Report on the Evaluation of the Pilot Phase
July 2007
Indigenous Community Organizers and Leaders Training (ICOLT)
Report on the Evaluation of the Pilot Phase
July 2007
Indigenous Community Organizers and Leaders Training (ICOLT)
Report on the Evaluation of the Pilot Phase
Executive Summary
The Indigenous Community Organizers and Leaders Training (ICOLT) is a multi-level regional capacity-building project for indigenous peoples initiated by AIPP and IWGIA together with its partners’ organizations in Asia. It is a specialized program on community empowerment through training of young community organizers and leaders. It is also a program designed to facilitate regional inter-peoples exchange and training program whereby indigenous organizations having the capacities to help indigenous organizations in other countries of South and Southeast Asia to develop their own training programs.
AIPP and IWGIA together with its cooperating partner organizations – PACOS, CPA, TUS, ICSO and KALUMARAN implemented the Pilot phase.
Aim and Objective:
The aim of the project which was to empower indigenous communities and organizations to exercise their (collective) rights and address their needs was achieved to a great extent in all the project areas.
Achievements - Overall objective:
There has been overall development in the indigenous communities’ capacities in all the project areas. The objective of mobilizing of indigenous youth to play active roles in community empowerment and leadership has been well achieved.
Achievements - Specific objectives:
Objective 1:
Training on COT and LT were successfully completed for the four partner organizations and all the partners expressed their intention to continue with the training.
Objective 2:
The local organizations are competent to run the follow up training on their own and they are committed to participate and share their expertise in the capacity building network.
Objective 3:
There is an indication of significant increase in the level of knowledge and capacity of the trainers and trainees after the training. The project activities such as the main training, trainers exchange programme and Regional Trainer Network Workshop (RTNW) made it possible in the achievement of this particular objective.
Results and Impact:
One of the direct outputs of the Pilot Phase is the translation of training modules into four different local languages for Community Organizers Training (COT) and Leaders Training (LT) and making it available for use not only in the Pilot Phase but also for all subsequent
trainings. In the Pilot Phase, a total of 59 local trainers for LT and 30 local trainers for COT were trained in the training of Trainers ToT. A trainer’s pool was created for each of the partner organizations. In the COT, a total of 32 people including women were trained as COs and 155 leaders and community members including women and youth were trained in the LT program.
The impact of the project as concluded in the evaluation is very positive and overwhelming. The capacity of the trainees as well as trainers has been extensively increased. The trainees has been able to raise the level of awareness in the community on various issues directly confronting them such as deprivation of their rights to socio-economic privileges, marginalization of their cultural identity, and exploitation of their lands and resources etc. Through the mobilization activities carried out by the ICOLT trainees, the community began to unite themselves, support and cooperate with each other in their effort to address their problems and issues collectively. For instance in Sabah, Malaysia as a result of the training, leaders were able to take action by sending a protest letter to government, after which the plan to establish an oil-palm plantation was cancelled. They have submitted a request for rubber small holdings instead and the government had approved of it. There was improvement in the Trainers’ skill of facilitation, public speaking and community organizing work. They had also developed more confidence in giving training. The trainees trained in the LT and COT increased their self-confidence, and became pro-active in their respective communities.
Another significant impact was the enthusiasm and strong commitment of the trainers and trainees to continue doing community organizing work and to promote genuine indigenous leadership.
Strength and Weaknesses:
The training is found to be well structured containing well versed modules available in the local languages that enable trainees to understand the concept better and apply it to their situation. The presence of experienced trainers’ pools providing the training who themselves are indigenous peoples added to the success of the training. The empowerment of Indigenous peoples to Indigenous peoples through practically proven experience contributed to the
strength of the training which is not available elsewhere. The strong commitment of the local partners despite external difficulties and the hard-working staff of partner organizations determine the success of the program to a large extent. The support from the Regional Trainer Team to the local partners contributed to the smooth implementation of the training program. The other important aspect is the establishment of Regional Trainers’ Network that optimizes the expertise of partner organizations for continued sharing and exchange of learning within the ICOLT network.
Despite the overall success, there were also weaknesses found in the training process. For instance there is gender imbalance in the in-country CO training, with very few women trainees participated. In some cases, the trainers were less committed leading to their resignation in between the training period, which affected the smooth implementation of the training. There is a lack of more creative forms in the training methodologies. There was absence of plan to form POs as a goal of Community Organizing. Cultural identity and preservation did not emerge as an issue of concern for trainers and trainees in Cambodia. This is partly due to the increasing pressure from land sales that keep people too occupied so that this issue is given lower priority. For the Leadership training, in the preparatory phase, the localization of modules was not thorough due to time constraints and poor coordination between leaders and Lead Trainer which was complicated by language limitation. Community consultation and preparation of field-level trainings for the Leadership Training was not done satisfactorily mainly due to the time limitation. There is also insufficient mechanism for monitoring and evaluation in the implementation of activities and follow-up.
THE EVALUATION PROCESS
1. Objectives
The objective of this evaluation is to evaluate all the activities conducted by the ICOLT from the beginning of the project up to July 2007. It also draws the experiences, insights, impacts and lessons learned during the project implementation and to make constructive recommendation for subsequent follow up project phases.
2. Process and methodology
The evaluation will be conducted as follows:
1. Review of project documents, reports and other materials related to the project.
2. Field visits to project sites for interviews and focus group discussions with representatives of local partner organizations, community, trainers and trainees.
3. Presentation of initial findings after the interviews and focus group discussions to participants.
4. Drafting of the evaluation report by the whole team.
5. Circulation of the draft report to partner organizations for their comments prior to making the final report and submitting to funding partners.
6. The simple version of the evaluation report with emphasis on lessons learned will be written to printing and distribution to members and network of local partners and communities.
During the preparatory meeting, the guide questions for individual and group interviews for community leaders, trainers, trainees, local partner organizations and those involved in the
regional coordination of the ICOLT project were formulated. Likewise, the outline of the evaluation report was agreed upon. Prior to field work, the regional lead trainers and the regional coordinator were interviewed by the other members of the evaluation team on the regional level project management and coordination.
Prior to the site visits, the teams were able to interview the two RLTs the ICOLT Regional Coordinator and the AIPP Finance Manager using prepared questions but also a general overview of the conduct and coordination of the training.
