The Scottish Government Information Day Malawi Funding Round (2015-18)

The Scottish GovernmentInformation Day

Malawi Funding Round (2015-18)

5th August 2014 – Malawi Funding Round 2015-18 officially opened.

3rd October 2014 – Call for applications closes (2 pm)

January 2015 – Notification of outcome

March 2015 - Awarding of grants/feedback to applicants

1st April 2015 – Project start date

Timetable

Round 1

Questions to be submitted by cop 29th August 2014 (2 days after Information Day) Answers to be posted by cop 5th September 2014

Round 2

Questions to be submitted by cop 12th September 2014 Answers to be posted by cop 19th September 2014

Frequently Asked Questions

Project Budgets 2015-18

2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18

Malawi 2012 -15 Round

£1,860,187 £1,656,408 ----- ----- -----

Malawi 2013 -16 Round -----

£3,175,113 £2,689,964 £2,245,711 ----- -----

Malawi 2015 -18 Round -----

-----

--- £3,230,000 £5,330,000 £5,330,000

• Projects now allocated up to Maximum £600,000 per year (as opposed to £400,000 in previous years).

Year 1 = 23.4% (max £140,400)Year 2 = 38.3% (max £229,800)Year 3 = 38.3% (max £229,800)

N.B. Year 1 = for building strong structures and effective partnerships.

• Projects may last 1 or 2 years, but should fall within the latter two years of the Funding Round (i.e. 2016/17 and/or 2017/18).

• Scotland/Malawi: special link, dating back to c19th work of Church of Scotland missionaries & Dr David Livingstone

• 150 years of Scots working with Malawians, helping develop education & health systems

• Benefit to both nations – spirit of partnership/reciprocity

• 2005: Scotland/Malawi Governments signed historic Co-operation Agreement on ID

Why Malawi?

Malawi Key Facts:• Population: 16,777,547 (2013) (26M by 2030)• Poverty: increased: now 40.4% population in

severe multi-dimensional poverty; 20% at risk of multiple deprivations

• Serious challenges: water borne diseases (malaria), HIV/AIDs, (low) educational attainment, maternal health, infant/child mortality

• UN Human Development Index stats (2013):– Malawi ranked 170 countries: (UK 26) – of 176– life expectancy 54.2 years: (UK 80.3)– mean yrs schooling 4.2 years; (UK 9.4)– GNI per capita 753 (PPP$)– 9% electrification rate (UK 99.7%)

The Scottish Government’s approach to development

• To harness the people-to-people links that Scots have forged with Malawians over more than 150 years as a catalyst for development

• To use Scottish expertise to address Malawian priorities

• To put gender equality, sustainability, and world-class M and E at the heart of our development work

The Scottish Government’s current work in Malawi

• 2012-15 Malawi Funding Round (19 projects)

• 2013-16 Malawi Funding Round (24 projects)

• Small Grants Programme (7 grants awarded)

• MREAP (The Malawi Renewables Acceleration Programme)

Malawi Development Programme

• Scottish Government committed to spend at least £3m per year

• Malawi Development Programme worth a total of approximately £34m since 2005

• Currently spend approximately £5m p.a. to support 40+ projects in Malawi under the 4 strands of the 2005 Cooperation Agreement

• New Malawi Funding Round 2015-18 worth nearly £14m

Malawi Development Programme

Essential Eligibility Criteria

• Legal Person – Legally constituted and can enter into contracts in their own right

• Presence in Scotland:

- Scottish Charitable Organisation or

- Company registered (under the Companies Act 2006) with their Head Office in Scotland or

- Charity registered in Scotland or

- Occupy offices or premises in Scotland (in connection to the project)

The Four Cooperation Strands(2005 Cooperation Agreement SG/GoM)

• Health - Dr Rabson Kachala [email protected]

• Education - Rebecca Phwitiko - [email protected];

• Civic governance - Ms Grace Varela [email protected]

• Economic development - Mr Adwell Zembele [email protected]

About our Strands

• The four strands have been agreed upon by the Government of Malawi and the Scottish Government in the 2005 Co-op Agreement.

• The Government of Malawi identifies their development priorities according to need.

• The Scottish Government identifies areas where we can offer Scottish expertise.

Overall GoM Priorities for 2015-18

• GoM expressed specific desire to see more ‘Sustainable Economic Development’ and ‘Civil Society and Governance’ projects.

• At present there are 13 ‘Sustainable Economic Development’ and just 5 ‘Civil Society and Governance’ projects within the Malawi Development Programme (out of 41 projects).

