THE NATIONAL UNION OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN FINLAN D

Guidelines for conducting development cooperation projects

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Table of contents 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 3

2. Choosing the partner ..................................................................................................................................... 4

3. Planning the project ...................................................................................................................................... 5

4. Funding decision ............................................................................................................................................ 5

5. Project cycle for follow-up and implementation ........................................................................................... 5

6. Yearly follow-up cycle .................................................................................................................................... 6

7. Evaluation of the project ............................................................................................................................... 7

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1. Introduction

The National Union of University Students in Finland (SYL) is an interest organization defending and improving the benefits and rights of university students in Finland. SYL also has a long history of development co-operation. By participating in such co-operation, SYL, according to its current development co-operation strategy, endeavours to promote equality and human rights, to reduce poverty and to strengthen civil society, especially through education. It also maintains discussion on development issues among university students in Finland. SYL's development co-operation is implemented by a part-time development co-operation coordinator, by an appointed member of the SYL executive board and by an advisory board consisting of voluntary representatives from different student unions.

These guidelines for conducting development cooperation projects were drawn up primarily as a tool for facilitating and improving the evaluation and reporting process of both SYL and its partner organizations. The objective of the guidelines is to enhance the continuity of the work and to provide an outline of common practices in the reporting of projects with different partner organizations. The guidelines also encourage transparency in all communication, in addition to serving as a checklist when reporting back to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Finland.

SYL receives most of the funding for its development projects from the MFA. The criteria for the funding of development co-operation projects provided by the Ministry are that the project is implemented by a Finnish non-governmental organization (NGO) in co-operation with a local (southern) NGO, and that 15% of the project’s budget has to be covered by self-financing by SYL. Half of the self-financing has to be in cash, while the other half can be covered by the value of voluntary work and equipment contributions. Support for the development project is granted for a period of one to three years at a time. The support is granted to SYL, which then transacts it to the particular partner organization. SYL must report how the finances are used to the Ministry. (For more details, please see the Ministry for Foreign Affair’s Development co-op eration manual for NGOs at http://formin.finland.fi/public/default.aspx?contentid=50603&nodeid=34673&contentlan=2&culture=en-US or follow the path: formin.finland.fi/english -> Development policy -> Subsidies and other funding -> NGOs -> A development co-operation manual for NGOs.)

The implementation of the development co-operation projects of SYL and its partners follows the phases depicted in the diagram below. Each phase is described in more detail in the following chapters.

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2. Choosing the partner

SYL expects the prospective partner organization to be motivated and committed to the quality and objectives of the project in hand. The partner organization should work to improve the living conditions of the most vulnerable members of the population. As a student organization, SYL places particular emphasis on projects related to education. The Advisory Board, KENKKU, evaluates the potential partners, after which SYL’s executive board makes the final decision. Furthermore, SYL follows the criteria defined by the MFA of Finland for selecting a new partner organization. According to these criteria, the partner organization has to be a registered association with a well-functioning financial administration. More information about the criteria can be found in the above-mentioned Development co-operation manual for NGOs. SYL also gives emphasis to the Guidelines for Civil Society in Development Policy in planning new projects. (http://www.formin.fi/public/default.aspx?contentid=206482&nodeid=15452&contentlan=2&culture=en-US or follow the path: formin.finland.fi/english -> Development policy -> Publications and material -> Policies and guidelines -> Guidelines for civil society in development policy)

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3. Planning the project

SYL and the particular partner organization plan the project together based on the partner’s suggestion. If possible, a preparatory trip to the target country is made in the early stage of project planning. SYL often uses Logical Framework Analysis (LFA) as a guiding tool in planning new projects. A comprehensive background analysis is made of the project’s working environment. The beneficiary groups are defined and a needs analysis is undertaken together with the beneficiaries. The objectives of the project are defined based on these analyses. The project plan is then written jointly with the partner organization. The plan defines the aims of the project and the activities that need to be undertaken to achieve them. Clear indicators are defined in order to monitor whether change occurs. The budget is part of the project plan. All the activities mentioned in the narrative plan also need to be found in the budget. The sustainability of the project’s results and the exit strategy are considered during the planning of the project. Throughout the project cycle, progress is evaluated in terms of the challenge of the sustainability of the achieved results after the co-operation has ended. For more details about the different phases of project planning, please see the aforementioned Development co-operation manual for NGOs.

4. Funding decision

After the application for a new project has been submitted to the MFA by the end of May each year, it takes approximately six months for the funding decision to be announced. If the partner organization is new and the project is not a continuation of a previous one, before the funding decision is made, a memorandum of understanding (also known as a letter of intent) is written, signed by both parties and attached to the application sent to the MFA. This is an agreement of what the project will encompass if the MFA grants funding: an agreement made before the final co-operation agreement can be signed. The agreement should include basic information about the organizations, basic project information, the objectives of the co-operation, a short description of the project activities, a short summary of the budget and a description of the expected schedule. The memorandum of understanding should also state that the project will only be realized on condition that the MFA grants support.