The field visit in Cambodia in Ratanakiri province. The team had a formal meeting with the ICSO staff followed by individual interview. Due to the bad condition of the road to Oyadao, the on-site visit could not be conducted but the trainees team from Oyadao comprising of 12 trainees came to Kralah village in Ochum district where the new training on COT was starting. The focus group discussion (FGDs) was held for 4 groups of trainees from Oyadao and Ochum and 1 group of trainers. The morning of the next day continued with focus group discussion with the trainees which was followed by individual interview of 4 people in the management, 2 trainers and 1 commune Chief who was also trained as CO. The evaluation team also interviewed 2 ICSO officers in Phnom Penh and the Director of Village Focus International (VFI) another support organization. The preliminary findings of the evaluation were presented to the ICSO management team, trainees and trainers where the findings were validated by the participants in this meeting.
The evaluation team visited Sabah, Malaysia. The evaluation team held a group interview with 3 people in the management team of PACOS followed by a visit to Togudon, one of the sites of the community leadership training held in September 2006. There was FGDs with the 2 community leaders and 2 women leaders of Togudon who were trained in the Leadership Training. The PACOS trainers’ team comprising of 14 trainers and 6 community leaders were interviewed using the guide questions and related questions. The preliminary findings of the evaluation were presented to the PACOS management team, trainees and trainers where the findings were validated by the participants.
In Bangladesh, the evaluation team was not able to go to the project site in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) because of the security situation in the area. Thus, the evaluation of the COT in Bangladesh was done in Dhaka. The management team of Trinamul Unnayan Sangstha (TUS), community leaders, trainers and trainees all came to Dhaka for interviews and FDGs. Using the guide questions and related questions, the evaluation team held a group interview with three local leaders and the TUS management team (4) while individual interviews were held for the five trainers and six trainees. The initial findings of the evaluation team were presented to the TUS management team, trainees and trainers where the findings were validated by the participants.
The field visit to the Philippines was done in Balit, Butuan, the site of the community leadership training. Because of the limited time, the evaluation team was not able to do individual interviews. Instead, there were seven FGDs with two groups for the community members, two groups of trainers, two groups for the trainees and one group with the local partner, KALUMARAN. After the FDGs, the evaluation team prepared the initial evaluation findings and presented it to the participants of the evaluation. The group validated the findings and requested for continuing support.
3. Constraints/ Limitations
The evaluation was carried out largely as planned. However, there were some constraints faced due to the prevailing situation in some of the project areas. In the case of Bangladesh, the security situation prevented the evaluation team to visit the project sites in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Therefore, the evaluation was carried out in Dhaka, where the trainers, trainees and the TUS management team met. In Cambodia, the evaluation team was not able to visit the project site in Oyadao due to the unfavorable weather condition leading to inaccessibility of road communication. This limited the process for the focus group discussion with the community leaders and the general public. However most of the necessary information was gathered from the interviewees and assessment were done accordingly.
FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS
1. Project description
As mentioned above, a result of extensive consultations of IWGIA, AIPP, PACOS in Sabah and CPA in the Philippines have developed a long-term regional indigenous community organizers and leaders training program. The basic idea underlying the project is to use existing knowledge and experiences in community organizers and leaders training to help indigenous organizations in other countries to start similar programs. PACOS and CPA have both had over a decade of experience in that field and developed training curricular and methods that are believed to be very helpful elsewhere as well. The two organizations provide training on two levels: PACOS for community organizers, i.e. for a context in which no indigenous peoples organizations exist; CPA for leaders of established indigenous people’s organizations.
A concrete, long term community organizers and leaders training program was finalized in a workshop in January 2005. Before that, the existing training materials of PACOS and CPA were translated into English and local and national workshops were organized in Sabah and the Philippines by PACOS and CPA in which past experiences were reviewed and concrete inputs for the planning workshop were prepared.
A working group was formed consisting of a member each from PACOS, CPA, the AIPP and IWGIA. The existing training modules translated from local languages into English were reviewed and suggestions for improvements made. A long, medium and short-term (pilot phase) plan of action was developed. The pilot phase was conceived in order to test the approach developed.
a) Aims, Objectives, Expected Outputs and Indicators
According to the project document, “The aim of the overall program is to empower indigenous communities and organizations to exercise their (collective) rights and address their needs”
As overall objectives were defined:
• Enhance indigenous communities’ capacity for self-organizing
• Strengthen the leadership of indigenous communities and organizations
• Mobilize indigenous youth to play active roles in community empowerment and leadership
For the pilot phase, which was to be evaluated, the following were identified as specific objectives:
• To establish independent community organizers and leadership training programs in the countries of the partner organizations involved
• To establish a decentralized learning and capacity-building network
• To gain experiences and improve methods and approaches in self-organizing and leadership development through inter-peoples exchange and training
And the expected outputs of the pilot phase were:
1. Locally adapted training programs and materials developed with partners in the four countries;
2. Mechanisms, methodologies and processes that are acceptable to local partner organizations, their communities and to the local and national authorities
3. Community organizers training programs running independently in Bangladesh and Cambodia; Leaders training programs running independently in Sabah, Malaysia and Mindanao, Philippines;
4. Communities from the training areas are more organized to resolve issues faced;
5. Improved awareness, attitudes and relationship between local governments and communities/organizations in the training areas;
6. Trainers of PACOS and CPA have more experience and knowledge to work with indigenous Organizations at the regional level
7. A pool of trainers with expertise on COT and LT who form the core of the planned network of trainers, community organizers and leaders within the AIPP structure established.
8. Trainers gain more experience and knowledge to work with indigenous organizations at the regional level;
9. The core of the planned network of trainers, community organizers and leaders within the AIPP structure established;
10. The level of capacity and expertise on leadership training and community organizing has been achieved;
11. Good relationship and exchanges between members of the pool of trainers, community organizers and leaders;
12. Insights into the dynamics of the training process, obstacles and opportunities.
13. Improved general methodology and generic training materials for future application.
14. Good working relationship and networking among the coordinating committee.
In order to better assess the extent to which the expected outputs of the pilot phase were achieved indicators corresponding to each of these outputs were identified:
For output 1:
• Training modules in local languages for the two programs (COT and LT) in the four countries have been produced in local languages – Khmer (Cambodia), Bangla (Bangladesh), Malay (Malaysia) and Bisaya (Philippines) and used in the trainings.
