“Community-­‐Based  Monitoring  Prac6ces”  Planact  Learning  Event  

 Thandiwe  Zulu  –  Regional  Manager  –  Gauteng,  NorthWest,  Limpopo  

19  March  2013    

Insights  and  Lessons  from  the    Black  Sash’s  Community  Monitoring  and  

Advocacy  Project  (CMAP)  

What  is  CMAP?  (see  brochure/  website)  www.blacksash.org.za  

www.blacksash.org.za/index.php/sash-­‐in-­‐ac6on/community-­‐monitoring-­‐and-­‐advocacy-­‐programme  

   

• 2010:  Black  Sash,  and  Social  Change  Assistance  Trust  (SCAT)  -­‐  implemen'ng  partner  of  CMAP  project  in  WC  and  EC  -­‐  to  help  improve  government    service  delivery,  with  par'cular  focus  on  poor  and  vulnerable  communi'es  in  South  Africa.        •   CMAP  trained  community  monitors,  nominated  by  local  organisa6ons,  to    maintain  a  regular  and  disciplined  presence  at  service  delivery  points,  such  as  SASSA  pay  and  service  points,  primary  health  care  facili'es,  Home  Affairs  –  RRO  and  civic  offices  and  for  municipal  basic  services.      •   Interviews  and  observa'ons  recorded  against  standardised  monitoring  ques6onnaires    à  Black  Sash  analysed  the  data  and  produced  the  report  which  were  shared  with  organisa'ons  to  used  for  advocacy  to  improve  service  delivery  at  local,  provincial  and  na'onal  levels.            

                         “Making  Human  Rights  Real”    

Key  elements  and  insights  from  of  CMAP  methodology  

•   Codes  of  conduct  signed  with  CMAP  monitors  through  their  organisa'ons  –  and  implemented    •   Simultaneous  lobbying  required  with  key  government/public  en''es/  state  services  to  broker  permission  to  monitor  services    • Standardised  ques6onnaires  developed  –  cannot  be  changed/amended  aMerwards    

•   Predetermined  and  data  capturing  and  management  system  to  be  in  place.    • Regular  needs-­‐based  training,  communica6on  and  feedback  –  through  mentoring  to  monitoring    organisa'ons  on  skills  such  as  advocacy,  facilita'on  etc      •   Diverse  organisa6ons    who  serve  poor  and  vulnerable  communi'es  –  CMAP  ac'vely  avoided  poli'cal  par'es,  or  even  poli'cally  affiliated  organisa'ons  

         

“Making  Human  Rights  Real    

Lessons  from  CMAP  implementa6on  

•     Regularised  report  wri6ng  –  for  credibility  the  reports  must    reflect  the  actual  facts  as  reported  by  the  monitor,  must    be  fair  in  making  inferences    thus  needs  careful  analysis    •   Be  careful  of  generalisa6ons,  poli6cising  issues  (with  party  poli6cs),  Iden'fy  stakeholders  early.    •   Choice  of  sample  popula6ons/  areas  to  be  monitored    must  be  carefully  considered  –  e.g.  not  just  in  one  ward  –  otherwise  can  be  accused  of  choosing  to  monitor  one  ward  councillor’s  ward  and  not  another’s  if  e.g.  you  choose  to  monitor  a  local  government  service.    • Addi6ons  or  edi6ng  of  reports  cannot  be  influenced  poli6cally  –  requires  careful,  mature  management  –  however,  be  fair  in  reques'ng  responses  from  officials  –  'me  and  content.  Other  tools  for  monitoring    i.e.  Digital  monitoring  can  be  considered  –  as  alterna6ve  tools,      • Request  for  formal  feedback  from  the  relevant  department  /  agency  service    –  a  fair  amount  of  'me  to  respond  required.  

“Making  Human  Rights  Real”    

CMAP  Ques6onnaires    SASSA PAYPOINTS: • Monitoring Questionaire for officials at SASSA Paypoints • Monitoring Questionaire for clients at SASSA Paypoints SASSA SERVICE POINTS: • Monitoring Questionaire for officials at SASSA Service Points • Monitoring Questionaire for clients at SASSA Service Points DEPARTMENT OF HOME AFFAIRS: • Monitoring Questionnaire for clients at  DHA Service Delivery Points   • Monitoring Questionnaire for officials at  DHA Service Delivery Points CLINICS: • Monitoring Questionaire for patients at Primary Healthcare Providers (Clinics) LOCAL GOVERNMENT: • Monitoring Questionaire for the delivery of basic services

 

                                                                                                     “Making  Human  Rights  Real”  

CMAP  Ques6onnaires  –  tallied  and  analysed  

                 “Making  Human  Rights  Real”  

Reports  dra]ed,  discussed  and  sent  to  state  en6ty  for  comment/feedback  

“Making  Human  Rights  Real”      