• MFR 2013-16 – no ‘Civic Society and Governance’ projects.

• GoM have emphasised income generation.

• For assessment purposes of applications received, all four strands remain equally weighted.

Overall GoM Priorities for 2015-18

• Ownership of ID Priorities rests with GoM

• Potential applicants must communicate with GoM to ensure projects align with GoM priorities – at the design stage and during the life of the project Strand Leads are to be kept involved

Cooperation Agreement: Sustainable Economic Development

• Initiate discussion on how best to stimulate enterprise by facilitating the exchange of skills and business expertise in relevant sectors;

• Explore opportunities to stimulate tourism, including between the two countries, by encouraging links;

• Investigate potential collaboration between agricultural bodies.

Priorities forSustainable Economic Development

2015-18• Agricultural Development & Value Addition

• Tourism

• Energy (Renewable Energy)

• Environment & Natural Resources Management

• Finance and Investment Promotion

Cooperation Agreement: Civil Society and Governance

• Aim to strengthen governance by working with others to develop schemes for sharing parliamentary experience, and for sharing legal and financial expertise by engaging with national bodies and civil society;

• Share experiences of addressing inequality and the needs of vulnerable groups in society by supporting mechanisms for exchanging expertise and mentoring initiatives;

• Develop key mechanisms for strengthening the media by facilitating links between key partners;

• Investigate innovative ways of developing and using technology, with particular reference to remote and rural communities.

Priorities forCivil Society and Governance

2015-18• Capacity building for the new Parliament i.e. Committee

work etc.• Institutional capacity building for the Malawi Prison

Service• Support towards the fight against Corruption• Support organisations advocating for good governance

and human rights• Support organisations advocating for gender equality• Support for free Paralegal services

Cooperation Agreement:Health

• Contribute to the improvement of maternal health by supporting the increase in the number of trained midwives and facilitating the exchange of knowledge and skills required for dealing with obstetric and gynaecological emergencies, as detailed above;

• Increase the capacity of Health Colleges (GoM and CHAM) by developing in-country teaching support for trainee clinical officers, nurses, midwives, nurse technicians and allied health professionals;

• Support the College of Medicine in the development of specialist medical training for health professionals and facilitate mechanisms for the exchange of medical and health management expertise;

• Support HIV/ AIDS prevention, treatment and care by developing partnerships for sharing expertise (especially around health education) and assisting in addressing human resource capacity in services.

Priorities for Health 2015-18

• Human resources for health system strengthening

• Universal coverage of essential health services

• Addressing conventional and traditional determinants of health in Malawi

• Quality Assurance and Quality Improvement of Essential Health Services

Cooperation Agreement:Education

• Help build capacity in education by further developing teacher exchange programmes and supporting the development of training of trainers for local delivery;

• Support the exchange of knowledge and skills by facilitating academic links and twinning initiatives between local government, schools and higher education institutions;

• Explore how best to address access to and availability of quality education, with particular attention to remote and rural communities;

• Initiate discussion on the provision of vocational education and training by encouraging the sharing of best practice and expertise and the development of links with further education;

• Encourage equality in the participation of education by supporting the development of initiatives to empower vulnerable groups.

Priorities for Education 2015-18General

• Teacher training• Internal efficiency of the Primarily school structure• Decentralisation of education management• School infrastructure (new classrooms, teachers houses and latrines)• Provision of teaching and learning materials• Inclusive education• Curriculum strengthening at all levels• Bursaries to support vulnerable students (particularly Secondary school)• Up scaling of school feeding programme (particularly Primary school)• Upgrading of Community Day Secondary Schools• Introduction of more double shift schools

Priorities for Education 2015-18Higher Education

• Access to Higher education• Training of Higher education staff• Curriculum strengthening in Technical, Entrepreneurial and Vocational

Education and Training (“TEVET”) institutions• Cost recovery mechanisms and finance mobilisation in public universities• Public Private Partnerships• Support for capacity to strengthen procurement, financial management,

planning, budgeting and monitoring and evaluation systems.

Renewable Energy-Related Projects

Background on SG & RE• Renewable energy sits within the economic development strand

under the 2005 Cooperation Agreement• Community Rural Electrification and Development (CRED) Project

(2008-11): Strathclyde University: led a Scoping Study commissioned by SG: on Supporting Community Energy Development in Malawi

• CRED Report outcomes pointed to different programme activities that SG might support

• CRED recommendations taken forward through the Malawi Renewable Energy Acceleration Programme (MREAP), again partnered with Strathclyde University, to promote sustainable energy and providing access to reliable electricity in rural areas of Malawi.

