Independent Evaluation of the Child Friendly National Budget Initiative

Background 
The primary purpose of the evaluation was to enable SCZ and NANGO to gain a thorough understanding of how CFNBI has evolved since its inception, including the challenges it has faced, and to generate recommendations that will inform the next stage of the project. The evaluation will gather comprehensive evidence of CFNBI’s approach, impact and lessons learned, and suggest ways of scaling up and increasing impact for children.

Purpose/objective (including evaluation questions)  
 The primary purpose of the evaluation was to enable SCZ and NANGO to gain a thorough understanding of how CFNBI has evolved since its inception, including the challenges it has faced, and to generate recommendations that will inform the next stage of the project.  The evaluation will gather comprehensive evidence of CFNBI’s approach, impact and lessons learned, and suggest ways of scaling up and increasing impact for children.

Questions
Has the project been relevant to the problem it set out to address?
Are the project’s priorities the right ones given the overall goal and the context?

Has it adapted to changes in the context over time?

Have new, strategic opportunities been identified and taken up during the project’s life?

Have activities been delivered on time and on budget?
Is the project well managed – specifically in terms of (i) personnel, including adequate technical capacity, (ii) financial resources, (iii) donor reporting, (iv) stakeholder relations, (v) documenting and communicating project successes?
Is the project good value for money?
Does the project have a clear Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) framework that has been used to monitor progress and inform project learning?

Methodology 
Literature review of key project documents and other relevant reports

Presentation by NANGO team of the project’s approach, achievements and challenges

Semi-structured interviews with key informants in Harare, based on an interview guide (Annex B)

Field visits to the five NANGO regions for additional interviews with key informants and review of documentation

Focus group discussions with final beneficiaries (ie. children), based around a child-focused questionnaire

Key findings  
High level of effort on advocacy and interface with policy makers, including at sector level.  Combined with proactive media engagement, this led to increased visibility for the project.  Project had a multi-faceted approach with efforts being made under all five components, and attention to the links and synergies between them.  Child participation integrated to a degree, but not the major focus.

A heavy focus on child participation and awareness-raising at local level was embedded as the main thrust of the project.  Post-budget analysis was carried out at national level in 2012, but not linked to an advocacy strategy.  Advocacy was limited to presentation of the Ten Point Plan to the PPC for Public Finance. There was no longer any interface with social sector policy-makers.  No visible activities under the media reporting and regional links components.

Recommendations 
A joint vision and strategy shared by SCZ, NANGO and UNICEF, drawing on the holistic approach used during the project’s initial phase

A robust M&E system and significant improvements to the quality of regular project reporting and monitoring

Adequate financial resources and staffing to deliver at national and local levels, including strengthened technical capacity in (i) economic and budget analysis, and (ii) advocacy and communications

Exploring options for moving towards more of a partnership approach with GoZ in the medium term, with the aim of increasing the project’s influence

Follow up (with reference to Action Plan)