Joint Programme Evaluation final evaluation report august 2016 DanChurchAid (dca) Jhamsikhel, Lalitpur Nepal Dr. Prakash Bhattarai and Dr. Dhruba Gautam

3. Conclusions

While assessing the DCA’s thematic programmes’ contribution to the reduction of inequalities and poverty for women and men, the evaluation team concludes that DCA has made a satisfactory performance towards that direction. For example, RLSFS programme in the region, and particularly in programme locations, by implementing climate resilient on-farm and off-farm based intervention has contributed to bring gradual increment in the income of many poor families as well as improving their quality of life. Likewise, with the providence of timely and need based lifesaving assistance and livelihood support to thousands of families under humanitarian response programme, it has contributed to save them to escape from the vicious cycle of poverty as well as to be resilient for coping with future disasters. Consequently, with the providence of comprehensive and holistic support to migrant workers and the existence of an effective civil society advocacy for protecting the rights of migrant workers, they have received better salary and better working environment in the country of destination and this has directly contributed to improve the economic conditions of poor families in Nepal, Bangladesh, and India. Migrant workers who are mainly from poor and marginalised communities have got a congruent space from local to international level to speak about their rights. Moreover, through the ICAG programme, socially, economically, and politically marginalised groups in South Asia, particularly in programme location, are gradually finding their civic and political space and maintaining their equal status as other citizens. All these achievements suggest that DCA’s intervention seems quite relevant in all programme locations.
Despite all these achievements, there are also a number of areas where DCA requires further improvements. Some of the areas for improvements include, fostering collaboration and coordination between thematic and cross-thematic partners within and across the programme countries, inter-partners’ consultation, partner’s selection process and strategies, improved staffing structure within DCA country offices including the provision of a separate staffs for monitoring and evaluation³, revisits of the programme approaches and strategies, improved partner funding strategies, provisions for knowledge management initiatives, and more emphasis on evidence-based policy advocacy. Likewise, each programmatic area also requires some improvements as suggested in the recommendation sections below.
Among the key features of DCA’s intervention in the region, the evaluation team concludes that it should continue its multilayer and multifaceted intervention approach, as these have been driving force to make positive impacts at different levels. However, there needs be a balance between local, national, and regional level of interventions, so that they could feed in to each other for influencing government policies and programmes as well as create synergy between these different layers of programme. Multifaceted intervention approach also requires some good balance between different activities, as the lack of balance and synergy between them make the project with full of activities rather than an important instrument for achieving desired change.
Similarly, other key features of the DCA’s intervention such as creating linking, learning, and sharing space for CSO as well as beneficiaries, opportunities’ for networking and collaborative actions among NGO partners, and capacity building initiatives should be continued even in the future. All these approaches are necessary for strong and effective civil society advocacy at the local, national, and regional level for improving and amending governments’ policies in favour of poor and marginalised people. Moreover, as mentioned in the report, DCA has limited engagement with the government agencies (in all programme countries) compared to its supports and engagements with CSOs. Thus, DCA should think strategically to strengthen it in the best possible manner.
Importantly, all programmatic themes are found so relevant in the context of South Asia and they should be continued in one way or another. However, creating synergies between these themes are important.
It is also concluded that DCA has worked with relevant right-holders, but to magnify its impact it needs to directly work with political leaders, government officials, and youth and student political and social leaders who are considered as strong force to bring positive changes at the local level. Regarding its geographical focus in future programmatic cycle, DCA must do an extensive mapping regarding the concentration of other INGOs and development agencies working in more or less similar theme, and pick to those locations where there is no or limited presence of other agencies.

4. Recommendations

Recommendations are divided into two sections where first section provides strategic and programmatic recommendations under each programmatic theme, and later section provides recommendations for improving the overall DCA programming in the future programmatic cycle.

