Description
The Millennium Challenge Corporation("MCC") and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines enteredinto a Millennium Challenge Compact for Millennium Challenge Account assistanceto help facilitate poverty reduction through economic growth in thePhilippines. The goal of the Compact is to reduce poverty through economicgrowth. The objective of the Program is to increase the incomes of Filipinosthrough the benefits of community-driven sub-projects, obtain time savings andlower transportation costs for road users in Program areas and increaseinvestment and government expenditure due to an increase in tax revenue and areduction in corruption. The project framework that good roads can linkhouseholds to good market opportunities, among others.
Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan - ComprehensiveIntegrated Delivery of Social Service (KALAHI-CIDSS) is a community-drivendevelopment project implemented by the Department of Social Welfare andDevelopment. Under KALAHI-CIDSS, communities and their Local Government Units(LGUs) are trained to choose, design and implement sub-projects that addresstheir most pressing need.
The Millennium Challenge Account-Philippines(MCA-P) has contracted Sustainable Development Solutions (SDS) to undertakehousehold surveys in 198 sample barangays representing198 targetmunicipalities. The target municipalities cover 26 provinces in 12 administrativeregions, namely: CAR, Regions IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII and CARAGA.The baseline study shall provide useful information that will serve as basis inthe planning of development programs for the target municipalities and in thepreparation of needed policies and project proposals.
Description of Services provided
Designed, implemented and managed the survey of5,940 households in 198 municipalities (30 households per barangay permunicipality) and 198 barangay surveys of which respondents were barangayofficials; Developed operational, recruitment and supervisionplan;Managed the procurement of data entry equipment(server, computer desktops, 30 laptops for field use) and GPS units (32 units);and setting up of data management office in Ortigas, Manila; North and SouthLuzon, Visayas, and Mindanao;Developed and maintained a database -a data entryand coding programs that were used for the field and Central offices (doubleentry) entry of questionnaire data; Conducted field pilot test in Quezon province whichserved as basis for the revision and finalization of the survey instruments,data entry and coding program; and procedures;Translated questionnaires in seven (7) dialects-Tagalog, Ilocano, Bicolano, Waray, Ilonggo, Hiligaynon, and Cebuano;Hired 27 field survey teams that were deployed inthe 26 covered provinces in 198 municipalities. Survey teams composed of 27field supervisors; 189 field interviewers; 31 field data editors, 15 centraloffice editors, and 10 data assistants; Designed, managed and conducted a 13-daycentralized training for 300 field survey team members composed of supervisors,editors and interviewers in Iloilo;Obtained research permits from the 198municipalities and paid courtesy calls with the various local governmentofficials, people’s organization; and relevant stakeholders and communityleaders;Obtained GPS coordinates of the location of theresidences of the 5,940 respondents to include landmarks of the covered 198municipalities; and</li><li>Prepared analytical and survey reportsthat provided useful information and served as basis in the planning ofdevelopment programs for the target municipalities and in the preparation ofneeded policies and project proposals. The study also outlined the client orbeneficiaries expectations and provided examples of where DSWD-KC goods andservice delivery standards could be aligned to communities’ needs.SDS wasresponsible for the overall management of the project including all technicalrequirements. Provide technical and administrative backstopping support to theconsultant team. Attended to the day-to-day administrative and logisticalrequirements of the project. Managed the project’s budget. Closely coordinatedwith the client and other attached agencies/units. Worked closely with theAUSAID. Prepared, finalized and packaged all project reports and deliverables.Hired and employs all project support staff.
One critical and significant output of the program was the development of PACAP’sM&E Framework. PACAP’s M&E framework had three (3) components calledthe Theory of Change (M&E Theory), M&E praxis and M&E practice. Theoryinvolved the pursuit of coherence at the conceptual level; practice concernedthe operationalization of theory. Praxis is the intersection of theoryand practice ensuring that theory is practically oriented, and that practice isgrounded in coherent theory.
M&E was considered an important part of the program design. Asidefrom the development of a website dedicated for information dissemination andmonitoring and evaluation of projects, the program committed considerableresources to M&E including: a part-time international M&E Specialist, afulltime local Database Officer, a fulltime Data Assistant, and a M&EInformation System (MEIS) Specialist; and funded out the MEIS software licenseand support staff.
Several unique and valuable features of the M&E arrangements for PACAP:
Actor-centric drawing on Soft Systems Methodology (SSM), the M&E planexamined program performance from the perspective of the key stakeholders (i.e.those involved in the processes of social change effected by theprogram). This helped to ground the performance analysis in the realityof people lives. It being notable that at the time PACAP’s M&Earrangements were planned, an actor-centric approach was relatively uncommon inAusAID programs.
Systems approach: the M&E arrangements routinely captured information atall stages of the theory of change throughout the life of the program. Theseenabled pieces of the puzzle to be drawn together to create an overall performancepicture.
Integratedrisk and performance: integrating the systematic capture of risk data withperformance data enabled the identification of meaningful lessons learned. Arguably, one only becomes aware of some risk factors in retrospect, when asituation turns out to be different from what was anticipated. Hence thecapture of such surprises is a valuable way to capture lessons learned.
Mixed methods: the M&E arrangements involved a comprehensive mix of both qualitative and quantitative methods. Drawn together these have provided particularly valuable insights into various aspects of program performance
Breadth of data: a strength of the PACAP M&E arrangements was the breadth of data that was systematically captured during the life of the program. This data not only covered all levels of the design logic, but included a balance of quantitative and qualitative information. It also integrated performanc edata and risk data to facilitate a systems perspective on program performance. Data was also captured on a range of cross-cutting themes, including gender and contribution to Millennium Development Goals (MDG).
M&E tools: some of the M&E tools developed for PACAP, while not perfect, proved to be valuable instruments. Of note was a Proponent Scorecard which was a brief survey (20 questions) implemented annually to provide a snapshot of developing partner capacity across a range of institutional dimensions. Also, a Project Completion Report proved to be a valuable way of garnering a census of project information across the diverse PACAP portfolio. This instrument collected a range of generic/standard information (e.g. gender, MDGs, project management etc.) as well as a range of sector-specific technical information.
Annual Quality Audits: the use of a consistent method to conduct annual quality audits produced valuable trend information during the life of the program. Furthermore, the use of a blend of both qualitative and quantitative data provided compelling insights into implementation performance. This inturn triggered valuable internal reflection and continuous improvements.
Asynchronous database: PACAP subcontracted the services and software of Aid-IT Solutions to support its M&E data management. Yet although the MEIS was not without its challenges, it nonetheless provided a technically innovative way of capturing, updating and sharing data from geographically distributed staff, located in ICT-challenged operating context. The considerable success of the PACAP MEIS is noteworthy, especially given the common failings and inadequacies of bespoke information system in many other AusAID initiatives.
