Institutional Development Working Group Progress Report Achievements, Challenges and Recommendations February – July 2008

Presentation IDWG Focus Areas and Key Activities Progress and Achievements by Focus Area Challenges and Constraints Way forward and Future Plans

Focus Areas For the Year Constitution Amendment / Redrafting materials, casestudy posters and support to SOs and conservancies 2.Continue with AGMs and Financial Management support to conservancies. 3.Benefit Management and Planning 4.Local level ID and governance monitoring – pilot testing and review before replication. 5.Membership List Updates- test manual and computerized systems in 4 pilot conservancies

Focus Areas continued 6. Conservancy Awareness and Education materials - -  development of CBNRM radio programme, roles and responsibilities posters, initiate CBNRM conservancy level newsletter etc 7. Documentation – Organize and participate in Lesson Learnt Seminar and produce relevant Manuals/ User Guides. 8. Skills Development – a) SO --  Training for Transformation, conflict management etc. b) Conservancy -  Chairperson and Managers training, Asset Management

Focus Areas continued 9. Participate in the Regional CBNRM activities and share experiences 10. Post LIFE Plus continuity strategy development and implementation

February - July 2008

Constitutions User Guide finalized and ready for printing and distribution. Editing done by volunteers from the 2007 Constitution Training of Trainers participants mostly from MET and UNAM Participatory Constitution Amendment and Drafting Process Poster completed and ready for printing. One of the 2 casestudy posters finalized and ready for printing (Khoadi Hoas Experience) Draft conservancy level constitution awareness and education material produced but still to be finalized

Other Conservancy Management Tools 4 Conservancy Management Planning Frameworks finalized - Balyerwa, Sobbe, Bamunu, Dzoti and Sikunga 3 Benefit Distribution and Game utilization plans completed - Sikunga, Bamunu, Dzoti 2 Conservancy Quarterly Planning Meetings held in Caprivi.. Jan 08 in Kyaramacan and June 08 in Sikunga 2 All conservancies Chairperson forums meetings held in Caprivi.. Jan in Balyerwa and July in Cheshire Home

AGM and Financial Management Support Continuing at regional level and SO level. IDWG trained and supported the Tsiseb Conservancy AGM preparation which was held. Tsiseb Hands on training focused on reports production especially the Chairperson’s Report and meeting facilitation. And this can be replicated to other conservancies as it proved effective. Conservancy members and stakeholders appreciated the report which generated a lot of debate during the AGM.

AGMs continued All conservancies in North Central are having AGMs and 3 conservancies will have elections this year namely Sheya Uushona, King Nehale, Uukwaluudhi. Caprivi conservancies have also developed an AGM calendar for the year

Financial Management Support Continued Training given to Sikunga conservancy in Caprivi and North Central Sheya Uushona and Ukwaluudhi Conservancies ….. treasurers, vice treasurers and chairpersons Financial follow ups being done on monthly basis in Caprivi and Kunene NW. Mentoring programme developed for the NC conservancies by RF Financial Management and business training in NDT supported conservancies being carried out through the RPRP.

Financial Management cont Grant distribution and monitoring in Caprivi - Impalila N$, Sobbe -N$4000, Bamunu - N$2000, Dzoti - N$2000, Sikunga - N$2000, Kabulabula -N$ conservancies being supported by NDT are receiving N1,000/month each for animator position.

Local level ID and Governance Monitoring Pilot testing of the ID Event Book continuing in the 4 pilot conservancies in Caprivi ( Sobbe, Balyerwa, Mayuni and Mashi) Yellow event cards and blue monthly reporting charts launched. Posters for Area Reps and ID Map produced, printed and distributed. The 12 Guiding Principles for ID and Governance LLM developed Review workshop held in May with all participating conservancies, stakeholders and SOs. Workshop report and finalization of the yellow cards to be done this August 08

Local Level Monitoring Continued SO staff monitoring cards launched but still to be reviewed. Possibility of linking with other stakeholders on this and possible replication to be discussed in the next three months

Membership List Update Event Cards for monitoring Conservancy Membership Movements and Human Death Records developed and launched in the 4 pilot conservancies. Positive response has been received. Next is the introduction of the computerized system in the 2 of the four conservancies to capture the manually collected data. Discussion with UNAM underway.

Conservancy Awareness and Education materials CBNRM Radio programme including ID and Governance topics being developed through LAC funding. Pilot testing to be done in Caprivi. 3 posters developed and printed on Conservancy Committee, Subunit Representatives and Members’ Responsibilities, Powers and Obligations. These are ready for distribution but in near future will need to be translated into local languages. Posters still being worked on are the Chairperson and Manager, Treasurer and Bookkeeper and Secretary Roles and Responsibilities in the next two months.