4.1 Migrant Rights Programme

Since the foreign labour migration is an international phenomenon with its local root, thus to address the problems associated with it requires simultaneous interventions from local to international level. DCA is one of among few international organisations supporting migrant rights programmes at the local, national, regional, and international level and it has been truly appreciated by beneficiaries, partners, and stakeholders interviewed in Nepal, Bangladesh, and at the regional level. DCA is now recognised as one of leading agency for supporting migrant rights programme in the region and it is recommended that DCA should carry forward this reputation even in the future. Discontinuation of migrant rights programme will create a huge gap on CSO led migrant rights programming at all levels. Thus there is an utmost need to the continuation of this programme in a more effective manner. The evaluation team recommends that DCA should keep continue supporting the local, national, regional, and global initiatives on migrant rights. In doing so, DCA should also explore the linkages of these different levels of intervention and should have strategy how they could feed in to each other. Below are some key policy/strategic and programmatic recommendations under Migrant Rights Programme;
Policy/Strategic Recommendations

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  DCA’s current approach of supporting multilayer migrant rights advocacy efforts seems quite relevant to make sure that migrant workers’ issues are heard as well as addressed at different levels. In order to ensure the effectiveness of the current approach, DCA should make sure that there is a strong linkage between the local, national, regional and global advocacy efforts on migrant rights issue. More importantly, DCA should concentrate its efforts on strengthening national and international policy advocacy (focusing on the government of workers receiving countries) on migrant rights, as it is hard to see the changes in the conditions of migrant workers without strong policy and institutional framework and their subsequent implementation in the country of origin as well as destination.
  

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  Likewise, broadening and strengthening migrant rights advocacy efforts at the national as well as regional level is crucial for ensuring the rights of migrant workers and members of their families. More programmes and initiatives are needed to strengthen solidarity and collective actions between CSOs working in the region. Considering the very limited number of CSOs exclusively focusing on migrant rights issue, DCA should partner with more organisations and social movements for stronger advocacy efforts at different levels.
  

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  Considering the context of funding deficit for migrant rights advocacy at the national, regional, and international level, DCA as one of the pioneering organisation supporting this initiative should attract more donors, thus there will be more resources to work on this issue. Collection of best practices and it publication and dissemination could be one of the strategy for attracting donors to invest more resources for migrant rights programme in the region.
  

Programmatic Recommendations

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  Considering the growing number of female migrant workers from the region, protection of their human rights should be taken into high consideration in the future migration programming of DCA.
  

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  RMW’s association formed at the community level is found a good initiative, as it has provided opportunities for RMW to come together, develop strategies to be reintegrated into society, and more importantly to advocate for their rights. RMW has also been reliable information provider to the potential migrant workers at the local level. They also exchange information among each other regarding business and entrepreneurship opportunities available at the local level. Some of the RMW have been very active and even started their own cooperative and have organized regular information sharing programmes. Some other RMW forums are in existence for lack clear direction regarding their roles and responsibilities and resource constrains. Considering the potential of RMW to contribute to social change process, DCA in its future programming should focus on strengthening RMW associations at the local level and make them more visible at the national political level as well.
  

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  Considering the commonalities of problems faced by most of the South Asian migrant workers in more or less same country of destinations, the evaluation team recommends a standardised pre-departure orientation package for South Asia, which needs to be used by all partners while providing information at the local level.⁴ Such pre-departure orientation package should update on periodic basis based on changing labour migration dynamics in the countries of origin as well as destination.
  

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  In order to enhance the effectiveness of the existing migrant rights advocacy efforts of national and regional partners of DCA, its future support for advocacy work should be focused on evidence-based policy advocacy.
  

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  Considering the potential of regional migration network to lobby as well as negotiate with destination countries for introducing migrant worker friendly policies, speak on behalf of migrant workers in international forums such as the UN General Assembly and ILO conferences, it is crucial to make them resourceful for strengthening their capacity. Regional networks also have potential to enhance the capacity of national CSOs and provide venue for linking, learning, and sharing opportunities for then. Thus, DCA should consider strengthening their capacities further.
  

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  Research and assessment focused work has come out as one of the very important area of future intervention, as this would provide solid evidence base to design need based and relevant projects and programmes in the future. Two pertinent future research issues suggested by various respondents were related to a) social cost (health, disability, death of migrant workers in the country of destination, breakdown of family, mislead kids and so on) and social gain (women empowerment, gender equality, increase standard of living and quality of life of traditionally poor and marginalized families) analysis of foreign labour migration in the region and b) Skills and social capital analysis of RMW. The evaluation team recommends DCA to invest some resources to carry out research on these issues both at the national and regional level.