EXPANDING COMMUNITY APPROACHES IN SOUTHERN THAILAND | KM NOTE 5 CACS Project Monitoring and Evaluation System Background In response to a request by the Royal Thai Government The Piloting Community Approaches in Con ict Situation (RTG) to learn from international experience with appropriate Project was approved in 2009. As a learning activity, the and effective approaches to working in con ict-affected project was designed to accommodate adjustments in areas, the World Bank mobilized grant nancing through response to lessons emerging from implementation its State and Peace-Building Fund (SPF) to rst study and experience. Such learning is underpinned by a monitoring then pilot approaches to local development to help mitigate and evaluation system to track implementation progress the con ict in the southern provinces of Pattani, Yala, and and assess results. Narathiwas. This note, the fth in a series of brief, operationally relevant pieces meant to inform a broad range of stakeholders about the design, implementation, and results of the CACS Project, describes the project’s monitoring and evaluation system. 1 Expanding Community Approaches in Southern Thailand Conflict Context Project Description Secessionist movements in Thailand’s southernmost The overall objective of the CACS Project is to develop provinces date back more than a century. Following effective community approaches to local development that decades of dormancy, a separatist insurgency re-emerged create “space” and opportunity for increased interaction in early 2004. Over the past six years, killings and within and among communities and between communities bombings have been regular occurrences – claiming the and the state apparatus in an effort to promote trust-building lives of over 4,000 people. in the con ict-affected provinces of Southern Thailand. The con ict stems from various factors, key among them Two financing “windows” are the following: lack of suf cient sensitivity towards Malay ethnic and religious identity and language and limited To achieve its objective, the project nances grants through political integration, including under-representation of Malay two facilities or “windows.” Muslims in local political and government structures. Relative economic deprivation as well as government Block grants of approximately THB 300,000 (or USD policies and approaches since 2004 contribute to the 10,000) are given directly to both par ticipating sense of injustice. communities and sub-districts/municipalities for local development activities that members themselves identify, This sense of injustice and alienation is reportedly evident propose, implement, monitor and sustain. This in a growing divide within communities and among community-driven development (CDD) process involves a communities (between Muslims and Buddhists) and series of steps aimed at ensuring inclusion of all groups between communities and the state apparatus. in the planning process and community ownership of project activities. To facilitate broad par ticipation, procedures are simpli ed, training in community analysis tools and techniques and project management is provided, and information is made widely available. Funds are transferred directly to a local account in installments based on a time-bound implementation schedule thereby engendering ownership and accountability. The Peace-building Partnership Fund (PPF) offers grants of THB 150,000 to 300,000 (USD 5,000 to 10,000) to community-based organizations, civil society organizations (CSOs), and civic networks working in the con ict-affected areas for innovative approaches and partnerships that promote trust, peace, and development. Training and knowledge-sharing activities are aimed at improving PPF proposals and the capacity of organizations to implement them. 2 Knowledge Management Note Coverage advisory and steering committees, a network of local technical specialists, village implementing committees, Over the three-year implementation period, the project and tambon/municipality committees. intends through its block grant window to nance a total of 72 grants to 27 communities in seven sub-districts Training, learning and knowledge management (tambons) and two municipalities in the three southern border provinces. During the same period, approximately In addition to capacity-building for block grant and PPF 50 Peace-building Par tnership Fund grants will be recipients, learning forums created at multiple levels seek disbursed to local organizations throughout the project to strengthen the capacity of participating communities area. and civil society organizations and ensure results. The community participatory processes provide opportunities Management for all stakeholders to discuss various aspects of the project and sub-projects, thus enabling the application of The management of the CACS Project is the responsibility lessons learned from operations to improve local and of the Local Development Institute (LDI), a non-governmental provincial planning. The project steering and advisory organization that aims to promote community, local, and committees are for ums for representatives from civil society strengthening. Community facilitators and government agencies, private sector, and civil society provincial coordinators, hired by the project, ensure organizations to discuss relevant policies, partnerships, implementation of the par ticipator y approach and implementation progress, and impediments and lessons. achievement of grant objectives, and establish A series of local, national and international consultations, relationships with key local government agencies and civil informed by knowledge extracted from implementation society organizations in the project areas. Multiple experience, enables lessons to be shared and mechanisms at the central and local levels have been disseminated more broadly. established to support implementation, including project 3 Expanding Community Approaches in Southern Thailand From the star t of the project, monitoring has relied predominantly upon the monthly meetings held among LDI staff, facilitators, and provincial coordinators at which experiences are shared and joint decisions made about how to adjust processes to t with actual conditions. Results Chain The development of the monitoring and evaluation framework is based on an agreed understanding of the project’s results chain which links project outputs/activities to outcomes and to the development objectives and overall goal (see Figure 1). Indicators Essential to achieving the project’s objective of developing and re ning effective local approaches that can be adapted The M&E framework identi es speci c, measurable and to other affected communities is the development and realistic indicators for each step in the results chain. Where implementation of a simple, adaptable and effective relevant, indicators are disaggregated by gender, religion and monitoring and evaluation system. type of group. Baseline data inform the setting of annual targets used to measure progress towards their achievement. Monitoring and Evaluation Each indicator is matched with a data source and methodology and assigns responsibility for data collection. To capture such The objective of the CACS Project’s monitoring and information, the system relies predominantly on the evaluation (M&E) system is to assess the project’s progress, systematic and routine collection of data throughout the reveal impediments to implementation, ensure adherence sub-project planning, preparation and implementation to nancing and procurement requirements, measure process. Monitoring activities are complemented by periodic outcomes, and identify lessons learned. Re ecting the qualitative evaluations focused on speci c dimensions of project’s objectives, it seeks to monitor and evaluate project progress, effectiveness and results. participatory processes as well as physical outputs and outcomes. The M&E system relies predominately on the routine collection of data embedded in the sub-project planning and implementation processes, supplemented by periodic qualitative assessments. 