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

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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 )