UN Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs,
with support from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA)
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| UN Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, with support from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) |
|
From: Contact, No. 5, October 1995
Fieldtesting the 'Programme Approach'
A comprehensive and multi-sectoral population programme was
recently formulated for Zambezia province in Mozambique. The
formulation of this programme was in response to one of the major
strategies recommended by the 1994 PRSD mission to the country (and
included in the current Country Programme). The strategy was that
UNFPA regards its 1995 - 1997 programme cycle as a transition
period during which it would continue to support only those
projects initiated during the previous country programme that are
considered effective but to start all new interventions within the
context of the 'programme approach' in one 'pilot' province to be
selected on the basis of clearly identified and objective criteria.
Zambezia as the 'pilot' province
The Government of Mozambique chose Zambezia as the 'pilot' province
because it is the most populous, and has the highest fertility,
mortality and population growth rates, as well as the lowest life
expectancty, compared with the country's other nine provences.
Furthermore, it was the most negatively affected province during
the prolonged civil war, and its socio-economic and related human
development indicators are almost always below the national
average, reflecting the province's very low level of human
development.
Four Component Projects
The 'Zambezia Population Programme' consists of four component
projects in the areas of reproductive health (including family
planning); population and development strategies; population
information, education and communication; and gender population and
development. These project components were all formulated
simultaneously by teams consisting of CST Advisers (including an
international consultant), national counterparts drawn from central
and provincial levels, and UNFPA field office staff; they were also
all anchored on the same overall objectives and strategies.
The Process: Consultative and Highly Participatory
The programme formulation process was consultative and highly
participatory. It was characterized by continuous interaction and
exchange of ideas among CST Advisers, betwen them and their
national professional counterprart staff at central and provincial
levels, and between all of them and UNFPA field office staff. The
continuous process of discussing, therafter identifying, reviewing,
revising available courses of action to be undertaken within the
context of specific projects at both provincial and cental levels
led to the establishment of in-built inter-sectoral, horizontal and
vertical linkages between component projects through identification
of activities to be jointly undertaken within the context of each
project component but for the benefit of the entire programme.
The process allowed inter-sectoral prioritization and temporal
sequencing of programme interventions in a collaborative and
mutually reinforcing manner; promoted the process of collective
identification of common institutional frameworks for programme
coordination, monitoring and evauation; ensured national ownership
of the programme; enhanced technical capacities of antional
counterparts; and fostered greater collaboration between national
professionals and UNFPA field office staff.
Some important lessons learnt
The implementation (and thus fieldtesting) of the provincial
population programme is yet to commence; however some important
lessons have already been learnt. Participation in the development
of the programme exposed CST Advisers to, among other things,
various nitty gritty issues and problems associated with the
practical implementation of the 'programme approach' as well as of
decentralized comprehensive population programming, and the
importance of working together in the field as inter-sectoral and
inter-disciplinary teams. The need for direct and active (instead
of passive) involvement of the UNFPA field office in programme or
project formulation process by actively participating in all
discussions, and by ensuring that relevant preparatory activities
are undertaken was also realized. The formulation process also
showed that the active involvement and participation of national
professional staff and officials, indeed their leadership, is an
invaluable prerequisite to designing a programme that is nationally
owned and perceived to meet national developmetn objectives, as
perceived by the nationals themselves.
CST Harare intends to monitor very closely the 'fieldtesting' of
the programme, with a view to sharing experiences gained with other
countries that it serves in the sub-region.