1. SITUATION AT THE END OF PHASE 1

1.1. LITERATURE REVIEW

1.2. COUNTRY CASE STUDIES AND MONOGRAPHS

1.3. PRACTITIONER HANDBOOK

1.4. AN OPERATIONAL AND WIDELY CONSULTED WEB SITE

1.5. CONCLUSION

2. WHY A PHASE 2

3. DESCRIPTION OF PHASE 2

3.1. OBJECTIVES

3.2. EXPECTED RESULTS

3.3. ACTIVITIES TO BE CARRIED OUT IN PHASE 2

3.3.1. Case studies

3.3.2. Piloting and testing the Practitioner Handbook

3.3.3. Finalization and printing of the Overview book

3.3.4. Dissemination of the findings

3.3.5. Means required and chronogram for the Global Study Phase 2

4. PROPOSED METHODOLOGY FOR PILOTING THE HAND BOOK

4.1. PEER REVIEW

4.2. FIELD PILOTING

4.2.1. Objectives of the field piloting

4.2.2. Geographical coverage and diversity of agencies involved

4.2.3. Method for the Piloting

5. MEANS REQUIRED

5.1. PREREQUISITES FOR THE PHASE 2

5.2. THE REQUIRED BUDGET

6. CHRONOGRAMME FOR THE WHOLE PHASE 2

7. CONCLUSION

 

Three literature review have been launched and completed during Phase 1 :

• Review of the English language literature on participation, which gave a very useful appraisal of the theoretical and practical issues at stake;
• Review of the Spanish language literature on participation which underlines the socio-political perspectives with a great attention devoted to natural disasters in Central and Latin America;
• Review of the French language literature on participation which focuses more on the critical analysis of participatory tools, links with development and the concept of "communities".

At the end of Phase 1, five monographs presenting the results of the country studies are available.

The following table maps the diversity of characteristics currently captured by the Global Study Phase 1.

A first draft version of the Practitioner Handbook on Participation is published in a user friendly format comprising three parts :

• Part 1, on generic issues, organised following the different phases of the project cycle; with presentation of tools, their domain of validity, pro and cons; constraints, modus operandi, etc.
• Part 2, dedicated to the various aspects of participation in relation to the project cycle
• Part 3, presenting the sector related specificities.

This Handbook builds on the findings of the three literature reviews, the five field researches, the CIDA funded research on children and participation, as well as from a thorough review of existing handbooks on participation and related issues.

This web site, comprises pages in different languages (English, French, Spanish , Portuguese) is now widely consulted and has proved to be a key element of the communication of the Global Study.

See : www.globalstudyparticipation.org

Here is a precise balance of the activities carried out in the Global Study until the ALNAP October 2003 Plenary, compared against the initial objectives :

From early April 2003, the ideas to continue the Global Study for a second phase has been developed. The rational is four-pronged :

Reason 1 : There are still some gaps in the variety of fields covered in the country studies :

• No large scale sudden onset disaster occurred during the period covered by Phase 1.
• No refugee situation has been studied.
• No case study took place in the very specific contexts of eastern Europe;

Reason 2 : Lessons learned in the "community of practice" involved in handbook preparation and teaching material development teach that no document or material should be considered as ready before it has gone through a period of testing and piloting.

Reason 3 : The finalisation of the Overview book of the Global Study requires the two above mentioned exercises to be completed.

Reason 4 : There is a need to make the result of the Global Study better known and disseminated;

There is a need to ensure that as much as possible, the results of the Global Study could be translated and published in at least the main two or three main languages used by humanitarian actors to ensure a wide dissemination of the work.

By the implementation of a Phase 2, it is expected that a finalised and field proofed set of tools, back-up geographical and theoretical analyses and a first wave of dissemination and training would have been completed.

To meet the main general objective of the Global Study, which is to promote, when feasible, a better participation of the beneficiaries and affected population in humanitarian action throughout the project cycle, three specific objectives have been identified :

• Fill the knowledge gaps;
• Improve the Practitioner Handbook,
• Promote, communicate and disseminate the GS ideas, concepts and tools.

The following practical results are to be expected :

• An additional set of Country studies;
• A field proofed ready-to-use Handbook;
• A certain number of persons convinced and trained;
• An overview book of a more academic nature, capturing the essence of all the work done during Phase 1 and Phase 2;
• The results of the GS are available in at least 3 main languages (English, Spanish, French);
• Training modules are available.

