff presently seem to be the “right people in the right place” and human 
resources seem to be sufficiently under control. 
• Project Development and Management (PDM) Unit – Though staff seems to be qualified 
and experienced, roles and responsibilities remain unclear. The overall purpose of the Unit 
appears to have been constantly evolving, thus causing confusion among Units and partners 
alike. 
• Psychosocial Support (PSS) Unit – The PSS has no full-time staff person in place. It is felt 
by staff that outsourcing might not be the best way to ensure that the physical, emotional, and 
social needs of children are incorporated into all activities carried out and to ensure that it is 
seen as an integral part and not a separate entity. 
• Capacity – Across the board, core staff skills in planning, community strengthening, 
program management and supervision appear to need reinforcement. The staff also appears 
to need a solid grounding in HIV/AIDS, and orphans and vulnerable children’s issues. 
• Sub-contracting – Sub-contracting seems to be inadequately used even though funds are 
available for this purpose. While the CB/G Unit is in the process of creating a “skills bank,” 
this is not up and running yet. Staff appears to want to take on all tasks themselves, when 
many other sources are available to help them get the job done, e.g. local consultant, local 
NGOs, partner staff with specific expertise, etc. 
Relationships 
How has STRIVE built relationships to facilitate its work and that of its partners? 
While it is generally agreed that relationships, contacts, linkages, and networking with 
government agencies and international and local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) at all 
levels is an important part of what STRIVE should be doing no clear, formal process for 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-39 
ensuring that these linkages are put in place has been established. To date, most of what has 
transpired has been based on personal connections and personal past experience and it is done 
because people “feel” it needs to happen. A strategic risk is inherent if single individuals 
maintain an organizational asset, i.e. that the asset could leave with the individual. STRIVE has 
not clarified whether it is necessary to formalize its linkages at the national level, at the USAID 
level, within CRS, or whether it should and needs to encourage and enable linkages at the 
implementing partner/sub-grantee level. It has not clearly defined its desired “mandate” in this 
area, nor has it clearly determined the implications of not doing so. 
Planning 
To what extent does STRIVE have the necessary strategic program planning in place to 
guide its work? 
Strategic planning has been very fractured resulting in “reaction” not “pro-action” within the 
organization. STRIVE developed its original program plan and timeline for the proposal in 
2001. This plan does not appear to have been revised in light of the new directions STRIVE is 
taking, or wants to take, and in light of the rapidly changing external operating environment. 
While it is evident that numerous plans are in place, e.g. Annual Work Plan, Performance 
Management Plan, they do not seem to have kept staff attention directed on its vision and its 
main project focus, operations research. None of the plans provides a “strategic program plan” 
that brings staff together in this vision for STRIVE. Staff seems to have lost sight of the big 
picture and STRIVE’s view appears to be getting narrowing and narrower as they scramble to 
“put out fires” and react to events, instead of planning for them. Planning is not focused on short￾term deliverables or on the long-term planning necessary to move from pilot to program. 
Management planning seems to be insufficient as well. STRIVE does not appear to have 
sufficiently regrouped during this first 18-months and taken stock of where it is and where it 
needs to go in this first phase (Note here that the team was aware that a retreat was held in 
11/2002, but it seems to have been insufficient or unable to get things back on track.) 
Communication 
To what extent has communication had an impact on STRIVE? 
Communication flow appears to be a serious challenge for STRIVE. Information is often not 
effectively shared nor passed on to partners, and apparently in some cases has been withheld. 
There is often confusion about who to ask or who to recommend one ask for information. There 
is also an apparent concern among staff about what information they should be handling and 
what they should pass on to an appropriate unit. The staff expressed concern that they are 
sometimes ill equipped in any area other than their own and, as a result, they are often unsure 
how to handle questions that come up in the field. All levels have expressed their concerns 
about communication challenges and while there was insufficient time to track communication 
systems, it seems that reporting is unclear and requirements are not followed, that structured 
mechanisms are insufficient, and that regular staff meetings are infrequent. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-40 
Assets 
What organizational assets has STRIVE put in place to ensure the long-term capacity 
impact desired?
STRIVE also appears to have neglected its own organizational assets, i.e. those systems that do 
not leave with individuals, but are developed and remain in place in the organization itself. For 
example, there has been little or no guideline development for the Units. Though assessment, 
reporting, and research tools are being regularly developed, for the most part it appears that no 
operations/conduct manuals have been developed to go with these tools. If one core staff 
member were to leave tomorrow, it apparently would be very difficult for someone else to take 
up the work without a significant time delay. 
 
V. Environment and Outcomes 
STRIVE’s relatively positive organizational environment and its continued focus on outcomes 
have been most impressive, especially given the other program development challenges it has 
faced. While the following environmental and outcomes findings do not have any specific 
recommendations attached, they could be fundamental in carrying out the Program Development 
recommendations presented, i.e. how decisions are made, what is carried out and how they are 
carried out. As can be seen in Figure 4, for the major areas of concern at the time of this mid￾term review, STRIVE appears to be at an intermediate level of effectiveness. Though 
quantitatively, they indicated that they felt the necessary elements were in place for growth and 
change (64), they qualitatively reflected that they were unsure if they were actually equipped at 
present to grow. Furthermore, though quantitatively they reported that their leadership and 
64
73 71 68
0
25
50
75
100
Change
Management
Leadership
External
Responsiveness
Internal
Responsiveness
Figure 4: Details of STRIVE Environment and Outcomes Effectiveness
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-41 
vision were high (73), many indicated qualitatively that these were severely hampered by the 
Program Development issues. With external and internal responsiveness, though staff 
quantitatively viewed these at an intermediate level of effectiveness (71/68), qualitative feedback 
belied this perception.
Change Management 
Staff felt that several elements were in place for effective change management to take place, i.e. 
resources, technology, administrative structures. Other elements still needed to be sorted out, e.g. 
management structures, outstanding staffing issues, communication, and planning. Furthermore, 
with the recent growth within both CRS and STRIVE, staff are worried about more growth and 
more change without proper documentation of past activities and without a clear picture and plan 
of where they were going as an organization and as a program. They did not feel as if they had 
been involved or consulted in the change decision-making process, but rather they were being 
asked their opinions just to “rubber stamp” the decision after the fact. They indicated that they 
felt “participatory decision making” was talked about, but seldom actually used. 
Leadership 
STRIVE staff has defined an effective leader as one who is inspiring, focused, authoritative, 
influential, proactive, efficient, and aware. An effective leader is a team leader and player, 
planner, motivator, communicator, team builder, and visionary. Furthermore, they felt that an 
effective leader encourages, delegates and supports. While they reported that several of these 
“ideals” were represented in the present Director, they also expressed the opinion that major ones 
such as being proactive, strategic thinking, strong management, planning and communicating 
were not strong points. 
Responsiveness – Externally and Internally 
Again, problems with external and internal responsiveness were repeatedly brought up as an 
impediment to carrying out activities. Some reported that it was often non-existent or very 
belated. They felt that cumbersome management structures, inadequate communication 
systems, unclear staff members roles and responsibilities, and lack of decision-making ability 
further reduced responsiveness.
VI. SUMMARY OF MEETING WITH S8 
On Thursday 22 May members of the review team met with senior representatives of six of the 
scale-out eight (S8) sub-grantees [FOST, ITDG, Africare, Scripture Union, Child Protection 
Society, Uzumba Orphans Trust]. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-42 
In general the group described: 
• Serious delays in fund allocation and decision-making (appears to have affected all sub￾grantees); 
• Bureaucratic, unyielding attitudes, particularly in finance and administration; 
• The imposition of CRS’s ideas/programs over sub-grantees’; 
• The doctrine that STRIVE-related activities must be separate from other activities; 
• Over-involvement in day-to-day operation (ie: “micromanagement”); 
• Short duration of STRIVE project is unrealistic, given objectives and operating environment; 
• Over-emphasis on quantitative results at the expense of quality services. 
There was a concern that many of these problems emanated from the programming and financial 
requirements imposed on CRS/STRIVE by USAID. 
Some of the comments included: 
• “At our first meeting on grants management they began with a long list of what is 
disallowed.” 
• “It’s almost like CRS’s approach is ‘no you can’t’, rather than ‘let’s figure it out’.” 
• “They disallowed expenses which were clearly allowable because of a technicality.” 
• “Let us make day-to-day decisions about who we employ, and how we implement our 
programs.” 
• “The community agrees to something, then STRIVE says ‘no you can’t do it like that’.” 
• “We already have a vision of our own – it’s important to merge the vision of STRIVE and 
[our organization].” 
• “The crux is flexibility – or lack of it – we need a relationship built on trust, or else they are 
adding more pressure in an already challenging environment.” 
• “The role of STRIVE could be to broaden the areas of expertise of their partners.” 
• “USAID needs to take a long-term view on quantifiable results.” 
• “Judge the results, not the process.” 
• “We know more about our work than STRIVE. We need more of their help, but less of their 
instructions. They need to work with us, not the other way around.” 
• “The financial tail is wagging the program dog.” 
• “Exponential growth is difficult at our level – that needs macro-intervention at policy level.” 
• “We are going too fast – we’re not building on our culture. CRS/STRIVE should lay a 
foundation over the next 18 months to ensure sustainability of the program.” 
• “Trust us to do it!” 
Overall there appeared to be consensus that the relationship between CRS/STRIVE and their 
sub-grantees should be characterised by trust, flexibility, respect and honouring commitments. 
VII. CONCLUSIONS 
STRIVE staff and STRIVE programming are most unique in their vision, their strong 
commitment to children in Zimbabwe, and their integrated, holistic approach. To bring this 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-43 
uniqueness to fruition, i.e. reach as many children as possible in the best possible ways, however, 
STRIVE will need to focus its efforts, reduce its present programmatic fragmentation, re￾establish its clear path and get back on track. STRIVE needs to model the behaviour it expects. 
STRIVE’s first 18 months can be summarized as follows: 
STRIVE has continued to carry out activities under extreme growth pressures and in spite of 
detrimental operating environment changes and its positive self-image is clearly evident. 
• STRIVE decision-making is too centralized in CRS. 
• Management structures of STRIVE within CRS are too interdependent and cumbersome. 
• Adherence and respect for lines of authority have been abused. 
• Management structures of STRIVE within CRS are too interdependent and cumbersome. 
• Involvement of USAID in day-to-day activities has been disproportionate. 
• Administrative systems have been developed and implemented. Sufficient administrative 
staff now needs to be put in place. 
• STRIVE staff is highly skilled, professional, and committed to its work. 
• A new Director needs to be hired immediately. 
• The present Director is a valuable individual asset to STRIVE. 
• The staffing and expertise of the Capacity Building/Gender and the Educational Assistance 
Units are very solid. 
• The rationale for both the Economic Strengthening and Food Security Units is unclear. 
• The Grants Management and Operation Research Units have recently fully established 
themselves and appear to be well founded and sufficient. 
• The PDM Unit needs to define its role and structure and communicate this to staff. 
• The role and direction of the Psychosocial Support Unit is unclear. 
• Outsourcing has great potential for STRIVE staff, especially in its ability to allow STRIVE 
to effectively “facilitate” for its partners, but this potential has not yet been sufficiently 
tapped. 
• Linkages and relationships at all levels are tenuous. 
• Strategic program planning is fragmented and insufficient and needs to be undertaken anew 
to strengthen STRIVE’s vision. 
• Communication flow is hindering quality responsiveness and needs to be tracked and 
delineated. 
• Organizational assets are not being developed and are essential to STRIVE’s long-term 
functioning. 
• The positive program environment and the focus on outcomes are presently constant and 
need to be nurtured and maintained. 
VIII. RECOMMENDATIONS 
These recommendations are intended to assist STRIVE in overcoming some of its program 
development challenges and ensuring that the positive Environmental and Outcomes aspects are 
maintained. They are intended to make STRIVE more flexible, more responsive, more timely, 
more professional, and more effective in the delivering of its “services.” Specific 
recommendations have been broken down in Table 1 below to assist STRIVE in determining 
what they might/should consider doing and how they might do it. They have been presented by 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-44 
order of “Date” as some recommendations need to be carried out before other recommendations. 
The shaded recommendations indicate those recommendations that are essential to the survival 
of STRIVE and the effectiveness of its activities and program. Some attempt has been made to 
detail possible action steps when sufficient information has been available to do so. As well 
some recommendations clearly have budgetary implications and these have been indicated with 
($). 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-45 
Table 1: Program Recommendations 
Area Specific Recommendations Possible Action Steps Responsible Date 
Human Resources – 
DIRECTOR 
($) 
• Hire a seasoned, experienced 
Director immediately. 
• if this does not appear to be 
immediately possible, 
• Consider hiring an “interim” Acting 
Director for 12 month who can straighten 
issues out and recruit for a permanent 
Director. 
• The new Director should be allowed 
to do his/her own initial assessment and 
adjust any of the following 
recommendations accordingly. 
• Rewrite the “job description” for the new Director 
to be sure that it accurately reflects the position, the 
roles, and the responsibilities of a Director (present 
description looks more like a Deputy Director job 
description or a Chief Operating Officer description 
than a Director’s.) 
• Ensure that the person hired has first and foremost 
a very solid track record as a Manager, especially with 
USAID projects, and as a strategic planner. 
CRS with STRIVE staff 
and USAID input 
31-07-2003 
Management • Untangle/disconnect and simplify 
management structures of STRIVE 
within CRS 
• Detail what this would mean and what would be 
necessary 
• Request necessary approval from Home Office 
CRS Country 
Representative 
31-07-2003 
Administrative 
Systems 
($)
Hire the following staff to complement 
the present administrative structure: 
• Two administrative staff in STRIVE 
to support units 
• One staff in CRS Administrative 
Unit to support STRIVE 
• One staff in CRS Operations Unit to 
support STRIVE 
Prepare job descriptions 
• Follow CRS Hiring Procedures 
• Recruit 
CRS and STRIVE 30-07-2003 
Management • Institute decision making autonomy • Detail what this would mean and what would be 
required 
• Request necessary approval from Home Office 
CRS Country 
Representative 
31-07-2003 
Management • Reinforce adherence and respect for 
lines of authority 
• Eliminate double standards 
• Discuss with all staff what “adherence” means 
• Minimize exceptions 
• Articulate ALL lines of authority to staff 
New STRIVE Director, 
CRS Heads of 
Department & Country 
Representative 
IMMEDIATELY 
Management • Minimize involvement of USAID in 
day-to-day activities 
• Detail when and where involvement is appropriate 
and required 
• Clarify expectations of all involved 
New STRIVE Director, 
CRS Country 
Representative, USAID 
31-07-2003 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-46 
Area Specific Recommendations Possible Action Steps Responsible Date 
Human Resources – 
Staffing 
($)
• Engage the present Director in an 
appropriate capacity 
• Detail possible roles/involvement and discuss 
together 
• Consider something like Senior OVC Technical 
Advisor/Quality Assurance 
New STRIVE Director 31-07-2003 
Planning • Revisit and revise present STRIVE 
strategic program plan and timeline 
• Collect all necessary documentation to show 
“chain of events” 
• Include visioning to bring staff back together 
New STRIVE Director 
with STRIVE staff 
31-08-2003 
Development General 
($)
• Hire a local OD consultant SHORT￾TERM (6-8 months) to work on an 
ongoing basis with STRIVE and the new 
Director. 
• Develop a scope of work for this consultant. 
• Contact Veronica Chakaredza 
New STRIVE Director 31-08-2003 
Development General 
($) 
• Conduct a facilitated discussion 
around the issues raised in the SWOT and 
from the mid-term review in-depth 
interviews (as posted at STRIVE) 
• Include in scope of work for OD consultant OD Consultant 30-09-2003 
Communication 
($)
• Conduct a communication audit and 
develop a communication plan 
• Develop TOR 
• Recruit consultant 
PDM PM 31-08-2003 
Human Resources – 
Individual Skills 
Building 
($)
• Carry out a Project Management and 
Supervision workshop all core staff 
• Include delegation, team building, performance 
evaluation, motivation, empowerment, time 
management 
• Cover content as well OVCs, HIV/AIDS 
• Recruit consultant 
CB/G PM (not for 
conducting but for 
organizing) 
31-08-2003 
Environment – 
Responsiveness 
($)
• Conduct regular teambuilding 
activities with an outside facilitator 
• Develop SOW 
• Recruit 
CB/G PM 31-08-2003 
Relationships 
($)
• Hire a STRIVE Harare staff member 
as “Linkages Coordinator” whose 
main/sole responsibility it is to develop 
STRIVE’s linkages policy and implement 
it/see that it is implemented as an 
ongoing activity 
• Detail a clear job description. 
• Decide to whom this person will report 
• Recruit 
New STRIVE Director, 
STRIVE PMs 
31-08-2003 
Relationships • Develop a clear and comprehensive 
“linkages” policy 
• Define the role STRIVE will play at the national 
level and in conjunction with their partners, i.e. what 
STRIVE expects its partners to do and how STRIVE 
will help 
New STRIVE Director, 
PMs, CRS Country 
Representative 
30-09-2003 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-47 
Area Specific Recommendations Possible Action Steps Responsible Date 
Human Resources – 
Individual Skills 
Building 
• Carefully re-examine the function 
and set-up of the PDM Unit. 
• Consider “creative” restructuring, e.g. Child Well￾being Units which encompasses the intervention areas 
instead of compartmentalized Units focused on the 
intervention areas or Child-Welling Project Officers 
(see attached Creative Thoughts) 
New STRIVE Director, 
PDM PM with PDM 
staff 
31-09-2003 
Human Resources – 
Unit Structure 
• Clearly define the role and direction 
of the Psychosocial Support Unit 
• Discuss true integration of PSS 
• See Creative Thought in Recommendations 
New STRIVE Director 
and all staff 
31-09-2003 
Human Resources – 
Staff Skills 
($)
• Update all job descriptions based on 
revised “strategic program plan” 
• Conduct an individual staff skills assessment 
• Develop a skills matrix 
• Design CB program to staff as needed 
Outsource? 31-10-2003 
Human Resources – 
Outsourcing 
($) 
• Maximize use of outsourcing • Detail budget for outsourcing 
• Determine appropriate places/functions/jobs to 
outsource 
• Develop appropriate SOWs 
• Recruit 
Unit Heads and PMs 30-11-2003 
Organizational Assets • Develop long-term organizational 
assets 
• Detail of list of “assets” required 
• Assign development of each “asset” to appropriate 
PM/staff and set specific deadline 
• Review and revise manuals/guidelines developed 
• Finalize and share with staff 
• Make sure copies are easily accessible 
New STRIVE Director, 
PMs/Heads 
28/02/2004 
Focus • Consider thinking in terms of 
“facilitating services” 
• Develop a “facilitation” menu (feasible and 
realistic based on what actually provide now) 
• Discuss and detail what facilitation means in terms 
of roles and work with partners 
• Organize a “quality services” CB activity for staff 
New STRIVE Director 
and all staff 
31-12-2003 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-48 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-49 
ANNEX 4 
OPERATIONS RESEARCH 
Introduction 
The HIV/AIDS epidemic is leaving an increasing number of vulnerable children in need of 
special care and protection. More than 100 community-based organizations to assist children 
affected by AIDS have been established in Zimbabwe. Community groups are working in rural, 
urban and commercial farm sectors. Their response is focused on all vulnerable children, and 
most activities provide support for the entire community, not just members of one church or 
community. 
The type of community organizations that have established programs to support children affected 
by AIDS, and the ways in which the programs have been established, are diverse. Many are 
church groups and tend to have a religious mandate and existing interest in supporting widows 
and orphans as part of their compassionate ministry. Volunteers have occasionally established 
programs based on community need. Some groups have been assisted by nongovernmental 
organizations or volunteer staff working with denominational umbrella organizations such as the 
Methodist Church. 
Traditional leaders with existing cultural interest in providing for the poor in their communities 
have revived or extended traditional mechanisms of support to orphans, sometimes with help 
from the Department of Social Welfare and UNICEF. Some community groups who have been 
involved in providing home-based care for those living with AIDS have extended these programs 
to provide home visits and material support to household with orphans. 
In view of the magnitude of the problem, in January 2000, USAID/Zimbabwe commissioned a 
study on children affected by AIDS. The study was intended to provide guidance and direction 
on the role a major donor like USAID could play in enhancing the communities’ ability to 
support children affected by AIDS without undermining existing community efforts. 
Subsequently, USAID made a decision to provide a grant of $2.5 million to Catholic Relief 
Services through a competitive process to support orphans for a period of about 30 months. 
Although USAID traditionally supports programs for five years, support for orphans is a new 
area for USAID and other donors. Thus, there was limited experience in Zimbabwe and 
elsewhere where USAID could draw upon in programming substantial resources in support of 
orphans within communities. A decision was therefore made to allocate part of the resources for 
operations research as a critical component of the intervention to provide lessons and guide 
future expansion in orphan programming. 
In its submission to USAID, CRS proposed that it would track and document the impact of the 
pilot interventions through operations research to answer the following questions: 
1. What is the impact of each intervention 
2. How cost effective is each intervention in comparison with others 
3. How replicable is each pilot intervention and what elements are unique to each pilot site 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-50 
4. What is the quality of care being provided by various interventions. 
For each of the above questions, research priorities were to be identified with sub-grantees to 
feed into the overall research agenda. 
The STRIVE project design revolved around a rigorous operations research agenda that would 
enable the project to assess the impact, cost effectiveness, replicability and quality of various 
community-based OVC interventions. The results of the operations research were intended to 
provide lessons and guide future programming for not only USAID, but also for others working 
in Zimbabwe, in the area of children at risk. 
In spite of this intensive focus on operations research, most operations research activities did not 
begin until almost one year into project implementation. CRS/STRIVE’s original proposal to 
subcontract the operations research to a local firm did not materialize and STRIVE did not move 
rapidly to look for a replacement or to establish in-house expertise to implement this critical 
component. While a baseline survey was finally completed in July 2002, it was not adequate for 
all of STRIVE’s requirements. In an effort to address gaps, a consultant was hired to reanalyze 
the raw data, and reorganize data and findings according to relevant STRIVE indicators. 
Although the resulting product was an improvement, the document continues to be difficult to 
use. 
The Operations Research unit held a special workshop for OR officers in Bulawayo on the 
February, 25 200333. The main objective of the workshop was to review and discuss ways of 
improving the CABA Care and Support Form (CCS) used by partners to report to CRS/STRIVE 
on intermediate results, the monthly activity report, cost effectiveness tool. The new double 
counting elimination tool was also introduced at the workshop. 
In early 2003, CRS hired an experienced operations research advisor who has worked hard to 
develop uniform data collection instruments to be used by all sub-grantees to standardize the 
information being collected. All but one of the P8 sub-grantees now has a trained operations 
research manager on staff, although these managers are universally required to perform several 
functions (operations research, monitoring and evaluation, field work). Sub-grantees uniformly 
reported improvement in the quality and timeliness of support and guidance being received from 
CRS/STRIVE since the arrival of the new operations research advisor, and on the benefits of the 
operations research program. 
Accomplishments/Constraints and Challenges/Lessons Learned 
The role and function of the CRS/Strive Operations Research is extremely well laid out in the 
May 2003 draft document “operations research strategy/agenda”. It usefully places operations 
research within the context of the CRS/Strive OVC project and clearly details the many functions 
of OR within the project. Ultimately, the operations research unit is looking at four interrelated 
questions: the impact of interventions, their costs, their replicability and the quality of the care 
provided. 
 
33 The workshop report is available from the OR unit resource library. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-51 
There is clearly a great deal of expertise in Zimbabwe, notwithstanding the exodus of skilled 
people. Much of it residing within the UN, other NGOs, and the University. Many of the other 
NGO’s, including members of the S8 have access to internal and external technical assistance, as 
does USAID. CRS/STRIVE should seek to network further and strengthen collaboration with 
other organizations and institutions in the area of operational research. 
Much to the credit of the new OR officer, the operations research component of the project has 
come a long way in the last few months. A number of significant processes have been put in 
place to strengthen the OR agenda. 
STRIVE Program Analysis Tool to Eliminate Double-Counting 
There is a need for an effective and consistent mechanism or tool with which STRIVE can 
ensure that double counting of children reached will not occur. While the CCS form allowed for 
efficient collection of data on individual partner activities it could not eliminate double counting. 
Previously OR Officers would use the CCS form to simply add up the number of children 
participating in each activity regardless of previous participation or any other STRIVE activities. 
Therefore, a new STRIVE program analysis (SPA) tool was developed to eliminate the 
occurrence of double counting. 
 