• Additional reference and resource material (handouts, posters, overhead files, booklets etc.) exist in a generic version in English and some has been used has been translated and used in the trainings.
For output 2
• At least no negative interference of local or national authorities; in the best case cooperation and participation of local government/line agencies staff in the training
For output 3:
• Each of the two COT have completed the first year (intensive training), have started with the second year (independence phase), are doing the planning for a second COT and have secured funding for the continuation. At least 5 of the 10 trainers trained in each of the two areas continue to work with the program.
• Each of the two LT programs has been completed and new programs have been planned and funding secured by the local partner organizations. At least 7 of the 15 trainers trained in each of the two areas continue to work with the program.
For output 4:
• Communities are reported to have taken up new initiatives to address pertinent issues; some have formed local people’s organizations.
For output 5:
• At least no negative interference of local or national authorities; in the best case cooperation and participation of local government/line agencies staff in the training.
For output 6:
• Trainers express interest to continue training in the next phase.
For output 7 & 8:
• 12 trainers trained during the LT (6 per area) and 12 trainers trained during the COT (6 per area) have participated in the exchange visit. At least 12 of them (7 and 5 respectively) are continuing their work, remain in touch with each other through e-mails and have planned an exchange meeting. An AIPP staff is in charge of facilitating the network.
For output 9 & 10:
• A medium-term exchange program has been drafted.
For output 11:
• Interaction among the members of the network by electronic media has started at the end of the project period; AIPP is facilitating the communication network.
For output 12:
• Reports on the process and results of the training have been written and distributed among the partners
For output 13:
• An evaluation report has been written which among others includes:
i. Recommendations for the improvement of the generic training material have been made and a revision process has been decided on and planned;
ii. Recommendations on the improvement of training methods
iii. Recommendations on the improvement of exchange and networking methods and structures
For output 14:
• The members of the coordinating committee have all actively cooperated, the Coordinating Committee (CC) has met regularly, has not changed its composition throughout the project period and most of the members are willing to continue in the next phase.
b) Target Groups and Beneficiaries
According to the project document, the target groups for the pilot phase of the program were the indigenous peoples of the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh, Ratanakiri Province in Cambodia and Mindanao Island in the Philippines. The intended direct beneficiaries were the local partner organizations, the communities and peoples organizations they are working with. The expected main participants of the Community Organizers Training in Bangladesh and Cambodia were the indigenous youths. It was stated that special efforts were to be made to ensure that women also benefits from the training. The expected beneficiaries of the Leaders Training in Mindanao were tribal leaders of at least 12 tribes and the people’s organizations of seven tribes in Southern Mindanao. After the project started however, the LT component which was also planned to be held in the Chittagong Hill Tracts was moved to Sabah, Malaysia, thereby expanding the beneficiaries, namely the indigenous peoples, local partner organization and people’s organizations there.
c) Planning of operation
The planning of operation was initially done by IWGIA in partnership with AIPP, PACOS and CPA. Series of consultations, meetings and workshops were conducted in the process both at the regional and national level among the partners. The existing training materials of PACOS and CPA were translated into English and workshops were organized in Sabah and the Philippines by PACOS and CPA in which past experiences were reviewed and concrete inputs for the planning workshop were prepared. In the 2nd IWGIA partnership consultation workshop held in Chiangmai, Thailand from January 27 – 28, 2004, PACOS and CPA presented their training modules which were then critiqued for adaptation towards developing generic models. A working group was formed composed of representatives from the AIPP Secretariat, IWGIA, CPA, and PACOS for the following tasks - to compile Community Organizing and Leadership Training modules and plan the pilot phase programme.
The AIPP Secretary-General and the PACOS Community Organizing Program Trainer visited Cambodia in 2004 and Bangladesh in 2005, for consultations with possible partners there, including getting an insight into the situation of indigenous peoples there, and to introduce the concept of ICOLT. In the 2nd Working Group Workshop held in Chiang Mai on January 25 – 30, 2005, concrete planning steps were undertaken to move the program forward. These included the identification of training areas, the trainers to be trained, trainees, basic logistical arrangements, and other practical considerations.
d) Project organization
A coordinating committee was formed composed of representatives of all partner organizations involved - i.e. the two international organizations; AIPP and IWGIA, the two local competence institutions; CPA and PACOS, and the four local partner organizations namely TUS, Bangladesh, ICSO Cambodia, PACOS Trust, Malaysia and KALUMARAN, Philippines - monitored the implementation of the project and ensured maximum communication and transparency among partners involved. The Coordinating Committee (CC) met twice during the project period and provided inputs for the overall development of the program, for the refinement of training materials and methodologies and acted as general advisers. Regular email communications were maintained between the Regional Coordinator and the CC members for comments, inputs and decisions related to the project execution. The final overall evaluation was done by the CC along with two external indigenous experts from IKAP and CPA.
The overall project management and coordination was done by AIPP in consultation with the cooperating partner organizations. A full time coordinator was appointed who is directly responsible for the regional coordination and communications with partner’s organizations, CC members and with the donors. The coordinator is assisted by the administrative/account manager. The coordinator worked closely with active support from the trainers’ teams of PACOS and CPA and their local counterparts. Aside from overall coordination, AIPP was also in charge of facilitating the Regional Trainers Network Workshop.
Field implementation was carried out by the local trainers’ teams in cooperation with the local partners. The local partners’ organizations were responsible for the management of finance and overseeing the day to day functioning of the field implementation in their respective project sites. The regional lead trainers’ team conducted regular monitoring and backstopping visits to the project areas and provided human resources and technical services which contributed to the effective implementation of the project activities.
Impacts
In Cambodia
Development of Skills, Knowledge and Attitude (SKA) of the CO trainees was a crosscutting goal in all modules of the training curriculum. In Cambodia, the following impact of the training program with respect to attitudes SKA of trainers and trainees were reported:
Skills
• Improved language skills, i.e. Khmer in speaking and some writing
• Improved communication skills; the trainees gained the skill and confidence to speak in public. They could also communicate in Khmer much better than before.
• Facilitation skills for community meetings/consultations.
