|
Programs |
||
Final Report for the
|
|
||
|
Table of Contents II. Background and Country Context III. Country Program Description A. Introduction Country Program Description D. Implementation and Management Issues 1. Nepal Project Management The Strategic and Implementation Plan for Nepal initially proposed that the Nepal program be managed by the AIDSCAP Asia Regional Office (ARO) in Bangkok with local coordination of activities through an AIDSCAP Nepal office with an AIDSCAP representative to serve as the liaison with the GON, USAID/Nepal and implementing agencies. In November 1993 a Resident Advisor (RA) was hired by FHI to manage and oversee the Nepal program at the country level. In 1994 USAID changed the AIDSCAP Cooperative Agreement to a Contract thus increasing administrative and reporting requirements at both the country office and implementing agency level until new program manuals and procedures were developed. With the development of project activities, by mid-1997 at project close-out the Nepal country office was staffed with a total of twelve, including five professionals and seven support staff. 2. Country Program Management In accordance with guidance provided by AIDSCAP/HQ and ARO, the startup of the Nepal program focused its efforts on two simultaneous objectives: (1) organize a program management unit; (2) support the effective implementation of the Nepal program strategy by local implementing partners. The Nepal program began with only a strategic plan serving as the project "operational guide." With assistance from the in-country FHI Family Planning Technical Advisor, FHI located and negotiated office space for the entire FHI/Nepal team. AIDSCAP moved into the offices in the midst of renovations and proceeded with equipment procurement, the development of office operations and personnel policies, the development of job descriptions and the recruitment of an accountant and secretary. During this startup phase the CO received excellent management support from ARO and necessary technical support from AIDSCAP BCC, STI, condom and evaluation technical advisors in the areas of subproject planning and development. The startup of the Nepal program was also very much influenced by the strong support and guidance provided to AIDSCAP by USAID's Office of Health and Family Planning and the National Centre for AIDS and STD Control. A brief chronology of major phases of the Nepal program include: Year I: August 1993-August 1994 Year II: September 1994-August 1995 Year III: September 1995 - August 1996 Year IV: September 1996 - July 1997 The level of intensity and interest shown by the USAID Mission in AIDSCAP's HIV/AIDS prevention program provided the project with sufficient program funding from the Asia Near East and Mission budgets over the life of the project to fully implement the AIDSCAP intervention strategy through mid-1997. AIDSCAP's multi-layered project management structure including a central headquarters, a regional support office and a country-field office provided both benefits and constraints to the country office in the area of intraproject communications, subproject approvals, field supervision and financial management and control. One management challenge was a local environment committed to HIV prevention but weak in sector planning and coordination, and unfamiliar with U.S. style financial management and reporting. To bridge the gap between headquarters requirement and in-country capabilities, the CO developed appropriate systems and reports and, on a pilot basis, implemented direct reimbursement from the CO to the implementing agency. Nepal's experience with this financial management system reduced processing time, resulted in real cost savings and provided a timely, positive cash balance to needy implementing agencies. 3. Country Office Capacity-Building Capacity-building at the country office level included the strengthening of CO staff, implementing partners and, thereby, beneficiaries. The majority of capacity-building activities for the Nepal program were initiated in-country or with assistance from the Asia Regional Office. Local capacity-building is an area of unending demand and interest by our implementing partners and their staff, but due to other project demands, time and budgetary limitations, and the availability of local resources, the country office could provide only priority technical assistance in the course of regular implementation activities -- as part of project development, financial monitoring and program reporting. Because the Nepal country office regarded capacity-building as the underlying development philosophy of the AIDSCAP/Nepal program, at least 50 percent of Nepal's country office staff time and energy was devoted to the area of capacity-building -- be it the finalization of a training manual, the local management of a pre-award audit, or coaching a colleague in the preparation of his oral presentation for the Vancouver conference. 4. HIV/AIDS Team-Building in Nepal One management area in which AIDSCAP/Nepal is proud to say it has worked hard to develop is to demonstrate the benefits of team-building and encourage intraproject cooperation among its many implementing partners. This has been a real challenge for the entire Nepal CO staff and for our implementing partners. Organizations in Nepal are not accustomed to sharing information, resources or ideas with others. The development environment in Nepal is one of competition for limited HIV/AIDS resources. This creates a difficult challenge to a project strategy with interdependent objectives and activities programmed to achieve behavior change. While not all project partners may fully appreciate or understand AIDSCAP/Nepal's basic program strategy of team-building and interdependence -- in individual ways all implementing partners truly benefited from greater collaboration and interaction with their project partners. It is fair to conclude that AIDSCAP is a real HIV/AIDS project partnership in Nepal. |
|||
 |
|||