Reports  dra]ed,  discussed  and  sent  to  state  en6ty  for  comment/feedback  

“Making  Human  Rights  Real”  

Community  Agency  for  Social  Enquiry  CASE  -­‐  Evalua6on  of  CMAP  

•     A  comprehensive  126  Page  Report    •     SubmiUed  late  2012  to  Black  Sash  and  SCAT  •     Based  on  visi'ng  20  CMAP  organisa'ons  across  SA    Ques6ons-­‐  Key  Themes:      1.  Is  CMAP  “bo-om-­‐up”?  2.  Has  CMAP  led  to  more  advocacy  and  private  lobbying?  3.  Has  CMAP  inculcated  a  sense  of  volunteerism?  4.  Has  CMAP  built  linkages  and  networks?  5.  Has  CMAP  built  capacity?  6.  Has  CMAP  built  effecJve  communicaJon  strategies?  

“Making  Human  Rights  Real”  

 CASE  Findings  Is  CMAP  “bo`om-­‐up”  and  has  it  led  to  more  advocacy  and  private  lobbying?  

       

“Making  Human  Rights  Real”      

• Most  salient  view    by  most  respondents    à  CMAP  was  “boUom  up”  and  some  said  it  was  conJnuaJon  of  their  work  related  to  rights  educaJon,  monitoring  and  advocacy  -­‐  did  not  require  them  to  deviate  from  the  work  that  they  were  doing.      • Created  space  for  monitors  and  fieldworkers  to  make  input  into  the  programme  through  the  provincial  workshops  but  requested  these  be  held  more  frequently      •   Upward  sharing  of  informa'on  created  the  poten'al  for  local  issues  to  be  elevated  to  higher  levels  of  aUen'on  within  government.      •   Findings  of  this  evalua'on  confirm  that  it  is  indeed  advantageous  that  the  programme  was  designed  to  be  driven  by  civil  society  organisa'ons,  as  a    structured  approach  to  monitoring  -­‐  enabled  higher  meaning,  exposure  and  advocacy  to  happen.    

CASE  Findings:    has  CMAP  inculcated  a  sense  of  volunteerism?  

• Based  on  20  case  study  findings,  there  was  an  indica'on  that  the  most  of  the  respondents  are  commi-ed  to  the  work  that  they  do  since  they  have  been  ac'vely  involved  in  serving  their  communi'es,  oMen  on  a  voluntary  basis,  prior  to  joining  the  CMAP.    

•   Acknowledged  CMAP  as  volunteer  programme,  CMAP  monitors  wanted  to  go  beyond  what  was  expected  of  them  in  the  CMAP  à  as  evident    by  people  wan'ng  to  extend  monitoring  to  other  geographical  areas  but  could  not  due  to  resource  constraints.        •     Ignited  in  some  of  the  organiza'ons  visited  an  interest  to  monitor  ‘new’  government  departments  i.e.  that  did  not  fall  within  the  scope  of  the  CMAP.      

•   Some  of  the  respondents  noted  that  monitors,  due  to  the  mulJple  roles  which  they  fulfil    within  their  communi'es,  went  beyond  monitoring  because  community  members  approach  them  as  individuals  and  their  organisa'ons  for  assistance  on  social  issues.    

                 

“Making  Human  Rights  Real”    

CASE  Findings:    has  CMAP  inculcated  a  sense  of  volunteerism?  

•   Some  government  officials,  at  sites  where  the  CMAP  was  posi'vely  received,  pleased  with  the  monitors’  presence  at  the  sites,  and  regarded  them  as  an  extra  “pair  of  eyes”  to  ensure  that  service  delivery  occurred  accordingly.      In  two  provinces,  the  Departments  of  Health  and  SASSA  respec'vely  requested  more  monitors  be  appointed  to  be  deployed  to  all  their  service  delivery  sites  in  order  to  obtain  a  ‘representa've’  picture  of  service  delivery.    

•     Although  several  organiza'ons  visited  were  willing  to  con'nue  monitoring,  they  were  concerned  that  monitoring  might  not  be  expanded  and  sustained  due  to  resource  constraints.      •   A  general  sense  of  unhappiness  that  monitors  were  not  paid  s'pends  to  cover  expenses  to  travel  to  the  service  delivery  sites,  and  to  purchase  lunch  meals.  Some  respondents  suggested  that  the  Black  Sash  and  SCAT  paid  s'pends  either  directly  or  indirectly  (i.e.  via  organisa'ons)  to  monitors  to  cover  expenses  related  to  travelling  and  lunch  meals.    

 “Making  Human  Rights  Real”  

 

CASE  Findings:  Has  CMAP  built  linkages  and  networks?  

