Days before the COVID-19 pandemic was fully declared, Bente Consulting signed two contracts with Swedish Development Advisers to undertake organizational reviews of two Norad-funded environmental and rights-based CSO programs in Brazil and Ecuador: 

1. Organizational Review of Ecociencia/Amazonia Network of Georeferenced Socio-Environmental Information (RAISG). The review will aim at establishing Ecociencia / RAISG’s financial management, cost efficiency and results management, and evaluate achievement of reported results. The review shall describe, analyse and assess the following aspects of the organisation under review: 1) Organisational structure; 2) Governance; 3) Cost efficiency; 4) Financial management; 5) Results management; 6) Civil society strengthening. The review will include field visit and interviews with Ecociencia's head office and  Coordinadora de las Organizaciones Indígenas de la Cuenca Amazónica (COICA) in Quito Ecuador, and in Brazil with Instituto Socioambiental (ISA) in São Paulo and Coordenação das Organizações Indígenas da Amazônia Brasileira (COIAB) in Manaus.  

2. Organizational review of Instituto de Pesquisa Ambiental da Amazônia (IPAM) and Instituto do Homem e Meio Ambiente da Amazônia (Imazon). The review should focus on benefits and challenges related to efficiency and cost effectiveness at central level and  the current organizational structure with field offices. The study shall give an in-depth view of how IPAM and Imazon is working on all levels. The field office to be visited for in depth study shall be decided in agreement with Norad. The review shall describe, analyse and assess the following aspects of the organisation under review: 1) Organisational structure; 2) Governance; 3) Cost efficiency; 4) Financial management; 5) Results management; 6) Civil society strengthening. The review will include field visits in Brasil, visiting the organizations based in Brasilia, Porto Alegre and Belem.

Bente Consulting will provide the team leader, but the reviews are by August 2020 still on standby untill field visits can be undertaken.