SECOND YEAR EVALUATION : WORLD EDUCATION, INC.; INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT GRANT

(WEI), a PVO involved in non-formal education (NFE) and development-oriented training of LDC leaders, to maintain its staff and program initiatives while restructuring its financial management systems and broadening its base of support. Evaluation covers the period 1/79-12/79 and is based on a review of project documentation and a visit to WEI's headquarters. The evaluators first comment that they are confident that WEI's own analysis of its substantial progress toward fulfilling the objectives of the Institutional Development Grant (IDG, see DOCID: B9320114005301) are accurate, and they therefore feel no need to comment on these in great detail. They do state that grant outputs are being produced on or ahead of schedule and that no discrepancy between planned and actual outputs is evident. Concerning staffing, the evaluators conclude that only the difficulty in finding permanent directors of financial administration has marred an otherwise excellent personnel situation. Two new areas of program activity are cited as noteworthy -- the inclusion of Latin America into WEI's sphere of program activity and the new emphasis and capability in WEI project evaluation. Also significant is the fact that WEI is strengthening the capabilities of LDC agencies by assisting them to initiate activities in new geographic or sectoral settings or to research new systems which can then be continued after WEI's departure. As concerns finances, the evaluators found that WEI has made significant strides in improving its financial outlook. It has utilized IDG funds on a declining annual basis to support its care costs, taking steps to realize more real costs from all its grants and contracts. Considerable progress has also beeen made in fundraising and broadening the base of support for WEI field and headquarters activities. In spite of this, however, the anticipated adjustment upon grant termination will be severe, causing overhead rates to rise and making it more difficult for WEI to bid successfully on contracts. A.I.D. will discuss with WEI how best to ease this transition period.