Organizational Capacity and Partnerships for
Household Economic Strengthening Activities
Course Objectives
By the end of the training, you will be able to…
 Explain why HES activities will enhance existing programs for VC
 Explain how HES activities fit into their organizational mission and
goals
 List the general steps necessary for planning and implementing
HES activities
 Identify core organizational strengths and weaknesses for
implementing HES activities
 Name four key components of partnerships
 Identify key challenges of forming partnerships and corresponding
strategies for mitigating them
 Develop a plan for working with colleagues to do a deeper
assessment of organizational capacity
What is Household Economic Strengthening?
“A portfolio of interventions to reduce the economic
vulnerability of households and empower them to
provide for the essential needs of the children they care
for, rather than relying on external assistance.”
PEPFAR working definition, 2011
Why HES Activities?
Why HES Activities?
 Benefits to target audience
 Benefits over other types of interventions
 Benefits to organization (mission fit, strategic
objectives, etc.)
???????
Health
Kits
???????
Organizational Capacity
Organizational Capacity
Overall OC
OC to implement HES Activities

What do you do?

What are you planning to do?

How well do you do it?


How strong are your
‘systems’?
How well can you do it with
your current resources?

What is your capacity to
enhance existing resources in
order to do it well?
Overall Organizational Capacity
Resources for Assessing Organizational Strength
 Technical and Organizational Capacity Assessment Tool (TOCAT)
 Organizational Capacity Assessment (OCA)
 Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats Analysis
(SWOT)
 MCAT – Management Capacity Assessment Tool
 Finance, administrative, grants management
 MOST – Management Organizational Strengths Assessment Tool
 NHOCAT – National Harmonized Organizational Capacity
Assessment Tool
Technical and Organizational Capacity Assessment Tool
(TOCAT)
Core Functional Areas
Principal Capacity Domains
1. Number, Mix and Capacity Of Technical Staff
2. Technical Quality Standards
3. Technical Supervision
A: Institutional &
4. Training and Mentoring
Programmatic Technical 5. Client/Beneficiary Communications
Capacity
6. Community Involvement
7. Service Delivery Organization and Quality Assurance
8. Referral Systems for Continuum of Prevention, Care and
Support Services
1. Governance and Leadership
2. Management Practices
B: Institutional &
3. Operational Planning
Programmatic
4. Structure: Roles and Responsibility
Organizational Capacity 5. Structure: Delegation of Authority and Decision-Making
6. Staffing and Human Resource Management
7. Partnering and Networking
Technical and Organizational Capacity Assessment Tool
(TOCAT)
Core Functional Areas
C: Financial
Management Systems
Principal Capacity Domains
1. Financial Planning and Budgeting
2. Cash and Banking
3. Accounting and Record Keeping
D: Procurement and
Supply Management
1. Procurement
E: Monitoring for
Management
1. Technical Program Planning and M&E
2. Data Collection Systems
3. Data Use and Culture of Information
4. Stakeholder Communications and Reporting
SWOT – HES ACTIVITIES
STRENGTHS
What are we good at?
WEAKNESSES
What do we do poorly?
Negative Influences
Positive Influences
Internal Factors
OPPORTUNITIES
THREATS
What are our best strategies
What can get in our way? In
for improvement or growth?
what do we have little or no
External Factors
Of what or whom can/should
control?
we take advantage?
How can we use these tools?
COLLABORATION
ACTION
PLANNING
ACCOUNTABILITY
What else?
Capacity to implement HES Activities

What are you planning to do?

How well can you do it with your current resources?

