FOR JOINT COMMUNITY PROJECT MONITORING IN NANDI, UASIN GISHU AND TRANS NZOIA COUNTIES

Organized by Mercy Corps For Local Leaders

at Comfy Hotel, Eldoret – April 10 – 12th 2013

Moderated By

Dann O’Wereh, Process Documentation Consultant

PENIEL Development Consult

Accountability is about RESPONSIBILITIES and RELATIONSHIPS

The key question in accountability is: WHO is accountable to WHOM and for WHAT?

Dimensions of Accountability For what are we accountable? In an UPWARD and

DOWNWARD approach

Upward accountability denotes: showing funders/donors and governments that we have accepted and fulfilled our responsibilities

Downward accountability denotes: being responsible to others; Being responsible for oneself by ensuring and showing that our organization is able to fulfill its responsibilities (internal accountability)

Sharing responsibility with others; Working with peers and beneficiaries to ensure we fulfill our responsibilities well (Horizontal/Downward acc.)

Operational Reasons: Accountable communities, actors, NGOs are more effective: - They know how their money/resources are being spent; - They get feedback on their activities, enabling them to identify new

opportunities and improvements; - Fosters trust from donors and supporters leading to more funding - They make it harder for criminals to commit fraud or abuse undetected.

Legal Reasons: Communities, NGOs, CBOs are legally obliged to be accountable through government laws, decrees and regulations and also funders/donors requirements;

Ethical Reasons: Actors, NGOs, CBOs, have a moral duty to be accountable to society. - That they exist for the benefit of the public and have a duty to

explain to the public how they are helping them -NGOs, CBOs are supported by the society through funding, tax

breaks and volunteering (through trusts, foundations)

Policy Reasons: It is in the interests of the NGO sector to be seen as accountable: -In order to ensure a favorable legal, regulatory policy and funding environment; -To ensure continued public support and assistance -To seal accountability gaps owing to: Inefficiency; Isolation; Fraud; Loss of funding; Bankruptcy; Aggressive regulation

External Accountability – showing funders and government that we have accepted and fulfilled our responsibilities Externally accountable organizations show what they have done and why they have done it External accountability demonstrates that: Activities are beneficial; Resources are spent wisely; High standards are maintained; Special status is merited – THROUGH – Annual/Financial reports; Audits; Evaluations against project goals, objectives; Publicity

Internal Accountability:

1.Demonstrate: Strong internal governance; Formal structures; Separation of governance and management; Mission focused; Highest professional and ethical standards; Responsible resource management and use;

Through: Internal rules, policies and procedures; Internal minutes and reports; Internal audits; Annual reports; Accounts

Horizontal Accountability:

Demonstrate that: The sector understands and fulfils its responsibilities.

Through: Codes of conduct; Self-certification; Accreditation; Watchdogs; Databases; Information sharing and cooperation

Downward Accountability:

Demonstrate that: You are focused on the impact of your activities; You are seeking ways to fulfil your responsibilities better.

Through: Transparency; Project evaluation (beneficiary feedback); Complaints and redress procedures; Beneficiary representation

To beneficiaries:

End of Slide #1

SLIDE 2

LEADERSHIP

Leadership is an ability, meaning a leader has a capacity to do something through talent and skill. Talent is natural ability and skill is proficiency gained through training and experience. Talent certainly helps, but it isn’t required. I know many people whose natural leadership ability was close to zero but through training, experience, and most of all, persistence, became great leaders Leadership is adaptive, meaning that the leader makes adjustments. A leader who fails to adjust to the territory will lose their way. Only fools willingly follow someone who is lost Leadership acts on a setting, meaning a leader adjusts the state of the surroundings and people. A leader carefully observes those states and discerns significance looking for how to adapt the setting most effectively Leadership empowers, meaning a leader inspires confidence and self-esteem. And that inspiration comes in many flavours. Some leaders inspire by bold talk; others by soft talk; and others by their example. There are many ways to empower rather than a single way

Leadership acts on people’s feelings, meaning a leader finds ways to link to people’s instinct or intuition. Leaders help everyone feel empowered, which in many organizations with bad histories is a leap of faith. If a leader can also provide concrete evidence that helps the empowerment, wonderful. But evidence usually comes after the leadership actions produce the desired results Leadership creates contribution, which means every member gives something. Sometimes that may be sharing an idea. And sometimes that may be holding an ideas in reserve and allowing someone else to arrive at the same idea and share it Leadership is about solving the problems, which means closing the gap between things as desired and things as perceived. Everyone works on the solution to intermediary problems while keeping in mind the ultimate problem — closing a gap for the client or customer Leadership fosters creativity, meaning imaginative use of limited resources. A leader that enables people to use their imagination is a step closer to solving problems faster, better and cheaper

