Evaluation Learnings Search

Learning Description

Pact-USDOL Relationship. The Somos Tesoro project director and the USDOL project manager believe that the relationship that they have established qualifies as a best practice. The relationship consists of telephone calls at least every two weeks as well as frequent email communications to share information and answer questions or clarify issues. The evaluators found that this effective level of communication has helped improve overall project management and execution.

Learning Description

Communication Objective. As noted above, the communication strategy is considered a best practice because it is responsible for ensuring effective internal and external communication and is instrumental in supporting the five IOs. Project staff and partners were unanimous in their view that communication should have been an IO and figured prominently in the project’s theory of change at the design stage of the project. A communications IO could have been developed at a lower level objective that supports the other five IOs. They also believe project staff should have been trained in the early stages of the project mining cultures in the target municipalities.

Learning Description

Target Population. The project established criteria to define target households, children, and adolescents in the CMEP. Based on these criteria, project partners selected beneficiaries that met these criteria and started implementation in a disjointed manner. While the coordination among partners has greatly improved in the last couple of years, the way in which beneficiaries have been selected has led to a target population that, in some cases, are not receiving an ideal mix of project services. The lesson is that this sort of complex project should begin with a thorough assessment of the project areas to understand family and community dynamics and ascertain input from communities that can be used to select the target population and develop the specific interventions that respond to the unique needs of different communities and cultures. Project partners should work as a team to develop the interventions to ensure their integration during implementation.

Learning Description

Field Team Training. Partners and their field teams told evaluators that they have learned from each other that has contributed to strong integration and coordination. The evaluators believe that at the beginning of the project each partner should have trained the other partner field teams in its technical area and approach. The evaluators believe this would have helped improve coordination, integration, and efficacy during the early stages of the project.

Learning Description

Boyacá Project Office. The project opened an office in Sogamoso, Boyacá in 2014. After a short period of time, the project decided to close the office. According to the project director, the office was closed because the cost was high and there was not a clear agreement between partners how the cost would be shared. One of the partners also noted that the office was a source of discord among the field teams. Apparently, the field teams could not agree on office space and how to share common space such as the conference room. Project partners noted that the lesson is that project partners should have been in agreement on the cost of the office, how the cost would be shared, and ground rules for assigning office space and use of common facilities.

Learning Description

Regional Field Team Coordinator. The project consists of field teams for mine formation, education, livelihoods, and policy. While the field teams have a designated coordinator or coordination mechanisms, there is not an appointed coordinator at the regional level to help coordinate and integrate the various field teams. The evaluators agree with the opinion of a couple of partners that a regional level technical coordinator could have helped improve integration and coordination. However, the evaluators also understand there would have been budget implications._x000D_

Learning Description

Productive Projects. The project initially began with training households in entrepreneurship, which evolved into 42 productive projects that are considered pilots. The livelihoods, mine formalization, and education teams believe many of the productive projects have the potential to increase household income and reduce vulnerability. They believe a productive project strategy should figure prominently into the livelihood component with a strategy to scale up the productive projects so they have an impact on more households.

Learning Description

Project Leadership. The Somos Tesoro project director changed four times in the first year plus of the project. The livelihood and education and M&E officers also departed and their replacements to substantial time to recruit and hire. These personnel changes, especially the project director, led to a vacuum in leadership that affected decisions and was at least partially responsible for delays in implementation. Once the project director and livelihood and education and M&E officer positions were filled with capable and strong leaders, the project gradually recovered from the delays and coordination and communication improved. It is critical for a complex project like Somos Tesoro to have key positions staffed with capable and strong leaders, especially in the project start-up phase.

Learning Description

Building Trust. Mining communities in Antioquia that have been affected by armed conflict and mistrust government agencies and outsiders in general. Some community members believe that cases of child labor will be reported to the government who will come and take children away. Some miners believe that mine formalization will lead to the closing of mines. Other community members are afraid that outside organizations could be aligned with certain armed groups that exhort money. It takes time to build trust so child labor and other topics such as mine formalization can be discussed with these communities and subsequent actions taken to reduce the risks associated with child labor.

Learning Description

Need for institutional anchorage of project institutions and activities. In particular, institutions such as the REST would have needed an official recognition and institutional anchorage to be effective in developing policies and common codes of conduct for the Rwandan tea industry. An example of such anchorage would be to connect it to, and have it reporting to the District Steering Committees on Child Labor. In terms of project activities, if the project were successful in connecting beneficiaries to social services, such as health coverage and the school feeding program, the effectiveness and sustainability of such approach are dependent on whether the “solution” goes beyond the project’s duration. Cash support for one or two years without possibilities for continuation of these services would in all likelihood lead to drop out and discontinued schooling for many beneficiaries at the end of the project.