• Problem analysis and solving skills: Ability to analyze the situation and problems in their community, to develop a plan on how to address the problems and to write a proposal
• Ability to write reports
• Ability to mobilize communities for collective action (including mobilizing local resources for collective action)
• Skill to facilitate conflict resolution
• Improved negotiation skills
• Sketch mapping skills
• Awareness raising skills
• Ability to mediate between government authorities and communities
Knowledge
• Awareness of value and importance of land for the indigenous communities
• Knowledge about indigenous peoples’ rights, and land and forest laws
• Knowledge of supporting NGOs and media who can be approached when help is needed
• Knowledge about the government structure and institutions
Attitude
• Increased self-confidence
• Cooperation and team work among COs trainees
• More openness towards outside organizations
• Enthusiastic about learning more
• Pro-active/activist attitude
Other Impacts:
The training had also other unexpected impacts. The following were identified during interviews:
• Commune councils recognize trainees’ knowledge and skills and consult with them;
• Several CO trainees contested in commune council elections;
• Two trainees became trainers for the new COT;
• Two trainers became Capacity Building Unit officers in ICSO;
• 2 COT trainees became leading figure in the land sale case in Gong Yut and Gong Thom
• Community consultations have been facilitated by trainees and trainers from Highland Association;
• There were indications that there is an increased awareness on land issues (and maybe fewer land sales) in the communities. This however needs to be verified since it is based on information by trainees and trainers and not from community members directly;
• No negative impact was reported or otherwise identified;
In Bangladesh
In Bangladesh, the following impact of the training program in terms of increased skills, knowledge and attitude of the trainers and trainees were reported:
Skills
• Development of skills in facilitation, documentation, research, community integration;
• Gained skills in community integration and community work;
• Improved language skill: i.e. Bangla in speaking and writing;
• Skill to mobilize and empower people;
Knowledge
• Greater knowledge about indigenous peoples’ rights and issues, history of CHT, gender, etc. resulting in increase of self confidence;
• Increase in knowledge on resource management and utilization and where to get the information and assistance on appropriate methods and techniques: the CO team provided them with information on resource management, and suggestions and on NGOs providing support on resource management and utilization. This led to the establishment of an herbal garden in one of the communities and also the utilization of wasteland by villagers working collectively;
Attitude
• Developed self confidence and commitment in working with the poor;
• Developed team work spirit and unity among themselves;
• Deeper appreciation for indigenous identity and commitment to work with indigenous communities as a woman, and greater economic status/independence due to allowance received
• Keen interest to learn more and to share SKA with trainees and communities
• Keen interest to improve training methodologies, materials and training design
• Changed perceptions especially towards learning and their way of life;
• Commitment to continue doing community work beyond project implementation period;
• Positive change in attitude - gender equality, regard and concern for the poor, better appreciation for community work;
• Creation of a very inclusive training environment in which lessons are learned from both trainers and trainees as well;
Other Impacts
• Higher level of awareness among the trainees on various issues such as their rights as indigenous people, importance of community unity and democratic decision making processes, gender equality, resource management and cultural heritage and preservation, among others. These higher level of awareness also resulted to a greater appreciation by community leaders of building unity and cooperation among the villagers;
• Development of ideas and initiatives in the management team for appropriate indigenous education and resource management;
• Positive change in the attitude of villagers: the poor members of the villages developed admiration of CO team because they are also integrating with them even if they are poor and that these educated young people were discussing various community issues with them and their opinions and views were respected and considered. These activities of the CO team with the poor villagers gave them confidence to interact with educated people within and outside their village. Likewise, they are now more confident to talk to government officials on their community issues and concerns;
• Some elected local officials were said to have developed a more positive attitude; they are now more sensitive to democratic processes and sensitivity to community issues;
• Greater concern for health and sanitation resulting to improvement of home latrines;
• Greater concern for gender issues: gender relationship has become a concern of the village such as greater sharing of agricultural work and house hold work by both men and women. Likewise, the role and contribution of women were expressed, particularly on finance management of the family income. Women are also given more space in decision making and in doing economic activities traditionally done by men like selling goods in the market. Self- organizing of women to do community projects has also been initiated. These include the formation of a women’s cooperative to engage in micro-credit project; herbal garden among others; this happened in the training areas and for the herbal garden; it is a direct result of the COT. The trainers brought representatives of the community to visit another village as part of their programme and the community leader decided to start the herbal garden. For the micro-credit, one of the trainees was working formerly with an organization so she had some experience. However the COT provided her the confidence to start.
• More youth getting involved in community initiatives and their sense of collectivity as indigenous peoples have sharpened;
• Because of the positive experience and impacts of the CO work, the villagers were recommending to organize COT or similar programs for other communities;
• Some village leaders have indicated the willingness to support the CO’s;
• Positive impact from the exchange visit to PACOS: the participants were provided with an insight of different training scenario and further provided inspiration for their own COT program;
• Inspired to organize women resulting in the formation of a women’s organization in the village of one of the trainees and she was elected as the Secretary of this organization;
• In some communities, “outsider-COs” (i.e. community organizers who are not from their own community) have allegedly been perceived as more “convincing” than some of their local leaders resulting in giving more attention to COs than to local leaders opinions and views. It is important to keep the local leaders involved and to actively seek their cooperation to avoid misunderstanding.
• The lack of tangible projects for implementation by COs is seen as negative by some villagers. This has also lead to frustrations among trainees, i.e. their inability to meet community expectations by providing community projects or funds.
The Leaders Training Component
Leaders Training (LT) programs were initiated with the local partners PACOS Trust in Sabah, Malaysia, and Kalumaran in Mindanao, Philippines. The objectives of the leadership training pilot program were:
1. Test training modules
2. Capacity building for staff as trainers
3. Capacity building for leaders
Again, the evaluation team tried to make a distinction between outputs and the impacts of the program.
Like in the COT, development of Skills, Knowledge and Attitude (SKA) of the trainers and trainees was a crosscutting goal in the leadership training. The evaluation team identified the following as the impact of the LT in the two project areas:
In Malaysia
Skills
• PACOS staff have developed more skills and confidence in giving training;
• Trainers are better at planning and organizing activities;
• Trainees gained skill at mobilizing people;
• Ability to localize the training modules and adapt the training to the specific conditions and situation of the respective community;
• Trainees have more confidence in giving presentations during meetings;
• Trainees have more confidence in approaching the government, ask for information and make demands;
• They have more confidence to take legal action;
Knowledge
• The trainers have gained a deeper knowledge on the topics covered by the modules;
• Trainees are better at identifying their needs;
Attitude
• Trainers and trainees (leaders) are happy with the modules. They found the modules rich in concrete examples/case studies and flexible which made it easy for the trainers to adapt the modules to the particular situation of each village;
• Trainers welcome more information and guidance on methods;
• Trainers and trainees are affirmed in their actions (realized that they are actually doing advocacy work already);
• Trainers developed deeper commitment to promote genuine indigenous leadership.