The SPA Tool is a multipurpose data collection tool developed by t in collaboration with its 
partners to better assess the number of children served and the range of services being provided. 
The SPA tool allows the capture of information on the number of children served by STRIVE 
and disaggregates those children into CABA and Non-CABA beneficiaries. This tool enables the 
counting of children served by each intermediate result area activity while ensuring an accurate 
count of children served by STRIVE. 
The OR unit also reviewed and refined the partner quarterly report format and produced a 
schedule for reporting from the partners. The documents include the OR monthly reports, the 
SPA tool, the CCS form, the Cost Effectiveness (CEA) Tool, quarterly report, and annual report:
 
Field Visits 
The OR unit visited a number of the P8 partners. During the visits, the head of the OR unit 
assisted OR officers with the newly developed SPA tool and discussed data collection issues. 
The OR unit also took the opportunity to discuss the upcoming STRIVE mid-term review being 
held in May 2003. Partner managers and teams were asked to make themselves available to 
answer questions, participate in focus groups, and take review team members for site visits. 
CRS/STRIVE Database
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-52 
The unit out-sourced expertise to design a database to integrate the CCS forms, SPA tool and the 
CEA tool. The database will enable the unit to record and store data from partners. It is 
designed in such a way that analysis of different variables can be done both at partner level and 
at CRS/STRIVE level. Using the database, one will be able to establish cost effectiveness of 
interventions as well as establish the number of children (CABA and non-CABA) receiving care 
and support through STRIVE. Most importantly the database will assist in assessing progress 
towards targets. The consultant is finalizing the database after which training will be conducted 
on use and management of the database. 
CRS/STRIVE Quarterly Report Format 
During the quarter the OR unit developed a CRS/STRIVE quarterly report format. This format 
was developed to assist the CRS/STRIVE IR units in producing more comprehensive reports. It 
is designed in such a way that all CRS/STRIVE units contribute towards the quarterly report. 
The OR unit has assumed the overall responsibility for producing the CRS/STRIVE quarterly 
report, effective this quarter. 
OR Unit Consultative Meeting 
In addition to the workshop held for partner OR Officers, the OR unit held a half-day 
consultative meeting for the CRS/STRIVE IR managers to discuss the process of determining 
best practices and to discuss ways the OR unit might assist the CRS/STRIVE units in measuring 
the impact of the interventions with which they are working. 
Staff Recruitment 
The OR unit conducted interviews for research and evaluation officers during the months of 
January and February. This process resulted in our engaging the services of a research and 
evaluation officer, Mr. Joseph Mafara for our Bulawayo hub-office and an OR officer, Ms. 
Jennifer Lentfer, who will be joining the OR unit here in Harare. Both new hires will begin their 
duties with STRIVE-CRS in April 2003.
Other OR Tools and Activities 
Other partner research efforts include development of tools for a rapid impact assessment to 
measure progress in the area of psychosocial well-being at Masiye camp. In addition, the 
STRIVE team at Bethany carried out a needs assessment survey in January 2003. The Bethany 
project now has 650 registered volunteers and has established 22 CBO in 22 rural wards. Results 
of the Bethany survey reveal that 8200 vulnerable children are registered with the project. The 
survey further shows that vulnerable children in the wards covered by the survey were in need of 
school fees, uniforms, textbooks and food assistance. It is important to note that vulnerable 
children in that study were averaging only one meal per day at the time of enumeration. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-53 
Constraints and Challenges 
• The process of having to recruit a complete staff for the OR Unit is affecting the effective 
discharge of the OR agenda. As the STRIVE project enters the last phase of the pilot, more 
staff is needed to document experiences in a timely manner. Several of those offered 
positions turned down the offers as a result of the packages being offered by CRS/ZW. 
• The OR unit has not been able to get expected data from two partners namely, Bethany and 
DOMCCP. The Bethany OR Officer was relieved of his duties while the DOMCCP OR 
Officer and Project Manager resigned. The OR Unit could not get the CCS tool, SPA tool 
and the monthly reports from these partners. DOMCCP has replaced both the project 
manager and the OR officer while Bethany has not replaced the OR officer. 
Trends and Lessons Learned 
• CABA Forum have been successful in encouraging children’s participation in STRIVE 
projects. CABA are included in these forums so that they articulate issues affecting CABA. 
For example, orphans and CABA headed households are coming first on the community 
priority registers in Chinhoyi due to CABA forums. In Chinhoyi, CABA headed households 
were allocated community gardens during this quarter through lobbying from similar 
structures. 
• During this monitoring period, it emerged that communities are taking initiatives to assist 
CABA in their areas, demonstrating social capital that ensures sustainability of projects. For 
instance, Tsungirirai reported that there are teachers who are paying schools fees for selected 
CABA while Bulawayo made reference to a doctor who is offering free medical service to 
CABA. 
• The OR unit learned that training on how to complete tools with partners is a process. Some 
OR officers have to be visited to elaborate on the completion of the tools despite having had 
training sessions, while some of them phoned the OR unit several times to get guidance on 
the completion of tools. Although the S8 will have a training workshop on M & E tools, a 
series of follow-ups will be done per partner to ensure that tools are being completed 
correctly and effectively. 
• Monthly reports being shared between all OR Officers has resulted in a higher quality of 
report writing. Additionally, the OR unit plans to compile comprehensive reports from each 
partner based on the CCS forms and the SPA tool and share the reports with all other 
partners, so that partners will continue to share lessons learned and emerging trends. 
• The SPA tool is proving to be very effective in eliminating double counting while providing 
a great deal of information on the quality of service being provided by partners. It has also 
helped partners to better understand the impact they are having on each child. 
• In the long term the unit would recommend that partners replicate some of the lessons learnt 
from their peers. Most of the lessons learnt were from the P8. It is the vision of the OR unit 
to use these lessons to improve implementation of the S8. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-54 
Recommendations 
A number of operations research related issues repeatedly came up during the field visits to the 
project sites. First was how the implementing partners, the P8, understood operations research, 
and how it was distinct from on-going monitoring and evaluation. This issue also came to the 
fore in the morning session with the operations research staff. With much of the quantitative data 
used by the operations research unit captured through the performance monitoring plan, there is 
inevitably some confusion over the relationship between the two. As stated elsewhere, it may be 
helpful for CRS/Strive to undertake additional workshops with its partner organizations to clarify 
the distinctions. 
A fundamental prerequisite for an effective operations research component is ensuring the 
adequacy of baseline data. Clearly there were problems with the baseline study. As stated by 
STRIVE themselves in a number of their documents it was only completed eight months into the 
project, certain elements were deemed unsatisfactory and needed to be repeated, the analysis of 
the data took more time and according to some STRIVE staff the results in some areas were less 
than satisfactory. CRS/Strive should be commended for reviewing the baseline data and for 
taking steps to rectify omissions and inconsistencies. Strive should go further, and in line with 
recommendations in the main report, contract for specialized expertise to ascertain the veracity 
and validity of the baseline data and whether it is of sufficient quality to provide the information 
needed to meet the objectives of the OR component. Particular attention should be given to the 
economic strengthening, nutrition and psychosocial elements. 
An additional issue that was raised by partner P8 staff was the heavy demands on their time. In a 
number of instances the operations staff was also the monitoring and evaluation staff, as well as 
general program staff. Simply put, the OR staff are doing too many things with the potential to 
undermine the operational research agenda. CRS/STRIVE should examine the workload of the 
OR staff and ascertain if additional staffing is needed. 
Recommendations: 
1. Subcontract operations research expertise to assess the current operations research tools and 
strategy, develop a workplan and identify additional funding needs for an expanded operations 
research agenda. USAID/Zimbabwe and USAID/Washington can provide assistance in 
identifying appropriate expertise. 
 
2. Identify and subcontract a recognized local or international operations research organization 
to rapidly expand operations research activities; the operations research advisor should manage 
the contractor(s) to ensure that what they are doing is consistent with the objectives of STRIVE 
and USAID. 
3. Put in place a mechanism to collect data and conduct an analysis of the cost effectiveness of 
different child support interventions individually and according to the following categories (a) 
psychosocial support, (b) economic empowerment initiatives, (c) food security and nutrition 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-55 
interventions and (d) education assistance, as outlined in the cooperative agreement. STRIVE 
should subcontract an organization with expertise in cost effectiveness analysis to assist. 
 
4. Document and disseminate lessons learned from communities where successful interventions 
are being implemented. 
 
5. Analyze the quality of various interventions to determine if quality is consistent with 
expectations, as outlined in the cooperative agreement. 
6. Encourage and provide financial support to sub-grantees for hiring additional staff dedicated 
to operations research. 
7. Consider extending operations research to the S8 organizations to validate the assumption 
that larger organizations can scale up rapidly and more efficiently. 
8. Design operations research questions to track community capacity building and/or 
empowerment of communities to make their own decisions and manage their own programs. 
 
9. Closely examine staffing needs at the central and sub-grantee level to address the operations 
research issues raised above. Since the various interventions require a variety of skills—some 
short-term and others long-term—adopt maximum flexibility in structuring human resource 
needs to make STRIVE a cutting edge program in programming and operations research for 
orphans and vulnerable children. 
10. Request that STRIVE become one of the field test sites for the ten proposed indicators 
developed at a recent OVC consultative meeting in Botswana.34
 
34 "Draft Report on the Technical Consultation on Indicators Development for Children Orphaned and Made 
Vulnerable by HIV/AIDS," Gaborone, Botswana, 2-4 April 2003. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-56 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-57 
ANNEX 5 PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT – THE WAY FORWARD 
By Dr. Jonathan Brakarsh
Background 
With projections of 1.5 million orphans in Zimbabwe by the year 2005 (USAID, UNICEF and 
UNAIDS, “Children on the Brink 2002”), one third of whom will be under the age of fifteen, it is 
imperative that Zimbabwean communities be given the opportunity, the resources, and the 
technical assistance to implement their own solutions to providing psychosocial support (PSS) to 
children at risk. This document will elaborate on ideas presented earlier and the steps that might 
be taken to move a community-owned psychosocial support initiative forward in the present 
country environment. 
A Bottom Up Approach: Dialogue with the Community 
Ultimately the community, not the STRIVE sub-grantee, must have the knowledge and resources 
to remain viable in the current harsh operating environment. The first step in ensuring that this is 
so is for the STRIVE sub-grantees to establish a dialogue with the communities in which they 
work to hear their concerns, their assessment of their resources, and their solutions. The saying 
“An elephant must carry its own trunk” describes the view of most communities; it is important 
that development work supports the community to maintain its autonomy. 
Recommendation: CRS/ STRIVE should develop a strong community mobilization component 
which partners can implement. Jill Donahue of CRS, Gail Snettro of Save the Children USA and 
Stefan Germann of REPSSI would be excellent resources. 
Recommendation: CRS/STRIVE should work with Mildmay International, which is currently 
setting up operations in Zimbabwe, to learn from their clinic and community PSS work with 
children in Uganda, particularly on how to communicate with children. 
What is Psychosocial Support (“Building a Child”)? 
Because of the differences regarding the meaning of “psychosocial support” among the 
international community, USAID, CRS/STRIVE, sub-grantee organizations and the community, 
many of the communities we visited did not feel they owned the PSS program, nor did they fully 
understand what they were supposed to be doing and why. This was also true of many STRIVE 
sub-grantees, although to a lesser extent. 
Recommendation: Use the protocol (see below), “Dialogue of Discovery”, to help communities 
and sub-grantees to communicate and clarify issues related to psychosocial support (“ building a 
child”). Have the community adopt a word or phrase in their language that would be more 
suitable than the abstract term “psychosocial support”. Psychosocial support should not be used 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-58 
at the sub-grantee or community level as it is an abstract concept that impedes the progress of the 
community. For example, Masiye Camp does not use this term with its campers. 
Protocol: “A Dialogue of Discovery” 
Target- Sub-grantees should hold this workshop with the community. The community does it 
with the children. The partners do it on their own or with each other. The community and 
children share their information with the STRIVE sub-grantee. The STRIVE sub-grantees share 
their information with the community. 
Action￾1. The facilitator asks and obtains answers from the group about the following questions: 
What does a child need in the first months after his/her birth? When he/she is five years 
old? When he/she is fifteen years old? When he/she is twenty-one years old? 
2. What does a child need (emotionally, socially, physically, spiritually, and intellectually) 
to begin as a baby and grow into an adult you would admire- someone who helps the 
community, who is kind to others, and who is happy? 
3. How do you now take care of the emotional/social/spiritual/physical/and intellectual 
needs of the children you care for? For example, what do you do to make sure that a child 
feels like they belong to their peer group and to the community? When a child loses a 
parent what does he or she need? What kinds of things can family and community 
members do to help such a child recover? 
4. Facilitator: This is what we are talking about, helping a child to grow into someone you 
admire – a person who helps the community, who is able to provide for him/herself, a 
person who is happy and has friends. What word or phrase can we use to describe what 
we give a child so that they can grow into an adult we are proud of? 
The facilitator can discuss with the community that every way in which we raise a child 
positively helps to build that child. The way we raise our own children is often the best guide to 
help other children in need. The facilitator can remind the community that they have always 
helped their members who suffered difficult circumstances (death of parents, poverty, victims of 
violence and child sexual ). The facilitator can make the point that community members are now 
being encouraged to find ways of continuing to do these things in these difficult times. 
Recommendation: After this process has been completed, CRS/STRIVE and partners should 
arrange follow–up workshops to provide further information about “how to build a child.” 
Community leaders, teachers, nurses, guardians, and other key members of the community 
should be involved. 
Since “psychosocial support” is a construct used by NGOs and academics it is useful to have a 
common definition for use in future communication on the professional and academic level. 
Caution needs to be given, however, that the construct of psychosocial support should only be 
used for NGO and academic communication. A sample definition of “psychosocial support” is 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-59 
provided below. It is derived from conversations with the staff of REPSSI, other STRIVE 
partners, and the community. Future consultation with REPSSI and the results from the 
Dialogue of Discovery, provided above, will help clarify the definition further: 
 “Psychosocial support helps to provide for the physical, social, emotional, intellectual, and 
spiritual needs of the child. Communities have been doing this for hundreds of years (“Caring for 
your fellow man”). The goal of psychosocial support is to help children grow into adults who can 
be productive, have fulfilling social relationships, and contribute to the community.” 
GAPS IN PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT SERVICES 
Figure One: Current Services Offered by STRIVE Partners for Orphans and Vulnerable 
Children and Those Who Interact with Them
Service Provider of Service Receiver of Service
Identifying/Counseling children 
in need at school
Teacher Children/Youth 
Supplementary feeding/PSS ECEC feeding center staff Preschool children 
PSS/Counseling in camp setting Staff of Masiye/Community 
Camps 
Children and Youth 
Kids Clubs Staff of Kids Clubs Children/ Youth 
HBC counseling HBC staff Children whose parent is ill 
Aunties: PSS/counseling at home Volunteer/Auntie Children and youth 
Support groups for HIV+ 
guardians 
STRIVE partner Guardians 
Speak Out Workshops STRIVE partner, community Children/Youth 
Talent Identification School, Community Children/Youth 
Therapeutic Recreation Community Children/Youth 
Training in Counseling/PSS STRIVE partner, Red Cross Teachers, Aunties, HBC 
Leadership Training Masiye Camp Kids Club Leaders 
Life Skills Training STRIVE partner, Youth Alive Child-headed households, girls 
Child Galas STRIVE partner, Community Children/Youth 
Peer Counseling Youth Alive Youth 
Play Centers STRIVE partner, Community Children/Youth 
Social Clubs School, Community Children/Youth 
Teen Parenting Workshops STRIVE partner Children who are heading 
households 
Child Sex Abuse Workshops STRIVE partner Traditional Leadership 
Homework Clubs Community Children/Youth 
While the diversity of services listed above is commendable, few of them were the ideas of the 
community. As mentioned earlier, the majority of interventions follow the Masiye Camp model 
(Kids Clubs, Community Camps, Leadership training, and Life Skills training) or the 
CONNECT model of counseling (family counseling, HBC counseling, child sex abuse 
workshops, parenting workshops, bereavement counseling, and counseling in the schools). If the 
community’s knowledge were utilized could more sustainable services be developed, would the 
community feel like they owned the problem and the solution to a greater extent? 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-60 
Partners need to have further dialogue with the community to define the difficulties their children 
face and to collaborate with the community to develop the appropriate interventions. Key 
questions to address might be: (to an adult) When you were growing up, what did the community 
do when a child lost one or both parents? What does the community do now? How can you 
improve on it? How do you recognize when there has been a positive change in a child’s 
behavior? (This will help develop indicators and interventions.) What causes children to 
misbehave? 
Children require a sense of hope, a need for empowerment, and vision for their own future. 
When children do not have this, they develop a sense of fatalism, a feeling that they have no 
control over what will happen in their lives. This sense of fatalism is a significant risk factor for 
HIV infection.
Recommendation: For CRS/STRIVE, its partners, and the community the emphasis of PSS 
interventions should be on building the child’s resilience in the face of multiple risk factors. 
Resilience consists of problem solving skills, daily living skills, the ability to utilize external 
resources (volunteers, relatives), and internal resources (positive self-image, memories of coping 
with adversity). PSS interventions should strengthen these areas. Partners can help the 
community to recognize issues of vulnerable children. They can encourage the community to 
identify the components of children’s resilience (“What makes children strong and able to handle 
difficult situations?), the threats to resilience (impact of AIDS, orphaning, social isolation), and 
what the family and community can do about these. Coping, vulnerability and resilience are the 
guiding concepts. For vulnerable children, the ability to cope and be resilient in difficult 
situations is the primary vehicle for positive psychological development. To ignore this approach 
denies children their future survival. 
Cultural Taboos 
Given the dynamic, changing nature of culture there are many cultural taboos with which the 
community is grappling. However two areas of cultural taboo have been mentioned by partners 
as needing to change: child sexual abuse and preparation of the child for the death of their 
parents. Some partners are providing child sex abuse and bereavement training to volunteers in 
the community, but all partners need to mobilize the community around these two issues. 
When various protective factors are removed, such as when the child loses one or both biological 
parents, the child may become more vulnerable to child sexual abuse. In a study done at the 
Family Support Trust, Harare Hospital (UNAIDS 1998), the longer a child is without both 
parents the greater likelihood that the child will be abused. Twice as many children were abused 
whose parents had died in the last three years compared to those children who parents had died 
one year ago. Beravement is a process that takes several years. Consequently, children should 
have access to ongoing emotional support, not just at the time of their parent’s death. Also, most 
emotional support is given after the death of the parents rather than when the parents become 
critically ill. The distress associated with AIDS starts many years earlier when the child sees the 
health of the parents begin to decline and this is the time it should be addressed. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-61 
Children who are grieving or have been sexually abused can benefit from appropriate emotional 
support, rather than counseling. Counseling suggests a more specialized service that only people 
with a certain level of education can do. Family members need appropriate emotional support 
and understanding from those around them. They need opportunities to say what they feel, what 
they think about what has happened, and what they are worried about. Children and families 
need someone who knows how to listen and provide appropriate support. 
 
Recommendation: The issues of grief and sexual abuse are so pervasive among children that 
STRIVE partners need to make training a high priority and urgently need to train relatives, 
teachers, pastors, and other community members in ways to help grieving or sexually abused 
children, such as the use of support groups and memory books/ boxes. 
Gaps in Beneficiaries of Services 
There are several groups of children that are receiving fewer services than others. These are the 
children who are beyond community care – especially those in children’s homes, street kids, 
children with AIDS and those living in infected families, and child-headed households that lack 
family and community support. Children in child headed households have special needs that all 
partners should address. These psychological and social needs are the loss of childhood, the 
absence of peer group contact because the child is busy taking care of their siblings, the lack of 
parenting skills, and the lack of hope for a future life (marriage, career, etc.). Importantly, an 
essential group that is often overlooked is those who care for children (guardians, volunteers). 
Recommendation: Though Home Based Care programs offered by some of the partners have 
begun providing services to children with AIDS and those living in infected families, the strategy 
and delivery of services require further thought. The quality of staff is uneven across various 
communities. HBC staff from various partners and communities need to come together to 
develop a strategic plan for staff training and service implementation. HOSPAZ, the hospice 
association of Zimbabwe, can provide assistance. From an operations research perspective, if the 
implementation of service is not of high quality, it will be difficult to ascertain whether the 
intervention is useful. 
Recommendation: Partners should provide support groups for those taking care of children 
(guardians, grandparents, child heads, etc.). Guardians who are HIV+ would benefit from their 
own group. The goal is for the community to take over the groups once they are established. 
There is a lack of meaningful participation of children in most current planning and 
implementation activities being carried out by STRIVE partners. Consequently, there is a need to 
help STRIVE partners to learn how to promote worthwhile child participation in the stages of 
community needs analysis, planning, implementation and evaluation of services. Children and 
youth should be seen as a resource, not just as beneficiaries. 
Recommendation: For partners, strengthen child participation as a strategy for PSS. When 
children lose a sense of control over their lives and a corresponding sense of worth, child 
participation gives some sense of control and hope for the future. Child participation can be 
linked to HIV prevention (a confident child with a positive vision of his/her future will not 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-62 
engage in self destructive behavior), child development (children learn to master situations), and 
program development (helping to plan, participating in implementation and providing 
programmatic feedback to adults). Examples of child participation activities currently being 
conducted are the Speak Out Workshops and Children’s Galas. 
Children in the communities consistently rejected the idea of being referred to as “CABA” or 
“OVC”. They simply wanted to be called “children”. As a result of being labeled as “CABA” or 
“OVC” by STRIVE partners and the community, children felt stigmatized and consequently 
more alienated. 
Recommendation: CRS/USAID/STRIVE should not refer to human beings as CABA or OVC in 
writing or verbally. Have Speak Out Workshops where children can speak about how they feel. 
Emphasis should be made on integrating these children into the community through sports, 
church, and school related activities. If this is not done, these children will be further alienated 
by becoming a distinct, well funded, group. 
Recommendation: Currently, there is a need for an integrated service plan for all STRIVE 
partners. Few STRIVE partners have a PSS strategy that offers services to support the child’s 
resilience throughout their lifespan. This can be accomplished by addressing the changing 
psychosocial needs of children as they develop (the psychological and social needs of a six year 
old are different than those of a sixteen year old) and by the distribution of these services across 
key aspects of their life (e.g. home, school). Continuity of care is important for CRS/STRIVE, 
its partners, and the community. Psychological distress related to HIV/AIDS begins a long time 
before a child is orphaned and bereavement issues continue for a long time after the child is 
orphaned. There needs to be the development of an integrated services plan. If comprehensive 
services are not provided for children, it is easier for them to slip through the cracks of support 
services and to become victimized and traumatized, to the extent that the positive effects of prior 
services will be undone.
DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES OF CHILDREN 
What follows are some concepts and tools which partners and communities can use to 
understand how certain life events affect children and what needs to be done so that children can 
continue on the best possible path towards adulthood. 
Erik Erikson outlines six psychosocial stages of development from birth to adulthood. It is a 
useful model of development because the stages are cross-cultural, having been based on 
research carried out among a number of diverse cultures internationally. In each stage, the item 
on the left side of each stage is what we are aspiring to have our children obtain. The community 
is trying to create appropriate conditions so that a child will emerge into adulthood with trust, 
autonomy, initiative, industry, a solid sense of identity, and the capacity for intimacy. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-63 
Figure Two: Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages of Development 
Age Stage 
0-1 years TRUST VS. MISTRUST 
1-3 years AUTONOMY VS. SELF-DOUBT 
3-5 years INITIATIVE VS. GUILT 
5-12 years INDUSTRY VS. INFERIORITY 
12-18 years IDENTITY VS. ROLE CONFUSION 
18-25 years INTIMACY VS. ISOLATION 
 
