EANNASO Self Assessment results using the HIVOS PARTENSHIP PLATFORM ASSESSMENT TOOL

[Olive Mumba]

1. INTRODUCTION OF THE HIVOS PARTNERSHIP PLATFORM

EANNASO staff members were taken through a general introduction of the HVOS partnership
Platform. The history and purpose of the platform was provided through a write
up and a discussion. Objectives of the learning event both in Senegal during the ICASA and Nairobi event were provided.

2. INTRODUCTION OF THE TOOL FOR SELF ASSESSMENT

Discussion on EANNASO vision, mission and concerns was done to set a baseline of the assessment.

VISION:

An empowered Civil Society effectively contributing to Eastern Africa region
enjoying a quality of life free of the HIV and AIDS epidemic and its associated
impacts.

MISSION:

EANNASO will drive a regional HIV prevention agenda that empowers national networks to
effectively contribute to reducing the HIV incidence rates, by strengthening
their institutional and programmatic capacities and enhancing the voice of
CSOs.

VALUES:

In its endeavor to serve its target population, EANNASO will remain true to values that guide programming
and operations of the organization as a whole. These values form an integral
part of the strategy and by making them public, commits the organization to
uphold them:

1. Integrity: EANNASO staff and members are stewards that believe in professionalism at all levels of service
   delivery, and puts transparency and accountability at the forefront of
   program implementation and the management of public resources
2. Unity: EANNASO supports consultation and participation of all stakeholders at all stages of their interventions and
   works towards creating a sense of belonging and ownership; through sharing
   and promoting a common voice and vision and valuing the strength of
   teamwork to achieve its mission
3. Equity: EANNASO promotes a strong rights orientation that reinforces justice, fairness, respect and compassion.
4. Leadership: EANNASO fosters leadership development at all levels, encouraging innovation and excellence through
   continuous learning.

Some of the concerns that could hamper EANNASO reaching its vision that were discussed include:

- Lack of funding therefore hindering implementation

- Challenges of resource mobilization

- Social cultural barriers – that might fuel the spread of HIV

- Change of global priorities

- Access to right information at the right time

- Lack of adequate Capacities (institutional & operational)

- Poor representation and inclusion of CSOs in matters involving communities

A discussion on the HIVOS partners Self assessment followed that provided the following results:

Practice	Level	Signs
acknowledgement and recognition	4	The team agreed on all the hints for level 5 that HIV is part of the teams’ daily life. We agreed that we are not open about our individual status’ as such put ourselves in category 4.
Community ownership	2	Consultations with the national networks are done but not as a routine.
Managing resources	3	EANNASO is able to acquire resources but not in a state that it can generate resources from its activities. We agreed that the resources we acquire are used optimally and believe in value for money…. Making maximum use of resources.
Stigma and discrimination	4	The general feeling was that EANNASO does very well in stigma as PLHAs are involved in every aspect of EANNASO’s operations from EANNASO’s board of governors to supporting PLHA networks at national and regional levels. EANNASO’s workshops always include PLHAs. EANNASO HIV and AIDS policy and legislation project is one of the signs of how it works in fighting against stigma and discrimination.
Gender	2	We agreed that we do very well in gender at the secretariat but have faired relatively poorly programmatically. The reason for this may be due to the type of organization is at regional level. However, some of us felt that we could at least implement 2 – 3 activities at an annual basis that is gender related so as to promote gender amongst our members. EANNASO would like to learn how other regional organizations have mainstreamed gender in its programmatic work.
Organizational behavior	3	We saw EANNASO between 3 and 4 as the systems are there we know them and follow them but at times retract showing that we are not fully at 4. The team agreed to leave EANNASO on the level 3.
Monitoring and evaluation and documentation	4	As we are assessing ourselves based on the old strategic plan, EANNASO has many of the hints in level 3 but could not fit there as we still implemented based n the needs in the strategic plan. However, EANNASO is a learning organization and has been able to incorporate in its operations changes within the environment. EANNASO needs to continuously evaluate itself against change and include its members in final plans.
Inclusion and representation	5	The team felt that EANNASO was doing well in inclusion and partnership but fell short when it came to communities and CSOs participate and partners with us and together we express solidarity. EANNASO at times moves at a greater speed than its members.
Services	3	EANNASO major area of service is in advocacy, information collection and dissemination, and in linking of members to technical support. EANNASO's role is to facilitate its members to provide the same to CSOs at country level.
Learning and transfer	3	EANNASO has a lot to transfer but has not done well in the area of documentation. This is an area EANNASO would like to learn from other organizations. This is the same challenge under M&E and documentation. EANNASO needs to learn from other organizations that have done well in documentation.

The discussion above was summarized in the following Rivers Diagram:

After developing the Rivers Diagram, the following questions were asked:

a. What does the graph say about EANNASO?

- Our AIDS competency is at average and that we have very
strong areas but also have areas that require strengthening.

- We are strong on acknowledgement & recognition
(of existence of AIDS) and Stigma and discrimination which are not our core
business but area that we require as an HIV and AIDS organization.

b. What are the areas of strength that EANNASO
would like to share with other partners?

- Organizational behavior as we have gone through a
rigorous Organizational development process. EANNASO continuously reflects and
learns from its experiences. EANNASO would like to share ideas with other
members how they can also learn form their own experiences.

- Inclusion and representation – advocacy work
especially for organizations like EANNASO require supporting members in
speaking for themselves. EANNASO has a lot to share in this area.

c. What are the areas that we need to improve

- Gender mainstreaming in a regional organization
like EANNASO

- Learning and transferring especially through
documentation

- Community ownership in terms of involving our
members more regularly in the things that we do to be AIDS Competent

d. How do the level of competency relate to us
attaining our vision?

- we are at average competency in reaching our vision

- We need to improve certain areas for us to be able
to attain our vision in the long run.

- Our vision is shared and reliant on our members.

e. What would you say about the whole process

- Useful – determines strengths and weaknesses

- gives characteristics

- allows critical analysis of self (organisation)

- Interesting

- Good simple tool

- Easy to use

- Practical evaluation tool

- Flexible – no need to be accurate allows
generalization

Observation

- The team thought as a networking body, EANNASO
should have been more competent in learning and transfer of knowledge but the
assessment results said otherwise.

- The team thought that we may have been very hard on
ourselves us such weak results in the areas that we thought we are strong in.

3. DEVELOPMENT OF A FOLLOW UP ACTION PLAN

- The tool to be shared with all staff members at a
later stage

- To use the tool on a regular basis to evaluate how
we are fairing in all the various areas in an effort to improve our AIDS
Competence.

- To link up with organizations that are doing well
in our identified areas of weakness. (Question) do these organizations need to
come from the HIVOS partnership Platform only?

[Gaston]

Dear Olive, good sharing. I like in particular that you really took time for reflection and interpretation of the results and the River Diagram. The self-assessment results are just the start. How do we now move closer to our vision. You showed that very well.

I hope the event in Nairobi is going well. It was unfortunate you couldn't join, but we'll find other occasions.

[Laurence Gilliot]

Hi Olive,

Thanks a lot for sharing about the process that you have gone through. Really interesting.

Do you personally think that this process was useful? Are there some new things that come out for EANNASO? Did it open a discussion that you didn't have before?

Laurence