Other Impacts
• In Togudon community: the training strengthened the community and especially its leaders in their land struggle; some of the other villages are supportive; they have learned about the land issue of Togudon and formed land committees;
• Activity management skills were applied by leaders in their communities or their individual life on various occasions like organizing festivals, ecotourism promotion, follow-up on land conflict, leading women’s group;
• In Gana community, as a result of the training leaders were able to take action by sending a protest letter to the government, after which the plan to establish an oil-palm plantation was cancelled. They have submitted a request to plant rubber in smallholdings instead and the government has approved it;
• The training gave community leaders in Kalangaan community the opportunity to open up and seek further assistance from the outside;
• The exchange visit for trainers to the Cordilleras has given a lot of inspiration and encouragement, especially with respect to the importance of traditional leaders, strong roots in and pride of ones own culture and the power of peoples’ movement;
• No negative impact was reported or otherwise identified;
In the Philippines
In Philippines, the following impact of the training program in terms of increased skills, knowledge and attitude among the trainers and trainees were reported:
Skills:
• Increased skills of facilitation and public speaking;
• Increased skill on how to deal with the government officials on matter concerning the community issues;
• Ability to contextualize present situation and struggle with that of traditional leadership and historical struggle;
• Some of the trained leaders enhanced their skills, knowledge and confidence to plan and conduct follow-up trainings;
Knowledge:
• Increased knowledge on the different types of leaders, leadership principles, organizational, management, and advocacy and networking;
• Heightened awareness of the community issue and of indigenous peoples rights among youth and women;
Attitude
• Greater self-confidence, which in some cases led to encouraging activation of organizations;
• Helping attitude of trainees towards community members: The trainees developed a sense of responsibility and willingness to help the people in times of need and difficulties;
• Unity among communities and leaders developed. The training provided the community leaders with a platform for discussion and joint assessment of their situation resulting in better understanding and more unity among themselves;
Other impacts
• More outspoken leaders who are inspired to share knowledge. It means that leaders became courageous and bold enough to share their experience and knowledge;
• Stronger cooperation between community members and leaders;
• Activated regional organizations/leaders who are encouraged to activate regional organizations in Western Mindanao (especially through the modules on organization and leadership);
• Contributed towards unity and heightened awareness on issues faced by youth and women and encouraged to do more for these sectors;
• Stronger commitments to conduct advocacy on indigenous rights; the trained leaders felt the need to advocate for the rights of the communities, their capacity and confidence further ignited for the task;
• Independence as indigenous peoples to give indigenous-centered trainings (not dependent on others);
• Local organizations (Tagdumahan), Kalumaran are concerned enough to follow-up trained leaders to avoid co-option and corruption.
Achievements
Analysis of aims and objectives
The project distinguished clearly between aims, overall objectives, specific objectives, and expected results. Indicators, which can help in assessing the level of achievement of the objectives and results, have however been identified only for the expected results. The assessment of the level of achievement of the general aim, the overall and the specific objectives therefore had to be done on the basis of ad-hoc criteria and indicators.
The Indigenous Community Organizers and Leaders Training (ICOLT) is a multi-level regional capacity-building project for indigenous peoples initiated by AIPP and IWGIA together with its partners’ organizations in Asia. It is a specialized program on community empowerment through training of young community organizers and leaders. It is also a program designed to facilitate regional inter-peoples exchange and training program whereby indigenous organizations having the capacities to help indigenous organizations in other countries of South and Southeast Asia to develop their own training programs.
AIPP and IWGIA together with its cooperating partner organizations – PACOS, CPA, TUS, ICSO and KALUMARAN implemented the Pilot phase.
Aim and Objective:
The aim of the project which was to empower indigenous communities and organizations to exercise their (collective) rights and address their needs was achieved to a great extent in all the project areas.
Achievements - Overall objective:
There has been overall development in the indigenous communities’ capacities in all the project areas. The objective of mobilizing of indigenous youth to play active roles in community empowerment and leadership has been well achieved.
Achievements - Specific objectives:
Objective 1:
Training on COT and LT were successfully completed for the four partner organizations and all the partners expressed their intention to continue with the training.
Objective 2:
The local organizations are competent to run the follow up training on their own and they are committed to participate and share their expertise in the capacity building network.
Objective 3:
There is an indication of significant increase in the level of knowledge and capacity of the trainers and trainees after the training. The project activities such as the main training, trainers exchange programme and Regional Trainer Network Workshop (RTNW) made it possible in the achievement of this particular objective.
Results and Impact:
One of the direct outputs of the Pilot Phase is the translation of training modules into four different local languages for Community Organizers Training (COT) and Leaders Training (LT) and making it available for use not only in the Pilot Phase but also for all subsequent
trainings. In the Pilot Phase, a total of 59 local trainers for LT and 30 local trainers for COT were trained in the training of Trainers ToT. A trainer’s pool was created for each of the partner organizations. In the COT, a total of 32 people including women were trained as COs and 155 leaders and community members including women and youth were trained in the LT program.
The impact of the project as concluded in the evaluation is very positive and overwhelming. The capacity of the trainees as well as trainers has been extensively increased. The trainees has been able to raise the level of awareness in the community on various issues directly confronting them such as deprivation of their rights to socio-economic privileges, marginalization of their cultural identity, and exploitation of their lands and resources etc. Through the mobilization activities carried out by the ICOLT trainees, the community began to unite themselves, support and cooperate with each other in their effort to address their problems and issues collectively. For instance in Sabah, Malaysia as a result of the training, leaders were able to take action by sending a protest letter to government, after which the plan to establish an oil-palm plantation was cancelled. They have submitted a request for rubber small holdings instead and the government had approved of it. There was improvement in the Trainers’ skill of facilitation, public speaking and community organizing work. They had also developed more confidence in giving training. The trainees trained in the LT and COT increased their self-confidence, and became pro-active in their respective communities.
