wfn.org | LWF workshop examines project management

[FRANK_IMHOFF.parti@ecunet.org (FRANK IMHOFF)]

Not just good ideas but good implementation

GENEVA, 2 November 1998 (lwi) - Successful projects and development
strategies for churches and congregations need not only good ideas, but
above all good implementation. The instruments and methods of project
management were presented in a workshop from October 19 to 22, sponsored by
the Lutheran World Federation Department for Mission and Development
(LWF-DMD).

The theme, "Raising Your Effectiveness," brought together 15 educators from
various Lutheran churches in Asia, Africa, and Latin America as well as
staff members in the LWF's Geneva headquarters. They worked out methods and
criteria for evaluation to help churches and congregations implement their
plans sensibly and purposefully and be able to evaluate them effectively.

In recent years, many LWF member churches have acquired new capabilities in
planning, carrying out and evaluating the progress and results of their
work. The exchange of experience about past projects always showed the same
weaknesses - lack of planning, of management and technical skills,
according to the workshop's initiators, Peri Rasolondraibe, director of the
LWF-DMD, and Margret Stasius, secretary for Project Implementation.
Ideally, a project concept should be based on strategic planning that uses
a holistic approach, setting clear priorities and making optimal use of the
potential capabilities and resources at hand. So that the concept of
"sustainable development" would not be just a cliche for the participants,
pastor and management consultant Rexvalor Reyes from the Philippines
presented the guidelines introduced by the UN's Brundtland Commission.
According to these, a development process is considered "sustainable" when
"the exploitation of natural resources, the organization of investments and
technical developments and the changes in institutions are in balance, and
these reinforce present and future possibilities for supporting people in
their needs and goals." Reyes listed politics, culture and economics as the
three factors which determine the direction development will take. The
standard which has been formulated for global development can be used to
evaluate the specific projects. Various systems of indicators have been
developed, such as the economic rate of return (ERR), which can be applied
when success is measurable in terms of money or other capital.

The question "What is community?" was raised by Rogate Mshana, development
director of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania. He was referring
to the problem that the participants in, or persons to be affected by, a
project are often not precisely defined. Problems develop when project
definitions speak of participation by "everyone." Mshana was strongly in
favor of broad participation in decision-making by the group to be
affected. However, certain instruments need to be used, since the ones
chosen decide whether a process is initiated "from below" or "from above."
"The main problem," he said, which appears after a project has been
launched, is "that high expectations are awakened in the community." Mshana
recommends "high transparency." The participants should analyze the project
themselves, should themselves negotiate with possible donors of funds, and
if necessary be prepared for a refusal: "no subsidies." Another problem in
planning projects "from below" is that of time. The participatory process
often takes months, sometimes years.

Mshana's church has often experienced that many schemes are not discussed
long enough for the goals to become clear. "This results in shortcuts and
projects implemented down from above." The solution, priority-setting, will
only function, he feels, when the church has learned development planning.
Individual projects should also be designed to fit in with the goals of the
whole church. "Individual projects without vision and mission dimensions
are not very helpful in appraising the success or failure of the church's
task."

Six speakers from LWF member churches, in lectures and discussions,
presented the workshop participants with methods and instruments for
implementing each step in management of a project. Planning strategies have
to take into consideration what is necessary for the situation of a country
and its development, explained Abebe Yohannes from Ethiopia.

The need for project implementation to further the development of the
church or community's own organization, its identity, resources and
external and internal relationships, was the theme of Graciela Maiztegui
from Argentina. Many of the steps must provide the opportunity to practice
participatory ways of working, that is, getting the members of the group or
community involved in each step of a scheme, so that they finish by seeing
the project as their own.

During the operation of a project, interim results must be closely
monitored so that corrections can be made to the course being followed, was
Eberhard Gohl's contribution from the experience of the German aid
organization Bread for the World. Finally, Brita Gjellesvik from Norway
showed how, at the end, the results are evaluated and the question is asked
whether and how the goals which were set have been achieved.

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Lutheran World Information
Editorial Assistant: Janet Bond-Nash
E-mail: jbn@lutheranworld.org
http://www.lutheranworld.org/