Once notification has been received from the MFA that the project funding has been approved, SYL will, in co-operation with the partner organization, draw up a co-operation agreement to be signed by the person/s responsible for the project in each organization. The MFA requires one copy of the co-operation agreement to be sent to it, at the latest with the first annual report. Reporting practices are agreed on before the co-operation agreement is signed and are included in the agreement.

Quarterly reports are usually also included in the agreement and entail that the partner sends both a narrative and a financial report to SYL every three months.

5. Project cycle for follow-up and implementation

Each project is continuously monitored throughout the project cycle, so that both parties know how the project is proceeding and are able to see whether changes are called for. Both SYL and the local partner will monitor the project through reports, informal communication and project monitoring trips, but this may differ depending on the project. SYL also expects feedback from

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partner organizations in order to be able to develop its activities. The feedback may be given, for instance, as part of the annual reporting process.

SYL continuously communicates with the partner organization, for instance, by e-mail and Skype. The members of KENKKU and especially KENKKU’s country groups assist the coordinator in communication. SYL and the partner organization communicate actively throughout the project in order to form a good partnership. The indicators agreed upon at the beginning of the project are the most important progress markers for both monitoring and evaluation.

For each project, one important part of monitoring is the annual monitoring trip , where two representatives from SYL visit the partner organization in the project country. At times, this monitoring trip may be substituted by a visit by the partner organization to Finland, usually when the partnership has lasted more than one project. Before the monitoring trip, SYL will write an assignment so that both parties are clear and in agreement on what needs to be achieved during the visit, as well as the main issues to be addressed. This assignment will be sent to the partner organization as well. Each monitoring trip should also aim at evaluating the reciprocity of the partnership. The participants of the trip will write a monitoring report to inform other members of KENKKU, the executive board of SYL and the partner organization about the trip.

Broader evaluations may be conducted at relevant stages of the project. Please see Chapter 7 for more information.

6. Yearly follow-up cycle

During the year, SYL evaluates the project and partnership by the following methods:

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Annual report

The MFA of Finland is the main donor and requires annual reporting on the project. The annual report is the key tool for evaluation and SYL requests the project partner to submit it to SYL before 15 February each year. The report is intended to give a comprehensive overview of the past year. It includes, among other things, a description of the actions that have been carried out during the year and reporting on the project's finances. For more information about annual reports, see the website of the MFA of Finland and the aforementioned Development co-operation manual for NGOs. SYL provides more detailed instructions on writing the annual report before the writing process begins.

Quarterly reports

Quarterly reports are made by the partner organization and are intended for SYL's own use in order to ensure that everything is running smoothly in the project. They are also a tool for the partner organization and are intended to assist in the organization’s development. The aim of the quarterly reports is not only to see how the project is progressing, but also to ascertain possible needs for change. The reports are to be handed in to SYL by the end of June and by the end of October, respectively, and optionally al so in January of each year.

Evaluation of the partnership

It is in the interest of both parties that the partnerships are as productive as possible. For that reason, SYL requires an evaluation of the partnership. SYL asks that the actions of SYL as a partner organization and those of KENKKU as an administrative organ be evaluated. By receiving feedback, positive and negative, SYL aims to improve its actions and make its organization a better partner. The evaluation of SYL as a partner may be attached to the project's annual report.

Feedback on the reports

SYL will give feedback on each report after having received and reviewed the report. It will inform the partner if improvement regarding reporting is required or if SYL has any new ideas about developing the project.

7. Evaluation of the project

Evaluations may be conducted at relevant stages of the project, for example, as a mid-term evaluation when SYL and the partner organization are planning to apply for funding for a continuation project or as a final evaluation when objectives and results achieved by the project need to evaluated carefully to see what results have been achieved by the activities. There can also be purposeful evaluations of a smaller project entity. The level of evaluation is tied to the context and should be developed within the progress of the projects.

Evaluations are made to gain knowledge of the benefits of the project and its impact. It is important to compile the lessons learned during the project and to form a more general understanding from it in order to take advantage in the future of the knowledge acquired. Evaluations also benefit the partner organization by helping to improve its activities and they make it easier to find more partners and donors. The evaluation may also include a reflection on the efficiency of the project. The evaluation can be written by SYL, the partner organization itself or an external body and different methods of evaluation can be used.

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As the aim of the evaluation is to assess the objectives and results of the project and as the evaluation is carried out during certain phases of the project, it differs from monitoring. The latter concentrates more on continuous activity-level follow-up throughout the entire project cycle.