The future of mutual accountability between Oxfam GB and DFID: A history James Stevenson Oxfam GB

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The future of mutual accountability between Oxfam
GB and DFID A historyJames StevensonOxfam GB
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Oxfam GB

• Amateur, small-scale humanitarian origins in WWII
• Cherished national institution in UK
• Now 60 of funding from institutional donors
• Now an international NGO, one of 13 affiliates
  under Oxfam International
• Three streams of work
• Humanitarian
• Campaigns
• Development projects / programmes

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Development projects / programmes

• Presence in 70 developing countries across the
  world
• A flavour
• Womens empowerment a core cross-cutting theme
• Agricultural and non-farm rural livelihoods
  projects through cooperatives / small enterprises
• Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change
  Adaptation emerging areas of work
• Civil society organisation capacity-building
• Wherever possible, working through local partner
  organisations

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Partnership with DFID

• Partnership Programme Agreement (PPA) to 28 UK
  NGOs
• Historically a core grant
• Now a performance-based funding mechanism
• 3-year agreement with defined indicators against
  4 strategic objectives, some targets, baseline
  data in 2008/09 and end-term evaluation in
  2010/11
• Used by Oxfam GB as precious unrestricted
  funding (i.e. not earmarked for particular
  projects)

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Recent changes within DFID

• 2006 National Audit Office (NAO) report on DFIDs
  funding to NGOs had critical comments on
  availability of impact-level data
• Similar challenges for other aid modalities
• Context for this is that DFID is seeing its
  budget rise as all other government departments
  broadly static
• Government commitment to reaching 0.7 GDP in ODA
• DFID response has been to launch a Results Action
  Plan

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Results Action Plan within DFID

• More use of quantitative data in decision-making
• Strengthen performance and results frameworks for
  country programmes
• Investment in international statistics
• Membership of 3IE Seeking new mutual
  accountability mechanisms at Ghana High Level
  Forum
• New Independent Advisory Committee for
  Development Impact established to strengthen the
  independence of the evaluation function

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Challenges for Oxfam GB

• Currently supporting an indicative portfolio of
  20 projects to help staff report to DFID
• Baseline report due end of Dec 2008
• End-term evaluation due 2010/11
• 3 Key Challenges
• Clearly articulating ex-ante impact pathways
• Appropriate indicators
• Data collection

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Appropriate indicators

• Outcome-level
• Capacity of organisations
• Perceptions held by particular groups of people
• Policies / commitments upheld by government
• Impact-level
• From a multi-dimensional conception of poverty
• Income / assets
• Food security
• Agency / empowerment
• Vulnerability

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Data collection

• Quantitative and qualitative
• HH surveys with multi-topic modules (picks up
  unexpected effects)
• Self-assessment by institutions
• Interviews
• On-going participatory ME
• Strength of ex-post evidence of impact
• (following Meenakshis presentation to IAFP
  meeting, Nairobi 2006)
• Adequacy No causality claims
• Plausibility What DFID wants from us
• Probability Generates IPGs

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Conclusions

• DFID is a large, complex institution with demands
  made of it by other stakeholders
• Current period finds Oxfam GB and DFID
  undertaking shifts towards evidence-based policy
• Oxfam GB hold DFID to account for its policies
  through our campaigns work
• DFID a key donor to Oxfam but we retain
  independence

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ThanksJStevenson_at_Oxfam.org.uk
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Cooperative with 1000 members sets up enterprise
Costs of transport and other transaction costs do
not rise significantly
Cooperative members individually decide to market
their produce through the enterprise
Enterprise hits targets for cashflow and profits
by end of second year
National market prices remain significantly
higher than local markets
Cooperative members see increase in their incomes
Families of cooperative members see financial and
non-financial benefits
Additional income spent in local economy
Enterprise expands / diversifies
Additional jobs created in the local economy
Extent and depth of poverty in the district is
reduced