MREAP£1.7M Malawi Renewable Energy Acceleration Programme

(MREAP) (2011-14 + 2014-15):• seeks to improve energy access in Malawi through 4 inter-related

workstreams:– institutional support– community energy development (PV solar; biomass; wind;

microhydro; cookstoves)– wind energy preparation (wind masts) – renewable energy capacity building

• single biggest ID programme ever funded by SG: shows importance we accredit to energy access in developing world

• January 2014: 1 yr extension announced, to 2015. • MREAP funding sits outwith main Malawi Development

Programme, but still funded from our ID Fund• SG has also funded some smaller RE projects within the MDP

RE Key Points for 2015-18: What’s new?• MREAP ends March 2015. • Monies projected by SG for the “MREAP successor” now

wrapped into overall Malawi Round 2015-18.• This is new additional funding (£1m over 3 years)

which is being added into the Malawi Development Programme pot for 2015-18.

• In keeping with the UN’s Sustainable Energy for All global initiative, SG recognises that renewable energy access supports the four development strands of health, education, economic development and civic governance

• Malawi Call doc: “we would be keen to see more innovative renewable energy projects, which link across the four strands”

RE 2015-18 key points contd

• Priority - new energy access for off-grid communities, be it through mini-grids, or standalone systems such as solar panels or individual solar lanterns. Successful projects will be those that can be seen to provide energy at the level of the household, community or public institution.

• We will particularly welcome applications from projects that support the theme of the first two years of the UN Decade of Sustainable Energy for All; Energy for Women and Children’s Health.

• Long-term viability/sustainability absolutely crucial.

Renewable Energy-Related Projects

Role of Malawi Partner Organisations

• To be fully involved in the planning and implementation of the Project

• Have mutual accountability for the outcomes and results of the Project

• Joint responsibility to keep Strand Leads informed and involved

Needs Assessments • Essential that applicants know what is needed on the ground prior

to designing and submitting project proposals.

• Needs Assessment to be used to produce a Baseline Report

• Needs Assessment may reference published papers, partner organisations, or primary research in-country.

• Vital that the Needs Assessment fully involves the Malawi partner organisation.

• Must engage with the local context – i.e. local communities, stakeholders, other development projects in the area.

Final Key Points

• SG funds are not to be paid direct to GoM

• SG funds are not to be used to pay Per Diems or meet any costs associated with Strand Leads

• Maximum grant - £600k

• Consider budget profiles carefully (i.e. Year 1 partnership building, project proper Years 2 & 3)

PART 2

• IOD PARC LED SESSION ON: APPLICATIONS, BUDGETING, LOGFRAMES & NEW REPORTING TEMPLATES

MALAWI 2015 FUNDING ROUNDKEY GUIDANCE FOR APPLICANTS

Sheelagh O’Reilly

Kristin Olsen

Laura McCall

[email protected]

Important Changes to Note

• Three part application form: – Word application form– Excel budget– Excel logframe– NOTE: STRUCTURE HAS CHANGED

• Applications by email only by 3rd October with any ‘hard copy only’ supporting documents for 6th October.

• NO HARD COPY APPLICATIONS ACCEPTED• Letters of support from ALL partners required• Clarity on financial issues provided including capital,

underspend process etc • Significant changes to the indicators to support IDF

accountability and learning

APPLICATION DOCUMENTATION

Eligibility

IF YOU FAIL TO ADHERE TO ALL REQUIREMENTS YOUR APPLICATION WILL NOT BE READ.

Two elements:

1. Are you eligible to apply e.g. Scottish presence?

2. Have you submitted all required documentation?

Application form: page 2

Guidance document for more detailed explanation: page 9 – 11

Guidance • GUIDANCE AND FURTHER INFORMATION ON COMPLETING

AN APPLICATION FOR THE MALAWI DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME 2015 – 2018

This will be supplemented by answers to any additional responses to Frequently Asked Questions.

PLEASE READ ALL DOCUMENTATION CAREFULLY BEFORE BEGINNING APPLICATION PROCESS AND DURING COMPLETION

AND A FINAL CHECK BEFORE PRESSING SEND.