Superimposed upon these stages is a series of events likely to happen to a child who becomes 
orphaned in Zimbabwe. The challenge for STRIVE’s partners and communities is to develop a 
series of interventions that will lessen the impact of these events and allow the child to progress 
and develop through the psychosocial stages. 
Figure Three: 
A Time Line of Possible Events for A First-Born Child Who Becomes Orphaned 
 A B C D E F 
Birth 3 6 9 12 15 18 years 
KEY TO EVENTS: 
A = Death of one parent 
B= Death of a sibling 
C= Death of second parent 
D = No school fees, child leaves school 
E= Parent of a child headed household 
F= Sexual abuse of the child 
Figure Four: The Event, The Psychosocial Stage, and the Services Required 
The Event The Stage Services Required 
Death of the father Trust Bereavement support for the 
family, income generating 
program for the mother 
Death of a sibling Autonomy PSS at ECEC , bereavement 
support for the family 
Death of the mother Identity Counseling by teacher, HBC 
counseling for CHH family, life 
skills, income generation. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-64 
The Event The Stage Services Required 
No school fees. Ejection 
from school. 
Identity Provide school fees and 
childcare, recreational 
opportunity for family, Kids 
Club 
Becomes parent of a CHH Identity Teen parenting class, support 
group for CHH. 
Sexual abuse Intimacy Referral to specialist for 
counseling, medical follow-up, 
peer support group. 
This type of plan allows STRIVE and the partner organizations to plan and deliver services that 
will support the child until maturity and also support them in a variety of different settings, such 
as home and school. 
SAFETY NETS 
Figure Five: Safety Nets 
CRS/STRIVE 
STRIVE PARTNERS 
 
GOVERNMENT SUPPORT SERVICES: 
HEALTH, POLICE, 
SOCIAL WELFARE 
COMMUNITY SUPPORT 
SERVICES: N’ANGAS, 
CIVIC GROUPS 
COMMUNITY 
INSTITUTIONS: 
SCHOOL, CHURCH 
NEIGHBOURS/PEERS 
 
 FAMILY 
CHILD
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-65 
In the present operating environment family and community safety nets can be strained to the 
breaking point. However there are many overt and covert safety nets that exist in a child’s life. 
The use of both overt and covert safety nets needs to be maximized to ensure the positive 
psychological growth of the child. For example, one child described how Youth Alive meetings 
provided by her church were her psychological anchor during the difficult period when she lost 
both her parents in three years. Each of these levels is a potential safety net for the child. For 
example, traditional healers who are frequently used for curative purposes for AIDS and 
opportunistic infections could be offered training in counseling skills. The beleaguered 
government system can still provide important supports through police, teachers, local clinic 
services, social and health workers, and others. 
Recommendation: For the partners, an important psychosocial support intervention should be to 
strengthen family, community, and governmental safety nets (see figure five above). This will 
allow communities to utilize existing structures of support at little or no cost. For example, peer 
groups are an important support in a child’s life so use Kids Clubs to build solidarity among 
vulnerable children.
Recommendation: STRIVE should arrange technical support and training for its partners to 
enable them to apply these tools (psychosocial stages and services required, safety nets) in their 
program and develop appropriate skills among key people in the community. 
PROVIDING PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT SERVICES IN THE PRESENT 
OPERATING ENVIRONMENT 
Because of rapid turnover of staff, displacement or death of community members, economic 
hardship and starvation, it is important that information be disseminated rapidly and to groups of 
people, so that if one person departs the others will have sufficient information to continue the 
work. The use of small groups of people who, if their membership falls too low, can be 
consolidated into other groups providing the same services might be one approach to respond to 
the attrition of volunteers. 
In providing services, it is important to train individuals who are stable and have less chance of 
migration to urban centers or other areas. These would include the traditional leadership, 
traditional healers, guardians, senior teachers, grandparents, youth, nurses and police who live in 
the community. Another consideration is to find people who possess the appropriate personal 
skills but not the formal education that would make them more likely to be hired to work 
elsewhere. 
Capacity building is of significant importance in this operating environment. There needs to be 
increased transfer of information and skills between partners as well as the horizontal transfer of 
knowledge and skills between and within community groups If people are not being paid at 
least they can learn skills that might help them in the future. Be careful not to overstretch the 
volunteer network; be clear what is each person’s limit. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-66 
The objective of psychosocial support is to produce children who can succeed in life. It is 
important to build upon resources that are available in the community to help achieve this. This 
may include teachers, grandparents, and youth. Partners can try using high cost services in some 
communities and low cost services in others and then assess the results and potential for scaling 
up different approaches. 
There are ways in which many children can be reached. Schools and churches are an example. 
Train teachers in how to conduct a therapeutic classroom where they can put down their books 
and address the immediate needs of children. For example, in a class where students cannot pay 
attention because several of them have lost family members in the last month, the teacher can 
conduct a class on the topic of bereavement. The classroom should not ignore life but embrace it 
so that the children can learn and be strengthened by openly discussing issues that affect all of 
them. 
Recommendation: To improve the impact of services, involve the community in formulating 
relevant activities to respond to psychosocial issues and have the partner and community assess 
the capacity (knowledge, manpower) and context (social, political, cultural) of the community to 
benefit from these activities. 
Recommendation: Service impact can be further strengthened by improving referral networks 
with government agencies, improving transfer of skills between partners and within community 
groups, and to network best practices between the P8 and S8. For example, provide 
opportunities for information sharing within and between community groups. Have a morning 
each week where volunteers teach one another or bring in a more knowledgeable person. 
In this operating environment, partners and communities face the challenge of how to generate 
hope and a sense of capacity in the face of enormous needs? What are some of the small or 
inexpensive interventions that make a difference? A beneficiary of CADEC assistance describes 
her experience: “Now that I have a uniform I feel that I belong, that I am like other children.” 
Her teacher informed the review team that she went from 25th to 2nd in class after receiving the 
uniform. A leader of a Village Action Committee spoke of the increasing number of orphans 
appearing on his doorstep and his fears that the community would soon run out of resources, 
leaving him unable to help them. I asked how if he ran out of resources he could still make a 
positive change in the lives of these children? He thought for a while and replied, “I could be 
nice to them and I could give them hope.” There are several studies that report that providing 
children with a caring environment provides them with a significant part of the support and 
security they need to live in a difficult environment. 
Recommendation: Effective interventions do not have to be complicated or expensive. Have 
communities discuss “what can you can do that would make a difference in the life of your 
children?” Three areas that benefit children immensely and that are simple and inexpensive to 
implement are social integration (e.g. taking a child to church or social clubs,; including a child 
in sports or cultural activities), giving children an opportunity to play, and listening to children 
(guardian to child; peer to peer). Partners can discuss these options with the community. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-67 
Recommendation: To streamline the delivery of services to as many children as possible, extend 
the provision of care and counseling services into schools. Build the capacity of teachers to 
provide social and emotional support to students. Encourage peer discussion groups on relevant 
topics (e.g. reproductive health, sex abuse, grief). Develop therapeutic classrooms where teachers 
can put down their books and stimulate discussion on topics immediately relevant to the 
emotional needs of their students in the classroom. Also, utilize faith-based organizations (FBO) 
for this purpose to target children who may not receive services in their school. 
Recommendation: Research should be carried out by the partners to determine which 
community structures are viable for service delivery. Creating parallel structures – community 
care committees-may exhaust community resources. A quote from a workshop in Zambia on 
community mobilization may apply here: “There is a finite reserve of hope and energy in 
community based structures. Each failure causes attrition.” 
OPERATIONS RESEARCH AND THE SEARCH FOR INDICATORS 
There are several key questions for operations research to focus upon in the area of psychosocial 
support: 
 
• What are the positive changes in the child’s behavior observed since the intervention began? 
• Which interventions maximize the positive characteristics (e.g. child speaks to someone they 
trust; child plays with peers rather than withdraws) of the child to cope with multiple risk 
factors in their environment? 
• Which interventions utilize the safety nets in which the child functions (see figure five 
above) and what are the changes observed in the child’s life since the intervention began? -
What effect has the change in the child had upon those who interact with the child (teachers, 
caregivers, etc.)? 
The final objective of STRIVE’s psychosocial component should be that the child is better able 
to respond (coping) to multiple risk factors (vulnerability) and to continue their holistic (social, 
physical, emotional, physical, and spiritual) development (resilience). Key respondents when 
assessing the effectiveness of any psychosocial support intervention would be the child, the 
teacher, peers, the guardian and those who interact on a regular basis with the child (e.g. those 
who are part of the child’s safety nets). 
Following below are some possible indicators of adequate coping collected from the community 
and current literature. This is a representative list only, and by no means exhaustive. Indicators 
have been taken from the following references: Basic Indicators for Psychosocial Suppport for 
Children Affected by AIDS (REPSSI); UNAIDS Interagency Technical Consultation on 
Indicators Development for Children Orphaned and Made Vulnerable by HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS 
2003); and Expanded Response Guide to Core Indicators for Monitoring and Reporting on 
HIV/AIDS Programs (USAID 2002) and Garbarino, J., (1992) Children in Danger.
Recommendation: Communities should assist in the search for relevant PSS indicators. They can 
be asked “what are the characteristics of children about whom you are worried and those about 
whom they are not worried?” 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-68 
INTEGRATING PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT INTO THE OTHER IR AREAS 
CRS/STRIVE is caught in a dilemma: if PSS doesn’t stand alone it will be lost. But if PSS 
stands alone how will it be integrated into the other IR areas to which it is inextricably bound? 
Recommendation: PSS should stand alone as an IR area, but intensive workshops should be 
held with all STRIVE staff to explore how PSS is integrally a part of the other IR areas. PSS 
activities should clearly delineate overlaps and collaboration with other IR areas. 
 
The objective is to provide a holistic response to children’s needs through community 
involvement. Psychosocial support attempts to touch upon all aspects of the child’s life through 
diverse interventions so that the child can grow up to have fulfilling social relationships, 
contribute to the community, and feel positive and confident.about their ability to cope with 
difficult circumstances. 
Figure Six: Sample list of indicators 
• attends social clubs (modeling club, etc.) 
• attends church regularly 
• plays on a sports team 
• attends a support group (kids clubs, etc.) 
• increased play with other children 
• when upset child talks to someone they trust 
• frequent or regular involvement in any activity(social,sports) 
• positive relationships with others/ the child is liked or admired in some way (based on 
interviews with teachers, guardians, peers) 
• attracts a high degree of care or warmth from caregivers 
• no criminal record 
• no abuse of illegal substances 
• able to solve problems: takes active stance rather than withdrawal when faced with 
adversity 
• child talks about upsetting, frightening, or angering experiences or shows them through 
play 
• able to ask for help when needed 
• the child smiles and laughs during the interview 
• clothing is without tears (in CHH suggests life skills have been learned) 
• not sexually active below twelve years of age 
• no evidence of depression (depression index/RQC/SRQ) 
NOTE: It may be better to create locally appropriate indices of worrisome behavior, rather 
than using a scale standardized in another cultural and economic environment] 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-69 
ANNEX 6 
FOOD SECURITY 
By Peter McDermott 
Background 
In December 2002, the SADC Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Vulnerability 
Assessment Committee concluded that the number of Zimbabweans in need of food assistance 
was nearly 7.2 million people, an additional 480,000 people since the last assessment conducted 
in August 2002. The assessment also revealed that there is a marked discrepancy between 
national import levels and availability of cereals at the community level. 
The Famine Early Warning Systems Network’s February 24, 2003 Food Security Emergency 
report on Zimbabwe stated that food insecurity is expected to worsen given that the 2002/2003 
grain harvest could be as much as 20 percent below 2002’s poor performance. In addition, 
deteriorating economic conditions, cattle deaths in Matebeleland South Province, and the 
outbreak of armyworms in parts of the country, have further exacerbated conditions. 
Zimbabweans in more than two-thirds of the districts are expected to experience either moderate 
or extreme food insecurity during 2003/2004. 
The current drought/food crisis in Zimbabwe has once again brought to the fore the question of 
the role, utility and effectiveness of food security and food relief interventions. A major dynamic 
of the current crisis is the inter-relationship between food insecurity, household vulnerability due 
to the HIV/AIDS and the impact on orphans and other vulnerable children. 
There is clearly a significant interrelationship between HIV/AIDS and food insecurity. However 
the interrelationship is poorly understood. The impact of HIV/AIDS epidemic exposes 
individuals and communities to, and lowers the threshold at which, additional shocks such as a 
complex food crisis and an increase in child vulnerability can be absorbed or tolerated 
particularly by vulnerable communities. Characterized as a bi-directional relationship, 
HIV/AIDS impacts directly on the social and economic capacities of households and 
communities while, at the same time, socio-economic changes can directly effect negatively or 
positively the spread of HIV/AIDS. 
An understanding of the interrelationship between HIV/AIDS and food security in Zimbabwe is 
crucial for any effective response to the current crises, the longer term recovery strategy and the 
national response to the orphan and vulnerable child crisis in the country. 
There is growing concern that the response to the food crisis has taken precedence over rigorous 
analysis of the inter-relationship between food and nutritional deprivation and HIV/AIDS 
vulnerability, particularly as they relate to orphans and vulnerable children. The latest 
vulnerability assessment surveys incorporate HIV/AIDS in a more direct and explicit manner, 
but it is not clear how the information gathered informs CRS/STRIVE priorities, policies, and 
targeting. Nor is it clear how the food and nutrition information collected at district level by the 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-70 
national authorities, United Nations, NGOs and others is informing STRIVE’s baseline data and 
program implementation. 
The May 7, 2003 SADC "Impact of HIV/AIDS on Food Security" report clearly identifies many 
of the threats to vulnerable households in Zimbabwe, detailing the increased vulnerability by age 
of household head, the impact of chronic illness, as well as the impact of caring for orphans and 
vulnerable children on consumption, food production and other outcomes. This report, along 
with the provincial and district vulnerability analyses undertaken by the national food and 
nutrition committee, should be used to update the STRIVE baseline. 
STRIVE objectives, intermediate results, baseline, key results and activities 
The intermediate result for food security (IR 2) is "food security interventions piloted." This 
result is measured by the number of interventions piloted and the number of (vulnerable?) 
children benefiting. The supporting activities are: 
• IR – 2.1:Availability of food to CABA increased 
• IR – 2.2: Access to food for CABA increased 
• IR – 2.3: Nutritional status of CABA improved 
In the September 2002 “Agricultural Strategy” paper, a fourth CRS/STRIVE project objective is 
listed: “to ensure food security among the affected and targeted people and communities”. It is 
not clear whether or not this is a formal additional objective to the three objectives set out in the 
main project documents. The "Agricultural Strategy" paper also expands significantly STRIVE’s 
agriculture-focused activities to include the promotion of drought tolerant crops; the 
development and promotion of agricultural production techniques/technologies to reduce labor; 
and activities to increase yields, improve soil structure, conserve soil and identify crops high in 
minerals and vitamins. Though of enormous value in strengthening household food production 
and strengthening drought recovery, these activities expand the focus of STRIVE's orphans and 
vulnerable children project significantly beyond those that may be permissible under the child 
survival guidelines for the use of funds for HIV/AIDS. 
Other strategies put forward in the paper include the provision of food to schools and for children 
under five. 
Baseline data 
The baseline data for food security is less than comprehensive. The baseline looks at access 
through meals per day and light chews, anthropometric measurements, and self reported 
adequacy of food by children. There is a need to supplement the baseline with other available 
information from other existing sources within Zimbabwe 
Access to food: Overall the findings show no major or significant results, as measured through 
meals per day. Most children, regardless of their status, had two meals a day. Secondly, large 
numbers of both vulnerable children and non-vulnerable children reported having three meals a 
day, with smaller numbers having one meal a day. There was no difference between the two 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-71 
groups when it came to light chews. There was a significant difference on self reporting on 
adequacy of food, with 23 percent of vulnerable children reporting they had adequate food, and 
50 percent of non-vulnerable children reporting so. 
Anthropometric measurements: The anthropometric measures do not show high levels of 
malnutrition, either height for age or weight for height. 
Source and storage of food: There is minimal difference between vulnerable and non-vulnerable 
child households regarding their source of food. The findings regarding the storage of food were 
mixed across districts, and between vulnerable child and non-vulnerable child households. 
Discussion
There is no doubt that the current political, economic, food and HIV/AIDS crises in Zimbabwe 
are having a significant negative impact on children, families and communities. While it is 
recognized that CRS/STRIVE has an important role to play in assisting vulnerable children and 
strengthening community responses, this does not mean that STRIVE should fall into the trap of 
undertaking direct implementation actions itself, in particular in the area of food security. Nor 
should STRIVE assume food security roles and responsibilities for which it may not have the 
experience or expertise, or in areas where there are other partners within Zimbabwe that have a 
greater comparative advantage. 
The relevance and appropriateness of undertaking food security pilot activities that may fail, due 
to inexperience, poor planning or poor implementation, in the current environment is 
questionable at best. STRIVE should reexamine its pilot activities and determine if they are 
essential actions that are likely to provide either direct and immediate benefits to households 
looking after vulnerable children or measurable benefits to vulnerable children themselves within 
the lifespan of the project. 
STRIVE should seek to reposition itself further as an intermediary agency between other NGOs 
in Zimbabwe with food security and food distribution experience and its P8 and S8 partners. 
STRIVE should review and update its strategic program plan and food security strategy to reflect 
these recommendations 
Interventions should only be promoted where there is evidence to support their introduction. 
There is a common assumption that all districts in which STRIVE sub-grantees carry out 
activities are food insecure and that all children, in particular vulnerable children, are in need of 
food assistance. The evidence, including that from recent vulnerability and nutrition surveys as 
well as STRIVE’s own baseline data, does not fully support this. Nor is there evidence that 
supports the planning assumption that more vulnerable children, including orphans, are dropping 
out of school than non-vulnerable children because of hunger. 
Given the food crisis, there is an urgent need to strengthen nutrition surveillance and growth 
monitoring as well as develop methods of ascertaining the nutritional status of non-school￾attending children in STRIVE sub-grantee districts. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-72 
Recommendations 
5.1 STRIVE should reconsider its role in food security, reexamine its pilot activities and 
amend the intermediate results and indicators accordingly. It should concentrate its 
activities in two areas: operations research and nutrition outcomes for vulnerable 
children. STRIVE should strategically move back from assuming a direct implementation 
role and move further towards a facilitation role. For instance, STRIVE should seek to 
ensure that nutrition, food relief distribution and food security services are provided to its 
partners but it should not assume the responsibility of providing all these services directly 
itself. 
The Strive Director and Food Security Officer should (in full consultation with USAID), 
review its food security activities focusing on operations research and strengthening 
nutritional outcomes for vulnerable children. The intermediate results and indicators 
should be amended, a new work plan developed and partners informed. These actions 
should be completed by the end of August 2003. 
5.2 STRIVE should review and reformulate its strategy and operational research agenda for 
food security, focusing more intensively on nutritional outcomes for vulnerable children 
and reducing disparity between vulnerable and non-vulnerable households and children. 
The STRIVE Director, Food Security Officer and the Operations Research Advisor 
should review the current food security strategy and research agenda and refocus it more 
on nutritional outcomes for vulnerable children. This should be completed by end July 
2003. 
5.3 STRIVE should strengthen its partnerships with others more experienced in nutrition, 
food security and food distribution activities in Zimbabwe. STRIVE should strengthen its 
facilitation role, acting as an intermediary to ensure that these partners undertake 
nutrition, food security and food distribution activities in STRIVE sub-grantee districts, 
where appropriate. 
The Strive Food Security Officer should identify potential partners. A list of partners, and 
letters/memorandum of understanding between them and STRIVE detailing areas of 
assistance should be completed by end July 2003. 
5.4 The provision of food assistance to children attending schools has been shown to be 
valuable in increasing enrollment and attendance. STRIVE should prepare a specific 
strategy for school feeding focusing on the criteria for its provision, the criteria for its 
closure, the costs and benefits of such a program, evidence for its provision, targeting 
criteria and how the STRIVE program would complement and fit within the national 
emergency program. 
The STRIVE Director and Food Security Officer should hold discussions with the 
national education and emergency food authorities to seek agreement on the desirability 
and appropriateness of expanding the school feeding program in STRIVE-assisted partner 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-73 
districts. STRIVE should supplement its baseline data from other available sources to 
determine the needs and identify most vulnerable groups. This should be done within the 
next three months, by the end of August 2003. 
 
5.5 STRIVE should reexamine its staffing and organizational management structures in light 
of the above changes and provide a new outline of the new roles and responsibilities of 
the staff and the Food Security Unit. STRIVE should reconsider renaming its food 
security unit to reflect its increased focus on nutrition outcomes for vulnerable children. 
STRIVE should also review the linkages between its food security activities and the 
activities undertaken under the economic strengthening. 
Following the above discussion, the a revised organizational chart, job descriptions, key 
results plan and work plan for the period through May 2004 should be completed. This 
action should take place by end of August 2003 and be shared with USAID and STRIVE 
sub-grantees. 
5.6 The STRIVE Director, Food Security Officer and the Operations Research Advisor 
should convene a meeting with both its P8 and S8 partners to inform them of the new 
STRIVE food and nutrition strategy and discuss its implications. 
5.7 STRIVE should work more closely with the national food and nutrition commission, the 
United Nations humanitarian response unit and United Nations agencies such as World 
Food Programme to compile food and nutrition data to supplement the STRIVE baseline 
data. STRIVE should also negotiate with these same organizations and units to ensure 
that food security and food relief are provided in partner districts which fulfill the criteria 
for such assistance. 
5.8 The STRIVE Food Security Officer should liaise closely with World Food Programme 
and other United Nations agencies and entities to obtain nutrition and vulnerability data 
to supplement its baseline. This should be an ongoing activity, and the baseline should be 
updated on a periodic basis. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-74 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-75 
ANNEX 7 
EDUCATION ASSISTANCE PROGRAMME 
By Carol Coombe 
I. CONTEXT 
It has been estimated that there are now 1 million orphans in Zimbabwe, largely concentrated in 
school-going ages (HEAT). 23% of those 10-14 are already maternal orphans, and this 
proportion is expected to rise to 50% by the end of the decade. 
Figure1 : Projected percentage of children orphaned by AIDS by age group35
Zimbabwe, like other countries in the region, hoped to stem the tide of rising HIV prevalence 
through life skills programmes in primary and secondary schools, but a recent survey indicated 
limited sensitisation of educators, and generally low levels of awareness of basic facts about 
HIV/AIDS and associated sexually transmitted infections among both educators and learners 
(HEAT). 
A recent review of the impact of HIV/AIDS on the education sector in Zimbabwe has 
highlighted the most pressing concerns about child wellbeing: 
Children’s Needs. Basic needs of learners (food and clothing, for example) are generally 
regarded as children’s most pressing problems, and underlie many higher-level psychosocial 
difficulties. Orphanhood is exacerbating pre-existing challenges to education posed by poverty 
 
35 HEAT, p 20.
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
1995
1997
1999
2001
2003
2005
2007
2009
2011
2013
2015
0-4 years 5-9 years 10-14 years
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-76 
and other vulnerabilities of children. Schools are evidently not yet responding adequately to the 
needs of orphans and other children at risk. 
Orphaning. The total number of children who will be orphaned by AIDS is projected to rise to 
over 1.3 million by 2010. The levels of maternal orphanhood in the 10-14 year age group could 
exceed 40% within the decade, with levels over 20% among 5-9 year olds. A sizeable proportion 
of the school age population affected by the epidemic already tends to drop out of school, or 
attend erratically, concentrate poorly, and suffer from emotional and behavioural disturbances. 
Enrollments. HIV/AIDS impacts on fertility are expected to slow the growth in the number of 
children requiring education. This may partly explain the current decline in primary school 
enrolment, as younger age groups are affected first. A relatively small percentage of children will 
be ill with HIV/AIDS during their schooling years. HIV/AIDS threatens to worsen pre-existing 
inequalities in education access and quality, as schools in disadvantaged areas are likely to be the 
most vulnerable. Some already have a high concentration of orphan scholars. 
Prevention. HIV/AIDS prevention among pupils and students is a critical determinant of access 
to, and the quality of education. A third or more of the investment in education will be lost if 
HIV/AIDS infection rates continue at current levels. Levels of knowledge about HIV/AIDS and 
behaviour change remain too low – among both educators and learners – to produce anything 
approaching an AIDS-free generation. Unsupported orphans and vulnerable children, particularly 
girls, are at high risk of HIV infection.
II. EDUCATION ASSISTANCE PROGRAMME ACHIEVEMENTS 
Now there is no other way but just to help each other. 
Chairman of the Board, Batsiranai. 
CRS/STRIVE’s education programmes have been designed to ‘increase the access to quality 
education for children affected by AIDS, with a special focus on girls’.36 The focus of subgrantee 
interventions has shifted, like other STRIVE programmes, away from AIDS-affected children, 
towards all those broadly at risk, although at least one sub-grantee targets only AIDS-affected 
children while another specifically includes children born ‘out of wedlock’. 
Education assistance funds are used principally for improving the quality of local education 
provision: getting more children into school, especially girls; providing books, furniture, other 
consumables and minor repairs to partner schools. The principal direct benefit is to children at 
risk whose school-related costs (fees, levies, uniforms, examination fees for the most part) are 
subsidised or completely assumed by STRIVE partners. 
The Archdiocese of Bulawayo, for example, reports that in nine wards it subsidises 1,138 
children at primary school and another 912 in secondary school (more girls than boys) each term. 
CADEC, in five sub-parishes of Murombedzi, reports single-year subsidies were given to 493 
 
