Contribution and lessons learnt from the engagement of the CI MO’s within their

mandate as Facilitating and Sub-Facilitating partners in the implementation of the

tsunami program in Sri Lanka

10th anniversary of the tsunamiColombo, the 5th of DecemberPresentation of behalf of CI MO’sBy Secours Catholique, FP

Caritas Sri LankaSecours Catholique

JaffnaHudec

Secours Catholique

Trincomalee EHED

Caritas Switzerland

BatticaloaEHEDCRS

CAFOD

GalleSEDCRS

Caritas Belgique

Colombo DCSeth Sarana

Caritas Germany

The structure

Catholic Bishop’s Conference Of Sri Lanka

Caritas Sri Lanka

Management Team

Organizational Management Structure

Tsunami Programme

Secours Catholique

Co-ordination Team (S.C.)

Sectoral Team

Jaffna Diocese Trinco – Batti Diocese Galle Diocese Colombo Diocese

Galle Matara

Hambantota

Colombo

Kalutara Gampaha

Ampara Batti Trinco

Jaffna Vanni

Caritas Internationals

CRS Belgium CRS

CRS CAFOD

Swiss

Germany Germany Germany

 SC SC

Episcopal Task Force

Source: final report, jan.2006

Partnership in action

The facilitation process: engagement at all levels

SCL Facilitating Partners

Gouvernance (Task Force) FP representative on behalf of CI

Direction FP representative (SCCF)

Tsunami Unit / management Chief coordinator

Sectoral management FP and CI MO’s seconding advisors

DC’s Sub-Facilitating partners

Direction Coordinator advisor

Program Management Manager advisor

Sectoral management Technical advisors

Staff and community leaders Daily guidance / trainings

Partnership in action

National livelihood advisor from Trocaire conducting a PRA training to fisherman society leaders in Point Pedro

along with Secours Catholique livelihood advisor to Hudec and two Hudec livelihood managers

How CI MO’s complemented local knowledge and expertise

Hudec livelihood manager leading a self help group sessionalong with Caritas Italiana psychosocial advisor

At the institutional level

Organisational development

• Process facilitated by Secours Catholique in 2007 / 2008

Process was first discontinued in 2005 as the pressure to implement the response took precedance

CSL Task Force decided to resume the process with Secours Catholique as facilitator

• Strengthening of the collective decision making between SEDEC and the DC’s

At the institutional level

• Mentoring though the presence of expatriates acting as advisors (counterpart system)

Shared innovative methodologies, experience from other responses to disaster working in tandem with local knowledge

Capacity enhancement of staffTraining by external organisations or facilitated by CI MO’s adviser, workshops, exposure visits, sharing of information and dissemination of technics on a wide range of areas such as: housing, livelihood, finance, M&E, procurement, logistic, etc…

Secours Catholique program advisor and Hudec psychosocial staff

At the institutional levelFinancial Management

CI MO’s contributed to the introduction of three systems:

• ‘Tally’: an electronic accounting systemTally financial monitoring and reporting

• Money Market systemMoney market system increased the asset base of CSL

• Accrual accounting systemUsage of Accrual system instead of cash accounting created transparency and trust between coordinating and facilitating bodies.

At the institutional level

Policies & systems

• FinanceFinancial manual used at national and diocesan level, supported by the set up of the a financial committee

• ProcurementProcurement policy taken from CI MO’s (CRS) to meet audit requirements; adapted at DC levels

• Human ResourcesDevelopment of a HR manual, including recruitment process & systematic staff appraisal

•M&E

At the operational levelBringing innovative techniques and approach's to

complement strong local knowledge and experience when working with beneficiaries

• Most vulnerable are served- The Project Management system (PMS) helped to maintain records of the beneficiary profiles which ensured no duplication in beneficiary selection

• Do not harmNon earmarked funds encourage a flexible approach to ensure that other vulnerable groups such as those displaced by conflict where included in programming

• GenderTechnics such as Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) introduced to women's Self Help Groups complemented the existing engagement of the animators with communities

At the operational level

Program strategy: temporary shelter

SCL made a strategic choice to start a large scale transitional shelter program

CI MO technical advisors engaged heavily with UNHCR and GoSL and were members of the Technical Working Group

CSL received a GoSL award in 2005 for the highest number of transitional shelters built

At the operational level

Focus on the housing sector

• A strategic choice was made to focus on an owner driven approach

• Owner driven housing approach puts people at the heart of managing the housing construction process (Final evaluation, 2009)

An example of innovation brought by a CI MO

CRS introduced in Kalmunai (Ampara) a “compressed stabilized earthen block unit” and a carpentry workshop

At the operational level

Block presses were imported from India, and the shelter advisor had experience from earthquake response in Gujarat

Lessons learnt:coordination & partnership

One of the dimensions of the partnership: having a common vision

Coordination

The Caritas network is made up of diverse partners with different approaches and methods of working:

1. Process oriented approach, with a long term perspective. Results are achieved through a sustainable manner

2. Operational (results) orientated approach(first evaluation report, 2006)

The two approaches are complementary and added important values.