•   CMAP  is  not  poli6cally  aligned  -­‐  some  considered  it  a  good  founda'on  on  which  to  build  and  strengthen  rela'onships  amongst  role  players.  Was  driven  by  CBOs    -­‐    thus  an  advantage  because  majority  of  these  organiza'ons  had  exis'ng  rela'onships  with  role  players,  including  CBOs  and  government.    •   There  were  a  few  cases  where  respondents  referred  to  animosity  between  monitors  and  ward  commi`ees  and  local  government  authori6es  -­‐  oMen  aUributed  to  a  view  that  the  laUer  stakeholders  felt  threatened  by  the  CMAP.    •     Sharing  of  monitoring  informa6on  occurred  amongst  role  players  at  community  level  (too  li`le  though)  à  monitors  gained  credibility  because  they  were  speaking  from  an  informed  perspec've  as  they  had  sta's'cs  to  substan'ate  their  arguments.    •   Provincial  CMAP  workshops  served  as  an  important  plaborm  that  promoted  sharing,  learning  and  strengthening  of  networks  amongst  monitors,  but  more  so,  CBOs.    •   Where  organisa'ons  were  grouped,  some  mentoring  visits  also  offered  opportuni'es  for  peer  exchange.  Rela6onships  between  CBOs  and  government  departments  were  collabora6ve  and  posi6ve  in  those  cases  where  the  CMAP  was  sufficiently  introduced  to  the  na'onal,  provincial  and  local  departments.  

“Making  Human  Rights  Real”    

CASE  Findings:    Has  CMAP  built  capacity  and  effec6ve  communica6on  strategies?  

 •   Provincial  workshops  provided  useful  informa6on  regarding  service  delivery  legisla6ve  frameworks.  e.g.  the  Promo'on  of  Administra've  Jus'ce  Act  (PAJA)  and  policies  and  legisla'on  related  to  local  government  and  provided  monitors  the  chance  to  share  their  various  monitoring  experiences.      •   CMAP  Monitors  oMen  transferred  knowledge  and  skills  acquired  to  other  staff  members  in  their  respec've  organiza'ons,  other  CBOs  not  necessarily  par'cipa'ng  in  the  CMAP  as  well  as  community  members  during  the  process  of  monitoring  à    suggests  individual  and  organisa'onal  capacity  building    •   A  number  of  monitors  felt  more  confident  to  confront  government  officials  subsequent  to  the  CMAP  training  workshops  and  mentoring  visits.    

• Some  of  the  specific  skills  that  monitors  said  they  acquired  through  the  provincial  workshops    and  mentoring  visits  included  donor  proposal  wri6ng,  financial  management,  conflict  resolu6on  and  communica6on.  

“Making  Human  Rights  Real”  

CMAP  Achievements      

•   CMAP  monitors  par'cipated  in  a  total  of  36  workshops,  carried  out  477  field  visits  and  submiUed    more  than  8  900  ques'onnaires  that  were  developed  into  44  reports.    

•   SASSA  pay  points  and  service  points,  Department  of  Home  Affairs,  primary  healthcare    providers  (clinics)  and  basic  services.    

•   Black  Sash  sought    permission  from  the  relevant  government  department,  but  the  level  of  engagement  and  feedback  was  disappoin'ng,  especially  from  the  Department  of  Home  Affairs  and  the  district  departments  of  health.    

• The  lack  of  response  from  more  than  280  municipali'es  in  South  Africa  was  even  worse.  However,  a  significant  breakthrough  came  when  the  CEO  of  the  Social  Security  Agency  (SASSA)  gave  permission  for  monitoring  at  all  SASSA  pay  points  and  service  points.        

 “Making  Human  Rights  Real”    

Achievements    

“Making  Human  Rights  Real”  

Other  achievements    

•   Published  2x  in  State  of  Local  Governance  Report  of  Good  Governance  Learning  Network  –  Case  Study  and  Paper  (2012/3  and  2013/14)  

•   Published  in  ESR  Review  (UWC  Publica'on)  and  SPARK  Magazine  (PMG)    

•   CMAP  used  as  a  significant  reference  for  Community  Monitoring  Framework  being  tabled  in  April  2013  –  Department  of  Performance  Monitoring  and  Evalua'on  (DPME)  in  Presidency  

“Making  Human  Rights  Real”    

In  closing    •     Planact  is  a  “premier,  people-­‐centred,  community  development          organisa'on    in  Gauteng  -­‐  directly  build  the  capacity  of  civil    society  to          engage  with  government  and  become  partners  in  development,  targe'ng          the  most  marginalized  and  disadvantaged  communi'es.”  

•     The  CMAP  methodology–  if  contextualised,  moulded  and  owned  to  serve            the  groups  you  work  with  –  it  is  an  ideal  tool  for  monitoring  and  local            advocacy  –  if  you  so  wish.    

•     Consider  lessons  to  Black  Sash  in  such  a  project  (now  prac'ce)    

Thank  you!      

“Making  Human  Rights  Real”