Evaluation of phase I of South Pacific regional family planning project (879-0019) : assistance to the South Pacific Alliance for Family Health (SPAFH)

SPAFH is an NGO established in Tonga in 1986 as a regional resource for family planning (FP). It has received A.I.D. funding since 1987, initially through the Foundation for the Peoples of the South Pacific. In 1990, USAID signed a 3-year Cooperative Agreement with Pathfinder Fund to serve as a conduit for A.I.D. funds and to provide TA to SPAFH in institutional development and programming. Phase I, covering the first 3 years, calls for emphasis on institutional development. Phase II will emphasize FP programming. This evaluation addresses Phase I. It was conducted from 11/14-12/10/92 and involved visits to Tonga, Western Samoa, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Fiji. SPAFH has demonstrated its potential to help meet critical FP challenges in the region. Its major strengths are an increasingly active and committed Board comprising prestigious officials of ten member countries, installation of viable management and operational systems, growing recognition as a major player in the FP field, an impressive amount of programming given the emphasis of Phase I on institutional development, the ability to respond rapidly to regional needs, adherence to its implementation objectives as expressed by the benchmarks, and significant contributions to FP expertise in the region. SPAFH's achievements are remarkable in light of significant constraints, including institutional inexperience; major turnover in senior staff midway through Phase I; the challenges associated with defining the organization's role; diverse demands for service; the complexity of the region, and the reduced level of inputs provided by the project as finally approved. SPAFH's performance with regard to the benchmarks is mixed. Some have been exceeded, some met, and some not achieved, though additional progress is expected by the end of Phase I in 9/93. Two of the benchmarks which have not been achieved involve the acquisition of demographic analysis capability and the establishment of current contraceptive usage and inventory information for countries in which SPAFH supports strategic development and population policy activities. These activities are inappropriate for SPAFH and should not be pursued further. Through no fault of its own, SPAFH is not yet registered as a NGO in Tonga; the location of SPAFH in Tonga needs reconsideration in the light of the registration problems and other factors. Overall, the benchmarks are a useful mechanism for measuring certain aspects of both programmatic and institutional progress, and SPAFH and Pathfinder deserve full credit for strict adherence to them. These benchmarks, however, effectively ignore some of the basic institutional development that must take place if SPAFH is to be a viable, long-term regional FP resource. SPAFH needs a strategic plan of its own. This may not have been necessary during SPAFH's early years, but it is the number one priority at the moment. SPAFH has accomplished a great deal though its programming and its grant program, but more needs to be done and the focus redefined. Information, education, and communication (IEC) activities have received little attention, though this is a priority need and the demand is high. Project Excel, funded by Australian International Development and Assistance Bureau (AIDAB) with components funded through A.I.D.'s FP Services Expansion and Technical Support (SEATS) and Social Marketing for Change (SOMARC) projects, challenges SPAFH to integrate this large program into its overall spectrum. Subgrants to date have been extremely small; it is up to SPAFH to stimulate an increase in grant applications and encourage applicants to consider larger, multi-phase, comprehensive programs. Also, programming in the smaller countries needs more attention. SPAFH's involvement in helping countries develop standards for service delivery is appropriate, given the expertise of its staff. Its involvement in developing standards for social marketing, as reflected in one of the benchmarks, is not appropriate. Pathfinder has excelled in providing a smooth flow of operational funding to SPAFH and has been instrumental in arranging appropriate foreign training. Its inputs to developing financial management systems, representing over one-third of its TA, have paid off. It has also helped SPAFH to develop other internal management systems, such as project monitoring and tracking. In addition, it has recruited experts from both its own staff and the outside to help SPAFH in various institutional development and programming activities. Its assistance in management information system (MIS) development was unsatisfactory and wasted valuable resources. Although Pathfinder was constrained by a reduced level of effort in the project paper as finally approved, it failed to recognize the basic needs of a new NGO for an organizational strategic plan and to provide the necessary assistance in this area. Its allocation of resources responded to the benchmarks, but not to the basic needs of an NGO slated to be an independent, A.I.D.- registered PVO by the end of Phase I. SPAFH still needs institutional development support, but Phase II should reflect an increasing emphasis on programming and on country-based rather than regional services. SPAFH will not be eligible for direct Phase II funding, so a conduit will be required. (Author abstract)