Social Development

NGO Management Training

In 2004, Jackson and Associates was retained by Japan’s Foundation for Advanced Studies in International Development (FASID) to deliver management training to managers of Japanese NGOs working in Southeast Asia. Delivered in Vietnam, this training workshop included modules on project planning, management and evaluation, participatory strategies and gender equality.

Lead Consultant: Brian Rowe

Pakistan Social Institutions Review

In 2002-2003, a team from Jackson and Associates reviewed the Social Institutions Development Program (SIDP) in Pakistan, a $25-million initiative implemented by the Aga Khan Foundation Canada and funded by CIDA. SIDP works in partnership with ten organizations in Pakistan in the education, microfinance and NGO-enhancement sectors. The review team interviewed key stakeholders in Pakistan and Canada, organized a participatory workshop of Pakistani partners and interacted extensively with SIDP staff. The review found strong evidence of SIDP's effectiveness as an animator, catalyst, facilitator, convenor, strategist and implementor in strengthening civil society in Pakistan.

Lead Consultants: Yusuf Kassam and Paul Turcot

Tibet Basic Human Needs Project Review

Under contract to CIDA, Jackson and Associates reviewed progress on the Agency’s Basic Human Needs Project in Tibet. The BHNP works in two prefectures in Tibet at the county and district levels, promoting participatory planning and management, water supply, agriculture and micro-enterprise. The review recommended strengthening the project’s work at both the macro level of the Tibet Administrative Region and at the micro level of the village. Notwithstanding the uniqueness of Tibet, the BHNP was seen by the review team as an important policy experiment in poverty reduction in western China that can yield valuable lessons for governments and donors alike.

Lead Consultant: Dal Brodhead

Global Review of Basic Human Needs

In the late 1990s, Jackson and Associates managed a major corporate review of CIDA’s performance in basic human needs. Carrying out 12 project evaluations in Asia and Africa, and eight policy studies, the firm also tested and refined CIDA’s Results Framework, incorporating development and management results. The findings from this corporate review were used by CIDA to further develop its Policy on Basic Human Needs, and to report to the Parliament of Canada on the Agency’s achievements in BHN.

Lead Consultant: Edward Jackson

Eastern Caribbean Education Reform Project

The firm designed one of CIDA’s first results-based performance review frameworks. The framework was developed for a major basic education initiative, the $10-million Eastern Caribbean Education Reform Project.

Lead Consultant: Edward Jackson

Rural Water Sector in Malawi

Jackson and Associates led the design of demand-responsive, community-based projects in rural water supply in Malawi and health and water in Cameroon. This work built on lessons learned from an impact evaluation conducted by the firm of 25 years of CIDA support to the rural water sector in Ghana. CIDA’s President cited the Malawi project as demonstrating a leading edge approach to stakeholder engagement in the planning process.

Lead Consultant: Denise Beaulieu  

Water Governance and Management in Ghana

In the CIDA-funded District Capacity Building Project in northern Ghana, Jackson and Associates had undertaken a wide range of activities to strengthen the regional, district and village structures and systems for governing and managing rural and small-town water supplies. DISCAP trained district-level government personnel, small-town managers and operators of water systems and private area mechanics in new operation and maintenance techniques. The project has designed an electronic water-system asset management register for district governments. DISCAP has also supported studies of rural water supply management, sanitation and public health, small-town water systems and their community water boards, water quality in small towns, and integrated water resources management. Through extensive stakeholder engagement, the project worked on clarifying and modifying the institutional-governance and financial-management arrangements among the relevant agencies at the community, district and regional levels.

International Development Through Sport

The main goal of the "International Development Through Sport Program" (IDS)implemented by Commonwealth Games Canada (2003-2006) is to enhance governance and management capacities of governmental sports bodies and NGOs for social development through sport in a number of countries in Africa and the Caribbean. The program is funded by CIDA ($1.5 million) and by Canadian Heritage ($1 million). The evaluation of the program carried out by Jackson and Associates revealed that the program is making a very useful contribution to strengthening the capacity of its overseas partners, using sport as a vehicle, in bringing about social and educational development, promoting healthy lifestyles, and raising awareness about HIV/AIDS, especially for the youth and youth-at-risk.

Lead Consultant: Yusuf Kassam

Foundation for Civil Society, Tanzania

The Foundation for Civil Society Tanzania (FCS), established in 2003, is one of the largest support mechanisms for capacity building of and grant support to Civil Society organizations in Tanzania. The FCS is a pooled funding mechanism involving seven donor countries (U.K., Switzerland, the Netherlands, Ireland, Norway, Sweden and Canada). The institutional evaluation of FCS that was carried out by E.T. Jackson and Associates in 2006 revealed that the Foundation has been very effective and professional in making close to 400 grants worth over $8 million to CSOs involved in policy work, governance, social development, and advocacy between 2003 and 2005. Under FCS's strategic plan for 2005-2008, FCS intends to be an "outcome investor" rather than an arms-length funder. To that end, the evaluation made several recommendations to help the Foundation to move in the direction of becoming an outcome investor.

Lead Consultant: Yusuf Kassam

Educator Development Program in Kosovo, Serbia and Montenegro

In 2006, Jackson and Associates was asked by CIDA to carry out a review of the performance of the Educator Development Program (EDP), a five-year, $15-million intervention in Kosovo, Serbia and Montenegro. Drawing on data from program documents, key-person interviews and participant observation in workshops and meetings in the Balkans, the review assessed program achievements, strengths, weaknesses, prospects for sustainability, and lessons for other post-conflict settings. The largest component of this program, the Kosovo Educator Development Project, trained 10,000 teachers in learner-centred instruction and built the leadership skills of some 50 Ministry of Education managers, in a major contribution to Kosovo's progress toward nationhood. Educational leaders were trained and coached in Serbia and Montenegro, as well. In general, the study found that the education sector is an important site of "learning for democracy" and nation-building after conflict, and that the EDP experience and methods can be adapted to a wide range of needs and conditions on the ground.

Lead Consultant: Edward Jackson

Promoting Literacy in Northern Mozambique

In 2006, Jackson and Associates evaluated Promoting Literacy and a Literate Environment Among School Children in Northern Mozambique, a six-year, $6 million initiative funded by CIDA and implemented by Progresso, a local NGO and CODE, its Canadian partner. The evaluation engaged a wide range of stakeholders from students and teachers in local schools to officials of the national Ministry of Education. The study found that the project had generated some remarkable results. Grade five students in the program recorded national test scores above the national average. The project has provided libraries for 80% of the schools in the two provinces where it operates. Innovative teacher training and a bilingual education experiment were highlighted by the evaluators, as well. The evaluation report recommended a continuation, consolidation and deepening of the project.

Lead Consultant: John Saxby

Canadian Council for International Cooperation

The evaluation of the Canadian Council for International Cooperation, July 2006, was built around an online survey of members and five case studies of CCIC's work, representing the full spectrum of the Council's programs and structures. One of these studies was an indepth assessment of the processes and plausible impact of CCIC's policy work, in particular their work on Official Development Assistance (ODA). The ODA case study was "theory-based": it assessed CCIC's approach to policy advocacy against available research and experience in other countries. The study was complimented by smaller studies on membership capacity dvelopment for policy work, the Africa Canada Forum, a recent public deliberation project, and the CCIC Code of Ethics.

Lead Consultants: Kate McLaren and Paul Turcot