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Gender Peer Review for Financial Sector Deepening

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Created: Friday, 18 September 2020 08:26

Great news received yesterday: Bente Consulting won the tender for facilitating the Financial Sector Deepening's Gender Peer Review during. The review will include mapping of experience with gender mainstreaming in all FSDs in Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Rwanda, Zambia, Uganda, Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access and FSD Africa), compilation of lessons learned and facilitation of a virtual peer reflection workshop. The gender peer review process will feed into the formulation of a new FSD Gender Strategy. The assignment will be virtual and take place from September to end of November 2020 with an overall input of 30 wds.

On corona standby

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Created: Monday, 31 August 2020 09:25

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.

GESTERRA evaluation report published

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Created: Wednesday, 15 January 2020 10:11

The final evaluation of the Swedish-Dutch financed Land Management and Administration Capacity Building Programme – GESTERRA – in Mozambique was commissioned by the Embassy of Sweden in Maputo (Sida). The programme was implemented from 2013 to 2019 in a changing institutional environment. It contributed to important land policy processes, including planning for an autonomous land management institution and decision to revise the legislative framework. It has established gender inclusive methodologies for land registration, supported the establishment of digitized land registration and strengthened the capacity at provincial level. Recommendations focus i.a. on further roll-out and decentralisation as well as securing an inclusive process in the coming revision of the legislative framework. Download and read the final evaluation report from Sida's website.

Financial inclusion of women and youth in Zambia

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Created: Friday, 10 January 2020 12:27

As a spin-off of the midterm evaluation of the Swedish financed Women in Financial Inclusion and Capabilities project implemented by Financial Sector Deepening Zambia undertaken in April - June 2019, Bente Consulting was hired as a "thought leader", i.e. process consultant to facilitate the drafting of a Concept Paper for a second phase of the WIN-project. This included participation in a pre-design workshop with partners from private and financial sector, government and civil society, as well as drafting of the paper. The second phase of the WIN-program is designed to contribute to systemic and lasting market systems change in the area of inclusive finance, with particular benefit to poor and vulnerable women through a market systems development approach. The Concept Paper was presented to the Embassy of Sweden in Lusaka for further appraisal in January 2020.

Evaluation of Swedish HRBA in Albania

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Created: Friday, 10 January 2020 12:10

Bente Consulting participates in a 15 months evaluation study of the application and effects of a Human Rights Based Approach in Swedish development cooperation. The study assesses the HRBA process and performance in terms of reduced poverty and improved human rights situation. The evaluation study includes 4 case country studies - Albania, Cambodia, Colombia and Kenya. Bente Consulting leads the case study in Albania which will take place from 19-31 January 2020. The case study will explore in detail the application of HRBA in three strategic sectors supported by Sida: Economic development, Human rights and democracy, and Environment. The evaluation will explore how HRBA is applied in different activities and by different actors; how staff and cooperation partners understand and perceive HRBA; and what works well, less well and why? After the field work, a case country report will be presented, and later a synthesis report comprising findings from all four case country studies will be presented and published by Sida.

Evaluation report published - WIN-project Zambia

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Created: Friday, 13 September 2019 07:26

The mid-term evaluation of the Sida-financed Women in Financial Inclusion and Capabilities project implemented by Financial Sector Deepening Zambia was commissioned by Embassy of Sweden in Lusaka. The project is dynamic, agile and complex. It addresses pertinent problems of access to financial education and services for women and youth. Interest from private sector market operators, banks, financial institutions and mobile networks proves the relevance to the M4P-approach. The project demonstrates promising evidence of networking and dynamic exchange among involved actors at different levels and provides digital solutions to women’s and youth’s financial inclusion. Download and read the Win project evaluation report here. 

Final evaluation of GESTERRA Capacity Building Programme on Land Management and Administration in Mozambique

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Created: Thursday, 01 August 2019 12:59

The final evaluation of the Swedish/Dutch financed capacity building program - GESTERRA - will focus on the achieved results in terms of enhanced capacity for land administration and land management in Mozambique. The program has worked with the designated national and provincial level government institutions (MITADER/DINAT and SPGCs) since 2013 with the aim of i.a. improving mechanisms to facilitate policy debate and resolving emerging land administration/management problems and strengthening of national and provincial capacity for responsive and inclusive land administration, including quality control and land inspection. The evaluation will be participatory, evidence based and forward looking. It will include field visits to three provinces in Mozambique, as well as a mini-survey with remaining provinces, and extensive stakeholder interviews at national, provincial and local levels. NIRAS Sweden is the contract holder, and Bente Consulting provides the team leader.

Youth in development - from policy to practice

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Created: Monday, 15 July 2019 13:51

Danida has launched the Youth Engagement and Youth Mainstreaming toolbox prepared by Bente Consulting in collaboration with Next Generation Advice and Skinny Dogs Films (graphic design) on Friday July 12th 2019. The toolbox is the result of an interactive and intensive processs engaging Danish youth development actors, the embassies in Ethiopia, Mali and Uganda as well as staff from the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The draft tools were scrutinized, discussed and validated by relevant stakeholders and have benefitted from valuable inputs and comments before being published. Have a look at the tools at Danida's Aid Management Guidelines webpage - hopefully they will be useful to many development practitioners!

Evaluation study of Sida's HRBA approach

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Created: Saturday, 01 June 2019 13:19

Bente Consulting will participate in a 15 months evaluation study of the application and effects of a Human Rights Based Approach in Swedish development coopeation. The study will assess the HRBA process and performance in terms of reduced poverty and improved human rights situation. The evaluation study will include 3-4 case country studies of which Bente Consulting will lead one. The selection of case countries is ungoing and will be finalized in August-September 2019; the field studies will take place in October-November and a draft report will be submitted in the beginning of 2020.The contract with Sida's Evaluation Department is held by FCG Sweden. Read also FCG's presentation of the assignment here.

More Articles ...

  1. Youth in Development - test tools available
  2. Mid-term evaluation WIN project Zambia
  3. CO2 compensation 2018
  4. Review cum Appraisal of SOS Children's Villages Denmark

  

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