Human Rights in the Field 2015 JAMR 25 Template for project proposal Your Task Your task is to develop a project proposal for a project aimed at improving access to justice from a human rights perspective in Kenya, Myanmar or Turkey. The organization you represent is either an NHRI or a human rights NGO. You have a maximum of USD 50,000 at your disposal. The proposal should demonstrate your understanding of the project development methodology as well as your ability to design a realistic and feasible project to tackle a human rights problem in a specific country and sectoral context. The proposal is to be presented in written form on 29 October 2015 as well as presented orally in a simulated donor conference on the 30th November. You will also get a chance to discuss your ideas and get feedback from the ‘donor’ on 23rd November. The final written proposal should be no longer than 4500 words and should follow the outline below. The title page must state the title of your project, your name and student number as well as the total number of words. Project template 1. Project Summary Provide a brief summary of your proposal stating the objective/s and the main components. Briefly state the main project strategy and activities as well as the key expected results. 2. Context Analysis In this section you should provide a short overview of the context (country, region, sector, etc.) in which your project is to be implemented. What is the political and social-economic context in which you are working? What are the main development issues and human rights concerns in this country? How does your project fit into this context? A good context analysis is important in identifying strategic areas of intervention as well as capacity gaps thus enabling you to develop a project that is focused and relevant. This section should also bring out the key human rights issues/problems the project is attempting to address on a general level. In this respect, the country’s ratification record in relation to main relevant international and regional human rights instruments, and possibly also reporting record to treaty bodies, may be added as an indication of the country’s level of acceptance of the international human rights regime. Identify the specific right to be furthered under the project looking at the specific treaty right/s being denied, and the concrete obligations the state has in relation to this right/s. 1 Human Rights in the Field 2015 JAMR 25 Useful information can be found in country and human rights reports produced by UN, various foreign ministries, World Bank reports, UNDP development indices, the country's own development and sector strategies, poverty reduction strategy papers, etc. 3. Problem and stakeholder analysis Stakeholder Analysis Begin by providing an overview of the actors that are directly or indirectly impacted by/involved in the project – the stakeholders. This can be presented in the form of a diagram or chart illustrating the relationship between stakeholders. Stakeholders can be divided into primary and secondary stakeholders. Primary stakeholders are those directly involved in the project, i.e. partner organizations, and those directly impacted by the project, i.e. beneficiaries or target groups. Secondary stakeholders are those who may have an indirect impact on the project, those who will be indirectly effected by the project outcomes. The analysis of the stakeholders should look at the characteristics of the various stakeholders, e.g. their relevance, power, role and capacity in relation to your project. Also consider the extent of cooperation and conflict between the stakeholders as well as existing capacity gaps to promote and protect human rights. Issues to consider are whether stakeholders have appropriate constitutional, legislative and policy frameworks, institutional infrastructure, political will, data, knowledge and resources, ability to organize effectively, ability to establish or participate in relevant networks, to communicate with policy and decision makers, etc. For inspiration you could look at the stakeholder matrix in the European Commission’s Project Cycle Management Guidelines https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/sites/devco/files/methodology-aid-delivery-methods-project-cyclemanagement-200403_en_2.pdf , p. 61 and/or in the UNDP Handbook on Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation for Development Results, Section 2.2., http://web.undp.org/evaluation/handbook/ch22.html Problem Analysis It is very important to make a proper analysis of the identified focal/main problem the project seeks to address as well its causes and effects. The causes should be analysed in order to find the reasons for the focal problem and, thereby, the solutions/the relevant activities the project will implement in order to tackle the causes and then consequently also the problem. The effects demonstrate the arguments (the needs) for implementing the change/the project, and also show how broader society is affected by the problem. The problem analysis draws on the context and stakeholder analysis. The context analysis should have provided a broader picture of the project’s environment, the general human rights situation and development problems existing in this context. The stakeholder analysis has “zoomed in” on the institution/s primarily affected by the project or exerting an influence on the problem and analysed their respective capacity gaps. Questions that should be answered are thus: 2 Human Rights in the Field 2015 JAMR 25 - What is the main focal problem that will be tackled with the help of the project? (Why is a change project needed?) What are the main causes of the problem. (Why does it exist?) What are the effects of the problem? (Why is it important to solve the problem?) You could also consider: - Why is it not possible for the country/target group to solve the problem itself? Are there any background studies which have analyzed the project area? What is the legislative framework impacting on the problem area, including possible gaps and inconsistencies in legislation as well as in its implementation? How, for example, are these effected by values and attitudes among stakeholders or society at large? Where is the problem situated within an international legal framework, in