Final report : mid-term evaluation of the PVO co-financing project USAID/Nicaragua -- contract no. 524-0313-C-00-5058-00

and local PVOs in Nicaragua. Mid-term evaluation covers the period 1991-7/95. To date, 16 PVO subprojects have been authorized. Except in the area of natural resource management, these subprojects are proceeding on schedule and are having a direct impact on beneficiaries; USAID is urged to continue incorporating a PVO approach as part of its assistance strategy. At the same time, the project's success is being constrained by a number of factors, including lack of medicines and supplies for child survival programs, excessive attention to subproject design, inadequate coordination with other donors, and the long processing time needed for subproject approval. Also, the system for reviewing local PVO subprojects under the Title III program is working poorly, and should be turned over to the Government of Nicaragua's P.L. 480 Secretariat. There is also a need to extend the PACD in order to allow PVOs to extend implementation time beyond 3 years, and to integrate PVO efforts with USAID projects in health, rural development, private enterprise, and democratization. Project success might also be furthered by use of a PVO umbrella mechanism. PVOs' capacity-building activities with local communities have generally proven effective, but the project as a whole has not paid sufficient attention to strengthening the Nicaraguan PVO community at the national level. Also, efforts of the Project Management Unit (PMU) to build PVO capacity have been effective in the area of financial administration, but until recently have been weak in other technical areas, specifically natural resource management. Systems for monitoring subproject activities are adequate (except for natural resource management), but PVOs' attempts to effect material changes through the Detailed Implementation Plans (DIPs) rather than through amendments to the original agreement are becoming a problem. Finally, although there are a few cases in which a PVO could handle a larger grant, increasing funding for current activities would place undue administrative burdens on the PMU and the Mission.