Main Points from experience in direct supervision and areas for improvement (Working Session 1)

A session after lunch on 2 March 2009 was held in APR workshop-2009 on “Experience in direct supervision and areas for improvement”.

Here are the main points made by the participants with regard to given question " 3 ways to make DS process useful for the projects", as captured by Hashib, CPO, Bangladesh:

Preparation:

• Better preparedness and mission planning including composition and orientation needed, also participation of local and provincial level and provision of joint review is required.
• Better preparation by PDs
• Follow up

Continuity:

• DS should be continuous process
• Continuity of design team as part of supervision team, with flexibility and making adjustment whenever required
• Consistency with previous mission

Authority:

• Decentralize loan administration, especially WA to be processed/assisted by CPO
• Clearly defining the role of implementation and support specialists, with delegation of authority to him/her, as well as supervision mission
• Strengthen CPO with delegation of authority in some areas
• Resources in human, financial and country office to support project implementation

Capacity Building:

• Annual refresher training on financial, management, procedure and loan administration
• Right composition of mission members aiming to develop empathy with implementation, organization and beneficiaries.
• Abolished traditional supervision mission, moving towards continuous facilitation by country office
• Demand driven support, linked M&E system in SM system
• Prior to implementation (harmonization, training and country context to be considered).

Participation:

• Involvement of national representatives (central govt), IFAD financial staff and co-financiers.
• Feed back from community to IFAD and SM to community through project
• Composition of SM should be complementary to the project coordination team
• Coordination with key line deptt and the project, community participation in the project cycle
• Discuss the problems with govt & donors.

Expectation and Result Check (interviewed by Mariam, CPO, Indonesia):

Expectation before the Session:

• how to enhance DS to be more effective for the country context
  
• solutions to problems encountered by the project in implementing effective (DS Azama, Project Director from Maldives: )
  
• Insight on how to improve DS (Swarna, Project Director, India)
  

After group discussion:

• the discussion is very useful
  
• we learnt new ideas from other country experience in conducting DS. (China team )