36 CRS/STRIVE, Education Assistance Implementation Strategy, February 2003 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-77 
pupils (70% girls) in six primary schools, and 173 students (54% girls) in three secondary 
schools out of an estimated enumerated total of 3,167 vulnerable children in eight sub-parishes. 
RUDO/STRIVE in three wards of Gutu provides fee support for 355 primary pupils (64% girls) 
and 150 secondary students (53% girls); uniforms for 545 learners (50% girls). Resource 
exchanges will provide further subsidies for at least 500 more children at both levels. The period 
of subsidy is not known. 
Education subsidies started in earnest early in 2003. Consolidated and accurate reports are not 
yet available on the extent of the education assistance programme in all subgrantees: expenditure 
on fees, levies, uniforms, resource exchanges for direct assistance and block grants; periods for 
which subsidy is available to children; and the numbers of children benefiting, except for 
Tsungirirai (Norton) which subsidises education costs (using various budgets) for 423 pupils and 
students (uniforms for 333), providing a ‘quality’ education at an estimated unit cost of USD46 
per year guaranteed for the full cycle. 
It is only possible to say at this early point that the enrolment of children at risk in primary and 
secondary partner schools seems to be rising, at least for the current financial year. Subgrantees 
have been creative in subsidising children: resources like furniture and textbooks are exchanged 
for guaranteed enrolment of numbers of children either for one year or to the end of the learning 
cycle. The concept of resource exchange has the potential to improve the quality of education for 
all scholars in partner schools who benefit from the new resources. 
CRS/STRIVE has provided capacity building for subgrantees in the form of clinics and 
workshops, and draft guidelines on selection of children and schools, establishment of education 
assistance committees, and types of support, for example. Subgrantees have established – with 
varying degrees of success – Education Assistance Committees tasked with selection and 
monitoring of assisted children. Six more subgrantees with education support capacity have been 
selected, and will enhance STRIVE’s education support. Subgrantee reports suggest that girls’ 
interests have been well catered for. 
Finally, there have been proposals that CRS/STRIVE should be more closely allied to 
Government’s BEAM (Basic Education Assistance Module) programme. MOESC launched the 
Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM) in 2001 to respond to the needs of pupils and 
students. The programme aims principally to pay levies and other explicitly school-related 
expenses of orphans and other vulnerable children. In general, BEAM seems to be effective in 
meeting key needs of affected learners in many schools, despite some ‘teething problems’. 
Challenges to the greater success of BEAM have been identified by a recent review of its 
operations (HEAT): varying levels of implementation between districts and regions; inefficient 
procedures for selecting candidates and disbursing assistance; lack of sensitivity to levels of need 
in various districts and schools and to crises among children between annual selections; lack of 
transparent selection criteria and review mechanisms; limited benefits for secondary and special 
needs learners; failure to take account of boarding costs; limited or no coverage of priority needs 
of vulnerable children (food, clothing, accommodation, particularly with end of Social 
Dimensions Fund support); lack of clarity as to whether girls’ needs are adequately covered. 
 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-78 
STRIVE is well placed, during its pilot phase, and working in parallel to BEAM, to take account 
of such difficulties, and propose solutions for common problems. It is in fact already doing this. 
III. CHALLENGES TO SUCCESS 
Local Conditions 
The exigencies of local conditions inhibit school attendance even where subsidies are provided: 
Buhera is the poorest district in Manicaland with 91% poor/very poor. STRIVE 
interventions do help in alleviating poverty [but] people are more interested in 
drought relief programmes than HIV/AIDS. Volunteer motivation is at an all time 
low because of this drought. (Batsiranai STRIVE). 
At CADEC/STRIVE (Chinhoyi/Murombedzi), it is reported that increasing numbers of children 
at risk are being identified and are in need of assistance. Because of hunger and the drought, 
some assisted children cannot attend school regularly. (It may be that some children are being 
registered who would not have been in school under most circumstances, and who would drop 
out sooner or later, as has been the case in Malawi following the move to universal free primary 
education.) 
Planning and Budgeting 
The Education Assistance Project Implementation Strategy (CRS/STRIVE, February 2003) 
provides no guidance as to which levels of education should be prioritised. Unless special 
directions have been given locally (Murombedzi’s District Education Officer suggested all 
subsidies be provided at secondary level), nothing except age prevents children from selection 
for support at primary, secondary or higher education level. (In fact however, Gutu reports stress 
among students who have good matriculation results but have no access to resources for higher 
education.) 
Within subgrantee budgets, numbers benefiting from subsidies could be improved if children 
were chosen for primary enrolment where the fee/levy plus uniform cost is approximately 
USD12.50, as opposed to USD24.00 for secondary students.37 Under current circumstances, this 
might be an appropriate decision for communities to make but would unduly disadvantage 
secondary school students who would benefit from higher-level skills required in future by 
Zimbabwe’s economy. 
 
37 Primary school fees are mandatory in urban areas, bringing total school enrolment cost for a child in Bulawayo for 
example, to Z$2,000 per year, or approximately USD1.50. Primary uniforms are about USD3 and shoes USD8. At 
secondary schools, fees are USD4 per year, uniforms under USD8 and shoes USD12 – beyond the reach of many 
parents and guardians. Some committees have requested subsidies for two sets of uniforms on the grounds that this 
may be the only clothing owned by the child. On the other hand, were uniform requirements abolished by school 
development committees, tennis shoes and a dress or shirt and shorts would be vastly more economical for primary 
school children at least. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-79 
As the STRIVE system settles down and the next intake is selected, communities will need to 
decide, within the funds available to them: 
1. levels at which to allocate subsidies; 
2. whether to allocate funds for fees and levies only, for fees and uniforms, for uniforms 
only, for resource exchanges with or without uniforms; and 
3. whether to subsidise one child for one year, or one child to completion of the primary 
or secondary cycle (through resource exchange agreements beyond the term of 
STRIVE’s project cycle).38
It is not possible to know the current proportion of funds allocated by STRIVE to primary and 
secondary education, nor is it possible to make a recommendation on this: communities, 
sometimes in consultation with government officials will need to make the ultimate decision. 
While uniforms are required – they are usually mandated by school development committees – it 
is clear that they should be abolished. Children who need them could be provided with basic 
clothing requirements and tennis shoes. 
CRS/STRIVE will need to determine whether in fact it should encourage subgrantee partners to 
concentrate resources in so-called ‘hotspots’: areas of concentrated misery including drought, 
hunger, poverty and HIV prevalence, where children are particularly at risk. 
The requirement that 90% of subsidised children be those affected by AIDS39 seems to have 
been abandoned already in favour of a broader definition of children at risk and susceptible to 
infection because of their circumstances. 
Financial Arrangements 
Reported delays in disbursement by CRS/STRIVE may constrain timeous enrolment of large 
numbers of children. 
The fact that adjustments in subgrantee Z$ budgets have not been made against their USD value 
has in effect substantially cut the spending allocations of all subgrantees. This has the potential to 
cripple their anticipated support to children at risk, with clear implications for the usefulness of 
this pilot project.40 If subgrantees are to be allocated in practice one half or less of their budget 
allocations in dollar terms, their success cannot be measured against the project’s selected 
indicators, or their anticipated numerical targets. 
Why subgrantees (in the P8 group) are underspending needs analysis and correction. 
 
38 Long-term subsidy, although efficient in other circumstances, is not recommended because of the impossibility of 
anticipating where or in what condition the child will be over the agreed term, the lack of guarantee to child or 
school as of December 2004, and inability to monitor long-term support. 
39 CRS/STRIVE, Education Assistance Project Implementation Strategy, February 2003, p 8. 40 It is reported that P8 subgrantees are substantially underspending, but that S8s have had a fast start-up. If P8 
subgrantees improve their management, and S8s continue to fast-track, the matter of underspending will be resolved 
and the calculation of budgets against the USD will be a substantial issue. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-80 
Recommendation: Regular and transparent calculation of USD budget equivalents during this 
period of hyperinflation, and rapid transfer of funds to subgrantees against disbursements are 
required to get and keep children in school, to get and retain qualified staff, and to ensure that 
subgrantees have some chance of meeting their targets. [this is a matter for finance to sort out] 
Schools have been instructed by GOZ not to exclude children who cannot pay, but these 
regulations are not enforced (HEAT, Education Act 1996, et al). A strong argument can be made 
that Zimbabwe must now grasp the nettle, abolish fees and levies, and open schools to all willing 
candidates. It did not flinch from moving overnight to universal secondary education more than a 
decade ago. Analysis will illuminate the implications of such a decision, and put an end to 
educational ad hocism perpetuated by short-term projects like STRIVE. 
Recommendation: Negotiations to abolish fees and levies in the primary education subsector 
should begin at once, to make it free, compulsory and universal, in keeping with Zimbabwe’s 
commitment to international conventions, and its own Acts and regulations (including the 
Convention on the Rights of Children, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the 
Child, and the Education Act.) 
In the first instance, this is a matter to be taken up immediately with GOZ and MOESC by 
national and international community representatives. The cost to government and others of 
administering scholar support schemes through BEAM, STRIVE, SFCUK and local, national 
and international NGOs/CBOs/FBOs, and the social and economic cost of not educating all 
Zimbabwe’s children, are likely to be much greater than providing free and universal schooling 
for all. Direct budget support to GOZ may be required, and financial systems put in place to 
make this possible. 
Management and Staffing 
Drought, fuel shortages and general economic decline are inhibiting volunteerism in some areas 
as preoccupation of potential caregivers and community leaders turns to hunger and the search 
for food. 
Variable management capacity among subgrantees, as well as at CRS/STRIVE, leads to variable 
competence in enrolling children timeously. 
Where there are no education-dedicated personnel at subgrantee level, education assistance 
programmes depend on allocation of sufficient time by generalist project and field officers. 
Time-on-task problems are aggravated by delays and difficulties in appointing, retaining and 
replacing staff (generalist or specialist), and by levels of staff turnover that are not likely to 
improve during the final stages of this pilot project. 
Recommendation: Given prevailing conditions, concentrate education assistance programmes 
on subsidising pupils and students, with the goal of keeping as many as possible in school, linked 
with improved nutrition and psycho-social support. Reduce or abort additional planned 
educational interventions. Agree a creative plan of action in consultation with subgrantees. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-81 
CRS/STRIVE needs a revised 18 month plan of action. Education assistance staff can plan, in 
consultation with subgrantees and communities, to concentrate resources (financial, material and 
human) on keeping children in school and keeping them alive in the current emergency. 
Education assistance personnel can work closely with psychosocial support and nutrition/food 
security staff to link their programmes for greater effect in the coming school year (see below). 
Linked programmes should attempt to meet the educational, material, psychosocial and 
nutritional needs of individual children. 
Recommendation: Streamline education assistance programmes with regard to transparent 
selection of candidates, transfer of resources from CRS/STRIVE to subgrantees and from 
subgrantees to partner schools, and planning and management at both CRS/STRIVE and 
subgrantee levels by improving staff capacity throughout STRIVE. 
Education personnel can, now that most subgrantee generalist staff are in place, ensure that 
systems – selection of candidates, transfer of resources, planning and management – are as 
efficient as possible for the coming school year. An improved and extended capacity building 
programme can make this possible. If this is not done, inefficiencies will continue, as will 
community distress with regard to their perception of STRIVE’s shortcomings: this is a very 
visible programme in many struggling communities and must be transparent and effective.
Recommendation: Improve education assistance delivery by (1) increasing the number of 
education-dedicated staff at subgrantee level where appropriate; and (2) improving the skills of 
education staff at CRS/STRIVE headquarters and sub-offices, and in subgrantees in priority 
areas, including project planning and management, HIV and education, orphan programming, 
psychosocial support, and capacity building techniques. 
Education assistance is reported to constitute at least 35% of the CRS/STRIVE budget. The 
programme must demonstrably justify this expenditure, and this will require increasing and 
upgrading staff at headquarters and subgrantee level. A request for additional education￾dedicated field staff has already been made. 
The revised plan of action (see above) should include proposals for staff skills building, 
particularly in substantive areas like HIV and education, what is known about orphaning and 
vulnerability among children, and care and counselling. All CRS/STRIVE education staff need 
to be cognisant of these issues, and nurses, doctors, psychologists, researchers and other 
educators, as well as the USAID-funded Mobile Task Team on the Impact of HIV on Education 
(based at the University of Natal, with members throughout the SADC region), can train staff 
appropriately. 
Building staff capacity requires techniques that are not currently evident in CRS/STRIVE’s 
training interventions. A handbook on management and planning capacity building in education 
has been provided by the mission; it shows how to complement or replace workshops with 
seminars, technical assistance (short-term expert support), and other expertise from outside 
CRS/STRIVE to improve staff skills. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-82 
Recommendation: Manage education assistance programmes by (1) improving linkages within 
between CRS and STRIVE, within CRS/STRIVE and between subgrantee and local 
counterparts; (2) expanding research and information dissemination internally and externally; (3) 
ensuring OR feedback to education personnel; (4) improving analysis of OR information, and (5) 
developing a high-quality, professionally edited publications programme including newsletter, 
training guides, management resource materials inter alia. 
CRS/STRIVE is a pilot project, and learning from substantive, delivery and outcome issues is an 
important factor for managing better. Improved staff skills in planning and management is 
necessary at headquarters and subgrantee levels, and wherever possible at community level. 
Improved management must be informed by improved communication throughout the 
programme – and to others who are interested in its outcomes – through better research and 
dissemination of findings to the local, national and international community, and a professional 
publications programme. University and other researchers can be contracted for research 
purposes, and editorial and publications specialists for editorial purposes. Dissemination would 
have to be done by CRS/STRIVE in consultation with its contracted editorial staff. Thirty years 
of evidence suggests that any pilot project that does not disseminate its findings internally and 
externally is by and large a waste of time and money. 
IV. ENHANCING EDUCATION ASSISTANCE 
Linked Prevention Programmes 
High levels of HIV infection fundamentally challenge the mandate of the education sector. 
Unless prevention is more effective, over one third of learners will become infected during or 
soon after their education. Most of these will die of AIDS before they reach the age of 40. This is 
not only a social and human disaster, but also a waste of investment in education that far exceeds 
other system inefficiencies. More than any other sector, education has opportunities to influence 
levels of HIV infection among young people, through its direct contact with them in schools and 
non-formal education. 
MOESC introduced HIV/lifeskills training in schools in 1992, and it became compulsory and 
formally timetabled from Grade 4 to the end of secondary school in 1993. MOESC has 
established a secretariat to drive the HIV/AIDS and lifeskills programme. In-service training 
programmes for teachers, supplemented by workshops for school managers, are ongoing. 
Ministry initiatives have been complemented by initiatives by development partners such as 
STRIVE, NGOs and communities, as well as pre-service programmes in teacher training 
colleges. 
Lifeskills are taught extensively, although because it is non-examinable and is not prioritised in 
practice. Where it is taught, it is apparently taught inadequately given that prevalence among 15-
19 year olds is 10% higher than the preceding age group. There are evidently significant gaps in 
basic learner knowledge: 90% of Form 3 students recently surveyed had been taught about HIV 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-83 
at school, but 60% needed more knowledge, and 50% got at least one answer on a basic facts 
questionnaire wrong (HEAT). There are indications that knowledge of sexually transmitted 
infections among young people is inadequate to protect them against HIV infection by this well￾established route. Teachers interviewed admit that they are uncomfortable teaching lifeskills, and 
talking about HIV and AIDS with students, or even amongst themselves. 
Recent focus group discussions with educators showed that many are ignorant about HIV/AIDS, 
its aetiology and its implications. Less accessible rural areas seem to be particularly problematic 
because of limited penetration of HIV/AIDS messages. Denial, fatalism and lack of hope, and 
feelings of inability to manage risk were widespread. 
There is significant field evidence in Zimbabwe, and models from other countries (including The 
Gambia, South Africa and Zambia) that peer health teams can pick up where teachers leave off. 
Respondents during the mission’s interviews consistently promoted the concept that youth are 
better than teachers and other adults at HIV care, counselling and training techniques. 
Recommendation: STRIVE was originally designed to include an HIV prevention component. 
This must now be initiated and implemented with energy. 
Work with partner schools and subsidised scholars to develop a STRIVE HIV/AIDS prevention 
programme. Train selected teachers (3-4 per school) to achieve broad coverage. Masiye Camp, 
which is tending towards training leaders, may be of assistance in training educators for 
CRS/STRIVE. 
Identify doctors, nurses and social workers who can provide paraprofessional training for peer 
health educator teams (preferably composed of subsidised students) who can work in and out of 
school to help other children and young people to understand the complications of HIV and 
AIDS (including the aetiology of the disease, helping chronically and terminally ill patients, 
universal precautions, basic counselling techniques, and the rights of the child). Encourage HIV￾trained educators and peer health educators to work together as much as possible. Sensitise 
headteachers of partner schools. 
Linked Nutrition Programmes 
Orphans’ vulnerabilities cannot, for practical purposes, be separated from those of other children 
in poverty. In a recent survey, 37% of student respondents reported that they or other children in 
the household have gone hungry; the proportion was only slightly higher among double orphans. 
One child reported: 
Last month, we went for several nights without food because my parents had to 
spend money on taking care of my elder brother who is very sick. They had to hire 
transport to take him to the hospital and buy special foods to stop him from 
vomiting. They also had to buy a coffin for his baby who died two weeks ago. I am 
always hungry but I can’t complain because there are so many other problems that 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-84 
must be dealt with first, I cannot trouble my parents; they are doing the best they 
can (Grade 6 scholar). 
Under present circumstances it is not sufficient to provide food supplements only to subsidised 
scholars, or to so-called ‘CABA children’ who have been enrolled. In hotspot areas particularly, 
the majority of children will be hungry by November, when May’s generally meagre harvest has 
been used up, and before new garden crops are consumable. Typical seasonal exigencies have 
been exacerbated by drought, land reallocations, decimation of the commercial farming sector 
and the concomitant unemployment of an estimated 600,000 farm workers, and the death of 
significant numbers of subsistence farmers. 
Recommendation: As part of the education programme, establish – or ensure that others have 
established – food supplement schemes, either wet feeding or dry rations, for all children in 
partner primary schools in all STRIVE locales, or at least in the hardest hit areas, defined as 
hotspots where risk is highest. 
CRS/STRIVE should as much as possible not engage directly in school feeding, but should 
attempt to link others in their geographical areas to do so. Only when there is no partner with 
whom to work should CRS/STRIVE provide wet or dry rations. 
Linked Care and Counselling Programmes 
STRIVE’s definition of psychosocial support has been opaque, and difficult for CRS/STRIVE 
officials and subgrantees to operationalise. This review seeks to define practicable 
understandings of the care, counselling, psychological and social needs of children at risk in an 
environment characterised by loss, deprivation, grief and silence. It has also considered the 
socialisation needs of orphans, for whom schooling is only an inadequate substitute for lost 
parents and communities, their support and their skills. 
Constructing a practical meaning for psycho-social support should enable STRIVE partners to 
find ways of installing some of its elements in its prevention programmes, and in the training of 
selected educators and peer health educators, to reach as many children and youth as possible, in 
and out of school. 
Recommendation: Supplement enhanced enrolments and nutrition for all primary pupils with an 
adjusted PSS/care and counselling programme associated with the proposed STRIVE prevention 
programme. Design such a programme using selected educators and peer health teams. 
This proposal is dealt with in more detail in the sections on psychosocial support. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-85 
ANNEX 8 
ECONOMIC STRENGTHENING 
By Petronella Chigara 
I. Introduction 
CRS/STRIVE's economic strengthening interventions seek to enhance the economic capacities 
of households and communities to meet the needs of orphans and vulnerable children through 
community based approaches. The major underlying assumption is that if households' economic 
activities are strengthened or enhanced, the households and communities will be better prepared 
to mitigate the effects of increased burdens of children at risk. The household and family 
(immediate and extended) are the institutions most directly affected by HIV/AIDS and/or 
orphaning. These are also the primary structures on which children’s well being depend. Once a 
household's or family’s resources (social or economic) are depleted, they tend to seek assistance 
from the community. Thus, strengthening households’ economic resources is one way of 
ensuring that households are better able to deal with the effects of HIV/AIDS. Studies41 in 
Uganda and Kenya have indicated that households affected by HIV/AIDS deplete their economic 
resources and end up disposing of even their productive assets--a situation that results in utter 
destitution. 
According to the CRS Strategic Plan for 2003 – 2008, the basis for economic strengthening is 
"strong community mobilisation and empowerment.” CRS/Zimbabwe recognises that there are 
several ways to enhance household economic resources, but seeks generally ‘low tech’ tools that 
enhance community empowerment rather than "high tech," sophisticated micro-finance 
interventions. Economic strengthening was designed with two sub components: household 
economic safety nets and community safety nets. Originally a number of initiatives were 
supposed to be piloted under each of the two sub-components. However, to date, CRS/STRIVE 
has only pilot tested one activity under household economic safety nets: the Internal Savings and 
Lending mechanism (IS&L). The 2002-03 Annual Workplan indicates that other economic 
strengthening activities (agro marketing, community gardens) were supposed to be piloted by 
STRIVE's Agriculture and Food Security Unit as food security interventions before being 
considered as income generating mechanisms. 
II. Economic strengthening in the microfinance context 
Microfinance in Zimbabwe is generally urban focused, with very few non-governmental 
organizations operating or reaching out to rural areas. Several constraints hamper 
institutionalised interventions into rural areas, especially low population densities which affect 
 