But they required a very strong coordination…

… And for Caritas Sri Lanka , it required a great sense of adaptation.

Coordination

Coordination

Coordination within CI MO’s

• Coordination of the sub-FP proved to be challenging for the FP

• Coordination between 2 different Sub-FP was also a challenge at the DC level

• FP acknowledged that managing and/or coordinating all CI MO expatriates was a challenging task

Coordination

CI involvement critical for ensuring smooth coordination between stakeholders

• Caritas Sri Lanka Working Group established

• Country meetings in Rome at CI level

Representative from Caritas Belgium on a field visit in Matara

• Appointment of a CI representative

At the national level

After one year, new co-ordination mechanisms were established to support sharing and learning between CI Advisors, local counterparts and CSL-SEDEC management:

• National coordination meetings

• Sector coordination meetings (shelter, livelihood, psychosocial and finance) composed of Sri Lankan sector managers and their expatriate counterpart

• Systematic sharing of best practices

Coordination

Coordination… with other stakeholders

• Influx of INGO’s and expatriates led to competition –especially in the South

• Presence of expatriates was key in accessing the humanitarian forum and linking with UN and other INGO’s

• Some success stories of cooperationi.e. In Batticaloa & Amapara, Oxfam Australia provided timber for houses; MSF & UNHCR provided plastic sheets for shelters

i.e. MoU signed with World Vision for training staff and providing 13 000 CESB

Partnership: way of engagement

The difficult dilemma… or the delicate balance between:

• Respect for the principle of subsidiarity: Long history of relations and understanding of cultural dynamics and a church background were key in the accompaniment by the FP

Facilitating partner acted as a bridge between SCL and the CI MO’s

• The humanitarian imperativefacilitating such a program required a large surge capacity

Partnership: Ways of engagement

CI involvement

• The agreement between the FP and the national Caritas should include a clear mandate with deliverable objectives and expected results within a set time-frame.

• CI should have a continuous quality monitoring role as regards the advisory services being provided by the FP

(CI learning review)

Learning from the expatriate by SCL staff

How to plan strategically Use of Logical framework

Self monitoring & evaluation

Decision making, delegation

Time managementFinancial system &

managementResult based approach

Learning from the CSL staff by the expatriate

Developing partnership

Engaging with communities

Understanding the context

Church dynamic

Switching mind set

Sense of partnership

Source: Evaluation of the presence of expatriates (march

2007)

Staffing

Staffing

Areas of concern

• Limited involvement of CSL in the selection and appraisal processes

• Confusion between management, representation & advisory role

• Risk for some of the expatriates to report directly to their respective CI MO

• Local counterpart not systematically in place

Ways forward

• More inclusion of SCL in the recruitment process

• Jointly designed TOR between SCL / DC’s and FP / Sub-FPs

Staffing

• Develop clear TOR for expatriate services

• Institutionalize Learnings

Expatriates, direction, staff and community, all together during a diving distribution

• It is recommended to have a common pool of expatriates under one secretariat that may be coordinated by the FP (Evaluation of expatriates,2007)

• Trocaire & Caritas Italiana seconded expatriate advisors to CSL

• STEP in the Philippines

Staffing

StaffingProfile of Advisors:

• Practical know-how as important as technical skills

• Clear Caritas experience, identity and understanding of Partnership Principles a key, especially at management advisory level

CRS livelihood advisor in Galle

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From MOs collaboration & accompaniment• Usefulness of the ERST team with sectoral

experts/specific sectoral experience personnel from MOs is an added value

• Should have knowledge of local Church structural & it’s working patterns

• Knowing the cultural practices and cultural values could reduce the misunderstanding and increase the public/community relationship (e.g. Muslims, Hindus & Buddhists)

Phasing out strategy

• Counterpart model: transfer of learning and hand over process thus ensuring sustainability

• FP accompanied CSL in a process of systematic institutionalisation of tsunami learning

Tools, policies, procedures and best practices were integrated into other programmes.

• Project proposal was developed for a period of four years in 2009 to ensure a managed exit

One of the (many) success story

oRegional leadership as CSL supported other tsunami affected countries: CSL finance staff trained Caritas Sibolga in the earthquake affected island of Nias, Sumatra, Indonesia.)

oand now in the Philippines!

o Tally system was introduced by CI MO’s (CRS)

o Daily guidance and accompaniment by all CI MO’s led to CSL ownership and….

SCL finance manager training Caritas Sibolga staff in Nias, Indonesia

Conclusion

In many cases it was found that international organizations gave a lack of focus to strengthening the capacity of local organizations. Some international agencies sought to speed up implementation and obtain quick results which neglected the needs of their partner organizations … The importance of a capacity strengthening type of engagement is that it represents a more sustainable approach (TEC evaluation, 2006)

The high level of achievement was due to the fact that the CSL and the facilitating partners journeyed together throughout the intervention. (Final evaluation)

A big thanks to all our Sri Lankan colleagues who we learnt from and journeyed with . They inspired us daily by their dedication.

We remember your incredible friendship and hospitality

To Pad and Pradid