4 Knowledge Management Note Figure 1: CACS Project Results Chain Increased trust as a Goal foundation for peace Increased “space” or interaction within and among communities Development and between communities and Objective the state Outcome 1: Outcome 2: Outcome 3: Strengthened community Strengthened capacity and Increased awareness and capacity and social capital extended reach of civil knowledge of local Outcome society organizations participatory processes Output 1: Output 2: Output 3: Output 5: Output 6: Outputs Output 4: Knowledge Project Block Grants Training Learning PPF Grants Management Management Components of the M&E System Internal Monitoring Designed to provide for continuous learning and to cross- Community facilitators and provincial coordinators prepare validate and triangulate information from different sources, regular progress reports which track inputs, processes and the monitoring and evaluation system is comprised of outputs. Data is entered into a simple, computerized multiple components. Responsibility for implementing the management information system administered by LDI. system is shared among village implementing committees, civil society organizations and their networks, community LDI Oversight facilitators and provincial coordinators, LDI management and the World Bank. Training and technical assistance seek to LDI staff and management receive and verify the progress build the capacities of local organizations and LDI to conduct reports, and use the information to monitor implementation effective monitoring and evaluation. and results, and adjust processes and procedures accordingly, as well as to promote learning. The project’s advisory and Community/CSO Participatory Monitoring steering committees help de ne the monitoring and evaluation priorities. As part of the design and implementation of grant- nanced activities, village implementing committees and PPF grant Audits and Financial Reviews recipients, assisted by community facilitators and provincial coordinators, de ne their work plans and activity-speci c Participatory monitoring of community and CSO nances is indicators and monitor progress towards achieving these supported by training provided by the internal auditor. This goals. Community participation monitoring, in addition to monitoring is supplemented by annual audits, as well as tracking progress, seeks to build ownership and empower periodic assessments of nancial management and bene ciaries and enhance accountability and transparency. procurement performance conducted as part of World Bank supervision. 5 Expanding Community Approaches in Southern Thailand Special Studies provinces to evaluate perceptions of the effectiveness of project- nanced activities. The rst assessment, to be Special studies are periodically undertaken on issues of repeated annually, will be conducted in December 2010. particular interest identi ed during implementation. In the Grievance and Redress MechanismThe M&E system also rst year, LDI published Community Learning: Collective includes a process within participating communities and Learning and Searching for Social Capital1 which describes sub-districts/municipalities, adapted to the local con ict the experience and learning gained from the participatory context, for receiving and handling grievances and complaints. community assessment process conducted in the rst nine communities. Additional topics to be studied are being Learning Forums identi ed. Regular learning forums and stakeholder workshops with Trust Survey broad participation enable the review of implementation experiences and lessons learned to inform changes to A trust survey seeks to assess changes in levels of trust procedures and the development of effective approaches to among community members, and the relationship between creating “space” to increase trust. trust, security and con dence and types of “space” or interactions. Semi-annual in-depth interviews with affected World Bank Supervision Missions families in one community in each of the three provinces are combined with annual questionnaires administered to village The World Bank reviews management arrangements, implementing committee members to evaluate both implementation progress and emerging results, and works individual/societal and structural dimensions of social with LDI to address issues that arise. The monitoring capital. The rst round of interviews was conducted in June and evaluation system is designed to be revised and re ned 2010. The second round of interviews, together with the periodically in response to issues or questions that emerge administration of questionnaires, is scheduled for January during implementation. 2011. Beneficiary Assessment September 2010 Annual bene ciary assessments will use conversational For more information on the project, contact: interviews and focus group discussions with targeted Pamornrat Tansanguanwong bene ciaries, civil society organizations, local government ptansanguanwong@worldbank.org authorities and other stakeholders in each of the three Poonyanuch Chockanapitaksa pchockanapitaksa@worldbank.org Tel: +662 686-8300 KM Notes are produced under SPF Grant TF094106. 1 Social capital, broadly defined as the “norms and networks that enable collective action,” refers to a set of assets present in social relationships. 6 Knowledge Management Note Knowledge Management Note Series No. Title 1. The In uence of Con ict Research on the Design of the Piloting Community Approaches in Con ict Situation Project 2. Gender and Development in Thailand’s Con ict Areas 3. Youth-focused Community Driven Development: Results and Lessons Learned 4. Creating “Space” for Interaction: Description of CACS Project Operations 5. CACS Project: Monitoring and Evaluation 6. Community Driven Development: Findings and Applied Learning 7. Peace-building Partnership Fund: Findings and Applied Learning 8. Practical Lessons for Improving Livelihoods Opportunities in Con ict Contexts 9. Facilitating Community Driven Development in Con ict-Affected Deep South 10. Access to Finance: The Case of Muslim Minority in Southern Thailand 11. Deep South Incident Database: Context, Development, Applications and Impact 7 World Bank Thailand 30th Floor, Siam Piwat Tower, 989 Rama 1 Road Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330 Tel: +66 2686 8300 Email: thailand@worldbank.org http://www.worldbank.org/thailand Supported by