particular international and regional human rights law. 4. Objectives, Strategy and Expected Results In order to state the objective of the project you must turn the negative “problem” statements into positive statements of ambition/expressions of intent. This entails the causes of the problem being turned into possible short-term results of the project, the focal problem becomes the main project objective and the effects become the overall objective (which can be translated into the impact of the project). The overall objective states the the long-term result that successful project delivery will contribute to. The project objective is the very reason why the project is needed. A project is essentially a set of interrelated activities which use limited financial, human and physical resources during a specified period of time to produce goods or services in order to achieve an objective. For the project proposed, a project strategy needs to be selected and you should argue why this strategy is better or more feasible than other possible ways of tackling the problem. Based on the analysis of the situation you aim to improve, the strategy will outline your plan for improving the situation, i.e. the means to reach the objective and eliminate the problem. In one sense, the project strategy also makes clear which results you will focus on to achieve the stated objectives. As a consequence, your strategy becomes the basis for which causes you wish to address in your project. The project strategy may imply that you only select a few of the potential immediate objectives (corresponding to the causes) of the project and overall objective/s (corresponding to the effects). The selected project strategy shall be described and motivated. The project strategy shall preferably have been selected because of the competitive advantage of the implementing agency, and its partners, and it is useful to motivate this (what other projects are being implemented by the government, NGOs and other donors in the same sector? Is there any danger of duplication or conflict?). A project’s priorities should thus be set with reference to what other parties are doing in the field as well as to resources, mandate and limits of the implementing agency. It is also preferable if the project strategy’s alignment with country development plans and poverty reduction goals is made clear as well as how it will help create conditions that will produce societal benefits in the long-term. This should relate to the selected target group as well as the project’s geographical and thematic reach. 3 Human Rights in the Field 2015 JAMR 25 The account of and motivation for the selected project strategy should be followed by an account of the project’s expected results. The expected results of the project should be accounted for from three different, but inter-related, perspectives: short-term results (outputs), medium-term results (outcomes) and long-term results (impact). The results relate to the problem identified and its causes and effects, and consequently also the objectives formulated. You can see the objectives as broad statements of the desired condition you plan to achieve. Results should be more specific and narrow. In the same vein, objectives are general intentions, and results are more precise, concrete and tangible. Used in this sense, results should be possible to validate in distinction to objectives. A result is a representation of what the success of the project – in relation to its objectives – would look like. In its concrete formulation, an objective uses the future tense (e.g. “to improve/strengthen something”) whereas the results formulation can use the past tense (e.g. “structures (have been) established for etc”). The identified project objective should be translated into a few clear outcomes. An outcome is an actual result of an intervention describing a change in conditions in the medium-term perspective (between outputs and the achievement of impact). The short-term results are called outputs and constitute the products, immediate gains, capital goods and services which the implementation of activities brings about; i.e. they should include changes resulting directly from the intervention which are relevant to the achievement of outcomes. Outputs relate to the completion (rather than the conduct) of activities and are the type of results over which project managers should have a high degree of influence. Outputs relate to the more immediate causes of the problem and some also couple them with activities and inputs as part of the implementation aspect of a project. Activities in this regard are actions taken or work performed with the use of inputs (such as financial, human, technical and/or material resources) in order to produce specific outputs. There must be a causal link between outputs and outcomes, i.e. the achievement of outputs should logically lead to (as a contributing factor) the achievement of outcomes. This relates to the so-called results chain; which is the causal sequence of an intervention that stipulates the necessary progression to achieve desired aims – beginning with inputs, moving through activities and outputs, and culminating in outcomes, impact (and feedback and lessons learned). Impact is the longer term or ultimate result attributable to an intervention and corresponds to the overall objective/s that you have identified. Accordingly, when formulating your expected results at output, outcome and impact level, review your identified objectives and problem statements. Translate your overall objective (the long-term vision of the project) into one impact statement. Translate your project objective (the very reason why the project is needed) into tangible and precise outcome statements. Then review the more immediate causes of the problem you have chosen – as part of your strategy – to tackle and reformulate these as output statements. The expected results at output, outcome and impact level you now have formulated constitute your results chain and can be inserted into the results framework enclosed with this project document. Once this has been done, assess the causal sequence and logical progression of the results framework from outputs to impact. In order to assess the success of the project and to be able to tell what actual