Another significant impact was the enthusiasm and strong commitment of the trainers and trainees to continue doing community organizing work and to promote genuine indigenous leadership.
Strength and Weaknesses:
The training is found to be well structured containing well versed modules available in the local languages that enable trainees to understand the concept better and apply it to their situation. The presence of experienced trainers’ pools providing the training who themselves are indigenous peoples added to the success of the training. The empowerment of Indigenous peoples to Indigenous peoples through practically proven experience contributed to the
strength of the training which is not available elsewhere. The strong commitment of the local partners despite external difficulties and the hard-working staff of partner organizations determine the success of the program to a large extent. The support from the Regional Trainer Team to the local partners contributed to the smooth implementation of the training program. The other important aspect is the establishment of Regional Trainers’ Network that optimizes the expertise of partner organizations for continued sharing and exchange of learning within the ICOLT network.
Despite the overall success, there were also weaknesses found in the training process. For instance there is gender imbalance in the in-country CO training, with very few women trainees participated. In some cases, the trainers were less committed leading to their resignation in between the training period, which affected the smooth implementation of the training. There is a lack of more creative forms in the training methodologies. There was absence of plan to form POs as a goal of Community Organizing. Cultural identity and preservation did not emerge as an issue of concern for trainers and trainees in Cambodia. This is partly due to the increasing pressure from land sales that keep people too occupied so that this issue is given lower priority. For the Leadership training, in the preparatory phase, the localization of modules was not thorough due to time constraints and poor coordination between leaders and Lead Trainer which was complicated by language limitation. Community consultation and preparation of field-level trainings for the Leadership Training was not done satisfactorily mainly due to the time limitation. There is also insufficient mechanism for monitoring and evaluation in the implementation of activities and follow-up.
THE EVALUATION PROCESS
1. Objectives
The objective of this evaluation is to evaluate all the activities conducted by the ICOLT from the beginning of the project up to July 2007. It also draws the experiences, insights, impacts and lessons learned during the project implementation and to make constructive recommendation for subsequent follow up project phases.
2. Process and methodology
The evaluation will be conducted as follows:
1. Review of project documents, reports and other materials related to the project.
2. Field visits to project sites for interviews and focus group discussions with representatives of local partner organizations, community, trainers and trainees.
3. Presentation of initial findings after the interviews and focus group discussions to participants.
4. Drafting of the evaluation report by the whole team.
5. Circulation of the draft report to partner organizations for their comments prior to making the final report and submitting to funding partners.
6. The simple version of the evaluation report with emphasis on lessons learned will be written to printing and distribution to members and network of local partners and communities.
During the preparatory meeting, the guide questions for individual and group interviews for community leaders, trainers, trainees, local partner organizations and those involved in the
regional coordination of the ICOLT project were formulated. Likewise, the outline of the evaluation report was agreed upon. Prior to field work, the regional lead trainers and the regional coordinator were interviewed by the other members of the evaluation team on the regional level project management and coordination.
Prior to the site visits, the teams were able to interview the two RLTs the ICOLT Regional Coordinator and the AIPP Finance Manager using prepared questions but also a general overview of the conduct and coordination of the training.
The field visit in Cambodia in Ratanakiri province. The team had a formal meeting with the ICSO staff followed by individual interview. Due to the bad condition of the road to Oyadao, the on-site visit could not be conducted but the trainees team from Oyadao comprising of 12 trainees came to Kralah village in Ochum district where the new training on COT was starting. The focus group discussion (FGDs) was held for 4 groups of trainees from Oyadao and Ochum and 1 group of trainers. The morning of the next day continued with focus group discussion with the trainees which was followed by individual interview of 4 people in the management, 2 trainers and 1 commune Chief who was also trained as CO. The evaluation team also interviewed 2 ICSO officers in Phnom Penh and the Director of Village Focus International (VFI) another support organization. The preliminary findings of the evaluation were presented to the ICSO management team, trainees and trainers where the findings were validated by the participants in this meeting.
The evaluation team visited Sabah, Malaysia. The evaluation team held a group interview with 3 people in the management team of PACOS followed by a visit to Togudon, one of the sites of the community leadership training held in September 2006. There was FGDs with the 2 community leaders and 2 women leaders of Togudon who were trained in the Leadership Training. The PACOS trainers’ team comprising of 14 trainers and 6 community leaders were interviewed using the guide questions and related questions. The preliminary findings of the evaluation were presented to the PACOS management team, trainees and trainers where the findings were validated by the participants.
In Bangladesh, the evaluation team was not able to go to the project site in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) because of the security situation in the area. Thus, the evaluation of the COT in Bangladesh was done in Dhaka. The management team of Trinamul Unnayan Sangstha (TUS), community leaders, trainers and trainees all came to Dhaka for interviews and FDGs. Using the guide questions and related questions, the evaluation team held a group interview with three local leaders and the TUS management team (4) while individual interviews were held for the five trainers and six trainees. The initial findings of the evaluation team were presented to the TUS management team, trainees and trainers where the findings were validated by the participants.
The field visit to the Philippines was done in Balit, Butuan, the site of the community leadership training. Because of the limited time, the evaluation team was not able to do individual interviews. Instead, there were seven FGDs with two groups for the community members, two groups of trainers, two groups for the trainees and one group with the local partner, KALUMARAN. After the FDGs, the evaluation team prepared the initial evaluation findings and presented it to the participants of the evaluation. The group validated the findings and requested for continuing support.
3. Constraints/ Limitations
The evaluation was carried out largely as planned. However, there were some constraints faced due to the prevailing situation in some of the project areas. In the case of Bangladesh, the security situation prevented the evaluation team to visit the project sites in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Therefore, the evaluation was carried out in Dhaka, where the trainers, trainees and the TUS management team met. In Cambodia, the evaluation team was not able to visit the project site in Oyadao due to the unfavorable weather condition leading to inaccessibility of road communication. This limited the process for the focus group discussion with the community leaders and the general public. However most of the necessary information was gathered from the interviewees and assessment were done accordingly.
FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS
1. Project description
As mentioned above, a result of extensive consultations of IWGIA, AIPP, PACOS in Sabah and CPA in the Philippines have developed a long-term regional indigenous community organizers and leaders training program. The basic idea underlying the project is to use existing knowledge and experiences in community organizers and leaders training to help indigenous organizations in other countries to start similar programs. PACOS and CPA have both had over a decade of experience in that field and developed training curricular and methods that are believed to be very helpful elsewhere as well. The two organizations provide training on two levels: PACOS for community organizers, i.e. for a context in which no indigenous peoples organizations exist; CPA for leaders of established indigenous people’s organizations.
A concrete, long term community organizers and leaders training program was finalized in a workshop in January 2005. Before that, the existing training materials of PACOS and CPA were translated into English and local and national workshops were organized in Sabah and the Philippines by PACOS and CPA in which past experiences were reviewed and concrete inputs for the planning workshop were prepared.
A working group was formed consisting of a member each from PACOS, CPA, the AIPP and IWGIA. The existing training modules translated from local languages into English were reviewed and suggestions for improvements made. A long, medium and short-term (pilot phase) plan of action was developed. The pilot phase was conceived in order to test the approach developed.
a) Aims, Objectives, Expected Outputs and Indicators
According to the project document, “The aim of the overall program is to empower indigenous communities and organizations to exercise their (collective) rights and address their needs”
As overall objectives were defined:
• Enhance indigenous communities’ capacity for self-organizing
• Strengthen the leadership of indigenous communities and organizations
• Mobilize indigenous youth to play active roles in community empowerment and leadership
For the pilot phase, which was to be evaluated, the following were identified as specific objectives:
• To establish independent community organizers and leadership training programs in the countries of the partner organizations involved
• To establish a decentralized learning and capacity-building network
• To gain experiences and improve methods and approaches in self-organizing and leadership development through inter-peoples exchange and training
And the expected outputs of the pilot phase were:
1. Locally adapted training programs and materials developed with partners in the four countries;
2. Mechanisms, methodologies and processes that are acceptable to local partner organizations, their communities and to the local and national authorities
3. Community organizers training programs running independently in Bangladesh and Cambodia; Leaders training programs running independently in Sabah, Malaysia and Mindanao, Philippines;
4. Communities from the training areas are more organized to resolve issues faced;
5. Improved awareness, attitudes and relationship between local governments and communities/organizations in the training areas;
6. Trainers of PACOS and CPA have more experience and knowledge to work with indigenous Organizations at the regional level
7. A pool of trainers with expertise on COT and LT who form the core of the planned network of trainers, community organizers and leaders within the AIPP structure established.
8. Trainers gain more experience and knowledge to work with indigenous organizations at the regional level;
9. The core of the planned network of trainers, community organizers and leaders within the AIPP structure established;
10. The level of capacity and expertise on leadership training and community organizing has been achieved;
11. Good relationship and exchanges between members of the pool of trainers, community organizers and leaders;
12. Insights into the dynamics of the training process, obstacles and opportunities.
13. Improved general methodology and generic training materials for future application.
14. Good working relationship and networking among the coordinating committee.
In order to better assess the extent to which the expected outputs of the pilot phase were achieved indicators corresponding to each of these outputs were identified:
For output 1:
• Training modules in local languages for the two programs (COT and LT) in the four countries have been produced in local languages – Khmer (Cambodia), Bangla (Bangladesh), Malay (Malaysia) and Bisaya (Philippines) and used in the trainings.
• Additional reference and resource material (handouts, posters, overhead files, booklets etc.) exist in a generic version in English and some has been used has been translated and used in the trainings.
For output 2
• At least no negative interference of local or national authorities; in the best case cooperation and participation of local government/line agencies staff in the training
For output 3:
• Each of the two COT have completed the first year (intensive training), have started with the second year (independence phase), are doing the planning for a second COT and have secured funding for the continuation. At least 5 of the 10 trainers trained in each of the two areas continue to work with the program.
• Each of the two LT programs has been completed and new programs have been planned and funding secured by the local partner organizations. At least 7 of the 15 trainers trained in each of the two areas continue to work with the program.
For output 4:
• Communities are reported to have taken up new initiatives to address pertinent issues; some have formed local people’s organizations.
For output 5:
• At least no negative interference of local or national authorities; in the best case cooperation and participation of local government/line agencies staff in the training.
For output 6:
• Trainers express interest to continue training in the next phase.
For output 7 & 8:
• 12 trainers trained during the LT (6 per area) and 12 trainers trained during the COT (6 per area) have participated in the exchange visit. At least 12 of them (7 and 5 respectively) are continuing their work, remain in touch with each other through e-mails and have planned an exchange meeting. An AIPP staff is in charge of facilitating the network.
For output 9 & 10:
• A medium-term exchange program has been drafted.
For output 11:
• Interaction among the members of the network by electronic media has started at the end of the project period; AIPP is facilitating the communication network.
For output 12:
• Reports on the process and results of the training have been written and distributed among the partners
For output 13:
• An evaluation report has been written which among others includes:
i. Recommendations for the improvement of the generic training material have been made and a revision process has been decided on and planned;
ii. Recommendations on the improvement of training methods
iii. Recommendations on the improvement of exchange and networking methods and structures
For output 14:
• The members of the coordinating committee have all actively cooperated, the Coordinating Committee (CC) has met regularly, has not changed its composition throughout the project period and most of the members are willing to continue in the next phase.
b) Target Groups and Beneficiaries
According to the project document, the target groups for the pilot phase of the program were the indigenous peoples of the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh, Ratanakiri Province in Cambodia and Mindanao Island in the Philippines. The intended direct beneficiaries were the local partner organizations, the communities and peoples organizations they are working with. The expected main participants of the Community Organizers Training in Bangladesh and Cambodia were the indigenous youths. It was stated that special efforts were to be made to ensure that women also benefits from the training. The expected beneficiaries of the Leaders Training in Mindanao were tribal leaders of at least 12 tribes and the people’s organizations of seven tribes in Southern Mindanao. After the project started however, the LT component which was also planned to be held in the Chittagong Hill Tracts was moved to Sabah, Malaysia, thereby expanding the beneficiaries, namely the indigenous peoples, local partner organization and people’s organizations there.
c) Planning of operation
The planning of operation was initially done by IWGIA in partnership with AIPP, PACOS and CPA. Series of consultations, meetings and workshops were conducted in the process both at the regional and national level among the partners. The existing training materials of PACOS and CPA were translated into English and workshops were organized in Sabah and the Philippines by PACOS and CPA in which past experiences were reviewed and concrete inputs for the planning workshop were prepared. In the 2nd IWGIA partnership consultation workshop held in Chiangmai, Thailand from January 27 – 28, 2004, PACOS and CPA presented their training modules which were then critiqued for adaptation towards developing generic models. A working group was formed composed of representatives from the AIPP Secretariat, IWGIA, CPA, and PACOS for the following tasks - to compile Community Organizing and Leadership Training modules and plan the pilot phase programme.