The following set of activities will be needed to obtain the above-mentioned results :

The reality of the "globality" of the Global Study is vital in order to ensure the robustness of the arguments, and the validity of the propositions. In order to complete the overall picture, three types of situations still have to be studied.

In view of the current views on the limitations on resources, it is seems that there are certain reluctances to carry out these three case studies. There are nevertheless still unspent funds of the Global Study Phase 1 for field research. At least one case study can be carried out without additional fund raising.

The research work on "Rapid Onset" can be carried out in the same time as the exercise of piloting of the Handbook in this kind of context.

The case study which is the most likely to deliver the high content of lessons is the case of the refugees in Guinea. Indeed, one can find over there all the different facets of refugee situation : old and new caseloads, Sierra Leone refugees preparing their return and newly arrived refugees from Liberia Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast, large camps and small settlements inserted in Guinean villages, etc. Specific Terms of References for this case study are currently under preparation for the mission to move to the field in November.

The work on the Caucasus/Eastern European region will be kept for the case that additional resources can be mobilised.

In order to improve the Practitioner Handbook, there is a need for two exercises :

• A peer review exercise: The text as it exists has to be presented and criticized through a peer review exercise involving the ALNAP Interest Group, in addition to the current existing Steering Group;
• A series of field testing and piloting exercises: This will require the identification of agencies or groups of agencies who would be ready to engage in a piloting process comprising : The ideas would be to run 4 piloting exercises.

These two exercises will bring about the revision of the first draft in order to incorporate all the new elements and lessons learned.

The proposed methodology for the piloting is described in paragraph 4.

On the basis of the three literature reviews, the findings of the 8 country case studies, and the initial results of the test and piloting exercises of the Handbook, including a peer review of the whole process, the Overview book will be finalised, edited and printed in English.

Specific efforts will be made to make available in French and Spanish. Printers have already shown an interested.

During this phase 2, a crucial activity will be to continue to communicate the findings of the Global Study and disseminate the Handbook through articles, conferences, workshops at both field and HQ levels.

This can take several complementary forms :

• On the basis of the experience gathered during phase 1, a systematic presence at certain conferences will be needed.
• A specific "end of GS" conference will be organised at the end of Phase 2 for the official launch of :

* the revised and printed version of the Handbook;

* the Overview book.

The Global Study Web site will be kept regularly updated with the texts being translated in at least 3 languages.

4. PROPOSED METHODOLOGY FOR PILOTING THE HAND BOOK

The piloting of the handbook will require two main exercises :

• a peer review of the Handbook, done through the collection of the reaction and feedback of ALNAP members after the October ALNAP Biannual;
• Field Piloting through a network of piloting exercises with interested agencies and network.

A questionnaire will be designed and send to all interested parties, in order to get feedbacks on :

• the content;
• the format;
• the didactical approach;
• the ergonomy of the Handbook.

This questionnaire could be circulated and the result analysed and discussed during a GS workshop to take place at the end of winter 2004 (some time end of February) .

The final result of the Field Piloting of the Handbook should be a new version for final publication, as well as a set of lessons to be included into the "Overview book".

There are three elements in the piloting exercise :

1. Evaluation of the Handbook itself (content, presentation, ergonomy);

Here is a set of indicators to be considered for this exercise :

• Is the Handbook understandable (language, terminology, style) ?
• Is it attractive (size, colour, examples, tables and sketches, etc.) ?
• It is coherently constructed so that I find what I need without having to go through everything every time ?
• Is its content relevant (realistic, operational, practical, etc.) ?
• Do I need a "companion booklet" to make it more usable ?

1. Evaluation of its impact on field practices

It is important to clarify the criteria for the evaluation of the impact of the Handbook on humanitarian practices.

• Does the utilisation of the Handbook affects the way programmes are designed, implemented and evaluated ?
• Is there any indications that the utilisation of the handbook results in the identification of innovative solutions/programmes ?
• Does the utilisation of the Handbook modifies the way Aid actors are perceived by local NGO, CBO local authorities and, above all, the affected populations ?
• Is the link between emergency and development better taken into account as a result of a the utilisation of the handbook ?

1. Evaluation of the impact of the Handbook on the quality of assistance

Although this is a very difficult endeavour in view of the timeframe, it might be worthwhile to identify key variables of the quality of the programmes that could be affected by the use of the Handbook.

