EVALUATION OF THE THEME-BASED CO-FINANCING PROGRAMME (TMF) OF THE DUTCH MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS SYNTHESIS REPORT Utrecht, 18 April 2006 Steering Committee Evaluation TMF Programme Prof. Dr Arie de Ruijter (chair) Prof. Dr Ton Dietz (first author) Dr Els van Dongen Prof. Dr Bert Helmsing (second author) Dr Peter Knorringa 1 Acknowledgements The Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DSI-MY) commissioned evaluation research into the TMF programme (Thematische Mede Financiering; Theme-based co-financing) to a TMF Steering Committee, consisting of Prof. Dr Arie de Ruijter (chair), Prof. Dr Ton Dietz, Prof. Dr Bert Helmsing/Dr Peter Knorringa and Dr Els van Dongen. After a tendering procedure the research secretariat tasks were assigned to Berenschot and a team headed by Marieke de Wal, and also consisting of Danielle Puma, and Sophieke Kappers, later replaced by Jacob Wiersma. The contacts at the Ministry were Dirk-Jan Koch (co-ordinator), Leni Buisman, Lex van der Burg, Jolanda van Cooten, Joris Geeven, Hanna Goorden, Lex van der Hoeven, Betty van Hooidonk, Els Klinkert, Rein Koelstra, Arjen Kool, Sonja Kuip, Caroline van Leenders, Henk Molenaar, Marijn Noordam, Brecht Paardekooper, Wouter Plomp, Aaltje de Roos, Gerard Schulting, To Tjoelker, and Jelte van Wieren. A TMF Platform Advisory Board provided lots of inputs. We would like to thank Jan Gruiters (chair), Jan Lock (vice- chair), Lem van Eupen (secretary), Peter Hermes, Wilco de Jonge, Sjef Langeveld and their colleagues for their inputs and their commitment. Following a tendering procedure, nine research teams were selected for seven thematic studies, and two cross-sectional studies. We would like to thank these research teams and their leaders and organizations, Gert Junne (Triple L/University of Amsterdam), Willem van Genugten (University of Tilburg/IVA), Arend-Jan van Bodegom (IAC/Wageningen University and Research Centre), Paul Sijssens (CDP/Pauka & De Groot, Utrecht), Jan Boessenkool (Utrecht University), Frans van Gerwen (MDF/CDP, Ede/Utrecht), Lida Zuidberg (EOS, Chaam), Hans Rijneveld (MDF, Ede and IAC/Wageningen University and Research Centre) and Lau Schulpen (CIDIN/Radboud University Nijmegen). Many other people connected to the TMF-organizations, to the Ministry, and to the partner institutes of the TMF organizations have devoted time and energy, and supplied many good ideas to the researchers and to other actors in this evaluation process. Many did so at times during which they were also preparing themselves for the subsidy requests for the new Co- financing Arrangement (MFS), and its very demanding and time-consuming procedures. We would like to thank them most sincerely for their efforts. We also like to thank Howard Turner ([email protected]) for his language correction. The sole responsibility for this synthesis report rests with the Steering Committee Evaluation TMF Programme. 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Netherlands as a Civil Society hub Surprisingly few people seem to realise that the Netherlands is one of the leading countries in global civil society building, and that the Dutch government is one of the leading donors to non-governmental organizations throughout the world. There is a wealth of experience and expertise in the Netherlands and the country has become a world-wide and north-south-south networking hub. The six broad co-financing agencies play important roles, but there are many other organizations in the Netherlands, or linked to the Netherlands, which have also become relevant and effective change agents in civil society building, in supporting political lobby and advocacy, and in direct poverty alleviation activities, from the global level to a myriad of localities. Within the global sector of international development (broadly defined) the Netherlands can develop this strength to a Unique Buying Point. The Netherlands has a comparative advantage here but its potential is yet to be fully realised. Dutch government support for civil society and TMF After a period of increasing, but fragmented subsidies to many NGOs in the Netherlands and abroad the Ministry decided to start a more transparent subsidy channel, the Theme-based Co- financing Programme (“TMF”). It arranged four rounds of four-year subsidies, starting in 2003. Its thematic coverage shows the broadening of the international development agenda, and is proof of the successful dovetailing of the more established development themes (economic development, health and development, education for all, and gender and development), with themes like peace building, human rights, environmental conservation, communication, and global trade, themes which straddle the administrative boundaries between the old DGIS and other directorates of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other Ministries. Evaluation After two major evaluations of the Dutch co-financing agencies (in 1991 and 2002) the Ministry of Foreign Affairs decided to evaluate the support it gave to NGOs beyond its Co- Financing Programme. The Ministry asked