For the most training participants
PLA/PCA/PRA
methodologies were absolutely new therefore the
trainers
paid
much
attention
to
explaining
PLA/PCA/PRA
approaches, which are based on
community needs assessment with participation of
community population. Unlike traditional methods of
needs assessment, which include only defining needs
and problems, PLA/PCA/PRA approaches, allow
local population to identify their own needs, define
available community resources to solve the identified
problems, establish priorities for development
activities, recognize their role in the process of
solving the issues and develop a joint action plan. All
these activities promote feeling of a greater degree of
ownership and responsibility in the rural population
for better results and social acceptance of the project.
It was emphasized at the training that to ensure
community participation during the process of sub-
project designing, implementation, monitoring and
evaluation PDP Program requires formation of Project
Management Committee (PMC), which should be
elected at the community meeting. PMCs might
consist of representatives of local CSOs, government,
businesses, mass media, as well as stakeholders considered as community experts or leaders in the
project corresponding area. PDP Program is gender and youth-oriented, therefore it requires not less
than 40% of women representation and 20% – youth representation in PMC in order to promote a
more participatory board. The responsibility of PMC consists in assisting CSOs to design,
implement,
maintain, monitor and evaluate the community development project.
The trainings were very interactive. The most significant for all participants was a field visit to rural
neighboring community in order to conduct needs assessment. These activities were organized with
the help of local rural CSOs that participated in the trainings. Training participants were split in 2-3
groups. Each group chose certain tools like priority matrix, seasonal and daily calendar, Venn
diagram, resource map, focus groups and others and prepared for the
PLA/PCA/PRA
meetings. So
the field visit gave participants an opportunity to apply the acquired knowledge in practice.
It is necessary to mention that during the survey when answering the question about who is
involved into the process of project development, 85% mentioned that it were the head and
employees of the organization. Before the training, the rural CSOs had absolutely no understanding
of the importance of involving active community representatives into the process of project
development and implementation.
"The process of joint needs assessment was
unexpectedly effective for us. We all
together
have
managed
to
deeper
understand the reasons for the low rate of
activity among the young people; we have
analyzed all our previous activities, could
identify the weaknesses and understood
that it is essential not only to train youth
but also attract them as trainers. This is
how the project idea emerged and we are
very glad that it was supported by Bereke."
Sardor Ismanov, Chairperson of PA "Zhalynda Zhastar"
After providing Community Mobilization and PDM trainings
Bereke and ECOCENTER launched
Call for Proposals for Community Development sub-grants among Level-1 CSOs,
which required
conducting
PLA/PCA/PRA
in rural communities, on the basis of which project proposals should be
developed. 54 rural CSOs submitted their applications for sub-grants. 46 applications of them
included PCA/PLA/PRA reports. This indicator shows that rural CSOs have put in use the
knowledge and skills acquired at the training.
Attachment 3 – Community Mobilization Training Agenda (for CR and SR)
Attachment 4 – List of Community Mobilization Training Participants
c) Project Development and Management training
One of the challenges that rural CSOs face is absence of stable financial support of their activities.
According to the analysis of the questionnaires filled by target rural CSOs selected for the Level-1,
90% of them had no any experience of winning grants, their activities were implemented by means
of financial support provided by individuals or social state contracting whereas only certain
activities were supported but not a full-sized project. Above all, this has to do with the fact that
CSO employees had no knowledge and skills of writing proposals and only a handful of them
(mainly, the participants of previous projects implemented by PA "Bereke" and PA
"ECOCENTER") participated in such trainings. Besides, there are virtually no manuals on writing
proposals in Kazakh language, which is negatively affecting CSOs operating in the Southern region.
Therefore, the Project Development and Management Training was very necessary for Level-1
CSOs.
Project
Development and Management
training took place in four locations on the following dates:
Karaganda – February 3-4, 2016 – 23
participants, trainer – Sergey Gulyayev
Kokshetau – February 10-11, 2016 – 17 participants, trainer – Sergey Gulyayev
Taraz – February
8-9
, 2016 – 18 participants, trainer – Assel Imangozhina
Shymkent – February 10-11, 2016 – 24 participants – Assel Imangozhina
Bereke team selected Assel Imangozhina as a trainer for CSOs of the SR as she was able to provide
a training in Kazakh which is highly preferable in this region. ECOCENTER team selected Sergey
Gulyayev in the CR who has a great deal of experience of being a PDM trainer and developing
proposals for local and international grants.
The goal of the training was to provide participants with basic knowledge and skills to develop
social projects and write proposals.
The trainings gave the participants the opportunity to acquire skills in:
-
Problem analysis;
-
Solutions
and resource mobilization;
-
Identifying goals and objectives;
-
Community action
planning;
-
Developing a sustainability plan and budget for the project.
The trainings were held in interactive manner;
the trainers avoided the lecturing approach,
preferring
to
crystallize
ideas
through
discussions, role-playing games, brainstorming
and practical exercises. Thus, all the skills gained
through the trainings later had practical
applications and were developed during the
proposal writing for community development
sub-grants within PDP Program.
As the result 54 Program target rural CSOs (28 from SR and 26 from CR) submitted their proposals
for community development sub-grants within PDP Program, accounting for 67,5% of the total
amount of training participants. This percentage is lower than the Program team expected but it can