Autocratic Leadership: Autocratic leadership is an extreme form of transactional leadership, where a leader exerts high levels of power over his or her employees or team members. People within the team are given few opportunities for making suggestions, even if these would be in the team's or organization's interest. Most people tend to resent being treated like this. Because of this,

autocratic leadership usually leads to high levels of absenteeism and staff turnover. Also, the team's output does not benefit from the creativity and experience of all team members, so many of the benefits of teamwork are lost

Bureaucratic Leadership: Bureaucratic leaders "work by the book",

ensuring that their staff follow procedures exactly. This is a very appropriate style for work involving serious safety risks (such as working with machinery, with toxic substances or at heights) or where large sums of money are involved (such as cash-handling).

Charismatic Leadership: A charismatic leadership style can appear similar to a transformational leadership style, in that the leader injects huge doses of enthusiasm into his or her team, and is very energetic in driving others forward. However, a charismatic leader can tend to believe more in him or herself than in their

team. This can create a risk that a project, or even an entire organization, might collapse if the leader were to leave: In the eyes of their followers, success is tied up with the presence of the charismatic leader. As such, charismatic leadership carries great responsibility, and needs long-term commitment from the leader

Democratic Leadership or Participative Leadership: Although a democratic leader will make the final decision, he or she invites other members of the team to contribute to the decision-making process. This not only increases job satisfaction by involving employees or team members in what's going on, but it also helps to develop people's skills. Employees and team members feel in control of their own destiny, and so are motivated to work hard by more than just a financial reward. As participation takes time, this style can lead to things happening more slowly

than an autocratic approach, but often the end result is better. It can be most suitable where team working is essential, and quality is more important than speed to market or productivity

Laissez-Faire Leadership: This French phrase means "let them do" and is used to describe a leader who leaves his or her colleagues to get on with their work. It can be effective if the leader monitors what is being achieved and communicates this back to his or her team regularly. Most often, laissez-faire leadership works for teams in which the individuals are very experienced and skilled self-starters. Unfortunately, it can also refer to situations where managers are not exerting sufficient control.

People-Oriented Leadership or Relations-Oriented Leadership: This style of leadership is the opposite of task-oriented leadership: the leader is totally focused on organizing, supporting and developing the people in the leader's team. A participative style, it tends to lead to good teamwork and creative collaboration. However, taken to extremes, it can lead to failure to achieve the team's goals. In practice, most leaders use both task-oriented and people-oriented styles of leadership

Servant Leadership: This term, coined by Robert Greenleaf in the 1970s, describes a leader who is often not formally recognized as such. When someone, at any level within an organization, leads simply by virtue of meeting the needs of his or her team, he or she is described as a "servant leader". In many ways, servant leadership is a form of democratic leadership, as the whole team tends to be involved in decision-making. Servant leadership model suggest it is an important way ahead in a world where values are

increasingly important, in which servant leaders achieve power on the basis of their values and ideals. Others believe that in competitive leadership situations, people practicing servant leadership will often find themselves left behind by leaders using other leadership style

Transactional Leadership: This style of leadership starts with the premise that team members agree to obey their leader totally when they take a job on: the transaction is (usually) that the organization pays the team members, in return for their effort and compliance. As such, the leader has the right to punish team members if their work doesn't meet the pre-determined standard Transactional leadership is really just a way of managing rather a true leadership

style, as the focus is on short-term tasks. It has serious limitations for knowledge-based or creative work, but remains a common style in many organizations

Transformational Leadership: A person with this leadership style is a true leader who inspires his or her team with a shared vision of the future. Transformational leaders are highly visible, and spend a lot of time communicating. They don't necessarily lead from the front, as they tend to delegate responsibility amongst their teams. While their enthusiasm is often infectious, they can need to be supported by "detail people" In many organizations, both transactional and transformational leadership are

needed. The transactional leaders (or managers) ensure that routine work is done reliably, while the transformational leaders look after initiatives that add value

Dominating Leadership: Talks to group members all the time; Does not involve others in decision making or sharing of ideas – Typical among local politician, highly educated or experienced leaders who think they know more than the rest or want to show off their abilities; Participative (Involving) Leadership: Shares power with group members who get involved in decision making, planning and execution Commanding Leadership: Leader makes all decisions and announces to the group – members always receive ready made decisions which they are asked to follow – like in the armed forces or school Passive Leadership: Leader has no influence and things get done the way members wish because there is no guidance; In this case the leader appears indifferent and any member tries to fill the leadership gaps – leads to confusion and competition between/among members Other forms of leadership are: The Disappearing leader; The Despairing leader; The Expiring leader; The Inspering leader; The Inspiring leader; The Conspiring leader

