Documentation, Reporting, & Monitoring Keith Hansen AIDS Campaign Team for Africa May 2003

Overview Issues identified in the site visits in Kenya & Ethiopia and in survey responses from FBO workshop participants Key progress report components Sample performance indicators What has worked well? Obstacles? NAP perspective

Key Progress Report Components Financial report Progress towards completion of activities/achievement of targeted indicators

SAMPLE PERFORMANCE INDICATOR CSO Capacity Number of new civil society partners introduced to HIV/AIDS programming with NAP support Total AIDS services delivered by new civil society organizations Communication Number of HIV/AIDS radio/television programs produced and number of hours aired Number of HIV/AIDS prevention brochures/booklets developed and number distributed Prevention Number of faith and community leaders trained as AIDS educators and number of beneficiaries reached Number of individuals tested and counseled at VCT center Care and Support Number of PLWHA provided with food, clothing & medicine Number of HIV/AIDS orphans provided with school fees, food, and clothing Input Level (Personnel, training, equipment, and delivery funds) Paid staff, volunteers recruited, training conducted, equipment and resources provided 4

Documentation, Report Preparation & Review What has worked well? National HIV/AIDS Program support for reporting: Provision of adequate reporting guidelines Provision of adequate training and technical assistance from financial management agent or provincial level AIDS commissions on procurement, financial management and reporting Minimal time lapse between submission of progress report and release of subsequent tranches (Poses a serious problem in some countries)

Documentation, Report Preparation & Review What has worked well? (2) Employment of accountant or bookkeeper to oversee financial management, procurement, & reporting Ability to build on previous organizational experience with documentation and report writing

Obstacles Lack of experience in preparing financial reports and progress reports, particularly for small FBOs Lack of full-time, paid staff makes record keeping difficult (Most funders, including NAPs, are reluctant to fund salaries and other recurrent costs) NAP reporting format differs from those used by other donors

Obstacles (2) Lengthy and irregular time frame between submission of progress reports and release of subsequent tranches leads to interruption of service provision and demoralization of staff and clients Absence of clear monitoring & evaluation criteria from the NAP in service delivery areas, e.g., advocacy, home based care, etc. Feedback provided by NAP or financial management agent was very general, e.g. “good job” (if provided at all) It needs to be made clear that things that are obstacles in some countries are actually working well in other countries, e.g. the provision of guidelines on proposal development. Also, in some cases, the NAPs did not provide guidelines initially, but they have subsequently begun to provide guidelines and/or templates.

Perspectives from National HIV/AIDS Program Staff Elements of a strong progress report Progress report review process Common problems with progress reports from CSOs including faith-based organizations Strategy for improving quality of progress reports and report review process