APPLICATION FORM REVIEW

1 – Re-ordering the Application FormMore efficient for applicants and administrative purposes

• A: Project & Application Information: – Key contact and administrative information

• B: Project Narrative:– About the project: what, why, how, who (including women & the

poorest), when (in line with logframe)• C: Project Delivery:

– Partnerships, Communications, Climate Change• D: Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning:

– More detail and new programme indicators• E: Budget:

– More detail

2 - Revised Programme Indicators To enable the Governments of Scotland and Malawi, and the Scottish Public to understand what the Malawi Development Programme has achieved, and how:

a) Poverty & Vulnerability Indicators (Compulsory)

b) Sector-level Indicators (Optional)

• It is not necessary to address every indicator but to be realistic in what you can measure.

• All monitoring and evaluation MUST be gender disaggregated (further disaggregation optional).

• Programme indicators to be incorporated into logframe • Guidance provided to enable robust use of data (including

avoidance of double counting & provision of methods)• No standard methodologies at this point

2 - Revised Programme Indicators Table 1: Malawi IDF Programme Indicators (COMPULSORY)

1. IDF Programme - Poverty and Vulnerability

Indicator Criteria Notes on Data

1.1

Total number of people directly benefitting from the project

Record the numbers of people that are benefitting through their direct engagement with the project e.g. through training, capacity building, awareness raising

Numbers should be provided for women/ girls and men/ boys Individuals should only be counted once even if they have benefitted from the project in several ways

1.2

Total number of people indirectly benefitting from the project

Record the numbers of people that are benefitting from the project indirectly e.g. household members, wider community members etc

2 - Revised Programme Indicators Malawi IDF Programme Indicators (OPTIONAL)

2. IDF Programme – Civic Governance and Society

2.1 – 2.5Indicators around citizens’ access to judicial and legal services, good governance, and human rights through support to institutions & individuals

3. IDF Programme - Education

3.1 – 3.7Indicators around improved and equitable access to quality education

4. IDF Programme - Health

4.1 – 4.7Indicators around improved access to and provision of essential, maternal and neonatal health services

5. IDF Programme – Sustainable Economic Development

5.1 – 5.5 Indicators around economic opportunities and benefits

6. IDF Programme – Renewable Energy

6.1 – 6.4 Indicators around access to renewable energy services

DESIGNING GOOD DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS

A good development project - 1

Relevant and Needed (Needs Analysis)• Scottish & National Governments

– Alignment with Scotland –Malawi Co-operation Agreement, National Development Strategies for respective Governments and Scottish Government priority areas

– Targeted at delivering MDGs– Addressing Cross-cutting Issues: Climate Change & Inclusion

• Beneficiaries– Clear understanding of the context– Needs analysis

Strong Partnerships• What does ‘ownership’ by local partners mean in the

relationship between the Scottish organisation and their partners? Examples to demonstrate this include: – Previous collaboration (evidence of this)– Engagement of partners with project planning and development– Clear roles and responsibilities in implementation (including

engagement with stakeholders), M&E, communication and finance

– Opportunities for ongoing capacity building within the project itself


A coherent project builds on knowledge and expertise – in country and in delivering development results

• Experience of partners and applicants• Expertise of personnel• Drawing on best practice – including Scottish expertise• Knowledge of (and links with) other development

initiatives


Well-designed• Clear how project intends to deliver development

outcomes• ‘Intervention logic’ reflected in planned activities, outputs

and budget • Realistic timeframe• Roles of partners & stakeholders• Inclusive – strategy for enabling women & the poorest to

benefit• Sensible risk assessment


Focus on learning and development results

• Clear ‘monitoring and evaluation’ system integrated into project design – based on the logical framework

• Enables monitoring of progress – outputs and outcomes• Enables learning and dissemination• Clear roles and responsibilities• Gender disaggregation• Enables Scottish Government accountability


Financially viable

• Budget and costs are realistic (and information presented clearly)

• Use of funds is efficient e.g. international travel requirements as opposed to use of national staff

• Applicants have capacity to manage the funds• Consistency with logframe and the narrative text

including staff costs, capital costs, flights and implementation costs.


Sustainable – Exit Strategy describes:

• Sustainable outcomes• Ownership and responsibility• Financial sustainability• Consideration of climate change• Links to other national and local initiatives• Long term management of any capital items


BUDGET DOCUMENT

Using the Excel Template

• Designed to provide you with a simple approach to laying out your detailed and summary budget;

• Series of linked spreadsheets clearly labelled to cover the elements of the budget required by the SG;

• In some cases you will need to link with the narrative text as well. • Budgets should be phased• Capital items require specific attention in budget and in narrative.

This includes longer term hand over for longer term operations and maintenance.

