Services: Project & Program Design
Investing in program quality produces high payoffs in development outcomes.
A key challenge for many development organizations is to improve the quality of project/program design. Econometric studies demonstrate that roughly 20% of program performance is due to the quality of project design. The key variables of project quality are clarity and realism of project objectives, commitment and ownership of key stakeholders, assessment of risk, and capacity of organizations to implement programs. These factors are largely controllable and can be measured through a "quality at entry" index.
SI provides state-of-the-art services to improve the quality of project and program designs. Our approach puts local people at the center of planning, blending local knowledge with multi-disciplinary team perspectives to achieve high quality programs.
Range of Services
- Results-based Program Design-working with project design teams and local stakeholders to design projects and country programs with clear, realistic and measurable development outcomes to improve program quality and effectiveness.
- Project Quality and Portfolio Reviews-reviewing project designs and country portfolios to improve program quality.
- Strengthening Procedures to Improve Program Quality-aligning organizational incentives, operational procedures and systems to improve program quality.
- PROJECT details
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West Africa/Designing a Program for the Trans-Sahara Counter-Terrorism Partnership (TSCTP), USAID, 2007
As part of a long-term plan to combat terrorism in Trans-Saharan Africa, USAID/West Africa in 2005 created a counter-terrorism partnership with governments to promote constructive alternatives to political violence motivated by extremism. The program focused on Niger, Chad, Mali and Mauritania. The regional office requested SI to conduct an assessment and program design in Chad, Niger and Mauritania to work with communities to mitigate destabilizing factors in the region by reaching out to local leaders, youth and Muslim populations in the target countries. With our partner, Eastern Mennonite University, SI fielded a team of two program design, regional and conflict prevention experts to Chad and Niger. After assessing the current situation through a desk review and field study, they developed a design for future TSCTP programming. These products became the basis for subsequent planning and implementation of U.S. Trans-Saharan Counter-Terrorism efforts.
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Strengthening Program Design Quality: World Bank, 2000-present
SI supports the World Bank on a global initiative to improve program performance through better quality project and program designs (or Quality at Entry). SI staffed on-site offices and provided technical assistance to project design teams-using Logical Frameworks and Results Frameworks—to strengthen the design of over 200 projects and programs in all sectors for over 140 countries. SI also facilitated over 50 project design workshops with Bank staff and host-country officials, delivered specialized project design training and technical assistance for sector teams and advised on participatory planning methods for in-country teams. In all, SI's assistance helped to improve project design quality and effectiveness for programs totaling over $6 billion in development assistance lending.
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Strengthening Environmental Project Design—Global Environmental Facility, 2005
The Global Environment Facility (GEF), hosted by the World Bank, supports programs that protect the global environment. SI provided specialized training and technical assistance to GEF teams in results-based program design and management. SI assessed project designs for river basin, coastal resource, and forestry projects in the Philippines, Panama, Kazakhstan and Bay of Bengal. As a result, the teams are better able to assess and strengthen the quality of new and on-going GEF projects and the new projects have a stronger orientation towards environmental outcomes.
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Zambia, Tanzania, Sierra Leone and Pakistan—Portfolio Reviews to Strengthen Program Quality: World Bank, 2004-05
SI conducted four in-depth assessments to improve the program design quality and effectiveness of the World Bank country programs for Pakistan, Zambia, Tanzania and Sierra Leone. Each assessment analyzed the quality and realism of project and program outcomes, selection of performance metrics, alignment of projects with the Bank's country assistance strategy (CAS), and alignment of the CAS with the host country poverty reduction strategy. SI's four country reports-with reviews of over 70 projects—were used by country teams to strengthen project and program quality, M&E systems and the strategic alignment of the Bank's country work.
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Kenya and Ethiopia—Collaborative Design of National HIV/AIDS Programs: World Bank, 2000
SI worked with the Bank's Multi-country Program on HIV/AIDS (MAP) to design its first projects for Kenya and Ethiopia. Following initial preparatory work by the Bank, SI led participatory planning activities in each country involving representatives from MoH National HIV/AIDS program, other ministries, private sector health providers, other donors, international NGOs and people living with AIDS. SI worked with each group to develop a "Results Framework" with clear outcomes, objectives, performance indicators and assessment of risk. The Bank funded the two MAP projects with an initial loan of $50 million.
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Zambia — Project Design: USAID
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(Impact Note No. 5) -
Strengthening Global Project Design Work: UK, Department for International Development (DFID), 1994-2002
SI principals worked with DFID staff and local stakeholders to design over 70 results- oriented development projects using the Logical Framework approach. In participatory planning workshops in London, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand, Fiji, Zimbabwe, Kenya, South Africa and Mexico, SI principals helped teams to design a wide range of projects in health, education and environment. SI principals worked closely with DFID to develop new procedures, systems and tools for managing each stage of the DFID project cycle, many of which are included in DFID's popular guide entitled Tools for Development.