What is your capacity to enhance existing resources in order to
do it well?
What does it mean to
do HES activities “well”?
HES For VC Guidance
Key question
What do people really need?
How will HES activities affect and be
affected by the local economy (“the
market”)?
Why is this important?
Incorrectly matching HES activities to households
can have long-lasting negative consequences in the
home and community.
To take advantages of opportunities in the market
and avoid negative side-effects of HES activities
within the community.
Who will be the direct participants or There are pros and cons to targeting particular
beneficiaries of HES activities?
populations for HES activities.
How can we monitor and evaluate
these activities?
Can we implement HES activities
alone or should we partner?
To know if HES activities are having intended
(positive) effects and avoiding unintended
consequences.
HES activities are resource intensive and technically
challenging; strong internal systems and
partnerships are key to delivering effective,
efficient programs.
HES For VC Guidance
Key question
What do people really need?
How will HES activities affect
and be affected by the local
economy (“the market”)?
Who will be the direct
participants or beneficiaries
of HES activities?
How can we monitor and
evaluate these activities?
Can we implement HES
activities alone or should we
partner?
Why is this important?
Incorrectly matching HES activities to
households can have long-lasting
negative consequences in the home and
community.
To take advantages of opportunities in
the market and avoid negative sideeffects of HES activities within the
community.
There are pros and cons to targeting
particular populations for HES activities.
To know if HES activities are having
intended (positive) effects and avoiding
unintended consequences.
HES activities are resource intensive and
technically challenging; strong internal
systems and partnerships are key to
delivering effective, efficient programs.
How do you do it?
Conduct a household livelihood analysis
Conduct a market assessment
Conduct an organizational analysis and
assess strengths and weaknesses of
potential partners
Choose a program structure that
maximizes positive outcomes for direct
and indirect beneficiaries
Create and implement a monitoring and
evaluation plan
Designing HES Activities
An effective HLA will help you…
Conduct a household livelihood
analysis
Develop a holistic understanding of household
and community livelihoods and well-being,
economic conditions, health, food security,
political and environmental security, etc.
Conduct a market assessment
Determine household and community needs and
designing interventions to meet them
Choose a program structure that
maximizes positive outcomes for
direct and indirect beneficiaries
Examine intra-household poverty and how it
affects VCs and other household members
differently
Create and implement a
monitoring and evaluation plan
Understand household and community
opportunities and capabilities
Conduct an organizational
analysis and assess strengths and
weaknesses of potential partners
Establish a baseline or reference point from which
to identify and measure changes (positive and
negative) in the future. This information enables
program course correction as required, and to
assess overall program outcomes and impact.
Designing HES Activities
Conduct a household livelihood
analysis
A poor HLA can lead to adoption of HES
activities that…
 Are of little or no value
 Have a negative impact on households
Conduct a market assessment
 Encourage dependence
 Disrupt local markets and merchants
Choose a program structure that
maximizes positive outcomes for
direct and indirect beneficiaries
Create and implement a
monitoring and evaluation plan
Conduct an organizational
analysis and assess strengths and
weaknesses of potential partners
 Fail to take advantage of valuable local
opportunities and capabilities
 Have a positive impact on households but
a negative impact on communities
 Fail to address inequalities in intrahousehold poverty
 Fail to result in positive outcomes for
vulnerable children
Designing HES Activities
Conduct a household livelihood
analysis
Conduct a market assessment
Choose a program structure that
maximizes positive outcomes for
direct and indirect beneficiaries
Create and implement a
monitoring and evaluation plan
Conduct an organizational
analysis and assess strengths and
weaknesses of potential partners
A good market assessment will tell you
about…
 The local supply and demand of goods,
commodities, services and skills
 The accessibility of inputs, including
commodities, capital or services, and
 How the environment (political, regulatory,
etc.) shapes incentives and opportunities
for household participation in the market
Designing HES Activities
Conduct a household livelihood
analysis
Conduct a market assessment
The results of a poor market assessment
could result in…
 Lack of necessary supplies
Choose a program structure that
maximizes positive outcomes for
direct and indirect beneficiaries
 Production of goods or skills for which
there is no demand or too much
competition
Create and implement a
monitoring and evaluation plan
 Negative impacts on local sellers
Conduct an organizational
analysis and assess strengths and
weaknesses of potential partners
 Breaking the law
Designing HES Activities
Conduct a household livelihood
analysis
Conduct a market assessment
Choose a program structure that
maximizes positive outcomes for
direct and indirect beneficiaries
Create and implement a
monitoring and evaluation plan
Conduct an organizational
analysis and assess strengths and
weaknesses of potential partners
Identifying and targeting appropriate direct
and indirect beneficiaries…
 ???
Designing HES Activities
Conduct a household livelihood
analysis
Conduct a market assessment
Choose a program structure that
maximizes positive outcomes for
direct and indirect beneficiaries
Create and implement a
monitoring and evaluation plan
Conduct an organizational
analysis and assess strengths and
weaknesses of potential partners
Identifying and targeting appropriate direct
and indirect beneficiaries…
 …???
Designing HES Activities
Conduct a household livelihood
analysis
Effective M&E will help you by…

Providing program planners and
implementers with information to select
HES activities

