Abstract
The Development Grants Program (DGP) is a competitive small grants program, established in 2008 that provides targeted support to U.S. private voluntary organizations (PVOs) and local non-government organizations (NGOs) that have limited or no experience in managing direct USAID grants. Successful PVO/NGO applicants receive awards (usually up to $2 millon) to implement activities in the field over a period of up to five years. Awards include a capacity development component providing awardees with access to resources for technical assistance and/or organizational strengthening. The purpose of this evaluation is to determine whether USAID and the DGP-funded projects have improved the capacity of communities to cope with climate change and advance environmental innovation and, at the same time, built the technical and institutional capacity of the partner implementing national NGOs and the private voluntary organizations (PVO)? The evaluation addresses the following 7 key questions examining USAID's support to its partners and the results of these projects: (1) to what extent has the program/project been successful in achieving results for its stated technical objective [and] what have been the key drivers of and limitations on performance to date; (2) how is the work of the implementing organization perceived and valued by beneficiaries; (3) to what extent has the partnership with USAID strengthened or otherwise changed the capacity (organizational, financial, technical etc.) of the implementing partner; (4) to what extent has USAID's approach supported the local organization in meeting its priorities, which may have changed over time; (5) what, if any, challenges has the implementing partner faced in meeting USAID program requirements; (6) what is the likelihood that the interventions (organizational development, technical results etc.) supported by USAID will be sustainable over the long term [and] how could the interventions have been improved to increase their long-term sustainability; and (7) what are the key strategic, programmatic, technical and managerial lessons learned that should be taken into account in similar future initiatives in the region/worldwide? A summary of findings states that at a programmatic level, USAID/Southern Africa's implementation of the DGP has worked well. The implementation modality through local NGOs has been successful and efficient and the technical and institutional capacity of the partner NGOs has been significantly enhanced. It is however the opinion of the evaluation team and personnel from the implementing partners that the program would have benefited from increased coordination between the different projects. The key findings and primary conclusions for the USAID DGP are summarized for each key result area in the evaluation report. (Excerpt, modified)