Documentation Annual IDWG Seminar rescheduled to March Case study series initiated by MET after the IDWG August 2007 Seminar is being edited and will be circulated to members for comments before final publication. Proposed conservancy level newsletter still needs to find a home, fulltime person and commitment from SOs and conservancies before it can commence.

Skills Development 22 participants from NGOs and MET attended the one week Training For Transformation Course held at Heja Lodge. Course evaluation indicated that participants wanted this to be continued with most of the SO and management staff participating. Funding will need to be secured inorder to continue with the programme. Conflict Management training funded by ICEMA was conducted in Otjiwarongo.

Skills and Capacity Building of SOs UNAM Partnership with other universities initiated under LIFE Plus Project now yielding major results with University of Montana. University of Montana is an interesting long-term partnership – currently putting up a consortium with University of Copperbelt, UNAM and UKZN and Montana. Programme managed to pull in US Forestry and G USAID. Currently discussions are going on.

Skills and Capacity Building for SOs April 08, UNAM hosted University of Montana and took them around to understand Namibia and activities. In June/July 08, organized something with the consortium in Zambia where Copperbelt, UKZN and UNAM participated. Alfons Mosimane currently in the US visiting University of Montana In Sept 08..UNAM organizing the workshop to discuss and identify CBNRM key research issues.

Conservancy Training 9 conservancies being supported by NDT received training Leadership development and Roles and Responsibilities For sustainability of conservancy trainings, NDT pilot testing an Approach …… helping conservancies appoint fulltime animators. Each conservancy gets a grant of about N$1,000/month. NDT staff mentoring the animators and the animators implementing conservancy workplans. Next set of conservancy training to focus on Administration, Management, and Computer skills training since some of the conservancies have old computers.

Impact of Conservancy Empowerment In Balyerwa, the chairperson, treasurer and manager have been sacked by the TA on behalf of members, after they abused the newly acquired conservancy asset – a vehicle for personal gains.

Participate in the Regional CBNRM activities and share experiences Hosted the Regional CBO Working Group Conference in Windhoek attended by about 30 participants from six SADC countries including Namibia. Casestudies from Namibia were presented. Presentations generated a lot of interest with other countries wanting to come and learn from Namibia.

Participation in Regional Activities continued 3 IDWG members participated in the Lusaka Regional CBO Working Group Meeting were the Namibia HIV/AIDS experiences generated more interest from the regional partners. Possibility of participating in the regional exchange visit being looked at … to Botswana and Caprivi in September, IDWG members also participating in the Regional Training Working Group…. 1 currently in SA attending a meeting.

Plus Wayforward and Future Plans

Challenges and Constraints Funding for IDWG activities especially for some SO organizations. Proving a challenge to keep ID activities top of the agenda as priority is given to activities related to funding secured by SOs. Long-term Funding for a fulltime local counterpart and technical advisor positions required to ensure stability and continuity. Restructuring taking place in SOs and MET – some IDWG members who have been trained and capacitated moving on and within to other SO programmes thereby affecting continuity of activities. Funds to be secured for more TOTs.

Challenges and Constraints continued Hospitalization of the current IDS meant some of the activities lagged behind schedule. Implementation plan developed to ensure that the WWF Sweden project is timely implemented. Departure of current IDWG technical advisor will create a gap although strategies for a smooth handover have been put in place. Limited capacity within MRCC - only 2 people. SL departure will create a big gap leading to limited services to CBNRM Capacity to participate in Regional Activities as most SO staff are over stretched.

Way forward and Future Plans Continued support to conservancies on AGMs and Financial Management. Asset Management, Role and Responsibilities / Leadership, Administration and Computer training for conservancy management to be prioritized. Review and Learn from the pilot testing of the ID Local Level Monitoring System in Caprivi after the one plus year full cycle and develop a replication strategy thereafter.

Way forward and Future Plans Fundraising to remain a priority until long-term funds have been secured to support IDWG and its activities. Development of implementation plan to implement the WWF Sweden activities. Need for SO to have consistent persons attending the IDWG meetings. Need to develop national strategy on constitution amendment to ensure this good governance tool is up to date in all conservancies.

Post LIFE Plus IDWG Strategy IDWG members to continue to meet at either NACSO or NNF offices every quarter. WWF committed to continue raising funds for IDWG activities and placing a technical advisor. Focus to be on Fundraising to ensure continuity of ID activities – so far secured WWF Sweden funds for ID activities until Dec 08 amounting to USD 88,000. Currently working on proposal for 2009 to be submitted to WWF Sweden for USD125, /yr over 3 years.

Post LIFE Plus IDWG Strategy Continued Engaged IDWG local counterpart on part time basis until Dec 08 but programme needs to look for funds to support the position past Dec 08. Also engaged an interim WWF supported IDS until October 2008, to ensure smooth transition More funds required to support the IDWG local counterpart and technical advisor positions.

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