Knowing what and how households and
VC are doing

Giving managers insight into whether HES
activities are meeting targets

Being accountable to stakeholders

Providing ‘data for decision-making’
Conduct a market assessment
Choose a program structure that
maximizes positive outcomes for
direct and indirect beneficiaries
Create and implement a
monitoring and evaluation plan
Conduct an organizational
analysis and assess strengths and
weaknesses of potential partners
Designing HES Activities
Conduct a household livelihood
analysis
Ineffective M&E…
Conduct a market assessment
Choose a program structure that
maximizes positive outcomes for
direct and indirect beneficiaries
Create and implement a
monitoring and evaluation plan
Conduct an organizational
analysis and assess strengths and
weaknesses of potential partners
 Collects too much or too little information
 Is poorly accessible
 Does not feed directly into decision-making
processes
 Does not differentiate between program
objectives and household / VC realities
Designing HES Activities
Conduct a household livelihood
analysis
Conduct a market assessment
Choose a program structure that
maximizes positive outcomes for
direct and indirect beneficiaries
Create and implement a
monitoring and evaluation plan
Conduct an organizational analysis
and assess strengths and
weaknesses of potential partners
An organization assessment should tell you
 Your capacity to do all of these things well to
select and design HES activities
 Your capacity to DELIVER selected HES
activities well
Implementing HES Activity
Savings Groups
Cash Transfers
Asset Transfers
IGAs – example?
Key Decision Points?
Partnerships
Discussion Questions
Why partner?
What are the biggest
benefits you’ve
encountered of forming
partnerships?
What are the biggest
problems you have had
with forming or
operationalizing
partnerships?
How would you do
things differently to
avoid them?
Four Core Principles for Strong Partnerships
CHAMPION
Transparency
Shared Goals
and
Principles
Mutual
Benefit
Goals
Values
Motivations
Partners
should
value each
other for
reasons
other than
financial
contributio
ns.
Decisionmaking
Mutual Respect
Healthy
partnership
s will design
programs
to ensure
that all
organizatio
ns meet
individual
as well as
collective
goals.
Mutual benefit
Partners
share the
same
values and
aim to
achieve the
same
objectives
as your
organizatio
n. Even
when
missions
are
different,
you should
Shared goals and principles
Transparency
Processes
Trust is an
important
part of any
relationship
and
transparenc
y of goals,
motivations
and
processes
are
essential
for building
trust and
maintaining
accountabili
ty to each
other,
Program
objectives &
outcomes
Meeting
individual
and collective
goals
Mutual
Respect
Value each
other beyond
financial
contributions
Shared /
equitable
decisionmaking
Choosing a Partner
 Use organizational capacity
 Do they have a standardized
tools to identify your needs
and documented approach to
and assess partner
the HES activity?
capabilities
 Do they have experience
 Assess for the four principles
working with VC HHs or do they
 Other key questions
have the expertise necessary to
 Do they have a good
tailor their approach to make it
reputation implementing
appropriate?
the HES activity you are
 If they don’t have sufficient staff
interesting in?
expertise currently, do they
 Do they have reports that
have the necessary resources to
show positive results from
recruit new staff or consultants?
past HES projects?
How are Partnerships Formed?




At the coffee shop / bar family reunion
At a training / conference / meeting
Via HQ (regional, national, international)
Other working groups, government resources,
etc.
 Others?
How are Joint Programs / Projects Developed?




At the coffee shop / bar family reunion
At a training / conference / meeting
Via HQ (regional, national, international)
Other working groups, government resources,
etc.
 Others?
How are Partnerships Formed?
Partner
1 Input
Partner
1 Input
Partner
2 Input
Final
Proposal
or Plan
Partner
2 Input
Final
Proposal
or Plan
HES Activities – What Capacities do we Need?
 Outline the process from A – Z
INPUT – PROCESS – OUTPUT – OUTCOME – IMPACT
 What is A? B? C?
 Who will do it?
 Who are potential partners? In this room? Outside?
Leverage
• Universal Basic Education
(UBE)
• National Poverty Eradication
Programme (NAPEP)
• MDG-No 1 goal
• SMEDAN
• Social Welfare
• Primary Health Care
• Sure-P
• CPC
• National Center for Women’s
Development
• COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES
• Grants/Donor Agencies
(WASH, UNICEF etc.)
• NGOs and CBOs
• MFB
• CSOs
• Media
• Traditional institutions
• Religious institutions