benefits it has produced, expected results have to be translated into a set of key indicators. An indicator can be 4 Human Rights in the Field 2015 JAMR 25 defined as a tool measuring whether and/or to what extent an expected result has been achieved. Indicators can be both quantitative and qualitative. Usually, baseline data is collected prior to implementation of project activities to describe the situation before interventions and to establish the current or recent condition relative to the results to be achieved as the first measurement of an indicator, but also to provide further focus of the project and its activities. The information provided in the context and stakeholder analysis may constitute useful baseline data. Formulate specific and relevant indicators and insert these in the enclosed results framework in relation to the expected results at each level (output, outcome and impact). Evaluation can be used to assess the project’s relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact and sustainability, while the project is ongoing and when it has been finalised. It can serve the purpose of incorporating lessons learned into the decision-making process and into future interventions as well as to clarify and deal with anticipated problems. It can also be useful to make provision for periodic reviews and mid-term evaluations. 5. Activities The causes of the problem shall be treated by the activities, which are implemented within the framework of the project. Activities constitute the means to achieve the expected results at output level. Hence, they are not in themselves the results or objectives of the project. One common mistake made in project documents is to focus attention on the activities of the project and to confuse them with the results/objectives. If the activities are planned and implemented in a suitable way, the results (outputs) will be achieved as a direct consequence. This, in turn, will lead to the achievement of outcomes (and ”treat” the project objective) and will, in the long term, also contribute to the expected impact and achieveing the overall objective. The activities shall, similarly to the outputs, tackle the more immediate causes of the main problem. The activities are the work that is done by those involved in the project. Indicate how the principles of a HRBA will be taken into account while implementing your programme activities. In general, the activities part of this document should be as brief as possible and could include a simple timetable scheduling dates and periodic achievements of the project. To bring out the connection between results and activities, activities can be grouped according to their contribution to each result area. 6. Assumptions and Risks Assumptions are underlying factors that are important for the achievement of objectives and results, but that are outside the project’s direct influence. For example, the project may be dependent on external support; the existence of certain norms, laws, ordinances, and policies; political will and commitment; allocation of funds, etc. Although your project will not be able to addess these issues, you should show that you are aware of them and that project success will depend on these external factors being in place. The project should also identify, analyse and assess risk factors. These include: 5 Human Rights in the Field 2015 JAMR 25 External risks - risks that exist outside the framework of the project (for example political developments, natural disasters, etc.) and outside your sphere of influence. Internal risks: - risks of the type that are possible for the project to exercise control over. They can be practical matters such as delays in deliveries, personnel turnover, etc. In most cases, project management can minimise the effects of these internal risks. Accordingly, try to address the following: - Are there major external risks (conflicts or other disruptive factors) and to what extent are they are likely to affect the project if they should materialize. What could be done about them? What other factors can prevent, make it difficult, or delay the implementation of the project? What are the strategies for managing these factors/risks if they occur? Could the project itself have negative side-effects and how could they be avoided? 7. Budget List the resources required to carry out the main activities in addition to a general budget reference costing these resources. Resources provided for implementing activities within the framework of the project can consist of for example: - - Technical expertise (local and/or foreign expertise: what kind of know-how is needed to achieve results) Equipment /publications /training in the use of the equipment training venues, travel and accommodation for participants There may also be a need to include a budget for mid-term or final reviews and evaluations, as well as monitoring and evaluation. There is no need to provide detailed information on costs for individual budget items, but the resources allocated for the implementation of the project should, by way of the general budget references provided, be realistic and allow for an assessment of whether the project has been planned realistically and can be implemented within the funds provided. Annexes to be included in your proposal: Results Framework Risk Management Matrix (templates for both are attached below). 6 RESULTS FRAMEWORK PROJECT OBJECTIVE: PROJECT TITLE:: PROJECT TIMEFRAME: HOW? INPUTS ACTIVITIES WHAT WE WANT OUTPUTS BUDGET: WHY? OUTCOMES IMPACT Outcomes Impact INDICATORS Outputs The row with “how”, “what we want”, etc., can be taken out once the other data has been filled in. 7 Risk Management Plan RISK MANAGEMENT PLAN Operational Risks Risk General Likelihood of Occurrence (Very Unlikely/Unlikely/Likely/Very Likely) Potential Effect of Risk Risk Response Residual Risk Level (Very Low/ Low/Medium/High /Very High) Risk Response Residual Risk Level (Very Low/ Low/Medium/High /Very High) Risk Response Residual Risk Level (Very Low/ Low/Medium/High /Very High) Fiduciary Risks Risk General Likelihood of Occurrence (Very Unlikely/Unlikely/Likely/Very Likely) Potential Effect of Risk Development Risks Risk General Likelihood of Occurrence (Very Unlikely/Unlikely/Likely/Very Likely) Potential Effect of Risk OVERALL RISK LEVEL 8 9