an independent Steering Committee, consisting of five Dutch scientists to co-ordinate and take the responsibility for a major evaluation of the first two rounds of the TMF programme (2003-2006 and 2004-2007). After a tendering procedure Berenschot was selected to facilitate this process, and nine research teams were selected for seven thematic and two cross-cutting studies which cover all seven TMF themes, and most sub-themes. They worked under considerable time pressure to produce insights which could play a role in the process leading to the new Co-financing System (MFS), which is to start in 2007. The Steering Committee worked in consultation with DSI/MY (and other directorates of the Ministry) and with an Advisory Group of the TMF Platform, which represented a major part of the Dutch NGO sector that received TMF funding. In he case of two cross-cutting studies the analysis focused on most TMF-funded NGOs from the first two rounds were part of the analysis (as the third and fourth round had barely started it was not useful to include those as well). Seven thematic studies involved in-depth examinations of 19 Dutch and 8 foreign NGOs, with a deliberate bias towards field research in Africa. The Steering Committee regards the end result as a fair representation of the TMF programme as a whole. The quality of the end products of these nine studies has been checked and they were accepted by the Steering Committee in March 2006 and have been used as the building blocks of this synthesis document, for which additional research was also done. The Steering Committee and Ministry and Platform representatives regard four studies as excellent, namely the 3 thematic studies on Biodiversity Conservation and Poverty Alleviation, on Economic Development, and on Gender, and the cross-cutting study on Monitoring and Evaluation. The other studies (on Peace Building, Human Rights, HIV/AIDS, and Communication, as well as the cross-cutting study on Added Value) were accepted by the Steering Committee and also provided useful background material for this synthesis report. Relevance and coverage of the TMF Programme In total the TMF programme’s four rounds cover 117 Dutch and 98 foreign NGOs. During the first two TMF rounds 132 subsidies were given worth a total of €359m. These were given to 64 NGOs with an office in the Netherlands, and 63 NGOs with an office abroad (mainly in the UK, USA, and Switzerland; but not many in the South). These work with an estimated number of 5,000 partner NGOs. It should be noted that these NGOs are not basically public service delivery contractors which are mainly related to direct poverty reduction initiatives. Many NGOs and their partners perform other functions, often knowledge intensive, and focusing on lobby, advocacy, and networking support. Many TMF-funded NGOs were found to be more active in civil society building and policy influence than in direct poverty alleviation. More effort will be needed to link the broader international development domains to the more established development co-operation domains in terms of poverty alleviation, although many good TMF-funded examples already exist where that is happening, often in very innovative ways. In terms of relevance as far as DAC ‘dimensions of development’ are concerned, the protective dimension received most attention (mostly environment, but also human rights and post-conflict reconstruction and peace building), followed by the human development, economic and political dimensions, and with least attention for the socio-cultural dimension (the TMF themes communication and gender). In terms of relevance for the Millennium Development Goals, TMF-funded organizations are very relevant to MDG8 (global partnership, and its many sub-goals). As far as the other MDGs are concerned the TMF-funded organizations are mainly active in health and the environment, and partially in gender, and livelihood improvements (e.g., micro credit, and support for entrepreneurs). Many TMF-funded NGOs play important roles in civil society building with regard to the so-called MDG-plus agenda: governance, conflict prevention and post-conflict reconstruction, and human rights. It must be added that, although referred to as ‘thematic’ NGOs, the work of half of them goes beyond the particular theme for which they are funded by the TMF Programme. In terms of geographical coverage, a slight majority of TMF-funded NGOs work in low- income countries and in countries, which can be regarded as ‘Dutch donor darlings’. Almost half of the TMF funds are spent in Africa, a fifth in Asia, a fifth in Latin America and 10% in Eastern Europe. However, there is a large spread over countries with regard to poverty and governance conditions, and these contexts matter a lot when judging the relevance effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability of the activities. Added value of the TMF Programme As far as the Ministry was concerned the TMF programme had the added value of streamlining its hitherto scattered support to many NGOs, and it enabled a better focus on the Ministry’s policy priorities.