Midterm Review of Save the Children Nicaragua’s Strategic Plan 2010 – 2014

Background   
The Strategic Plan 2010 – 2014 targeted education, protection, health, nutrition, and HIV/AIDS programmes, as well as Child rights governance, emergencies and risk management, and food security. Two years after the plan started, a decision was made to conduct a midterm review in order to assess the overall performance of Save the Children’s programmes and the effectiveness of work with partners from the perspective of participants.

Purpose/objective (including evaluation questions)    
General Objective:
Assess the overall performance of Save the Children’s programmes and the effectiveness of work with local partners during the first half of the strategic period 2010 – 2014. Focus on the impact achieved on the lives of children and adolescents, as well as on adult target groups involved in project implementation taking into account their opinions and perceptions.
Specific purposes:
a.     Review objectives, as defined in the Strategy Matrix 2010 – 2014 and reported in Annual Reports 2010 and 2011, to assess whether these were achieved by the date of review, and provide recommendations to improve compliance.
b. Review the progress made in compliance with programme indicators, and define the main challenges to be dealt with during the remainder of the period 2012-2014 in the current national context.
c. Identify proposals put forward by Ch&As and other local actors with potential to increase project and programme efficiency in terms of the impact of our actions.
d. Keep informed of how the progress made by projects implemented by SC and its partners during the first two years of Strategic Plan implementation is assessed based on the perceptions and opinions expressed by Ch&As and other local actors (parents, caregivers and representatives of duty bearers, among others).
e. Identify good practices and main lessons learned.

Methodology   
An advisory team made up of Save the Children staff members and representatives of six partner organisations was set up (CAPRI, the Masculinity Network, MILAVF, National Youth Movement, Dos Generaciones and CESESMA) for designing, implementing and following up the review process.

A qualitative methodology was used, including target group participation, i.e. children, adolescents, and adults (parents, teachers, technical teams, and officials).

Key Elements:
Review of reports and documents from 2010 and 2011.
Roadmap based on a sample of 19 partner organisations in five programmes. 51 focus groups were held with 571 participants, of whom 286 (50%) were children and adolescents.
Processing and analysis of information.
Drawing up of report.

Key findings   
The perceptions and assessment of participating children and adolescents indicate that the work of Save the Children and its partners over the past two years has had a positive impact on their lives.

Parents and caregivers highlight their own progressive changes in traditional child-raising patterns and recognise the importance of the role played by Save the Children and its partners in training and awareness-raising processes regarding good treatment of children and their rights.
All groups involved acknowledged that progress has been made by duty bearers in promoting and protecting children’s rights.

The lack of standard indicators in the various programmes was noted when analysing compliance with indicators. Unbalanced relationships between process indicators and results were found. First this creates a high number of indicators to follow. Secondly, the evaluation of the impact the intervention has on the lives of children is limited in scope when most indicators in a programme are mostly process indicators.

As shown by the review, the negative impact of consecutive budget cuts over the first two years of the strategic plan had a negative impact on the geographical, population, school, and community coverage, thus affecting all programme processes and activities, i.e. communication, advocacy, monitoring and implementation. Budget cuts made between 2010 and 2012 represent approximately one million dollars. Nonetheless, results reflect extra efforts made by Save the Children, its partners, and the target groups.

An analysis of the perceptions and opinions of people interviewed for this study, document research and an analysis of indicators confirm the positive impact of Save the Children´s programmes on the lives of children and adolescents.

The general analysis of the perceptions of people interviewed is positive, but there are still some gaps and challenges to address over the next strategic years, such as improving the relationship between duty bearers and partners. During the consultation process to draw up a strategic plan, Ch&As made requests that have gone unanswered; for instance, they want to be involved in project monitoring in their neighbourhoods and communities; they call for a larger and coordinated police presence in schools; and that children participate in presentations of child rights reports by the Human Rights Ombudsman and the Ministry of Family; and request that they be granted certificates and diplomas, as well as settings to exchange experiences in ITS and HIV/AIDS.

Recommendations   
Raise the quality of child and adolescent participation in all phases of project cycles: baseline assessment, planning, design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation; comply with the standards mandated by Save the Children International´s participation indicator (voluntary, safe and inclusive).

Bolster the role of promoters played by children in peer dissemination and communication in all projects and programmes.

Broaden the scope of documentation, systematisation and dissemination of successful and even not successful strategies and projects, as a way to identify capacities built among target groups and sustainable proposals in the territories of influence.

As regards the issue of indicators, a reduction in the number of process indicators is suggested for the final strategy evaluation, as is the use of results indicators to be able to evaluate the impact of interventions on the lives of children. There should be a balance of process and results indicators in all programmes as a basis for the new SC strategic plan.
Improve technical support to partners during transition to the Save the Children International Programme, as well as the use of new indicators and standards. Save the Children International´s global interests and those of partners should be harmonised by reinforcing the sound practice of discussing matters in the territories.

Follow up (with reference to Action Plan) 
Present results to partners and select the target groups involved in the review to validate the information and talk about the viable incorporation of recommendations to the Plan 2013.
Incorporate midterm evaluation recommendations to operational plans 2012 and to the annual plan 2013.
Summarise and translate it into English. Publish a reduced version of the summary in Spanish to share it with target groups.