Giving members a chance to make decisions Encouraging members to contribute in skills, materials, suggestions Making constructive criticisms that help members improve Helping the group to reach effective decisions Being punctual at meetings and encourage others to attend regularly Being a good listener Acting on decisions made by members Keeping promises Appreciating other contributions and give praise when it is deserved Being impartial in settling conflicts Knowing individual members and be friendly towards all Accepting members as individuals regardless Summarizing group decisions Coordinating different views and activities (be in charge)

(a) Knowledge and ability: Should have a thorough understanding of: Roles of group and community members, agencies, partners, etc Beliefs and values that guide behaviour at all ages in the community Technological knowledge in the community The norms of behaviour and the acceptable or unacceptable practices (do’s and

don'ts of the community) Interests, needs, expectations, aspirations of the majority of the members of the

groups he works with Economic and environmental conditions: climate, vegetation, soil, relief, wildlife,

income earning activities (b) Skills in: Handling people gently, respectfully, positively Addressing people effectively Persuading and convincing people to accept/adopt positive ideas Collecting and using information Sharing duties and tasks with other members Follow-up implementation of agreed tasks and mandates Organising members for tasks Counselling members to solve problems Listening to points made by others Observing group members non-verbal behaviour

(c) Good behaviour: Honesty when using groups or members’ resources e.g. Finances, materials, time,

etc Be committed to performing the roles expected of him/her Have interest in the community’s welfare Avoid use of harsh or rude language Be a good example to others in terms of behaviour Be sensitive to other peoples feelings Avoid showing biased judgment or backing opposing groups or individuals Listen to and accept other peoples views and opinions Show perseverance and patience when problems arise Be approachable and inviting Be hard working Be observant and analytical – trying to understand how and why things happen Have initiative and drive (not waiting to be told what to do, when, where, how ...)

SLIDE 3

COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION

The involvement of people in a community project or such undertaking in order to solve their perceived, existing or identified problem(s)

People cannot be forced to ‘participate’ in projects or activities which affect their lives but are given the opportunity to willingly engage in a process that influences their lives and surrounding as a basic human right and fundamental principle of democracy

Needs Assessment: Community expresses opinions about desirable improvements, prioritizing goals/objectives and negotiating with agencies/actors Planning: In formulating objectives, setting goals and criticizing plans Mobilizing: In raising awareness about needs, establishing and/or supporting organizational structures within the community (goodwill) Training: participation in formal/informal training activities to enhance communication, construction, maintenance, and financial management skills Implementing: Engaging in management activities; contributing directly to in operations, construction, O&M with labor, materials; contributions (cash/kind) towards project costs, payment of services or membership fees, etc Monitoring and evaluation: Appraisal of works done, recognizing improvements and failures in progress and redefining needs

Community participation motivates people to work together - people feel a sense of community and recognize the benefits of their involvement Social, religious or traditional obligations for mutual help Genuine community participation gives people the opportunity to better their own lives and that of the entire community Remuneration both in cash and kind (Dividends accruing)

Unfair distribution of work or benefits amongst community members Individualism where there is no sense of community The feeling that government or agency should provide facilities, etc Agency treatment of community members – if people are treated as being helpless they are more likely to act as if they are

It is very important to ensure minority groups, low status groups in a community are not left out in the consultation process and that includes women, men, children, PWDs, PWSNs, elders, etc It is also important to ensure gender considerations do not impede on equity and opportunity by considering gender related differences in terms of: -Differing needs and priorities -Power and vulnerability differences -Equity and equality issues The key to participation is involvement because at the end of the day “A project becomes the answer to a communities needs!

Hakuna Choo!!!

Diarrhoea Choo Chafu Kunya Ovyo

Ovyo

Dhuluma Kwa

Wanawake

Hakuna Vifaa Wanaume wa

Kujenga

Hawapo

Rasilmali

Haitoshi

Matokeo

Sababu

Kila Familia Wawe na

Choo

Choo Safi Hakuna tena

kunya Ovyo

Ovyo

Hakuna

Dhuluma Kwa

Wanawake

Peana vifaa

kwa kila

mhusika

Mobilise

Wanaume wote

kila Nyumba

Tuchangie

Rasilmali za

ujenzi

Mwishoe

Uwezo/Means

Nia/Lengo

Hakuna

Diarrhoea tena