41 MSA study in Kenya and Uganda —Responding To A Silent EconomicCrisis Among Microfinance Clients by 
Jill Donahue, Kamau Kabbucho and Sylvia Osinde September 2001 
The UWESO Savings and Credit Scheme USCS Uganda a Case study on UWESO by Pelucy Ntambirweki. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-86 
volumes and operating costs. Successful microfinance is generally a high volume, low margin 
business. Thus expansion into low density and shallow economies delays institutional financial 
sustainability. CRS/Zimbabwe recognises that the microfinance industry in Zimbabwe has not 
yet developed products suited to communities affected by HIV/AIDS or communities with high 
numbers of children at risk. The Zimbabwe Association of Microfinance Institutions (ZAMFI) 
has been working with its members to develop such products or services. CRS/Zimbabwe, 
through its economic strengthening team, is collaborating with ZAMFI in that respect. 
Apart from the HIV/AIDS pandemic, microfinance in Zimbabwe is battling to manage 
operations in a highly inflationary environment. Experiences from other countries, including 
Bolivia, indicate that microfinance is a hard currency-based business, a situation that is far from 
reality in Zimbabwe. For the clients or households, disposable incomes are eroding fast, thus 
reducing the market for entrepreneurs. Economic transactions are reduced to basic necessities for 
life, hence only petty trading makes business sense, especially in rural areas. Given the 
shortages of basic commodities, the high transport costs and high operating costs of doing 
business for the local market, becoming an entrepreneur in Zimbabwe is becoming more and 
more challenging. The USAID-funded LEAD project has been investigating the possibilities of 
microfinance institutions innovating around products that inherently hedge against inflation. 
Discussions around ensuring that the savings from microfinance clients are invested in non – 
liquid instruments or assets such as oxen, agricultural equipment or inputs, which can be 
liquidated when the lumpsum is needed, have been mooted. 
Given these odds, it should be noted that the small groups engaged in IS&L have better chances 
of surviving given: 
• the informal nature of the operations where there are no overheads for the group 
• the high turnover businesses that the group members are involved in (petty trading) 
• the ability of group members to be responsive, flexible and deal in very short term loans. 
Over the past five years CARE International in Zimbabwe has experimented with a “low tech” 
microfinance mechanism adapted from CARE’s experiences in Niger. The CARE program, 
called Kupfuma Ishungu, has been implemented in parts of Midlands and Manicaland provinces 
and recently received funding to expand into other districts of the same provinces. It is basically 
a rural mechanism that trains groups in mobilising funds and on-lending to group members. The 
mechanism is a variation of traditional merry–go-rounds. The slight difference is that instead of 
collecting cash and giving it to one member, the cash collected is lent out to members who pay it 
back with interest. At the end of a cycle, the members share the end-of-cycle accumulated cash 
from savings and compounded interest, enabling each member to access lump sums. The lump 
sum cash payments are timed to coincide with the needs of group members e.g. school opening 
times or crop seasons. The lump sums, according to a CARE evaluation, have been used to pay 
school fees, buy agricultural inputs etc. 
Some of the groups in Kupfuma Ishungu have begun investing their savings into commodities 
such as sugar, soap and paraffin. These commodities are then sold and members receive larger 
lump sums. Obviously these initiatives can be widened to include options such as livestock, 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-87 
agricultural equipment or inputs. CRS/STRIVE can play an important role in innovating around 
hedging against inflation. 
The interest rates charged in the Kupfuma Ishungu program is quite high--20 – 30% per month--
and is positive given the official inflation rate of 269%. At question, however, is how long 
interest rates can keep pace with inflation. However, given the alternatives that the group 
members have, the savings and credit model is still a better alternative than most. 
Figure 1 – Where do people save 
If you save, how do you do it?
19
3
46
19
2
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
At bank
In assets
At club / round
In the house
Other
Method of Saving
# of Individuals
According to CRS's draft economic strengthening baseline report; ‘…..the majority or fifty-three 
percent (53%) save at a club/merry-go-round, while smaller portions (21%) save at the bank or in 
their homes. It can be concluded that the target group is more likely to save, when supported or 
pressured by peers. When saving requires individual efforts such as saving at the bank, in the 
home, or through household assets, the target group is less likely to participate in savings 
activities.” Thus if households are seeking ways in which their cash can be stored safely for 
future use e.g. school fees then the IS&L is an improvement on the merry –go-rounds. 
III. Findings 
Three of CRS/STRIVE's P8 sub-grantees have agreed to take on economic strengthening 
activities, specifically a savings and credit model called Internal Savings and Lending (IS&L) 
similar to CARE's Kupfuma Ishungu One sub-grantee has not yet begun implementation; the 
other two had been under implementation just over a month at the time of the mid-term review. 
Delays in implementing the IS&L program, according to CRS/STRIVE staff, were due to the 
following: 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-88 
• The concept of internal lending and savings was new to most stakeholders and therefore took 
time to design within CRS. 
• Although some sub-grantees were already implementing similar activities, the fact that the 
IS&L innovation presented a set of different ways of doing things meant the sub-grantees 
needed time to understand the different approach and own it before the program could be 
implemented. 
• Selection and appointment of CARE as a technical service provider took time as the 
contractual arrangements between CRS and CARE had to be worked out. 
• The proposal with CARE had to go through the Project Approval Committee and be 
approved internally 
• Staff turnover in CRS/STRIVE at a crucial time, just before launching the economic 
strengthening fieldwork, caused a disruption. 
IV. Current Activities 
The Internal Lending and Savings activity (IS&L), commonly referred to as “Kufusha mari” 
(preserving and storing money safely for future consumption42), is the single economic 
strengthening activity being implemented by CRS/STRIVE. As has already been indicated, the 
model mirrors CARE’s Kupfuma Ishungu savings and credit model. Under the CRS/STRIVE 
program, self-selected groups of 6-8 have been formed. The groups develop their own 
constitutions and sets of rules for savings, loans and individual goals. Goals are timed so that 
cash payouts of lump sum coincide with specific needs, such as payment of school fees or the 
purchase of farm inputs. Members interviewed during the review demonstrated enthusiasm and 
excitement about doing something on their own, indicating that they had really benefited from 
the training provided by the Field Officers: “Chatinoda ruzivo – nyange nanhasi tinoda 
kudzidza.43” Field Officers provide initial training (½ day training for 5 days) and monitor group 
activities, providing further training or advisory services when necessary. Monitoring is more 
intense at the beginning, but is gradually reduced to half yearly visits. 
Since CARE is the organisation that developed an IS&L model and has unique experience and 
expertise, CRS/STRIVE contracted CARE International in Zimbabwe as a technical service 
provider to the CRS/STRIVE sub-grantees. Each CRS/STRIVE sub-grantee implementing an 
IS&L program has a CARE-seconded field officer mentoring the sub-grantee Field Officer. 
CARE’s role is to impart skills to the sub-grantee field officer such that by the time the program 
ends the sub-grantee has in-house skills to continue implementing the IS&L program. The 
review team was impressed by the enthusiasm of both the CARE-seconded staff and the sub￾grantee staff. Although it is too early to judge the imparted skills, the strong team-work observed 
was encouraging. 
 
42 Literally the term refers to the process of making biltong , which traditionally was a way of preserving meat or 
vegetables from the wet season to dry seasons when vegetables would be hard to find. 
43 "What we want is knowledge and even today we just want to learn from you." 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-89 
Currently ES is not a "centre stage" activity for CRS STRIVE, yet it is the single most powerful 
tool in community mobilisation and empowerment and offers strong possibilities of long-term 
sustainability. 
V. Potential benefits/Impact 
Even though economic strengthening activities had just been launched, the groups participating 
(for less than a month) were very enthusiastic about the IS&L program and clearly understood its 
potential benefits: 
# Community owned and managed mechanism 
# Not dependent on external funding 
# Knowledge and skills imparted by a field officer - “tiri kuda ruzivo” (we want 
knowledge) 
# Ability to use cash productively in the same community 
# Access to savings and lending facility within their proximity 
# Ability to engage in businesses (mostly petty trading) that benefits the community 
# Loans are repaid with interest 
Experiences in Zimbabwe and elsewhere (UWESO in Uganda, CARE in Niger) demonstrate that 
there is potential impact on household assets or incomes through economic strengthening 
interventions. A USAID-funded study by Caroline Barnes of Horizons International on Zambuko 
Trust (a local microfinance institution) concluded that households participating in their 
microfinance program could smoothen incomes and better manage their financial resources. 
Access to credit enabled households to pursue income diversification strategies to smoothen 
household incomes. 
The evaluation of the CARE/Zimbabwe Kupfuma Ishungu program also indicated positive 
impact/results which included the following: 
• Returns on savings were positive.44
• Evidence of enhanced personal pride and dignity – generally social status of group members 
enhanced. 
• Household incomes increased. At the community level the program was dubbed the 
"programme that puts children through school”. It should be noted that CARE was not 
running this as a school fees program or children's program and thus members of the 
community had no incentive for referring to school fees. 
 
44 These were returns as of July 2002. Given the rapid changes in Zimbabwe, the STRIVE Operations Research 
Unit needs to work out returns at the household level in order to track the household level impact.
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-90 
VI. Expected spin offs of the IS&L mechanism 
While CRS/STRIVE is aware of the need to innovate around the IS&L mechanism and pilot test 
other economic strengthening strategies, it is also cognisant of the fact that the innovations 
should be community driven. The following are some innovations that have evolved in mature 
IS&L programs: 
• IS&L set up social funds, such as funeral funds or hospital funds for children at risk and their 
families. 
• Groups set up apex organisations that manage funds and on – lend to groups. 
• Groups form spontaneously once communities have developed the capacity to train new 
IS&L groups. 
• Business development services are demanded by communities – backwards or forward 
linkages. 
• Partners develop the capacity to replicate the mechanism outside of the direct, donor-funded 
program. The partners might expand geographically or contract their expertise to other 
interested entities for a fee. 
• Group members might be trained to become trainers and then run courses for new groups for 
a fee – i.e. becoming a microenterprise activity. 
VII. Challenges 
• Although communities are enthusiastic about the IS&L mechanism, Zimbabwe's current 
macro-economic environment is challenging the viability of business activities that members 
may be engaged in. 
• Funding constraints given that USAID is not supporting direct economic strengthening 
implementation. CRS is using USD 87,000 of its own funds to support program 
implementation. 
• CRS/STRIVE sub-grantees might implement similar activities in their main program without 
giving due attention to training and monitoring. This could adversely affect the results of the 
pilot. For example in Gowakowa, DOMCCP is already mobilising communities and forming 
similar groups, but is not offering the same training or support offered through STRIVE. 
• It is important to ensure that the IS&L mechanism is not field officer-dependent to the point 
where removal of the field officer would drastically affect program continuation. How can 
this be part of a sustainable strategy – exit strategy? 
• The CARE technical assistance contract needs to be carefully managed to ensure that 
impartation of skills takes place. 
VIII. Recommendations 
1. CRS/STRIVE's Operations Research Unit should, in the next six months, use the baseline 
information available to develop tools for tracking the number of children at risk 
benefiting from the IS&L program. Unless such tools are developed, it may be 
impossible to demonstrate that IS&L is having an impact on children at risk. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-91 
2. CRS/STRIVE's Operations Research Unit should track the benefit of IS&L on vulnerable 
children with regards to gender of caregiver. The hypothesis (proven within microfinance 
experiences) that increased access to economic resources or income by women generally 
benefits the family and children more than similar increased access by men needs to be 
tested. Furthermore, operations research should track the benefits to children at risk 
depending on the relationships that the child has to the caregivers e.g. uncle, grandmother 
or aunt. 
3. Operations research should be designed around the IS&L initiative. Possibilities include: 
! Comparing results in an IS&L community versus a non-IS&L community 
! Tracking cash inflows versus seasonal, agriculture-related income fluctuations to 
identify the real incremental differences accruing from IS&L participation 
! Using teacher observation and records to track benefits to vulnerable children 
! Checking on the improved health care/nutritional status of children under five and 
relating this to whether the children are under the care of an IS&L member 
! Determining whether the gender of IS&L members related to how much 
vulnerable children in the household benefit 
4. STRIVE should ensure that sub-grantees develop trainers from within their IS&L 
schemes who can serve as trainers for new IS&L groups. This will reduce the cost of 
expansion since community members will be training their peers. While trainers may 
charge for their services, new group members, rather than the STRIVE sub-grantees, 
should pay these fees. 
5. STRIVE should wait (for at least six months) for results from the first three IS&L 
programs before replicating the model. Criteria for assessing results should include (a) 
an increase in economic resources (assets) at the household level and (b) evidence that 
any increase is benefiting vulnerable children and improving their welfare. 
Practical options for ways to replicate might include: 
! Encourage non-STRIVE organizations operating in the same geographical areas 
as STRIVE sub-grantees to implement IS&L programs. For example, in a 
community-based organization in Bulawayo might be able to implement IS&L in 
the same areas that Masiye Camp is working in. This mode of replication might 
be slow as it would require dialogue and discussions with potential partners and 
then the submission of proposals. 
! Encourage more P8 sub-grantees to implement IS&L programs; facilitate 
information sharing among P8s in order to enable sub-grantees to learn from their 
peers and hopefully adopt IS&L. Field Officers from sub-grantees currently 
implementing IS&L programs could offer training of trainers to other sub￾grantees, thereby reducing CRS dependence on CARE for scaling up. Adoption 
of this strategy would involve dialogue with P8 sub-grantees and the communities 
in which they work. Hence, it may take time before the other partners come on 
board. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-92 
! Engage more S8 sub-grantees in economic strengthening interventions. Like the 
current P8 sub-grantees, the S8 sub-grantees could possibly be supported by 
CARE field officers. However, CARE’s capacity is limited and it only operates in 
specified districts. Therefore, if S8 sub-grantees are not working close to the 
CARE districts, it might be costly to engage CARE. 
! Explore the possibility of CARE expanding its geographical coverage to some of 
the areas that are already benefiting from other STRIVE sub-grantee programs. 
6. If the six-month results prove positive, CRS/STRIVE should present USAID with a well￾documented and justified request for direct USAID funding for economic strengthening 
activities. USAID should explore ways in which, in the long term, ES can be prioritised 
and funded as a strategy for community mobilisation and economic enhancement at 
household and community levels. 
7. USAID should consider replicating IS&L as ‘low-tech’ microfinance initiative 
specifically geared towards rural areas through its Private Sector (Microenterprise 
Development Unit). Programs such as LEAD, Self Help Development Foundation might 
benefit from CARE’s experience and introduce this innovation in their programming 
areas. IS&L strengthens households economies and should not be restricted to child￾focused programming. USAID could also contract CARE directly to implement the 
mechanism and ensure there is a strong operations research component and deliberate 
focus on children. 
8. CRS /STRIVE should use IS&L-related group meetings as a forum for discussing social 
issues such as HIV prevention and sharing ideas on caring for orphans. Caregivers could 
also be trained on counselling and psychosocial support. This concept is used extensively 
by Freedom from Hunger in its Credit with Education programs through village banking. 
9. CRS/STRIVE could organise exposure visits for partner directors locally and regionally 
to learn by observing experiences from other programs that have been running for long 
periods of time. Examples include UWESO in Uganda and CARE in Zimbabwe. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-93 
Annex 9 
Capacity Building and Gender 
By Lynne Cogswell 
The Capacity Building/Gender Unit (CB/G) activities are directly linked to STRIVE’s second 
main project objective: Improve the organizational capacity of at least eight local organizations 
to deliver high quality care, support, and prevention activities to benefit children affected by 
HIV/AIDS and their families. 
To facilitate and guide this discussion of the mid-term review team’s findings, organizational 
capacity has been defined as follows – it is a combination of developing an organization, i.e. 
putting in place its systems, process, procedures, plans and human and financial resources, and 
building the capacity of the individuals within the organization, i.e. their skills, knowledge, and 
abilities – thus organizational capacity. Though this definition differs slightly from the one used 
by the CB/G Unit, i.e. CB is the process of strengthening an organization’s capabilities to 
implement the STRIVE project. The team feels this definition is more substantive and 
encompassing and less STRIVE-driven. 
In addition to responding directly to STRIVE’s second main project objective, the CB/G Unit 
also has identified intermediate results (IR) and corresponding indictors against which it plans to 
measure the impact of its capacity building activities. These include: 
• IR 5: Effectiveness of sub-grantees improved 
# % change in organizational assessment score: (1) Governance, (2) 
Leadership/Management, (3) Finance, (4) Administration, (5) Program Management 
# # of sub-grantees reaching maturity (using score measure) 
• IR 5.1: Learning linkages between NGOs & CBOs improved 
# % change in frequency of informal/formal contacts between sub-grantees 
• IR 5.2: Effectiveness of services delivered by sub-grantee improved 
# % change in composite impact of partner programming on CABA (as identified and 
defined by the partner) 
There also appears to be another objective or intermediate result that, though not officially in any 
STRIVE documents, has been used repeatedly in CB/G Unit documents, i.e. improve the sub￾grantees’ gender responsiveness capacity. 
In December 2002, the original eight implementing partners/sub-grantees took organizational 
capacity assessments. These assessments determined the base score for their organizational 
capacity in governance, leadership, finance, administration, and program management. 
Reassessment has not yet taken place, so it is not yet possible to see if any of the capacity 
building activities that the CB/G Unit has been conducting have had an impact on these 
implementing partners. Initial scores ranged from 51 to 78 out of 100. It will be interesting to 
see how these improve by March 2004. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-94 
Furthermore, in 2001 baseline data was gathered on the frequency of formal/informal contacts 
held by the implementing partners with their respective communities. All indicated that contact 
was made on at least a monthly basis with one implementing partner reporting that it made 
contact with its community on a weekly basis. The baseline also identified the impact 
implementing partners presently perceived they had on their communities -- 50% felt they were 
empowering members bodies and 75% indicated that they were felt they were supporting CABA 
needs. 
Though activities appear to be behind due to the delay in hiring a Program Manager for the 
CB/G Unit and the subsequent Project Officer, many scheduled activities have taken place as 
planned. This section will not discuss financial capacity building or operations research capacity 
building since these capacity building activities do not fall under the purview of the CB/G Unit. 
CB/G activities have included: 
• Organizational capacity assessment tools were adapted for use with STRIVE, i.e. assessing 
governance, leadership, finance, administration, and program management and include a 
section on capacity of partners to mobilize their communities. 
• Organizational capacity assessments were administered during individual workshops with 
implementing partners and later reports were prepared and distributed. 
• A master CB activities plan was detailed based on assessment results. 
• A fundamental management skills training workshop was held for implementing partner 
Directors. 
• A skills bank is up and running. 
Based on interviews and feedback from CB/G staff and feedback from some of the implementing 
partners, the CB/G staff has the background and experience necessary to identify, assess, 
organize and in many cases conduct the capacity building activities. They are highly skilled and 
professional. They both appear to be good role models for Capacity Building/Gender and 
participatory techniques. With their cohesive spirit and the time now available to them, they 
should be able to work on and work through some of the concerns expressed by implementing 
partners (see below). At present the staff complement is sufficient to the needs of the 
organization. Furthermore, as they put the skills bank in place, they will have expertise available 
to help design, organize, and assure quality of additional activities for topics identified by 
partners. 
When implementing partners were asked how they felt about the capacity building activities in 
which they had participated they reported that they had helped them better understand the role of 
their boards and they felt they better understood what constituted a good financial system. To 
date most of what seems to have been transferred is knowledge and understanding. Skills and 
the ability to develop or use specific systems do not appear to have been sufficiently transferred 
yet. Little planning and management capacity appears to have yet been built. Minimal cross￾fertilization seems to have occurred among the implementing partners. Implementing partners 
also expressed a need for more help in focusing their efforts through capacity building activities. 
Many implementing partners expressed concern over only involving STRIVE staff and not 
involving a wider organizational audience, it was interpreted as exclusivity and not capacity 
building. They were also concerned that often the activities were diluted by erratic 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-95 
communication at many levels. Furthermore, many partners report feeling overwhelmed with 
capacity building activities from all of the Units that happen at the same time and that clear 
capacity building activity coordination within STRIVE has not yet been possible. 
The challenges, while not numerous, will require careful and planned deliberation to handle: 
• Many of the original eight implementing partners still need significant organizational 
capacity building especially in putting together systems and structures, in planning, and in 
management. 
• Coordination of CB/G activities among all Units will be essential to reduce burden on 
partners and ensure that skills build on one another to develop and reinforce capacity of 
individuals and organizations. 
• Gender has been particularly silent in STRIVE’s work and needs to come out more strongly. 
• Capacity building is not a one-shot workshop, it usually takes several different types of 
activities or occasions to ensure that someone has learned the skill and can use it. 
• Challenging the established ways, the environment, and the attitudes of an organization is the 
precursor to change, but it is not always well accepted and how it is presented can be crucial, 
i.e. creating buy-in to process, treating partners appropriately, developing relationships. 
• Though the gender-related objective developed by and used solely for the CB/G Unit is 
understandable, it does not at present correspond to any of the IRs or the supporting 
indicators and cannot at this point in time be effectively tracked. 
• While, it is understandable that the CB/G Unit might see capacity building needs in the 
CRS/STRIVE staff as well as in the implementing partners, it is essential that the CB/G 
maintain its focus on the implementing partners. 
• It is often times difficult to distinguish between building the capacity of the organization or 
only that of the individual – emphasis should be on organizational assets. 
There are significant opportunities for Operations Research (OR) to play a part in the capacity 
building and gender activities. Several OR ideas come to mind that could be immediately 
designed and conducted: 
1. Examine the impact on capacity building and actual use of skills based on whether 
organizations request assistance or STRIVE recommends assistance. 
2. Investigate the impact of different combinations of CB activities using the same capacity 
building topics, e.g. formal training, informal group sessions, and organizational 
coaching vs. mobile task team, organizational coaching, and on-the-job training using the 
same topic of program management. 
3. Detail the impact of different capacity building methods on men and on women 
4. Explore how the level of organization capacity impacts on an organization’s ability to 
deliver an intervention or a combination of interventions. 
5. Develop specific, individual OR packages for the original implementing partners with 
clear capacity building objectives built into their proposals – Batsiranai, RUDO, 
Bulawayo Archdiocese, HOCCIC and DOMCCP. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-96 
RECOMMENDATIONS
The following recommendations are intended to help focus the CB/G Unit activities. These 
should be considered ongoing and fit into the overall program effectiveness recommendations. If 
there are budgetary implications, it has been marked with ($). Programmatically, these 
readjustments will allow STRIVE to fulfil its present deliverables and establish itself for its long￾term planning. Implementing these recommendations will allow STRIVE to operationalize 
capacity building beyond individuals to the organizations. 
These should be ongoing and should fit into the STRIVE strategic program plan. Completion 
date for all should be 30 April 2004. 
Area Specific Recommendations Possible Action Steps 
Definition 1. Consider adopting the definitions 
provided in this piece for 
organizational capacity, 
organizational development, and 
capacity building 
Discuss the possibility of broadening the 
capacity building activities to more that just the 
STRIVE project, i.e. allow more implementing 
partner staff to benefit. 
Coordination 2. Coordinate all capacity building 
activities for STRIVE to reduce 
overlaps and burden on partners 
Include OR activities, grants management 
activities, intervention activities, etc. 
Topics 3. Create a menu of capacity building 
topics from which all partners can 
choose 
Based on mid-term review information and 
identified needs from assessments, develop of 
the menu (maybe keep it to 10-15 topics) using 
this information and the needs identified from 
the Assessment Tool 
Examine skills available Remember not to 
include any topics for which you cannot get an 
expert.
Skills – Outsource 
($) 
4. Continue development of certified 
skills bank 
Identify external professionals for bank, based 
on the above developed list of topics 
Train them all together on STRIVE, in 
participatory methodologies and on effective 
materials development 
CB/G Unit should facilitate this for all Units, 
help prepare TOR, oversee content with 
appropriate unit & methods, manage & 
monitor quality 
Calendar 5. Prepare an annual calendar of when 
ALL topics will be available for 
participation – all CB activities from 
all Units 
Have all Units present their proposed capacity 
building calendars (all Unit topics should be 
included on the list created in Recommendation 
1 above) and put together an annual calendar 
for all capacity building activities (not just 
those for the CB/G Unit, should include 
Finance and OR as well) 
Methodologies 6. Develop a combination of activity 
styles – formal, informal, and 
organizational one-on-one – 
alternatives to workshops and TOTs 
Talk to implementing partners about what they 
think would work best 
Examine the management & structural 
implications of adjusting the capacity building
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-97 
Area Specific Recommendations Possible Action Steps 
strategies 
Capacity 
Assessment Tools 
($) 
7. Develop a more complete 
organizational capacity assessment 
package to improve the quality of the 
administered assessment and the 
resulting feedback to and use by the 
partners 
Detail a “how-to use” the assessment tool (not 
necessarily confine unit to one tool), including 
clear instructions on how to analyse and 
present information to partners (positive 
feedback and constructive feedback) verbally 
and in writing, how to detail specific “action 
items” for them to follow, checklists 
Develop a qualitative portion of the assessment 
to use with the quantitative tool presently 
available 
Detail “maturity” level and establish clear, 
defined organizational capacity levels (basic, 
etc.) 
Indictors 8. Develop a more specific set of 
indicators to assess the capacity 
building activities decided upon in 
Recommendation 3 above and to 
assess the appropriateness of 
methodologies used 
Clearly define the objectives of organizational 
capacity building activities: 
# Performance-based 
# Results-oriented 
# Impact-focused 
# Creative-directed 
Objective/Gender 9. Consider officially adding the 
Gender objective to the STRIVE 
plan and develop appropriate IRs 
Include this topic at the next strategic planning 
retreat 
Ensure that it is in keeping with STRIVE’s 
direction 
Asset Building 10. Document process of working with 
implementing partners 
Detail guidelines on all of the activities the 
CB/G engages in 
Operations 
Research 
($)
11. Commission external analyses of 
experience and observation 
Develop TOR 
Recruit outsource 
Develop list of analyses to consider, e.g. 
behaviour change paradigm, 
management/decision-making structures & 
systems at community level, role of traditional 
leaders & mothers in increasingly difficult 
circumstances just to name a few 
TRADITIONAL CAPACTY BUILDING INDICTORS 
The following are generally recognized as CB indicators at any level (STRIVE/ 
Harare/partner/community). They are considered visible and measurable indicators: 
# Level of self-reliance (none to complete) 
# Number/percentage of growth in organization, in activities, in services, in resources 
# Number of Items institutionalised – development of organizational assets 
(documentation, processes, systems) and building of individual capacity (skills, 
knowledge, ability) 
# Level of control over own social and economic development (none to complete) 
# Level of group independence and autonomy (none to complete) 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-98 
TRADITIONAL GENDER INDICATORS 
The following are generally recognized GENDER indicators, again at any level: 
# Number/percentage of women involved in positions they do not traditionally fill 
# Number/percentage of women in leadership roles – traditional and untraditional 
# Number/percentage of women in a particular group and the roles they play 
MENU OF OPTIONS 
Based on the overarching recommendations cited above for the Capacity Building and Gender 
Unit, the mid-term review team, based on the qualitative research gathered during this review 
and their experiences in the field put together a “menu of options” for topics for possible CB/G 
activities, methods to use in conducting/carrying out these activities, possible audiences 
considerations (with whom to carry out these activities), and some possible indicators to 
measures capacity building and gender activities. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-99 
MENU OF OPTIONS 
TOPICS METHODOLOGY WITH WHOM/AUDIENCE INDICATORS 
Advocacy 
Budgeting 
Care for care givers 
Communication 
Community Mobilization 
Creating collaborative rather than top down organizational and 
community structures 
Development of Action Plans 
Development of Indicators 
Disbursement/receipt reconciliation 
Facilitation Skills 
Financial Management 
Financial reporting 
Fund raising 
HIV/AIDS Advocacy 
How to set up dialogue between partners and community 
Linkages with the established structures 
Lobbying Advocacy 
Management 
Micro-finance 
Operation research 
OVC Strategies and Principles 
Participatory methodologies (PLA, PRA, TFT, AI) 
Participatory monitoring and evaluation 
Partnership development 
Petty cash management 
Project management 
Psychosocial Support 
Record Keeping 
Report writing 
Resource Mobilization 
Resource mobilization/Accountability/Transparency 
Strategic Management 
Strategic Planning 
Substantive areas e.g. HIV/AIDS (aetiology, universal precautions 
etc), orphans, health and nutrition, 
Technical Issues USAID procedures/ 
Trends in HIV/AIDS and orphaning 
Volunteer management & Dependency 
Work planning and budgeting 
Contracting out 
Demonstration 
Direct personal supervision 
Establish a “college” 
Exchange visits or study tours 
Experimental learning workshop 
Forums 
Guidelines (structured) 
Internships 
Learning by doing 
Meetings 
Mobile Task Teams 
Networking sessions 
On site training 
One on one TA/mentoring 
Partner to partner discussions 
Peer/group mentoring 
Practical internship 
Publications – Newsletters, brochures 
Retreats 
Seminars 
Staff attachments/internships 
Tool Kits 
Training in use of PLA methods should include 
Training of Trainers 
Training workshops 
Workshops 
Be sure that those who provide CB activities: 
• Are certified by CB/G Unit 
• Are participatory 
• Are “masters” of their content 
• Empower their audiences 
• Build capacity of trainees to 
use/apply/replicate/hold the knowledge 
Accountants 
Agriculture Extension Officers 
Bookkeepers 
Community Leaders 
Community leadership 
CRS/Diocesan/staff 
District Administrator 
District Medical Officer 
District Nursing Officer 
District Social Welfare 
Education Officers 
Field Officers 
Field Staff 
Finance officers 
Financial Manager 
Government 
Implementing Partners 
Key Personnel in P8 and S8 
Local Government structures 
Management 
OR Manager 
OR Officers 
Other partner organizations in the area 
P8 Leadership 
Partner managers 
Partner office 
Partner specialists 
Partner trainers 
Program staff 
Project Manager 
Registrars of Births and Deaths 
Representation of school children 
School Heads 
Self selected partners 
Senior Women 
Volunteers 
# of and types of action initiated by 
communities as a result of mobilization 
process lead by partners 
# of beneficiaries benefiting from 
interventions 
# of children reached 
# of clients who are satisfied with ability of 
trainers in implementing 
# of communities in which partners 
subsequently use PLA approach, methods 
and tools 
# of evaluation of methods developed & 
used by clients 
# of integrated plans 
# of OVC that benefit from the SK services 
delivered by partners 
# of people in the CB initiatives by type and 
by gender 
# of people that have been trained by topic 
and by gender 
# of people utilizing the skills by gender 
# of resources managed as expected 
# of Strategic plan being implemented 
# of timely submission 
# of times budget annual work plan, etc is 
sent back for revision 
composite index of common capacity, 
community, children well being 
Quality improved – number of errors 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-100 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-101 
ANNEX 10 Closing the Gap: 
Scaling up Action to Improve the Lives of Children Made Vulnerable 
by HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe 
By John Williamson 
STRIVE, along with many other partners in Zimbabwe, is doing much to address to the needs 
and rights of children affected by HIV/AIDS and is an important component of the national 
response to children at risk. However, a huge gap remains between the current situation of many 
of these children and the fulfillment of their needs and rights. One of the most urgent questions 
the country faces is how to close this gap. The safety, well being, and development of a very 
large number of children depend upon finding answers and putting them into action, as does the 
future development and social stability of the country. If Zimbabwe fails these children, their 
future will be bleak and the country will face a rapidly growing number of under-educated, 
malnourished, socially marginalized, angry youth. 
In addition to more than a million orphans in Zimbabwe, there are very large numbers of 
children living in poor households that have taken in orphaned relatives. These households try to 
stretch already inadequate resources even further to provide for these orphans, affecting all 
children in the household. There are also children, not yet orphaned, who live with a parent 
chronically ill due to AIDS. In some cases these children become care providers for their parent. 
Additionally, there are children who themselves have HIV/AIDS. No one knows the total 
number children affected by AIDS. Neither does anyone know the total number who are 
benefiting from current programs and how many are not. STRIVE is an effort to fill a small 
portion of the gap in support to vulnerable children. It has the additional and vitally important 
responsibility to learn which interventions can be scaled up (expanded) and scaled out 
(replicated) so a large-scale, collective national response can close the gap. 
 
