MDF - NewsLetter May 2009

Content of this NewsLetter

May we invite you to read:

Editorial: Innovate and consolidate
Validation of an evaluation: a learning experience
Review Dutch Employers' Cooperation Programme
Collaboration with NAAN
MDF Western Balkan
MDF and Train-4-Dev
Upcoming courses

Happy reading

Innovate and consolidate

In the editorials of November 2008 and March 2009 we stressed the importance of innovations and a continuous process of improvement. This however implies that timely consolidation of innovations or realised improvements is equally important. An organisation in which everybody is busy with innovation, improvement and change might end up in chaos.

Hence we feel that innovation processes should be carefully designed, planned and implemented with sufficient attention for moments of reflection and consolidation. Often innovations are the result of efforts to solve certain problems or to tackle certain challenges.

One way to keep your organisation dynamic and innovative is to deliberately incorporate difficulties or challenges in the strategy for organisation development and the related work plans. "Managers as the inventors of challenges" would that not be the real challenge?

Hans Rijneveld, director MDF

MDF reviewed the Dutch Employers’ Cooperation Programme

From January to April 2009, MDF conducted a mid-term review of the Dutch Employers' Cooperation (DEC) Programme. This programme started in 2006 with the goal to strengthen employers' organisations in developing countries, using Dutch and international expertise of employers' organisations. The programme is funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the framework of its support to private sector development in developing countries.

The review was conducted by a team of two MDF consultants who went to Surinam, Kenya, Tanzania and to the ILO International Training Centre in Turin, Italy. The review indicates that the DEC programme is a relevant contribution to the Netherlands' mix of instruments to support economic growth and equity in developing countries. This particularly through promoting social dialogue between employers, employees (trade unions) and governments on issues that relate to an enabling environment for private sector and labour conditions.

The programme that provides technical expertise to employers' organisations, is particularly relevant in those countries where a relatively stable political climate and sufficient economic dynamism provide conditions for social partners to jointly discuss relevant issues to promote private sector development and economic growth.

Frans van Gerwen, senior trainer/consultant

MDF/NAAN Collaboration

The collaboration between MDF Training & Consultancy BV and Netherlands Alumni Association of Nepal (NAAN) began in 2008 with the organisation of the refresher course on 'Orchestrating Ownership and Sustainability (Reality Check and New Steps in Result-Based Planning & Organisation Development)'. A two weeks refresher course was organised in 11-22 May 2008 with 20 participants from Bhutan, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, The Philippines, Mongolia, and Nepal. The course was moderated by 2 international specialists from MDF Ede Headquarter (Hanneke Spaans) in the Netherlands and MDF South Asia Office in Sri Lanka (S. Thilakan). The MDF Director, Mr. Hans Rijneveld also delivered a one day session. NAAN hosted the whole course and took the responsibility of the arrangement to implement the course successfully. This was one of the good examples on successful collaboration between the institute from North and Netherlands Alumni Associations (NAAs). It also gives opportunities to interact and renew the relationship between the alumni and the institute where they have studied earlier.

The refresher training created a tight bond between the participants and a real group feeling was the result. The participants exchanged experiences on project management from all over South Asia and best practices with each other. This type of collaboration is very fruitful for both institutes and alumni which can promote the interest of both parties for meaningful results.

After the establishment of successful collaboration between MDF & NAAN by organising the above refresher course, MDF and NAAN extended the collaboration to further promote the MDF products and services among interested clients in Nepal. These products and services comprise the regular, open subscription courses in Ede and other branch offices as well as tailor made training courses to be delivered in Nepal and consultancy assignments such as evaluation missions, institutional support & capacity building missions and formulation missions. As a result, more and more queries regarding MDF courses and other products/services from interested clients and relevant institutes/organizations have been received.

Naresh Pradhan, NAAN Chairman, Nepal

MDF and Train-4-Dev

The joint Donor's Competence Development Network, also called Train-4-Dev. initiative is an open forum for donor agencies and multilateral organisations currently comprising 25 members. The overall objective of the Network is to promote improved aid effectiveness. Among other initiatives, joint learning events are organised to contribute to this overall objective.

