Southern Italy earthquake reconstruction program : part I, final evaluation report of the PVO component

Catholic Relief Services, Save the Children Federation, and the Salvation Army World Service Office have used A.I.D. matching and umbrella grants to assist nearly 60 local organizations and hundreds of families - about 85,000 direct beneficiaries - in the earthquake zone. Through subprojects (SP's) which have met A.I.D. criteria and Congressional intent, PVO's have rebuilt or constructed new facilities in education, health, housing, welfare services, industry, and livestock-related areas - providing not only immediate relief but helping establish health care facilities in areas previously not reached. By 12/31/86 all approved construction, reconstruction, and renovation will be completed. The cooperative, participatory environment fostered by AID/Naples was a main contributor to success. AID/N's "arms length" management of the program generally avoided increased demands on its staff, while its consultative role has been valued by the PVO's and has provided effective backstopping. For their part, PVO's have successfully managed private monies as well as grant funds and have solved all operational problems. Specific findings and recommendations are as follows. (1) PVOs' tendency to focus on areas where they have ties enhances the chances of SP success but also reduces broader benefits. PVO's are able to help develop innovative models for national education and health programs and work with defferent government levels. (2) The PVO consortium IDEA (Italian Disaster Earthquake Assistance) was highly effective in lobbying Congress for funds and generally effective in managing the budget allocation process, but lacked sufficient technical expertise in approving SP's other than for construction. A.I.D. should retain SP approval authority. (3) The matching grant program generally slowed programming and did not effectively elicit private donations. The 1982 decision to move to OPG's was sound; in the future A.I.D. should consider OPG's and/or fixed amount reimbursement to fund PVO's. (4) The dollar's fluctuation forced A.I.D. and PVO's to seek areas to cut costs. A.I.D. should protect future programs from large currency fluctuations. (5) PVOs' failure to satisfy technical and administrative staffing needs early on impaired project soundness and necessitated corrective investment. Measures are also needed to avoid the information gaps that affected monitoring and implementation. (6) A.I.D. and PVO's should see that support mobilized among defined U.S. constituencies in foreign aid - here, catalyzed by attention on the earthquake - can be sustained.