If unlimited resources were available, implementing solutions would not be too difficult. 
Answers could found by training, hiring, and putting in the field armies of social workers, 
teachers, counselors, health service providers, and others backed with supply chains of food, 
medicine, school supplies, construction materials, and lots of money. Even if this hypothetical 
humanitarian army could be deployed, without sustained funding, it would collapse. Additional 
funding for programs to children at risk in Zimbabwe seems probable, but it is unlikely in the 
extreme that it will be more than a small fraction of the massive start up and operating costs that 
would be required to develop new and scaled up direct service delivery programs country-wide. 
The Government cannot afford this, and it would be unrealistic for Zimbabwe to anticipate that 
the international community would foot the bill for the next two or three decades. 
Another option would be to use all available resources to field a much smaller army of trained 
personnel and volunteers to deliver whatever services could be afforded for as many children as 
resources would allow. This is more or less the current approach, but a yawning national gap 
remains that marginal additional donor funding is not likely to fill. Measuring the gap between 
the current effort and an adequate response to all vulnerable children is vitally important so this 
baseline can be used to measure progress. Closing the gap is likely to require a more cost-
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-102 
effective mix of approaches than those currently used by most of STRIVE’s partners (and likely 
those used by most other programs in the country), which primarily provide direct services to 
children through community volunteers. 
 
Even with improved programming approaches, more resources are required to help build an 
adequate national response to the impacts of AIDS on children and families in Zimbabwe. Some 
of this support can be obtained from sources outside the country; however, it would be a very 
risky strategy for the country to stake its future primarily on the ongoing generosity of the 
international community. The one aspect of donor funding that can be depended upon is that, 
ultimately, it cannot be depended upon. The foundation of an adequate ongoing national 
response must come from within the country, and external funding must be used to supplement 
and strengthen it. 
Most of Zimbabwe’s current responses to the impacts of AIDS come from within the country, 
and with effective organization they can accomplish much more. Families and communities are 
doing the most. They are the first line of response to HIV/AIDS, and irrespective of whether 
anyone else helps, they struggle every day to survive and to provide whatever of care they can to 
their vulnerable children and ill adults. But they can’t do enough and need help. Their resources 
are far too limited to provide adequate care, protection, and support. Additional elements of the 
current national response include the Basic Assistance Module (BEAM) for educational 
assistance, the national social assistance program, and the National AIDS Trust Fund. In 
addition, there are over 100 organizations registered as working with orphans and vulnerable 
children in Zimbabwe. CRS/STRIVE may be the largest program of this type. 
Government bodies, nongovernmental organizations, faith communities, the private sector, and 
other actors are contributing in ways large and small to the national response to orphans and 
vulnerable children, but they are doing so without much reference to each other. Building and 
maintaining an adequate set of responses will require active information-sharing and 
collaboration (literally, “working together”) of a wide range of governmental and civil society 
actors from the village to the national level and beyond. However, the active networks of 
exchange and collaboration needed to enable these many and varied bodies to piece together an 
adequate collective response are not currently functioning, and they must be developed. 
Not only is the magnitude of the challenge enormous, the country will be dealing with it for a 
very long time. The number of orphans in Zimbabwe can be expected to increase until at about 
2010 and the percent of children orphaned is likely to increase until at least 2005. The number of 
the additional children made vulnerable by AIDS will follow a similar pattern. 
Figures 1 and 2 help put in perspective the orphaning challenge Zimbabwe faces (Data are from 
Children on the Brink 2002 by USAID, UNICEF, and UNAIDS). Even if Zimbabwe begins to 
succeed in bringing down its HIV prevalence rate, AIDS deaths and orphaning can be expected 
to continue for a very long time, and the number and proportion of the country’s children who 
are orphans will remain high. The lag between an individual’s HIV infection and eventual death 
due to AIDS averages about 10 years, so even if HIV prevalence begins to decline (as the tables 
below anticipate), orphaning will increase for another decade beyond that point because of the 
people already infected. Because of the number of people living with HIV in Zimbabwe, the 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-103 
shape of the curves in these figures is more or less already determined. The only factor that could 
change them substantially would be massive, sustained funding for the health services and 
medications to keep parents alive. Failing this, but with the hoped for downward shift in HIV 
prevalence, orphaning in Zimbabwe can be expected to increase for five to 10 years, then begin a 
gradual decline for another two decades or so, until it reaches pre-1990 levels. Both the number 
and percent of children affected by AIDS can be expected to remain abnormally high for two or 
three decades. 
Figure 1 
0
200,000
400,000
600,000
800,000
1,000,000
1,200,000
1,400,000
1990 1995 2001 2005 2010
Estimated
Number of
orphans (all
casues)
Figure 2 
0
5
10
15
20
25
1990 1995 2001 2005 2010
Estimated
percentage of
children who are
orphans
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-104 
Three strategic conclusions seem obvious from the situation described above. First, the needs 
and rights of the country’s orphans and vulnerable children will depend largely on its own 
resources. Second, cost-effective approaches are needed to allow Zimbabwe to piece together an 
adequate national response. Third, this collective effort will have to be maintained for a very 
long time. What is not clear, however, is the cost of mobilizing and maintaining such a response, 
and this is a significant constraint to planning a collective way forward. No one has yet 
determined the actual cost per child of most current and or other possible interventions, the costs 
of increasing their coverage, or their actual benefits for children, but this can and must be done. 
 