• Salary and other costs – views are taken on the level of costs that are appropriate in Malawi and will give value for money.

• Maximum budget £600,000 over the 3 years.

Phasing your budget

• Budget needs to be phased in line with the guidance (page 7) i.e. for a full £600K proposal (pro-rata for smaller grants):

Year %Maximum permitted per year

1 (15/16) 23.4 £140,400 £93,600 £46,800

2 (16/17) 38.3 £229,800 £153,200 £76,600

3 (17/18) 38.3 £229,800 £153,200 £76,600

TOTAL 100 £600,000 £400,000 £200,000

Capital expenditure

• Important to the SG • Two elements:

– Capital costs associated with project management e.g. computer

– Capital costs associated with project implementation e.g. a borehole.

• See in detail Question 51 page 39 of guidance• The maximum that may be spend on capital costs is 15% of the

overall project budget; for renewable energy projects, the maximum that may be spent on capital costs is 50% of the overall project budget. Capital items in a budget will be carefully scrutinised.

Financial Management

• The SG have set regulations concerning management of issues such as currency fluctuations – see guidance;

• The SG have set a new process regarding ‘underspend’ either from the above or from slow disbursement. Grant holders will be required to submit to the SG an application to carry forward money to the subsequent year.

• This will require ‘re-budgeting’ for the following year with detailed explanation of how the money will be used.

• Once grants are approved a budget reporting template will be set up based on the final approved budget.

IF IN DOUBT CONTACT YOUR GRANT MANAGER AT THE SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT

LOGFRAME DOCUMENT

Why logframes?

• The use of a logical framework as a management tool can help the applicant (and subsequent grant holder) to lay out the logic i.e. a simplified ‘Theory of Change’ the project along with key progress indicators.

• Logframes can be amended through the life of the project BUT this needs to be done systematically and to be agreed by the SG.

• The logframe indicators should include those you have selected from the SG indicator list for your programme to report on.

• You will report on your milestones (set for each year) and this will be linked to the narrative report which explains the key issues around your achievement (positive and negative). This helps to support learning alongside issues of accountability.

Some points for consideration

• For projects the size of the SG funding 4 outputs is usually sufficient;

• Consider what is actually achievable within the time frame given recurrent issues such as: – Slow start ups (financial phasing through this round)– Weather (flood / drought / agricultural seasons)– Recruitment / retention of staff– Effective capacity building? – Your baseline / end line? – Milestones to coincide with financial years– Assumptions around what you cannot control and which would

affect the project negatively.

REPORTING DOCUMENTS

Key reporting processes

• End of September: Mid-year report which for the first 6 month report will include your baseline. Light touch report providing SG with ‘status’ and early notice of issues.

• End of January: Application for carry-over of underspend.

• End of March: End of year detailed report which will include: – Narrative report (on template) – Report against approved budget and updated if required (using

excel template)– Updated logframe completed under appropriate milestone and

amendment request (if appropriate)

Key Changes to Reporting

• Stream-lined for internal administration purposes• Greater focus on outputs & outcomes; less on activities• Greater emphasis on baselines• Grant holders can communicate their achievements more explicitly

– and Scottish Government can better understand what the programme is achieving around:– Gender/ social inclusion– Sustainability/ wider influence– Innovation– Cost effectiveness

Baseline reporting

• Each project will prepare a baseline for the ‘site specific’ changes that the project will be tracking (linked to logframe indicators);

• This can be qualitative and quantitative but must be replicable to enable tracking of results and hence ‘contribution’ from the project at the end of the intervention;

• Can be linked to wider Government of Malawi data or other data sets within the District(s);

• Enables both contribution of change to be assigned to the project as there may be other actors working in the locality, as well as supporting learning. Focus on outputs and outcome level indicators.

• Report submitted with the first 6 month report.

Key links / dates

All application material available from• http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/International/int-dev/Maps/

Malawi/2015fundinground

Frequently Asked Questions process:

Material can be submitted TODAY on cards available

FUNDING ROUND CLOSES : 3RD OCTOBER AT 1400HRS

Round / close date SG Answers by

1: 29th August 5th September

2: 12 September 19th September

PART 3

• OPEN PANEL SESSION (SG/IOD/NIDOS/SMP): ON “LIVE ISSUES” FOR MALAWI PROJECTS

PART 4

• NIDOS/SMP LED SESSION ON WHAT SUPPORT THEY CAN OFFER APPLICANTS

Documents

The Scottish Government Information Day Malawi Funding Round (2015-18)