IMPACT EVALUATION: “Capacity Building, Organizational Development and Disaster Preparedness Project in Vietnam”

Background:
Vietnam Red Cross (VNRC) and Norwegian Red Cross (NRC) have been in partnership since 1995. Until 2001 NRC provided support multilaterally through the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), while project-based bilateral support commenced in 2002. The partnership has involved three successive Capacity Building/Organizational Development (CB/OD) projects, including the ongoing V7 project (2009-2010/2012), which targets VNRC chapters and branches in seven provinces in the Northern and central part of Vietnam. The projects have aimed at increasing VNRC chapters/branches capacity through: 1) Trainings, workshops & study tours; 2) Experience exchanges/knowledge sharing within the country and regionally; 3) Dissemination of information, and 4) Material support.

The latest V7 project targeted the provinces of Binh Dinh, Phu Yen, Vinh Phuc, Yen Bai & Tuyen Quang, Phu Tho and Thai Nguyen (project areas). The objective of the V7 project was to strengthen the seven provincial branches to become democratic and transparent actors in civil society in order to deliver improved services (in quantity and quality) to their communities. The specific project objectives of V7 were to: (1) secure strong and stable financial resources for humanitarian work; (2) develop a strong human resource base with sufficient and capable staff and a wide network of functioning volunteer teams; and (3) to have adequate office facilities and a better working environment by the end of the project.

 Purpose/objective of the evaluation:
The objective of this evaluation was to verify the overall efficiency and sustainability of the long-term partnership between the VNRC and NRC and the associated OD/CB projects, which would also form the basis to determine the next stage of the partnership. 

 Methodology:
 The evaluation involved field visits to three of the seven provinces targeted by the current V7 project, namely Binh Dinh, Vinh Phuc and Thai Nguyen. Multiple informants and stakeholders were interviewed and consulted for the evaluation and a series of findings and recommendations are contained in this document. The key findings are extensively reported on, and relate specifically to the: (1) Objectives and activities with a predominant focus on the current V7 project as to their relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability in addressing the complex issues of OD/CB in the organization of VNRC; (2) VNRC/NRC partnership including the relationship involved in the management and implementation of the project support and associated strengths and weaknesses.

Key findings:
The evaluation concluded that the partnership and associated project is highly relevant to the needs of VNRC chapters and branches, consistent with VNRC and NRC strategies and priorities, but that it would be useful to be increasingly guided by the needs of the vulnerable communities served by VNRC, and thus increasingly approach CB/OD as a vehicle towards the development of a programme area/improved service delivery and less as a stand-alone process. 
In relation to effectiveness, the evaluation concluded that the project activities have largely contributed to the immediate project objectives being met. A consistent message from all consulted chapters and branches was that their organisation had been transformed from existing in name only to becoming an active, well known and respected entity. This is a very significant achievement.

In terms of efficiency the partnership/projects can be considered good value for money when comparing the relatively modest financial input to the quite impressive immediate results. However, it was also felt that resources are spread too thinly in the current V7 project, and that the number of involved chapters/branches should be reduced based on a combination of factors.

In relation to impact significant progress was also detected. E.g. the number of RC service models has increased as has general volunteer activity levels. Likewise, the RC branches have become much more effective in conducting advocacy on behalf of vulnerable people. Compared to the low levels of RC activity - or indeed in some cases almost complete inaction - which characterised most of the participating RC branches prior to the commencement of the OD/CB support, it is quite impressive what has been achieved.  The Evaluation team found that most of the RC activities are focusing on charity and short-term humanitarian support. This support is indeed highly valued by beneficiaries, but considering the maturity and proficiency of some of the participating branches/chapters it is suggested to increasingly supplement this type of assistance with more long-term development models. It is furthermore believed that linking the OD/CB support more explicitly to a sector programme could help address this to the even higher benefit of end beneficiaries.
 
In terms of sustainability, it was found that sound measures have been taken to ensure that positive results can be sustained. However, it was also stressed that sustainability is particularly vulnerable to the staff turnover. It was also found that the current V7 project does not have a very significant VNRC headquarters component, which could be considered useful from the perspective of more easily replicating beyond the immediate project areas and countering the current “over-stretched” capacity of VNRC headquarters.

Furthermore, the VNRC/NRC partnership was found to be very strong and healthy in terms of key dimensions such as equality and respect, integrity, transparency and ownership, and this is believed to provide a solid foundation for a continuation of the collaboration.

Recommendations:
Based on the above factors it was recommended to continue the partnership beyond the current phase, but with modifications as per the recommendations presented in summary below, some of which could already be implemented in the next funding cycle (2011-2012):

1. The approach to OD/CB should increasingly be driven by a focus on branch output/service delivery, and thus ultimately guided by the needs of communities.
2. A consolidated log frame should be developed as well as corresponding overall budget and activity plan.
3. Reduce the number of chapters targeted by the project in connection with entering into the next funding period (2011-2012) to counter the current capacity constraints of VNRC headquarters and to enable a stronger focus on OD/CB needs at commune level in the remaining provinces.
4. Expand the central Project Management Board to include representatives of additional VNRC headquarter departments.
5. Direct the OD/CB support more explicitly towards nurturing sustainable development models.
6. Introduce more indicators measuring service delivery to further facilitate an increased focus on impact.
7. Include and strengthen the VNRC headquarters OD/CB component in the next funding phase of the project to embed the intervention more solidly within the VNRC headquarters.
8. Ensure the lessons learned from the successive OD/CB projects are fed into the strategy formulation process leading to the 2011-2020 VNRC development strategy and vision document.
9. VNRC headquarters and chapters/branches to intensify their advocacy efforts to increase the government funding for CB/staff development and to allow chapters and branches to spend a certain percentage from private donations on administration.
10. Continue the partnership beyond the current phase, but with modifications as per the recommendations above some of which can already be implemented in the next funding cycle (2011-2012).

Comments from the organisation, if any:
As a follow up of the recommendation of the evaluation, the Norwegian Red Cross will continue its partnership with Vietnam Red Cross and extend the duration of the project. A process has started to implement the concrete project wise recommendations.