To help plan an adequate collective national response, it is imperative that the STRIVE OR team 
help generate such needed information by determining (1) the per child costs of different 
interventions, (2) the likely costs for scaling up or scaling out each of these, and (3) the 
respective results of each of these interventions for children. The OR team should attempt to 
gather this information for the activities being carried out with STRIVE funding. It will then be 
important for STRIVE to make cost comparisons (both per child beneficiary and at a given scale) 
of various kinds of interventions, as well as describing their benefits for children. This 
comparison should include interventions in each of the three categories described in Table 1: 
1. Direct service delivery to children by paid staff, 
2. Service delivery through community participation, and 
3. Community owned and managed activities that benefit children.
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-105 
Table 1. Approaches to Addressing Needs Among Orphans and Vulnerable Children 
Approach Process of Initiation Service Delivery 
Process 
Services Resource Base Continuity Relative cost 
per 
beneficiary 
1. Direct Service 
delivery 
Agency submits 
proposal to funder, 
contract is negotiated 
for delivery of specific 
services to targeted 
beneficiaries 
Paid staff of a funded 
agency provide specific 
direct assistance to 
targeted beneficiaries 
Predetermined by 
funder and 
agency 
Funding and 
possibly technical 
assistance from 
donor(s) to agency 
Determined by 
the availability 
of funding 
High 
2. Service 
delivery through 
community 
participation 
As above, then agency 
persuades specific 
community members 
to carry out specific 
activities with agency 
training and support 
A funded agency 
supports community 
volunteers to provide 
specific direct 
assistance to targeted 
beneficiaries 
Predetermined by 
funder and 
agency, possibly 
with consultation 
with communities 
As above, with 
addition of 
volunteer action 
by community 
members and 
possibly use of 
community 
resources (e.g. 
land, expertise, 
facilities) 
As above Moderate 
3. Community 
owned, led, and 
managed 
activities 
Community analyzes 
its own situation, 
decides what and who 
it is most concerned 
about, and initiates 
action. May be 
catalyzed (mobilized) 
by one or more 
community members 
or an external agency. 
May include capacity 
building of community 
group and/or 
designated members 
Community members 
carry out and manage 
activities they have 
planned 
Determined by 
community, often 
in dialogue with 
mobilizing 
agency. Cannot 
be predetermined 
by mobilizing 
agency. 
Basis is 
community 
resources (as 
above), possibly 
with additional 
resources from 
external body(ies) 
(e.g. funding, 
material inputs, 
expertise, training, 
information) 
Determined by 
community 
commitment 
(closely linked 
to concern abut 
problem(s) 
addressed and 
sense of 
ownership of the 
response) and 
availability of 
local resources 
Low 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-106 
Most of the interventions being carried out by STRIVE partners seem to fall into category two. 
While such activities are likely to be less costly than those in category one, they are likely to be 
more expensive to maintain than those in the third category, which are much less dependent upon 
ongoing external funding. Interventions that STRIVE partners are carrying out which fall into 
category three include the IS&L approach to economic strengthening and (depending how they 
are developed) chief’s fields or community fields. These would be important for the OR team to 
include in such an analysis. 
USAID/Washington and other bodies have been involved with various costing exercises related 
to interventions for orphans and vulnerable children, and could share with the STRIVE OR team 
relevant reports and information. It could also help identify relevant technical expertise in the 
region. USAID/Washington would also welcome the opportunity to learn from any insights and 
methods the OR team may be able to bring to a costing and result exercise in Zimbabwe, because 
progress in this area, critical as it is, has been remarkably limited. In addition, recognizing that 
there are promising approaches and interventions in Zimbabwe and elsewhere in the region that 
are not currently being implemented by STRIVE’s partners, it is important that USAID seek to 
obtain cost and benefit information for some of these. This would provide a wider set of options 
for Zimabwean stakeholders to consider as they seek to piece together a collective national 
response that matches the scale of the problems that HIV/AIDS is causing among children and 
families. 
Developing the best possible national response requires strategic planning to make the best use 
of currently available resources as well as bringing new resources to bear. The following, in 
addition to strategic issues described above, are some of the key aspects of the current situation 
in Zimbabwe that can limit or expand an adequate national response to the problems AIDS is 
causing among orphans and vulnerable children: 
• The overwhelming majority of these children are living with a surviving parent or extended 
family member in a community. 
• A small minority of children has slipped through these primary safety nets and is living on 
the street or in institutions, and some are in child-headed households receiving varying 
degrees of support. 
• The large majority of adults in Zimbabwe are HIV negative, and among those with HIV, at 
any point in time, the majority is healthy and able to carry their normal activities. 
• All communities have some degree of current and potential capacity (e.g. skills, knowledge, 
land, cultural traditions, etc.) and with support can do more for vulnerable children. 
• Enabling ill parents to live longer and more comfortably is one of the most important ways to 
benefit their children. 
Taking such factors into account, the outline of a way forward in Zimbabwe is reflected in such 
documents as the National Orphan Care Policy, the National HIV/AIDS Policy, the goals for 
orphans and vulnerable children of the United Nations Special Session on HIV/AIDS, the five￾point strategic framework and 12 principles for programming in Children on the Brink 2002, but 
that’s the easy part. 
 The hard part is figuring out who needs to do what and how. Currently there is no adequate 
mechanism to bring all key stakeholders together at the various levels and areas within the 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-107 
country where they are working. This needs to happen on an ongoing basis so stakeholders to 
figure out the hard part, then piece together and sustain a network of responses. In mid-June 
there will be a national consultation on orphans and vulnerable children that can help Zimbabwe 
begin to build a collaborative national response. This event needs to help stakeholders to develop 
a jointly agreed upon national plan of action and determine stakeholder responsibilities for 
action. As two of the key stakeholders, STRIVE and USAID must play active roles, not just as 
participants but also in helping to shape the event and ensure it generates constructive action. 
No single body has the resources and expertise by itself to respond adequately, countrywide to 
the needs and rights of the children made vulnerable by AIDS. This includes the Government of 
Zimbabwe, any international organization, NGO, or faith-based structure. They only hope that 
any of these bodies have of seeing an adequate national response is to collaborate, with each and 
every stakeholder contributing what it can to the collective effort. 
Consequently, among the steps needed in a national plan of action are the development at each 
level (national through community) of ongoing mechanisms and networks that will serve the 
needs of participating organizations on an ongoing basis. Every organization agrees in principle 
with the idea of "coordination," but none really wants to "be coordinated," because it implies 
giving up a degree of autonomy and leeway in decision-making. Consequently, stakeholders 
need to agree upon mechanisms or networks that will serve their individual needs for exchanging 
information, finding ways to work together, seeking and providing technical support, planning 
jointly, solving problems, and advocating for needed action at higher levels. Before establishing 
any new mechanisms, stakeholders should consider the current and potential roles of such 
structures as Development Committees (at district and other levels), Child Welfare Forums 
(which seem largely dormant), and the AIDS Council structure. 
To inform the process of developing mechanisms for collaboration regarding vulnerable children 
stakeholders should also gather information on models used in other countries in the region. 
Some of the structures in other countries worth considering include AIDS Committees in Malawi 
(each of which has a technical sub-group on orphans) and Orphans and Vulnerable Children 
Committees in Zambia. 
Considering the above, closing the gap for children affected by AIDS in Zimbabwe will require a 
variety of approaches, which include: 
• Developing and implementing a national plan of action, 
• Organizing a collaborative national situation analysis, 
• Reviewing and revising national policies relevant to children’s safety, well-being, and 
development, 
• Developing mechanisms from national to community level through which stakeholders can 
exchange information and find ways to work together, 
• Scaling up individual programs to benefit more children, 
• Scaling out effective programmatic approaches by enabling more stakeholders to replicate 
them, and 
• Monitoring and evaluating action and feeding this information into ongoing planning and 
implementation. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-108 
STRIVE’s Role 
STRIVE’s programmatic and operations research roles are interrelated and vitally important to 
the development of an adequate national response to the impacts of AIDS on children in 
Zimbabwe. It needs to help demonstrate what works and how cost-effective interventions can be 
scaled up and out to all the areas where HIV/AIDS is seriously undermining family and 
community capacity to fulfill their children’s needs and rights. 
It is not enough for STRIVE to help its partners to implement effective interventions. The 
country needs it to develop into an ongoing program whose priorities include: 
• Strengthening the economic and other capacities of vulnerable households to protect and care 
for their children, 
• Mobilizing and strengthening community action to protect and promote the well-being of the 
most vulnerable children, including their psychosocial well-being, 
• Ensuring that resources are mobilized to meet the children’s basic physical needs, 
• Enabling children to attend school and otherwise gain skills to better support themselves and 
others, and 
• Helping children and adolescents to avoid HIV infection. 
Since resources are limited and, nationally, the gap is large, STRIVE must enable its partners to 
develop and implement approaches that measurably benefit vulnerable children at a low cost per 
child and which can be replicated by other organizations. With this in mind, a current deficit in 
programming by STRIVE’s partners is mobilization of community owned, led, and managed 
activities (the third category in Table 1). The primary approach used by STRIVE’s partners is to 
involve community volunteers in service delivery (category two), rather than to mobilize and 
support communities to assume primary responsibility for responding to the needs and problems 
of orphans and vulnerable children. The point is that communities (in addition to problems) have 
capacities and access to local resources that can be brought to bear to improve children’s safety 
and well being. But let there be no mistake, community efforts will not be sufficient to meet 
children’s needs, but systematically mobilizing communities and strengthening their capacities 
can enable them to be the foundation of an effective, sustained national response. Limited 
external assistance and capacity building can enable communities to expand their activities 
incrementally as their capacities grow, and significant additional programmatic and policy action 
will be required to complete an adequate national response. 
Communities need more than initial help with mobilization. They need some level of ongoing 
support, be that in the form of information, training, technical support, material resources, or 
limited amounts of financial support, but to be sustained, community efforts must be based on 
local ownership, commitment, and sense of responsibility. Community mobilization is a process 
that helps community members come together to analyze their shared situation, decide what and 
who they are most concerned about, what resources they may be able to bring to bear, and what 
they are willing to do. It takes time, and its evolution in a community must proceed at that 
community’s own pace. Neither the pace nor the specific outcomes can be predetermined by the 
mobilizing body. To do so would undermine the foundation of community ownership and place 
responsibility for action on the mobilizing body. If you are going to call the tune, you have to be 
willing to pay the piper. This point is at the heart of the ongoing debate about volunteers. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-109 
Programs, such as COPE in Malawi, SCOPE-OVC in Zambia, and FOCUS in Zimbabwe are all 
demonstrating that benefits can be achieved for large numbers of orphans and vulnerable 
children at a relatively low cost per child and that poor rural and urban communities can sustain 
these with limited external support. Communities develop mechanisms through which limited 
amounts of external support can be directed. While such grassroots efforts are not nearly 
sufficient, they are a sustainable basis that can be supplemented by microeconomic strengthening 
and other interventions. These programs are demonstrating that many small community efforts 
can be mobilized to benefit a substantial number of children on an ongoing basis. STRIVE, its 
partners, and USAID/Zimbawe could benefit from exploring programs that mobilize and 
strengthen community owned and managed action for vulnerable children. 
STRIVE also needs to develop linkages and collaborative relationships with stakeholders beyond 
its own partners and USAID. It can strengthen its links with Government at national level. A 
working relationship with the BEAM program would be particularly valuable. Greater 
collaboration with the Ministry of Education generally may provide opportunities for to 
influence national policy relevant to educational access, and linkages with emergency food 
programs (beyond those of CRS) can help improve children’s nutritional condition. 
USAID Role 
USAID/Zimbabwe has a unique opportunity to help bring about a radical improvement in the 
way the needs and rights of orphans and vulnerable children are addressed in the country. It is 
already playing an active role, and has open to it vital strategic opportunities to help the country 
move from its current fragmented approach to a collaborative, coherent national response. By 
working with UNICEF and engaging actively with the Government, it can influence stakeholders 
very broadly. It is uniquely able to influence other bilateral donors to contribute toward missing 
elements of a national program. By funding additional promising approaches and targeted, 
technically sound operations research, it can answer key questions about how to put together and 
maintain a set of interventions adequate to make a real difference in the lives of the most 
vulnerable children. 
Access to education is the core of an adequate response to orphans and vulnerable children in 
Zimbabwe, and USAID can play leadership and advocacy roles to help move the country to 
universal primary education. 
USAID/Zimbabwe needs to develop long term working relationships with several technically 
competent organizations seriously committed developing and implementing programming for 
children made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS. Recognizing the complexity of the challenges, it is 
going to take years to develop and refine an adequate set of responses. Regarding HIV/AIDS, 
USAID/Zimbabwe has already taken a leadership role in the region, making the case for 
technical changes in the approach to voluntary testing and counseling and for amending 
programming regulations to make them more appropriate to the new demands of responding 
effectively to the pandemic. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-110 
However, with regard to STRIVE, USAID’s programming and financial regulations, 
requirements, and procedures are inappropriate to the massive, long-term impacts of HIV/AIDS 
on children and families. USAID has a reputation in the international development community as 
having particularly complex and onerous regulations related to program funding, accounting, and 
reporting. It rarely commits funding for more than three years. Its competitive processes for 
making funding decisions undermine the collaborative approach essential to an effective 
response. Its regulations concerning the use of Child Survival and Development Funds (such as 
those used to fund STRIVE) largely preclude the use of such funds for microeconomic 
strengthening household incomes to benefit vulnerable children. On the other hand, orphaning 
and other impacts of AIDS will continue for decades and are causing unprecedented child 
welfare problems throughout sub-Saharan Africa. There is a glaring mismatch between 
regulations and procedures, on the one hand, and the horrific, slow onset disaster of AIDS on the 
other. This problem must be acknowledged and explored more fully by USAID/Washington in 
order to find solutions. 
USAID’s typical approach of working with one partner for a few years then announcing another 
competition for funds precludes the continuity necessary to develop effective, efficient programs 
which are addressing a multitude of new and complex challenges without a proven road map to 
follow. USAID must acknowledge and address the challenges of developing a program that will 
significantly improve the lives of orphaned and vulnerable children on an ongoing basis, and the 
difficulties must not be underestimated. Programming in this area is in an entirely different 
category of complexity from most health or development projects. Simultaneously, a project for 
orphans and vulnerable children must address social, psychological, cultural, education, 
economic, and health issues as well as those of child rights, welfare, and development. Multiple 
levels of governmental, organizational and social structures come into play. A project must deal 
with the organizational challenges of addressing these in an integrated way without having a 
proven course of action to follow. It must address in effective, measurable ways the long-term 
and unprecedented impacts of HIV/AIDS on children and families, and it must find ways to 
collaborate with a wide variety of other actors to form an integral part of a much larger whole. 
Developing such a project and making it work well takes time. In Zimbabwe, the two and a half 
year time frame for STRIVE would have been unrealistic even if it were not expected to generate 
operations research findings needed to guide and scale up future action by USAID in the country. 
While STRIVE must shoulder responsibility for most of its operational difficulties, USAID’s 
systems the complexity of the task and are major contributing factors. The extremely complex 
regulations of USAID have contributed significantly to a relationship between STRIVE and its 
partners of micro-management, frustration, and distrust. In a situation requiring innovation and 
creativity, USAID’s complex regulations are telegraphed through STRIVE to its partners, 
slowing, limiting, and frustrating programmatic action. STRIVE needs to find ways to buffer its 
partners from these demands rather than to pass them on. 
Recommendations 
USAID/Zimbabwe should make a substantial, long-term commitment to help develop an 
adequate, collective national response to the impacts of HIV/AIDS on children and families. It 
should use the five point strategic framework and the 12 programming principles in Children on 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-111 
the Brink 2002 as foundational guidance and gear its program toward achievement of the 
UNGASS goals for orphans and vulnerable children. It should provide substantial support for 
programming by multiple lead organizations, work actively and play an advocacy role with 
UNICEF and the Government, participate in and support development of effective networks for 
stakeholder collaboration from national to community level, and support policy analysis and 
development. 
USAID should make universal primary education a central goal in its efforts to mobilize an 
adequate collaborative national response to orphans and other vulnerable children. 
USAID, in consultation with UNICEF and the Government, should pursue the establishment of a 
national resource center for community-based organizations that are making appropriate, 
effective, low-cost activities that genuinely benefit orphans and vulnerable children. Such a 
center could develop mechanisms to channel information, training opportunities, technical 
support, and judicious amounts of material resources and funds to community organizations. In 
addition, a resource center could help link developing organizations with donors that prefer to 
make direct grants. 
The STRIVE OR Unit, with cooperation from USAID/Zimbabwe, should identify aspects of 
USAID programming regulations and processes that hinder effective programming for children 
made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS. Based on this research and its own experience, 
USAID/Zimbabwe should consider whether it may be able to make additional recommendations 
to USAID/Washington, with a view toward the development of regulations and procedures that 
facilitate effective programming for children and families affected by AIDS. 
The STRIVE OR team should calculate the costs per child beneficiary of selected interventions 
being carried out by its partners, at a minimum, including activities in categories 2 and 3 in Table 
1. The OR team should generate such information by determining (1) per child costs of its 
partner’s interventions and (2) the costs of scaling up or scaling out specific activities to benefit 
more children. It should also gather quantitative and qualitative information on the results for 
children of the same interventions. The OR team should prepare a document that compares and 
contrasts costs and results of the different interventions. 
USAID/Zimbabwe and USAID/Washington should seek to obtain costing and impact 
information for promising approaches and interventions in Zimbabwe and elsewhere in the sub￾region that are not currently being implemented by STRIVE partners. 
USAID Zimbabwe should fund CARE to implement its Village Savings and Loan approach 
(which it has developed and has unique capacity to implement). This project should include a 
strong OR component which USAID/Washington could help to design. 
USAID should also consider funding other organizations already working in Zimbabwe, which 
have a distinct comparative advantage in proving assistance to vulnerable children. This should 
include particular attention to children without family care. 
USAID/Zimbabwe should seek the cooperation of the Nairobi office of the World Conference 
for Religion and Peace to explore opportunities for strengthening and expanding and 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-112 
strengthening the role of faith-based organizations in responding to orphans and vulnerable 
children in Zimbabwe. 
A major emphasis of STRIVE’s capacity building with its partners should be to enable them to 
develop and implement approaches that measurably benefit vulnerable children at a low cost per 
child. 
For a small group of personnel of STRIVE, partner organizations personnel, and 
USAID/Zimbabwe, STRIVE should facilitate a study visit to the COPE and SCOPE-OVC 
programs. Following such a visit, STRIVE should work with selected partners to develop 
necessary skills and methods to mobilize and strengthen community owned and managed 
activities to benefit orphans and vulnerable children. 
STRIVE should collaborate with COPE, SCOPE-OVC and other organizations or programs in 
the region to develop a community mobilization network for information exchange and training. 
STRIVE should strengthen its working relationships with ministries that have key roles to play in 
developing a scaled up national response to improve safety, well-being, and development of 
children made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS. 
STRIVE should do training with its partners in methods of involving children and adolescents 
effectively in decision-making and interventions. Such training, however, should be carried out 
in communities with partners and community members and not in a centralized workshop 
setting. Part of the training strategy should be partner-to-partner exchanges involving 
participation in exercises with children and adolescents in communities. 
USAID should ensure the continuity and evolution of STRIVE. CRS should diversify and 
expand its funding base for STRIVE. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-113 
ANNEX 11 DISCUSSION DOCUMENTS 
Government Linkages 
Ms. G.R. Dete, Ministry of Health and Child Welfare 
The objective of the presentation is to provide the reviewers with the historical, administrative, 
legal, policy, national and international environment governing the protection and care of 
children in difficult circumstances in Zimbabwe. Children affected by AIDS are a category of 
children classified by the National Programme of Action for children as children living in 
especially difficult circumstances. 
Historical Context 
The nation state of Zimbabwe is very young having emerged from a protracted war of 
independence in 1980 as compared to states like Britain, for example, which has operated as a 
nation state since 1066. Besides the struggle for liberation, the country had also struggled with 
economic sanctions imposed by Britain to punish the colonial “settler community” which had 
unilaterally declared themselves independent from Britain to prevent or delay African majority 
rule. 
The Zimbabwean economy was therefore not in good shape even at its birth as a state. To correct 
the enormous inequities between the European and African races in the country, the new 
government developed the overall economic policy of “Growth with Equity” out of which was 
derived the health policy of Equity in Health guided by the Alma Ata declaration and definition 
of Health as not merely the absence of disease or infirmity but the physical, social, mental and 
economic well being of an individual. 
Correcting the gross disparities in health care provision and education for the African population 
in the native reserves constituting about 80% of Zimbabweans meant an enormous investment in 
the construction for example, of forty district hospitals with corresponding clinics in an endavour 
to reduce the distances travelled on foot to reach a clinic to ten kilometers. Primary and 
secondary schools doubled between 1980 and 1995. The medical school intake for student 
doctors was also doubled and all the training for other professional groups was also expanded. 
The rural population in the former native reserves now known as communal lands carried then, 
as now, the heaviest burden of ill health as the soils are poor. The rainfall is poor and these areas 
are infested with malaria, sleeping sickness, and bilhazia. Infrastructure like roads, bridges, and 
dams are poor in some cases non-existent. Portable water and sanitation are poor. 
All the developmental efforts of the majority government registered significant gains in the 
health status of the population resulting in for example the reduction in infant mortality from 
about 300 deaths per 1000 live births in some parts of Zimbabwe to about 80 deaths per 1000 
live births. Infant mortality for the non-African segment of the population was and still is around 
14 deaths per 1000 live births even with the AIDS pandemic. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-114 
Most of the expansion in the social sector did not come about as a result of a vibrant industrial 
and commercial sector but from borrowing. Then came the deadly virus on population with very 
poor life chances as a result of malnutrition, general poverty and disease. Oakland Ross writing 
for the Toronto Globe and Mail on August 10, 1991 aptly captured the fearful state of a 
weakened population also under attack from AIDS when he said “If some malevolent and 
ingenious god wanted to inflict the greatest imaginable harm on the widest possible scale, he 
might well choose AIDS and he would put it in Africa” but I say he would put it in Zimbabwe. 
With the current economic sanctions imposed by the West, the country may well be jostling for 
the number one slot in the prevalence, mortality and orphaning as a result of its weakened ability 
to fight HIV/AIDS. 
Government Legal and Administrative Response to Meet the Needs of Orphans 
and Vulnerable Children 
! Government has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child and had already 
enacted legislation such as, the Child Protection and Adoption Act, The Public Health 
Act and The Education Act 
! Government established Victim Friendly Courts that specifically handle cases of child 
sexual abuse. 
! Government through the National AIDS Council collects 3% AIDS levy, which is 
disbursed through District and Ward AIDS Committees. 
! District Development Committees at district level consisting of departmental heads from 
government ministries, NGOs, CBOs and Traditional Leadership and their Social 
Services sub-committees address issues of vulnerable children. 
! Establishment of Child Welfare Forums which are formal sub-committees of the DDCs in 
districts oversee the welfare of vulnerable children and feed into the National program of 
Action for children 
The National Social Protection Strategy comprising: 
o Basic Education Assistance Module 
o Zimbabwe National Strategy on children in difficult circumstances. 
o Rural and urban public works Strategy for income transfers to vulnerable 
households. 
o Assisted Medical Treatment – for vulnerable persons. 
o Drought Relief and Supplementary feeding for vulnerable children 
Constraints 
• The high turnover of District Social Welfare Officers is being remedied through the 
orientation of Local Authorities to undertake the functions of the Social Welfare Officers 
as Probation Officers. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-115 
Why Linkages? 
! To minimize duplication and wastage of scarce resources 
! To enable equitable distribution of services both geographically and by categories of 
vulnerable children 
! To enhance quality of care by referrals to professionals and institutions of difficult cases 
like abuse and other requirements of children such as birth certificates 
Importance of forming linkages with government. 
! Government has the primary responsibility to deliver services, protect and care for the 
vulnerable child. NGOs assist government to fulfill this role. 
! Government has permanent structures through which NGOs should operate. 
! Government has a coordinating planning mechanism at village, ward district, provincial 
and national levels. The coordinating Committees are village, ward, district and 
provincial development committees and child welfare forums all of which feed into the 
national program of action for children with a secretariat housed in the Ministry of Health 
and Child Welfare. 
STRIVE linkages with government so far: 
! The key collaborating ministry is the Ministry of The Public Service, Labor and Social 
Welfare for children in difficult circumstances. 
! In the education sector, STRIVE has obtained clearance from Ministry of Education, 
Sport and Culture to provide wet feeding in schools. Discussions were held at district, 
circuit and school levels. 
! BEAM is represented on child school fees selection committees to prevent duplication. 
! Health and Child Welfare, Education, Sport and Culture and Public Service, Labor and 
Social Welfare ministries provide the authority to feed at Education Care and 
Development Centers for the pre-scholars. 
RECOMMENDATIONS: 
1. STRIVE should use existing structures, such as the DDCs and the DACs which are sub￾committees of the DDCs, to foster coordination and linkages. 
2. To support the STRIVE partners, CRS should play both a monitoring and facilitative role 
to ensure that the partners are making relevant linkages with government departments, 
local authorities, and other NGOs in STRIVE operating areas. 
3. STRIVE should be more pro-active than reactive in forming linkages. 
4. STRIVE should formalize a process that ensures coordination at national and partner 
level. 
STRIVE should strengthen working relationships with mother ministry which is the Ministry of 
The Public Service, Labor and Social Welfare. However in the absence of social welfare officers, 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-116 
STRIVE should consult health and child welfare as they are the coordinating ministry for 
children in the country. 
The National AIDS Trust Fund is a Noble innovation, which is mobilizing additional resources 
for the fight against AIDS. No other country in the region has such an innovation. It 
demonstrates Zimbabwe’s commitment to fight the scourge and uphold the rights to life and 
development even of the most vulnerable children who live in especially difficult circumstances. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-117 
CHARACTERISTICS OF CHURCH STRUCTURES 
Linda Lovick, CRS/Zambia 
The following is a brief outline of characteristics of church structures in the sub-Saharan region 
and challenges of working with or within them. This summary is neither exhaustive nor a claim 
that all church systems are the same, but rather a compilation of observations based on 
experience. By definition, then, these comments will be general in nature and limited in scope. 
The intent is that they may be of assistance in formulating recommendations. 
Characteristics of Church Structures: 
• local churches ultimately accountable to a higher authority 
This can be a Board of Directors, the Pope, a Mission Board located overseas, as 
examples. 
• usually very hierarchically organized 
Church structures are often very well organized with clear reporting pathways, often 
vertical and hidebound. 
• high level church leaders may be very powerful 
For example, Catholic bishops have a lot of power within their own diocesan borders and 
a sense of established territory, while other church heads may still be establishing their 
area of ‘fit’. 
• often have an international staff 
Permanent church staff as well as lay volunteer or missionary staff come from countries 
all over the world. 
• often cover a large geographic area, province e.g. 
• sometimes apply inappropriate reasons for hiring 
Motivated by compassion, staff members may be hired who lack the proper skill set for 
the position. 
• offer comparative advantage via pre-existing and extensive community structure 
Some denominations have developed and maintained deep community penetration and 
relationship; indeed they can represent a primary institutional component for 
development services delivery. 
• church members are often the backbone of community responses and interventions 
Often in Home Based Care (HBC) and other community-based programs, recruitment 
takes place in part through local churches. The community wants to have “caring” 
people (and with “good reputations”) in the role of volunteer caregivers and churches are 
perceived as havens of such people for both caregivers and those to vet potential 
caregivers. 
• service delivery across faiths 
CRS strongly requires that its funds provide services to target beneficiaries regardless of 
type of church membership or type of religious practice. 
Challenges, or Issues with Implications: 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-118 
• differences between project staff and church staff salaries
Churches often have salary policies applicable in their own jurisdiction that may or may 
not be consistent country-wide, but usually cannot easily be changed. Projects coming in 
can pose a threat to the equilibrium and create unintended tensions in a number of ways. 
Such projects may have a better ability to respond to and reflect the current cost of living. 
They may wish to adhere to a neighboring or country-level pay rate for internal 
consistency that doesn’t match the church structure’s rates. Any scheme could provide 
more or fewer allowances than the host church structure. 
• the personalities, energy for development and management skills of church heads 
vary considerably
These factors can combine to provide an operational environment for response and 
development that supports a reality anywhere on the spectrum from stonewalling to 
progressive, proactive support for innovation. 
• church heads are usually very busy and are away a lot
This is especially germane when release of funds, check signing, contract ratification or 
other critical fiscal duties lie in the hands of that church head. When such duties are 
delegated to other high level church officials this is less an issue. Other activities can 
also be affected; when project proposals are developed collaboratively, RFA deadlines 
can be impacted. 
• some churches are constrained from strongly advocating for or distributing 
condoms
The obvious one in this category is the Catholic church. At minimum, this issue has 
ramifications for HIV/AIDS prevention programs funding. 
• religious beliefs make it hard for churches to target because they want to reach ALL 
the needy
It is often difficult for the staff of a church structure to really grasp the limitations of 
service provision to targeted beneficiaries even when they have fully participated in the 
conceptualization of the project. Inherent in most religions is a mandate to serve, and it is 
problematic to put boundaries on that basic tenet in the face of broader unmet need. 
• parsimonious with funds, church project holder staff may spend too slowly to guard 
against running out
Churches are continuously faced with people seeking services or support from them. 
When they do acquire funds, there is often a sense of wanting to stretch out these 
resources as long as possible. This good intention comes into conflict with 1) 
implementation plans, and 2) ‘next tranche’ funding level based, to a certain degree, on 
current tranche actual spending. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-119 
Volunteerism in the context of the CRS/STRIVE Project: Which way forward? 
Notes from a discussion session on May 19, 2003 
By Pelucy Ntambirweki, UNICEF 
Arising from the perceptions from the field visits in the project area, the CRS/STRIVE review 
team proposed that volunteerism should be discussed further as a candidate issue that impacts on 
service delivery at the field level. 
John Williamson highlighted three approaches, underscored their relevant impact and cost to 
service delivery at the community level: 
• Direct service delivery—agency submits proposal to funder, contract is negotiated for 
delivery of services to targeted beneficiaries. The services are pre-determined without the 
participation of the community. 
• Service delivery through community participation—agency pursues specific activities with 
agency training and support. 
• Community owned and managed activities—community analyses own situation, decided 
what and who is concerned and initiates action. May be catalysed by one community 
member or an external agency. 
Emerging challenges from the discussion: 
• Definition of a “community; - a group of people with collective interests, articulating their 
needs and interests…should this collectivity/commonality be interpreted as a community 
based organization, and treated as such rather than as a group of volunteers? 
• Challenges of volunteerism in the face of HIV/AIDS, the exponentially growing orphan 
crisis, the overstretched community capacities and deepening poverty at the community level 
was underscored. 
• It was emphasized that abject poverty is and will continue to be major constraint/impediment 
to volunteerism. No doubt, the caregivers’ capacity to cope is overstretched by the 
debilitating effects of HIV/AIDS; resource-poor volunteers’ need to support themselves and 
their families … pertinent to their ability and willingness to continually sacrifice their time 
and resources. 
• Is the direct service delivery support approach, pre-determined by the agency, destabilizing 
the communities’ capability to analyze and solve their own problems? 
• When does the community participation become voluntary? For example, the community 
schoolteacher - where an individual spends time and other resources for a whole 
day/month/years teaching vulnerable children. Is this volunteerism? Or, a caring woman 
who has been visiting a few of her sick neighbors/friends, she is now expected to visit and 
provide care and support to more sick people; often homes to be visited are many kilometres 
apart, necessitating traveling several kilometers on foot, on an empty stomach. How long 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-120 
can this spirit last? What are the implications to her time in relation to providing care and 
support to/ meeting the needs of her household members? 
• Is it realistic/feasible to mobilise other members of the community to participate in an 
economic empowerment programme, when their own financial capacity, too, has been eroded 
by the prevailing poverty. 
• The community is cognisant of the fact that the agency/programme has been funded, with 
well-remunerated staff members; on the other hand, the community members are expected to 
undertake some of the project activities ,without pay, under the pretext of their service to 
their community. Is this an issue of double standards? 
• If and when communities are remunerated, how “sustainable” is this approach in the long 
run? 
• Community capacity strengthening versus incentives through training and provision of tools 
to carry out tasks (gloves for home based care or bicycles for community mobilisation) where 
does one draw the line between the two? 
• Disharmony/disagreement? between agencies…differing approaches to volunteerism…some 
agencies have a policy of compensating (allowances, transport subsidy, food handouts) 
members of the community for their serviced rendered, others decline thus creating long term 
mistrust at the community level. 
• Should the overlap between direct service delivery-community participation-and community 
owned and managed approaches be explored? 
 
