Final evaluation of the NGO democratic development component of the African-American Institute project to support research on decentralization and traditional authority and provide training in decentralization in Mozambique

The African-American Institute (AAI) implemented the program as part of the Mozambique Democratic Initiatives Project. Through 42 grants the program provided 32 national groups with training in strategic program planning, organizational and project development, and financial and administrative capacity-building. The program proved useful not only for fledgling organizations, but also for more venerable and established national NGOs, which sometimes refined and modified some of their own operating procedures as a result of the AAI program. AAI's markedly hands-on approach to program implementation was reinforced by the NGO Informative Bulletin, which spotlighted individual grantees, bringing their programs to the attention of other prospective donors and partners, and included interviews with selected donors on their program objectives and priorities. Developed and revised by consultations with NGOs was the NGO Management Manual, which should be considered an innovative document that defines the nature and characteristics of an NGO, and provides recommendations on the administrative and strategic planning skills needed for an NGO to be responsive to its constituency and goals. In sum, the program contributed significantly to the ongoing national effort to inform, educate, and develop a potentially important constituency within Mozambique. Community-based groups, local associations, and other national NGOs that participated in the program developed important horizontal institutional links, seeing themselves and their groups as members of an institutional community with similar interests and needs. The evolutionary development towards a real and functioning civil society constituency of NGOs -- some representatives of which are considering political candidacy in the upcoming local elections -- is a major accomplishment of the AAI program.