It is important to test the handbook in different contexts with a broad set of agencies, in order to ensure that the conclusions of the piloting phase are relevant in the globality.

This means :

• Test in Anglophone, Francophone and Hispanic contexts ;
• Test in different types of humanitarian action;
• Test with agencies involved in programmes in different technical sectors;
• Test with agencies of different nature and size.

In the same time, the conclusions of the test have to be robust and credible.

The following typology of situations in which to launch the experimental protocol is thus proposed, on the basis of the existing foundations set-up by the Phase 1 of the Global Study:

The following phased process is proposed for piloting the Handbook

4 days internal with the actors who would be involved in the field piloting

2 days with them and the ALNAP GS Working Group.

Objective of this exercise : create a team spirit and common references. Prepare and agree upon TOR for the field piloting, including the preparation of MOU stipulating possible resource allocations

In each of the context, a training session of the field actors will be organised. In addition to the URD staff, it will involve the person who participated in Step 1, representatives of its agency and people designed by the network.

Objectives of this exercise : Present, explain and disseminate the key elements of the Handbook and implement a few practical trials. Identify a course of action in each given context.

In each context, agencies will test the Handbook with their teams and in their operations. This will imply a test both of the tool (practicability, ergonomy, language) and the applicability of its content.

Objective of this exercise : test in real conditions the Handbook and check its ergonomy and the applicability of its content.

This will take two forms :

• an "electronic form" on the basis of a regular and structured exchange of view (based on a M&E form)
• After a certain period of time, a monitoring visit by a GS team will take place.

Objective of this exercise : collect and analyse in real time and with in an organised manner the feedbacks and lesson learned.

During a week long workshop (involving field actors and members of the ALNAP GS Working group, the collective experience will be discussed and lessons learned analysed.

Objective of this exercise : establish the set of lesson learned for reviewing the Handbook, possible preparation of a companion booklet and the preparation of the Overview book.

It is clear from this proposed method that the agencies which will accept to engage in the process will need financial support for their staff to attend the various workshops and implement the monitoring and evaluation required for the proper piloting of the handbook. Provision for that should be made in the budget.

From the experience and lessons learned from Phase 1, a certain prerequisites have to be underlined:

• Timely fundraising and sufficient support from the donors;
• Real mobilisation of the ALNAP Working Group;
• A cohesive team used to work together;
• A rapidly established and agreed upon work plan;
• Clear and agreed-upon guidelines for the allocation of resources to the implementing agencies if and when needed.
• Timely translation of the Handbook in French and Spanish;

The following list of means has been elaborated, taking into account the experience of Phase 1:

• A team; its base and its required infrastructure;
• Functioning costs;
• Required means for international and local transport;
• Logistical means, including for the functioning of the ALNAP Steering Group;
• Translation costs;
• Editing, printing etc.
• Means related to training ;
• Means related to the organisation of the final Conference

At this stage, Groupe URD would like to build on the experience gathered by the team which has been involved in the Global Study’s phase 1.

• Phase 1 resulted into the creation of a dynamic multi-disciplinary, multi-national team with a coherent, yet multi-facetted view on the issues at stake;
• Phase 1 permitted the development of a strong cohesion between the Steering Group and the operational body Group URD;
• Phase 1 enabled the Global Study team to create a certain level of awareness and a network of interest possible partners for the following steps of the Global Study.

The required budget should cover :

• the costs involved with the coordination role implemented by the Lead Agency;
• the costs involved in certain aspects of the functioning of the Working Group;
• the costs involved with the implementation by Groupe URD of the various tasks of the Phase 2 (including translation of the main results of the Global Study in at least two languages –Spanish and French-);
• the costs to support the involvement of several field actors in the piloting exercises planned for during Phase 2;
• the cost of the final conference.

6. CHRONOGRAMME FOR THE WHOLE PHASE 2

(*) Rapid Onset Natural Disaster : Piloting the Handbook and carrying out the Case Study will take place simultaneously

It is expected that during the coming ALNAP Boston Biannual, most of the points that need to be discussed will be reviewed. It is hoped that a strong "Working Group" will emerge under the leadership of OXFAM (we look forwards to that) and that enough resources will be made available.

On the Groupe URD side, we are ready. The TOR for the mission on the refugee situation in Guinea are being prepared and will be available very soon.

François Grünewald

Groupe URD

Global Study Project Director