MDF was selected by Train-4-Dev to design and conduct the joint learning programme on Managing for Development Results. In the first quarter of 2009, a training set-up was discussed, materials were prepared and a trainer team was formed. Materials include short briefing notes on MfDR, Results Chains, CAP-scan and Leadership. The first two joint learning events on MfDR will take place in Zambia (19-21 May) and Uganda (26-28 May). Others will follow in 2009 and 2010.

Participants come from country governments, civil society organizations from the country as well as supporting donor agencies. After the events, participants should have a clear understanding of MfDR and should be able and motivated to work towards more result-oriented practices in their respective organisations and countries.

MDF Head Office works closely together with GTZ (managing agency on behalf of Train-4-Dev) on this programme as well as with MDF branches (trainer teams) and with independent resource persons from the different regions, in order to tailor the events to specific country needs.

Dick van Blitterswijk, Head of Unit Aid Effectiveness

Validation of an evaluation: a learning experience

During the first quarter of 2009, in collaboration with ETC-Crystal, MDF has executed a programme evaluation for Woord en Daad, a Dutch co-financing organisation. The programmes evaluated were Basic Needs and Job and Income. Woord en Daad's Education programme had earlier been evaluated by COMMON. A first particularity of these evaluations was that they were done on the basis of documents about projects executed by partner organisations (54) in three continents, complemented by telephonic interviews with partners. A second particularity was that the three programme evaluations were complemented by a so-called Meta-analysis, covering all three evaluations. A third particularity was that the primary aim of the evaluations was 'learning'.

The first contact between evaluators and partner organisations was during a Woord en Daad partner conference in Nairobi, where the conclusions of the draft-evaluation-reports were presented by the evaluators, first in plenary, then in specialised workshops (5) in the presence of Woord en Daad staff and its partner organisations. In these workshops the first round of leading questions was: 1. Are the conclusions and recommendations clear; 2. Do they need amendments to be clearer? Could you explain them to the group? The next round of leading questions was: 1. Are the conclusions valid in your specific situation or organisation? If not, please explain in narrative form why not. The answers were scored (yes-no-not applicable). The third round of discussions in the specialised workshops covered the question: which conclusions/recommendations should be an issue for the whole organisation to discuss? These questions were later discussed with all members of each partner organisation and their Director. Final assessments by all specialised workshops were presented in plenary the next day. It appeared that, with minor modifications (except for the Job and Income programme) the outcomes of the evaluations were validated as relevant, recognizable, often applicable, and in any case useful to be exploited and further discussed during the further conference debates. Out of sight of the evaluators the lessons learnt from the evaluations were applied in new programme proposals for the coming period (2010-2015).

We (MDF evaluators) experienced this "validation" process as a pure learning experience, whereby the participants (Woord en Daad staff and its partners) passed jointly through a learning cycle, ending with the application of single, double and triple stroke learning in their future programmes and organisation. Woord and Daad is a good example of a learning organisation. Their triple stroke learning concerns the transformation of a typical Dutch co-financing organisation into a future network organisation linked together by global, regional and thematic alliances. Wait and see!

Sjoerd Zanen, senoir trainer/consultant MDF

MDF Western Balkan

We are proud to announce that MDF has established its presence in the Western Balkan. MDF has decided to take over the branch office of Pentascope in Sarajevo, Bosnia Herzegovina.

Erman Doric, our new colleague, has run the above mentioned office in Bosnia for the past three years. Erman and our local colleague Anel Becirovic will be responsible for the future development of MDF activities in the Balkans. Evidently this will be done in close consultation and collaboration with our affiliated and respected partners with whom we co-operate already since 2002: Elmida Saric and her team. We expect that the created synergy will benefit all our present and future clients in the West Balkans.

Our new branch office has established relations with international donors and Dutch clients active in the Balkan region, for instance ECD in Bosnia and EVD from the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs. Majority of the assignments are in the field of Small and Medium Enterprise development, regional development and promotion of export. With this branch MDF is strengthening its competencies in Private Sector Development, one of the key themes in the Balkans. We can support organisations with our advisory and training services, like: multi stakeholder processes, strategic planning, HRM and networking.

In the coming months the full transformation from Pentascope to MDF will take place and the Pentascope Bosnia website been incorporated in the MDF website. Please feel welcome to contact Erman (ed@mdf.nl) when you want to know more about this branch and its services.
Read more on the MDF Western Balkan webpage.....

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