Abstract
Final evaluation of Phase I of the Zimbabwe American Development Foundation (ZADF) project, aimed at improving civil society organizations' (CSOs) representation of citizen's interests at the national level. Phase I is being implemented by Private Agencies Collaborating Together (PACT). The evaluation covers the period 9/98-3/02, against a PACD of 9/02. Phase I of the ZADF/PACT program has strengthened the capacity of targeted CSOs to advocate with Parliament, as measured against the advocacy index. PACT developed a sound grants management system that not only efficiently awards subgrants, but also contributes to subgrantee capacity building and institutional strengthening. Similarly, PACT's management of the advocacy index process, which was designed and introduced by USAID, has been excellent, resulting in subgrantee use of the advocacy index as a multi-purpose tools. The workshops, training, and TA provided by PACT were also given high marks by the subgrantees. While there were some serious complaints that early workshops did not adequately building advocacy skills, PACT continues to address these issues and subsequent workshops have been more effective than earlier ones. The evaluation contains several recommendations that can be easily implemented during the last year of PACT's cooperative agreement to improve performance, including increased focus on networking, increased emphasis on reaching the subgrantee decisionmakers, and greater use of one-on-one TA rather than workshops and group training sessions. The evaluation confirms the need for USAID to proceed with implementation of Phase II of the ZADF program. Both capacity building and advocacy are long-term activities that require additional support if interventions to date are to be sustainable, and the political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe dramatically illustrates the urgent need for civil society to be able to make its voice heard in a constructive manner. Phase II should continue to focus on increasing participation and understanding of the advocacy process, rather than on changing specific legislation. Also, USAID should continue to work with Phase I CSOs in order to deepen their ability to advocate with Parliament. At the same time, criteria are needed for determining when an organization should be phased out of the ZADF program and replaced with new ones. During Phase II, ZADF should adopt a more holistic approach to working with the CSOs. There is a strong need for general organizational development assistance to ensure that advocacy becomes institutionalized within the subgrantees' organizations.