CANADA NEPAL GENDER IN ORGANIZATIONS

Section II: NGO Capacity building for gender equality

7. Building Consensus

| NGO Selection | Organizational Assessment and Gender Integrated Capacity Building Plan |

Achieving consensus with the PNGOs on what was to be achieved and how, was not a one-time process; rather, it entailed continual negotiation. The NGO coordinators were constantly engaged in discussions with PNGOs on the capacity building approach and integrating gender equality. One of the tensions to be negotiated in the relationship arose at the cross-section of respect for the autonomy of the PNGO and their ownership of the capacity building, compared with CNGO’s mandate to promote good governance and gender equality. This meant especially a shift from their comfort level on gender inequality - to challenge their beliefs and norms on gender relations and how those beliefs were acted upon in the operation of the PNGO.
The negotiations started with NGO selection and the baseline organizational assessments.

7.1. NGO Selection

The process for selecting NGO partners was designed to be transparent, participatory, to benefit all participants, and to encourage collaboration among NGOs and with local government. It was also intended to be a two-way process: CNGO looked for NGO partners that met the project criteria and NGOs decided whether or not involvement with CNGO would meet their needs.

CNGO's selection criteria most importantly required that NGOs commit to becoming change agents for gen¬der equality. At least 30% of NGOs selected were to be women’s NGOs. All had to be registered with the Social Welfare Council, and demonstrate a level of democracy in their organizations. It was made clear that NGOs would not be paid to participate and CNGO would not provide any funds for core operations or on-going programs.

All registered NGOs in the target districts were encouraged to come to a one-day orientation session about the project. Special efforts were made to include women's NGOs and Dalit NGOs. The orient¬ation introduced the project, its focus on gender equality, and the CNGO selection process. At the end of the orientation, NGOs who were interested in being involved in the project were invited to complete an organizational profile.

Based on these profiles, five NGOs from each district were invited to a participatory three-day workshop on gender and organizational development. The workshop was an opportunity for NGOs to gain new understanding and skills and for CNGO to learn more about the capacity and interests of potential partners. Although it was clear that NGOs understanding on gender concepts was limited, the workshop was also useful to assess commitment and openness to change their beliefs.

Three of the five NGOs were chosen for field visits and the final selection of two NGOs per district was based on these visits. The transparent criteria and participatory process gave NGOs the opportunity to assess their own capacity and commitment in relation to other participants and as a result they often understood why their NGO was selected or not.

From this stage, CNGO built agreement on the major results to be achieved – NGOs as Gender Resource Organizations – and on the way that the partnership between CNGO and the selected PNGOs would develop.

“NGO Selection Report”: Available from CNGO

7.2. Organizational Assessment and Gender Integrated Capacity Building Plan

CNGO launched its partnership with each selected PNGO by facilitating a participatory organizational assessment of its internal and external operations. This was supplemented by workshops that helped each PNGO to do a more extensive analysis of its stakeholder relations and strategic linkages. This assessment process helped each NGO to identify their specific capacity needs. The process especially opened the discussion on gender relations and gender integration in their programs. From a capacity building perspective the organizational assessments were an opportunity to build consensus on the need for change, the commitment to change, and the process through which CNGO and the PNGOs would work to achieve that change. The assessments were the baseline for evaluating the results of the capacity building process over time.

Organizational assessments were repeated mid-project and again near the end of the capacity development cycle. This allowed the PNGOs and CNGO to track progress and revise the capacity development process as needed to achieve results. Having completed three organizational assessments, the PNGOs have also acquired an important tool to be able to facilitate organizational assessments with other local groups.

CNGO adapted the organizational assessment tool developed by SNV Nepal³ for Nepali NGOs. Four areas were self-assessed in a facilitated three day workshop:

internal capacity - organizational systems,
external linkages with stakeholders,
program design, implementation and monitoring, and
gender skills, knowledge and practices.

By the end of the workshop, a Gender Integrated Capacity Building Plan was ready for each PNGO. Many of the core building blocks of a solid NGO were needed; what was more unique was mainstreaming gender in each organization, and beginning the process of transition to a GRO.

The assessment tool is available from SNV Nepal.