The review team reached a consensus that: 
1. Traditional coping mechanisms have been greatly eroded by HIV/AIDS and deepening 
poverty. Clearly, it is a fact that the resilient traditional coping mechanisms are either 
greatly weakened or nonexistent. 
2. Given the observations coupled with the prevailing situation in the country, there is need 
for the CRS/STRIVE Project through the sub-grantees to consider providing the relevant 
tools or incentives in - kind (bicycles, gloves, shoes, t-shirts, uniforms) to facilitate 
volunteers. In many cases, this is all the volunteers request to undertake additional 
responsibilities. 
3. There should be a deliberate effort to value volunteer/community contributions to 
programmes, which should be reflected in the project budget (land, time, knowledge and 
resources should be costed) in addition to volunteer participation in the programmes, this 
will go along way to improve their quality of life. 
4. Skills-transfer–capacitating the community members is critical to improve the efficient 
delivery of services as well as guaranteeing continuity and ownership of the programmes. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-121 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-122 
ANNEX 12 PROCESS OVERVIEW and EVALUATION 
By Mark Loudon 
I. INTRODUCTION 
The purpose of this annex is to briefly record the process which was employed to set up and 
implement the mid-term review, in order to serve as a guideline to any organizations 
contemplating a similar exercise. This overview should be read together with comments on the 
review process from the review team and the summary of the STRIVE process evaluation, both 
of which follow the process overview. 
This annex does not aim to explain the rationale, objectives or methodology of the mid-term 
review of the STRIVE project. These subjects are dealt with in the Scope of Work the report 
produced by the review team. 
II. PROCESS OVERVIEW 
A. Genesis 
The idea of a mid-term review is not contained in STRIVE’s founding documents, but appears in 
the STRIVE annual workplan covering the period 1 October 2002 to 30 September 2003, as 
follows: 
In Q3 (May) of FY ’03, STRIVE and USAID will conduct a collaborative mid term peer 
review of progress to date. The purpose of the exercise will be to ensure that STRIVE and its 
sub grantees have put into place adequately rigorous measures, systems and personnel to 
achieve the results that project stakeholders expect to achieve. STRIVE will use the outcome 
of this review to tighten up areas that need improvement, and to make any mid-course 
adjustments necessary for ultimate success. 
A Scope of Work (SOW) for the review was developed collaboratively by personnel from 
CRS/STRIVE and USAID, including the Principal Advisor from USAID’s Bureau for Africa 
who was asked by the two Zimbabwe-based offices to lead the team. The consultation over the 
SOW extended over a number of months, from late 2002 through March 2003. 
January – February 2003 
During this period a number of developments took place: 
• The newly-appointed unit manager for operations research at CRS/STRIVE was asked to 
coordinate the review process; 
• A number of key review team members were approached to participate, including an 
organizational development expert, an expert in orphans and vulnerable children, a technical 
report-writer and a logistician; 
• A short-list of other potential consultants was developed, and some were informally 
approached to ascertain their availability. 
March 2003 
At this time the logistician came to Harare for a two-week period to work with the coordinator in 
order to prepare the way for the review. The major activities undertaken during this period were: 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-123 
• To finalise the structure, methodology and deliverables of the mid-term review. This 
involved a series of meetings with the management of CRS and USAID, and a short trip to 
Botswana to meet the review team leader who was attending a conference in Gaborone. 
• To confirm the membership of the review team. This proved to be considerably more 
difficult than anticipated. Many of the people who had been identified as potential members 
were not available. Many additional names were suggested and approached, and again many 
were not available. In the end all the identified “portfolios” were filled, but two of the 
consultants backed out at the last minute leaving gaps in the process. 
• To initiate a self-assessment process. This was accomplished by facilitating a meeting of the 
CRS/STRIVE unit managers, and designing a process. It was decided by this team that they 
would manage the process themselves, and keep the results for internal use. 
• To prepare an operating environment document. The logistician (who also acted as a 
facilitator and report-writer) prepared a short overview of recent scenarios prepared by 
USAID and other agencies on the situation in Zimbabwe, which was shared with the review 
team members and others. 
• To form a Reference Group. This group, made up of local stakeholders, was set up as a 
resource for the review team, to support their work and validate their findings. A list of 
potential members was agreed by CRS/STRIVE and USAID, and a standard invitation letter 
drafted and approved. 
April 2003 
The organisational development specialist, technical writer and logistician all arrived in Harare 
during the third week of April (after Easter). 
28 April – the first meeting of the Reference Group was held. Unfortunately an extended 
stayaway for the preceding two weeks hampered the distribution of invitations, and attendance 
was poor. However most of the invited members indicated they would attend the second and 
third meetings, scheduled for 19 and 28 May respectively. 
30 April – the CRS/STRIVE team held a workshop to review the results of their self-assessment 
B. Review Process 
5 May 
The mid-term review began officially on this day with a one-day workshop attended by the 
review team, the CRS/STRIVE team, representatives from the Reference Group and senior staff 
from both CRS and USAID. The workshop included presentations by all of the CRS/STRIVE 
unit managers and the review team specialists, and a discussion of expectations and processes. 
6–7 May 
These two days were set aside for the review team to reach consensus on methods and to 
formulate their review instruments. In practice, much of the time was taken up by discussion of 
the review objectives (see comments by the review team). A simple “generic questionnaire” was 
ultimately adopted by the group as a general format for interviews. 
8-16 May 
Over this nine-day period, most of the review team travelled around the P8 projects. The group 
was made up of the specialist consultants in the various interim result areas; generalists – 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-124 
including a group of peers from similar projects in neighbouring countries, most of whom joined 
the team for limited periods – and a support group, including the logistician and technical writer. 
The team was also accompanied by regional staff from CRS/STRIVE and the supervising officer 
from USAID. 
Each day the team divided itself into groups, with one group meeting staff of the sub-grantee 
organizations who were involved in the STRIVE project, while others visited some of their 
interventions and interviewed community leaders, committee members, caregivers, teachers and 
children. In the evenings the review team gathered to share their observations. 
The team leader joined the group on Sunday 11 May. The major debate within the review team 
up to this point related to the question: who are we reviewing? Ultimately the group agreed that 
its recommendations could relate only to CRS/STRIVE, and that observations of the sub￾grantees and participating communities could only serve to inform those recommendations. 
While this field-trip was underway, two members of the review team were visiting the P8 sub￾grantees separately to examine their accounts and talk to their accounting and administrative 
staff. The organizational development specialist spent this time in Harare, working with 
CRS/STRIVE staff to complete her assignment. She later visited two of the sub-grantee 
organizations in order to gain an understanding of the context in which CRS/STRIVE operates. 
17-27 May 
Once the review team had re-assembled in Harare, they spent virtually all of their time in their 
hotel, which also served as a meeting place and office. In order to firm-up their observations and 
recommendations, each of the IR specialists was asked to conduct a mini-workshop with the rest 
of the review team. This gave them an opportunity to tap into the observations and ideas of their 
colleagues on the team. 
Time was also allowed for members of the review team who came from similar projects in 
neighbouring countries to talk about their experience, and compare this to their observations of 
the STRIVE project, while government representatives on the team participated in all the 
sessions and made a presentation on government linkages. 
On 19 May the second Reference Group meeting was held. The review team updated the 
Reference Group on progress to date, and discussed their approach to finalising the report. 
Thereafter a number of meetings were scheduled in the hotel with external stakeholders, 
including senior representatives of the S8 sub-grantees, USAID’s partner agencies, and staff 
from both CRS/STRIVE and USAID. The team leader also met with a number of key 
government officials and donor representatives. 
The various mini-workshops and discussion sessions were documented, and these papers 
ultimately formed the basis of a series of separate reports on each of the interim result areas 
(education assistance, psycho-social support, economic strengthening, food security, operational 
research, organizational development and capacity building). A number of supplementary papers 
were also produced on scaling up, volunteerism and organizational strategy. 
These papers were shared with the CRS/STRIVE team and staff from USAID during a series of 
workshops over the long weekend of 24-26 May, and their inputs were captured in revised 
documents which were consolidated into a “zero draft” of the review report, which was 
circulated among the review team for comment on 27 May. It was agreed the consolidated report 
would be accompanied by a series of annexes on each of the interim result areas, providing more 
contextual information and detail on the recommendations. 
28 May 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-125 
At the last meeting of the Reference Group, the team leader presented the key findings and 
recommendations. It was agreed that the first draft of the report and annexes would be circulated 
on Friday 30 May, and that all stakeholders would have two weeks to provide feedback to the 
technical writer. The final report would be published not later than the end of June. 
A process for CRS/STRIVE and USAID to evaluate the mid-term review was also agreed, and it 
was confirmed that the team would provide this overview of the review process, and their own 
suggestions for improving similar reviews. 
III. REVIEW TEAM COMMENTS ON THE PROCESS 
After the final Reference Group meeting the review team met to give their opinions on the 
review process and make suggestions for similar exercises in the future. 
There was much about the process which received positive comment, including the huge 
commitment of time and effort by CRS/STRIVE and their sub-grantees to coordinating and 
facilitating the review. The openness and professionalism of these staff, and their courage in 
submitting themselves to such an intensive and high-profile exercise, have been commented 
upon elsewhere. 
Members of the review team said they had learned a great deal both from the STRIVE project 
and from each other. It is ultimately for CRS/STRIVE to evaluate the review findings, but 
members of the review team felt they had done their very best to provide useful insights and 
constructive guidance. 
Evaluation or review? 
However there were some serious concerns. Principal among these was that the review had 
attempted to achieve two distinct and contradictory objectives: 
• to “evaluate” CRS/STRIVE (despite protestations from USAID and CRS/STRIVE 
themselves that this was a simply a “review”) in order to fulfil USAID’s legal requirements, 
and 
• to engage in a “participatory review” which would reflect the combined insights of STRIVE 
stakeholders and review team members. 
The first objective was not stated in the scope of work but was clearly articulated by the team 
leader. In order to fulfil this objective the team tried to protect the ethical integrity of the process 
by limiting their exposure to the opinions of CRS/STRIVE personnel so their findings could not 
be attacked later as being unduly influenced or biased. 
However this decision was at odds with the intention stated in the scope of work of conducting a 
participatory review which, by definition, represents the collective views of insiders and 
outsiders. Indeed, the review team shared the frustration of CRS/STRIVE staff at the limited 
opportunities for sharing and learning from each other, and it is possible that the team’s final 
recommendations would have been better had the process been more participatory. 
In the final analysis the review process was not sufficiently rigorous to draw authoritative 
conclusions on the performance of CRS/STRIVE. But even if the process had been academically 
structured, the inclusion of USAID employees and contractors on the review team (including the 
team leader) and the presence of CRS staff in most of the discussions would have created an 
ethical land-mine. 
On the other hand the process was not sufficiently participatory to be accurately described as a 
participatory review. This is not to say the review was a wasted exercise, by any means, but the 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-126 
team would recommend that similar exercises in future take care to avoid blurring the line 
between evaluation and participatory review. If each is required it would be best to separate them 
entirely, both in terms of time and membership. 
Too big? 
Another major concern was that the review team was too big, and the review process too long 
and too expensive, given the scarcity of resources and the short time period allowed for the 
STRIVE project. If the exercise had been clearly identified as an evaluation a very small group 
of external consultants could have done the job much quicker and much better, at a fraction of 
the cost. 
However there may be a case to be made for a large international team to be assembled for a 
(true) participatory review, if the project warrants it and funds are available. Certainly the team 
believes that STRIVE is a very important project, but they were not in a position to reach any 
conclusions on the cost-efficiency of the review process. 
Separate or together? 
A related issue was the decision that most of the review team members should travel together for 
the field trip, and work together in Harare to reach consensus on their findings and 
recommendations. Concerns were expressed by team members at the beginning of the review 
about the itinerary which had been prepared for them, which assumed the team would stay 
together, but it was decided that the disruption which would be caused by changing these 
arrangements at short notice, to CRS/STRIVE, their partners and participating communities, 
could not be justified. 
The effect of working together was that an enormous amount of time was spent discussing the 
purpose of the review, and the implications of the team’s observations. At any given time there 
were 15 or more people on the team, all of whom had strong opinions which needed to be aired 
and discussed. 
It is an open question whether dividing the review into sections, and delegating each section to a 
sub-group of the review team, would have weakened the quality of the findings and 
recommendations. Nevertheless the consensus of the review team was that, if they were to start 
again, they would prefer this approach, and would like to spend more time with each sub-grantee 
(including the S8, whose involvement in the process was limited to a single group meeting) and 
other key stakeholders – particularly the Director and staff of CRS/STRIVE. 
Review schedule 
The team made several observations on the scheduling of the review: 
• The team should have reached a common understanding on review objectives before 
engaging in any interviews with STRIVE stakeholders. In fact the team struggled for two full 
days to define their task before departing on the tour of the P8 sub-grantees, and continued 
this debate for much of the field trip. With the benefit of hind-sight it appears the conflicting 
needs for an evaluation and a participatory review, and the delayed arrival of the team leader 
– who had unique insights into the review process – prevented the team from reaching a 
satisfactory conclusion. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-127 
• The review team should have spent much more time with the CRS/STRIVE team and 
Director before meeting with sub-grantees and visiting their interventions. Greater clarity on 
the project, and on the views of CRS/STRIVE staff, would have enabled team members to 
use their time in the field more productively – although (in the context of an “evaluation”) 
they could have been accused later of being biased by what they had learned from 
CRS/STRIVE. 
• Thirdly, it would have been better if all members of the review team had arrived together and 
worked full-time on the review until the end. However, it was acknowledged that this is very 
hard to achieve in practice, and there was consensus that it was better to have some of the 
consultants’ time – especially the so-called “peer review” group from similar projects in 
neighbouring countries – than to exclude those who could give only limited time to the 
review. 
Review team composition 
Much was said about the calibre of the review team and the collective experience they embodied. 
However the decision to appoint specialists to cover the various “interim result” areas had the 
unintended effect of compartmentalising their talents, which in turn meant several members of 
the team felt the full breadth of their skills had not been exploited. It is hard to say whether this is 
a fault of the process, the facilitation, or the deadlines which the team imposed on itself. 
There was also a strong feeling that the team would have been stronger if it had included more 
Zimbabweans, although it must be said that considerable effort went into locating suitable 
consultants within Zimbabwe before internationals were approached. 
However there was unanimity that the involvement of government and government-linked 
counterparts on the team was hugely beneficial to both the review findings and the process itself. 
It is of interest that the inclusion of these people on the review team was recommended by the 
Reference Group, indicating the wisdom of the process designers in setting up this committee. 
Facilitation 
Overall the review team felt the process was very positive. They agreed that one of the reasons 
for this success was that specialists had been appointed to manage the logistics, facilitation and 
report-writing. Indeed, several members expressed the view that the only reason such a large 
team was able to survive such a complex and intensive process, in spite of a very difficult 
environment (stay-aways, shortages of cash and fuel, last-minute changes to team membership 
etc.) was that they had the benefit of full-time support in these areas. The team also 
recommended that any future exercise of this magnitude and intensity should ensure that it 
included, as was the case here, a clinical psychologist and magician! 
IV. SUMMARY OF THE STRIVE MID-TERM REVIEW PROCESS EVALUATION 
A. OVERVIEW 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-128 
Process evaluation feedback was collected from 12 team members, i.e. review, reference, peer, 
and stakeholders. The following is an overview of the quantitative and qualitative information 
gathered. 
Based on quantitative feedback collected (see specific breakdowns that follow), team members 
felt that the leadership and management of the process, i.e. the team leader, were very good (4 on 
a scale of 1 to 5). Furthermore, they indicated that the review set-up and process were good (3 
on a scale of 1 to 5). They also felt that the process outcome was very good (4 on a scale of 1 to 
5) having primarily achieved its desired outcomes and having provided something of value to the 
project. 
Qualitatively, the team members who responded to the evaluation reported that they most liked 
the participatory nature of the review, the chance to interact with all involved stakeholders, the 
highly motivated, skilled, committed, and professional members involved, and the interaction 
and discussions held. They also indicated that, in particular, they least liked the large, unwieldy 
size of the team, the inadequate time to spend in the field with sub-grantees and in Harare with 
CRS/STRIVE staff, the insufficient time to work through and discuss issues and 
recommendations, the comings and goings of team members, and the lack of clarity in the scope 
of work and in the actual report to be written. Most of the team member respondents felt that 
the process had added something useful to their own work because of the unselfish and abundant 
learning and sharing that took place during the process to help children in vulnerable 
circumstances. As well, the “process template” presented that could be used elsewhere was 
highly regarded and felt to be extremely useful. 
When asked whether they would participate again in this type of process and whether they would 
recommend the process to another project, the team responded with an overwhelming 
“conditional yes.” Conditions they recommended included smaller team, more clarification on 
scope and work, better organization of time available, clarification of team roles, a clear report 
outline, and much more collaboration with project staff. 
Numerous respondents provided some additional comments or feedback that provide some 
useful insight into the review process and outcomes. Several indicated that they felt the process 
should be thought out carefully and streamlined to maximize its usefulness. Another pointed out 
that “…this kind of process generates a lower level of anxiety and, consequently, more 
transparency and receptivity on the part of project staff.” Furthermore, several respondents 
reported concern over the cost of such a review and questioned whether this same amount could 
have been better spent on the children STRIVE seeks to assist. 
And finally, one respondent summed it up well: Congratulations for seeing it through! 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-129 
B. Quantitative Feedback RESULTS (N=12) 
Unsatisfactory Fair Good Very Good Excellent 
1 2 3 4 5 
Issues 
A. Review Leadership & Management (Team Leader): __4__ 
1. Guided and directed the team ____4_____ 
2. Set clear group rules and conduct ____4_____ 
3. Minimized conflict ____4_____ 
4. Maximized productivity ____4_____ 
5. Established and maintained positive authority ____5_____ 
6. Ensured participatory decision-making ____4_____ 
B. Review Process and Set-Up: __3__ 
7. Preparation of the field before work began _____4____ 
8. Team composition _____4____ 
9. Team size _____2____ 
10. Research and review methodology used _____3____ 
11. Amount of time spent in the field _____2____ 
12. Team interaction _____4____ 
13. Equal involvement of stakeholders _____3____ 
14. Use of review team expertise and experience _____4____ 
15. Use of reference group _____3____ 
16. Use of peer review team _____2____ 
17. How relevant were the presentations _____4____ 
18. Usefulness of background documents provided in folders _____4____ 
19. Effectiveness of group work and discussions _____4____ 
20. Organization of meeting (logistics, venue etc.) _____4____ 
C. Review Outcome: __4__ 
21. Achieved desired outcome _____4____ 
22.Provided something of added value to the project _____4____ 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-130 
C. Specific Comments RESULTS 
WHAT DID YOU LIKE THE MOST? 
• Camaraderie of the team and hearing the viewpoints of experienced, seasoned colleagues 
• Clear commitment to children of all those involved 
• Consultation and feedback that was promptly given to the project staff 
• Discussions amongst team members – “Passionate discussions between team members” 
• Exposure to the vast knowledge and experience of other team members, which greatly 
improved understanding of child vulnerability 
• Field visits - interactions with CRS/ STRIVE sub grantees and communities – “it was an 
excellent chance ‘journey into the people’” 
• Group leadership through Mark and Peter was excellent – flawed only by Peter’s late 
arrival which was difficult, and our failure to wrestle our way through, early in the 
proceedings, to a clear understanding of the terms of reference for the team 
• High quality/competence of the team members 
• Highly skilled, commitment and experienced team. 
• Inclusion of peer reviewers 
• Interaction among review mission members, in vehicles, on site, in formal and informal 
meetings was excellent, many learned a lot – “There was terrific exchange of 
information.” 
• Interaction with the CRS/ STRIVE sub grantees and beneficiaries 
• Involvement of ‘experts’ for each intermediate result area was helpful 
• Involvement of GOZ officials, their commitment and input 
• Mark’s role in keeping things organized and keeping people on track 
• Openness and humor despite all possible obstacles, team spirit 
• Participatory nature of review 
• Peer Review and Reference Group concept 
• Receiving a plethora of references and CDs. 
• Team mix 
• Ultimate agreement of team to put OR at the core of this pilot project was critical – 
“There is no other reason for a pilot project to exist, and much international community 
money has been wasted on so-called pilot projects from which no one learned anything” 
• Use of Mini Workshops – “The mini workshops provided good background to develop 
recommendations”
• Willingness of CRS/STRIVE to expose itself to such a searching review, and their 
positive reaction to the (preliminary) findings and recommendations – even though they 
were not consulted as much as they should have been 
• Working with all of the team members - “It was an extraordinarily talented group.” 
• Wrestling with very difficult issues and did so in serious and productive ways. 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-131 
WHAT DID YOU LIKE THE LEAST? 
• Assumption that we were doing a “review” rather than a mutual reflection on the state of 
the STRIVE program. 
• Changing nature of what would be included in the report and how it would be structured 
• Each sector being assessed in isolation raised the expectation of the team on the project, 
e.g. in education, talk of boreholes for a school, something not within the mandate of 
STRIVE. 
• Field work, if organized differently, could have been the most fruitful part of the mission 
• First day – “Better to have everyone meet each other in a more conducive environment 
than a day of presentations by consultants.” 
• Frustration of trying to incorporate so many valid and passionately held perspectives into 
a joint product – “There was so much talent and our process did not use it to its 
maximum potential.” 
• Having team members arrive and depart at different times in the process (particularly the 
team leader) – “Smaller, tighter, more mobile team would have been better, and for a 
shorter length of time, or perhaps two visits – one for field, and one for headquarters.” 
• How to resolve challenges within the STRIVE Project could have received more attention 
during team discussions 
• Insufficient time or opportunity enough to liaise with CRS and STRIVE counterparts and 
government officials who showed interest, in MOESC for example. This was a real flaw 
in planning, as some of us could have used at least two days of formal and informal 
meetings with sector colleagues. 
• Insufficient time to discuss results and recommendations 
• Lack of participation from the initial phase of the process especially missing out on the 
field visit 
• Little time spent in the field - “Fieldwork should/could have taken much longer.” 
• Logistics of the field visits went terribly awry – too much travel in too short a time, with 
too little time in batches with too few people, primarily a testing aggravation not to be 
able to follow on with lines of thought and interrogation because it was someone else’s 
turn, not good to visit only headquarters and not see the field and vice versa, in each case 
• Meeting individual members of the peer review team, but unsure of their contribution to 
the project/programme, or to the work of the review mission – “Better use of the peer 
review group”
• Members of the team did not declare their bias and brought the bias into the review 
process without clearly understanding what the STRIVE Project was trying to achieve 
• Misunderstanding between a review and an evaluation 
• Not enough interaction with CRS/STRIVE 
• Not putting CRS at the core of our explorations – “We should have seen STRIVE more 
substantially within the context of CRS, its organization and administration, its unique 
characteristics and processes.” 
• Peer review group was not well utilized 
• Proposed post mini-workshop discussions sometimes lost direction 
• Question usefulness of recommendations to USAID for the short-, medium- and long￾term and whether they were strong and clear-sighted enough 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-132 
• Raised ethical considerations (as a result of USAID’s legal requirements?), which limited 
the “extent to which the review team could work with the CRS/STRIVE team, as a result 
this was not, in fact, a ‘participatory’ review”
• Some of the topics could have been done at the beginning of the process, e.g. the session 
on principles was not very well understood 
• Team leader arriving late and refocusing the group 
• Team members could have listened more to the CRS/ STRIVE and USAID/Z teams to 
better understand where both parties 
• Team size was too big - “Evaluation team was too large and the process too long – 
length could have a toll on project implementation.” 
• Time constraints - the review process seemed long and some of the discussions could 
have been shortened, too little time to do a thorough review, 2 to 2½ hours allowed a 
cursory review at best with only the most glaring inefficiencies standing out 
• Too many comments taken at face value by the review team members from the CRS/ 
STRIVE partners, without further verification from CRS/ STRIVE staff, on why certain 
partners started late, why they were struggling, why funds were not disbursed sooner, etc. 
• Too many sweeping statements which were not grounded 
• Too much confusion about the scope of work and what was expected – “Confusion 
between "review" and "evaluation" and the ethics of a participatory review.” 
• Too much time spend with the team as a whole debating verbally 
• Too much time spent on word-smithing the recommendations and too much time spent 
on going back to the same issues without conclusion 
• Uneven distribute of work load 
WHAT ASPECTS OF THE CONSULTATION DID YOU FIND MOST USEFUL FOR YOUR 
WORK? 
• Constant interaction made for stimulating thinking – “but not always along the track the 
review mission was taking, for there is an element of selfishness in wanting to learn what 
one needs, rather than wanting to learn what the client needs when there such a plethora 
of good thinking is going on.” 
• Incredible amount of knowledge gained on OVC issues 
• Interaction with team with highly skilled consultants 
• Learning from African and other international colleagues who are tried specialists in their 
field; from government officials; from field workers; from villagers and permanent 
secretaries. 
• Learning together about community-based interventions – “This is a new field, and very 
little is as yet understood about how strategic action should be planned, designed and 
implemented usefully.” 
• Making contacts with many very capable people, benefiting from their perspectives, and 
learning about their experiences 
• Meeting with people in related fields and exchanging information with them 
• Observing the extent and manifestations of child-vulnerability in Zimbabwe, which gives 
important clues as to what may happen in other southern-African countries, e.g. 
proliferation of child-headed households, collapse of social infrastructure 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-133 
• opportunity to work with organization/program doing something unique 
• Participatory development of the tools used in the review 
• Presentations of key findings by the team members 
• Process of the review – “The process is a useful template we need to adopt to our own 
work in program review.”
• Process will help as I prepare for a forthcoming evaluation of our project 
• Recommendations, some of which I would be able to apply to our situation 
• Sharing ideas, lessons learned with highly experienced team members in the field of 
OVC 
• Strong partnership developed among the peer reviewers 
• Studying the dynamics of an organization which exists to support and measure OVC 
interventions. We need many more organizations like this, so it is extremely valuable to 
learn from CRS/STRIVE. 
• Taking a shared approach to addressing very difficult and urgent problems. 
• Team’s feedback sessions which made us ‘self assess’ our own work. 
• Use of tools and their adaptation 
• Usefulness of peer review as it also provided the reviewer and reviewee time to learn 
from each other, and provide a space for sharing and affirmation – “We need to arrange 
more of this – focused peer processes.” 
WOULD YOU RECOMMEND THIS PROCESS TO ANOTHER PROJECT? 
12 “conditional yes’s”: 
• Highly streamlined version with fewer consultants and clearer objectives 
• If it is a true participatory review 
• In a modified form, i.e. smaller team, earlier division of labor to put ideas on paper, more 
exchange on specific text after an initial open discussion, much more collaboration with 
project staff and less of an evaluative approach or an “expert” consultation 
• Smaller, tighter team, with very clear SOW/terms of reference, and a tighter schedule, 
more carefully worked out in advance in consultation with the review team members 
• With specific modifications such as smaller team, better clarification of roles, clear report 
outline from the beginning, more participation of key stakeholders 
WOULD YOU PARTICIPATE IN THIS TYPE OF PROCESS AGAIN? 
12 “yes’s”: 
• “How else can we learn so much from so many people in so short a time and get paid for 
it?!” 
• If the above conditions are met 
• More time with individual grantees 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-134 
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS OR CONCERNS? 
• Appreciation for having the opportunity to work with such professional, dedicated and 
committed people who have only the interest of the program and the plight of orphans 
and vulnerable children at heart 
• Concern with the amount of money spent on this review – I’m not sure whether a review 
which cost half as much, (i.e. half as many people on the review team) would necessarily 
have produced less useful findings and recommendations 
• Evaluation form should have been completed before the team departed Zimbabwe 
• Everyone needed to be clear from the beginning about everyone’s schedules – “The 
constant arrival and departures of team members were disruptive to the team process.” 
• Excellent group process of presenting the day’s main ideas and observations daily 
• Joint collaborative review can produce the best result in terms of identifying needed 
adjustments in methods and approach by a project – “This kind of process generates a 
lower level of anxiety and, consequently, more transparency and receptivity on the part 
of project staff.” 
• More time is needed for the team to agree on roles, responsibilities, tasks before going 
into the field 
• Observer team is not a useful concept 
• Peer review team needed to come into the process earlier. 
• Process of building the final recommendations with a multi-sectoral team presents 
challenges 
• Rather than engage in the rather roundabout process of having the team decide what was 
important for them to focus upon, it might have been easier and faster to present a 
provisional strategy based on best practices of other review processes 
• Support decision to make use of international consultants along with Zimbabweans so 
that CRS/STRIVE can be measured against regional/global standards, to make the output 
as widely applicable as possible 
• Team “homework” to move the process forward was useful 
• Team leader and logistician need to be clearer when the decision making procedure was a 
democratic process and when it was an oligarchic process – “There were times when the 
decision of the entire team was sought only to have one or two people make the final 
decision. There were also times when the entire team was involved, especially in the first 
days of the review, when we could have split off into working groups or simply Mark and 
Pete made decisions unilaterally in certain areas.”
• Think through the process – to make it less unwieldy; more time for the peer review and 
for key informants/stakeholder participation and feedback 
• Wonder how many children could have been helped by the $$ spent on the review 
Congratulations for seeing it through! 
USAID/CRS-STRIVE Mid Term Review Page A-135