The AIPP Secretary-General and the PACOS Community Organizing Program Trainer visited Cambodia in 2004 and Bangladesh in 2005, for consultations with possible partners there, including getting an insight into the situation of indigenous peoples there, and to introduce the concept of ICOLT. In the 2nd Working Group Workshop held in Chiang Mai on January 25 – 30, 2005, concrete planning steps were undertaken to move the program forward. These included the identification of training areas, the trainers to be trained, trainees, basic logistical arrangements, and other practical considerations.
d) Project organization
A coordinating committee was formed composed of representatives of all partner organizations involved - i.e. the two international organizations; AIPP and IWGIA, the two local competence institutions; CPA and PACOS, and the four local partner organizations namely TUS, Bangladesh, ICSO Cambodia, PACOS Trust, Malaysia and KALUMARAN, Philippines - monitored the implementation of the project and ensured maximum communication and transparency among partners involved. The Coordinating Committee (CC) met twice during the project period and provided inputs for the overall development of the program, for the refinement of training materials and methodologies and acted as general advisers. Regular email communications were maintained between the Regional Coordinator and the CC members for comments, inputs and decisions related to the project execution. The final overall evaluation was done by the CC along with two external indigenous experts from IKAP and CPA.
The overall project management and coordination was done by AIPP in consultation with the cooperating partner organizations. A full time coordinator was appointed who is directly responsible for the regional coordination and communications with partner’s organizations, CC members and with the donors. The coordinator is assisted by the administrative/account manager. The coordinator worked closely with active support from the trainers’ teams of PACOS and CPA and their local counterparts. Aside from overall coordination, AIPP was also in charge of facilitating the Regional Trainers Network Workshop.
Field implementation was carried out by the local trainers’ teams in cooperation with the local partners. The local partners’ organizations were responsible for the management of finance and overseeing the day to day functioning of the field implementation in their respective project sites. The regional lead trainers’ team conducted regular monitoring and backstopping visits to the project areas and provided human resources and technical services which contributed to the effective implementation of the project activities.
Impacts
In Cambodia
Development of Skills, Knowledge and Attitude (SKA) of the CO trainees was a crosscutting goal in all modules of the training curriculum. In Cambodia, the following impact of the training program with respect to attitudes SKA of trainers and trainees were reported:
Skills
• Improved language skills, i.e. Khmer in speaking and some writing
• Improved communication skills; the trainees gained the skill and confidence to speak in public. They could also communicate in Khmer much better than before.
• Facilitation skills for community meetings/consultations.
• Problem analysis and solving skills: Ability to analyze the situation and problems in their community, to develop a plan on how to address the problems and to write a proposal
• Ability to write reports
• Ability to mobilize communities for collective action (including mobilizing local resources for collective action)
• Skill to facilitate conflict resolution
• Improved negotiation skills
• Sketch mapping skills
• Awareness raising skills
• Ability to mediate between government authorities and communities
Knowledge
• Awareness of value and importance of land for the indigenous communities
• Knowledge about indigenous peoples’ rights, and land and forest laws
• Knowledge of supporting NGOs and media who can be approached when help is needed
• Knowledge about the government structure and institutions
Attitude
• Increased self-confidence
• Cooperation and team work among COs trainees
• More openness towards outside organizations
• Enthusiastic about learning more
• Pro-active/activist attitude
Other Impacts:
The training had also other unexpected impacts. The following were identified during interviews:
• Commune councils recognize trainees’ knowledge and skills and consult with them;
• Several CO trainees contested in commune council elections;
• Two trainees became trainers for the new COT;
• Two trainers became Capacity Building Unit officers in ICSO;
• 2 COT trainees became leading figure in the land sale case in Gong Yut and Gong Thom
• Community consultations have been facilitated by trainees and trainers from Highland Association;
• There were indications that there is an increased awareness on land issues (and maybe fewer land sales) in the communities. This however needs to be verified since it is based on information by trainees and trainers and not from community members directly;
• No negative impact was reported or otherwise identified;
In Bangladesh
In Bangladesh, the following impact of the training program in terms of increased skills, knowledge and attitude of the trainers and trainees were reported:
Skills
• Development of skills in facilitation, documentation, research, community integration;
• Gained skills in community integration and community work;
• Improved language skill: i.e. Bangla in speaking and writing;
• Skill to mobilize and empower people;
Knowledge
• Greater knowledge about indigenous peoples’ rights and issues, history of CHT, gender, etc. resulting in increase of self confidence;
• Increase in knowledge on resource management and utilization and where to get the information and assistance on appropriate methods and techniques: the CO team provided them with information on resource management, and suggestions and on NGOs providing support on resource management and utilization. This led to the establishment of an herbal garden in one of the communities and also the utilization of wasteland by villagers working collectively;
Attitude
• Developed self confidence and commitment in working with the poor;
• Developed team work spirit and unity among themselves;
• Deeper appreciation for indigenous identity and commitment to work with indigenous communities as a woman, and greater economic status/independence due to allowance received
• Keen interest to learn more and to share SKA with trainees and communities
• Keen interest to improve training methodologies, materials and training design
• Changed perceptions especially towards learning and their way of life;
• Commitment to continue doing community work beyond project implementation period;
• Positive change in attitude - gender equality, regard and concern for the poor, better appreciation for community work;
• Creation of a very inclusive training environment in which lessons are learned from both trainers and trainees as well;
Other Impacts
• Higher level of awareness among the trainees on various issues such as their rights as indigenous people, importance of community unity and democratic decision making processes, gender equality, resource management and cultural heritage and preservation, among others. These higher level of awareness also resulted to a greater appreciation by community leaders of building unity and cooperation among the villagers;
• Development of ideas and initiatives in the management team for appropriate indigenous education and resource management;
• Positive change in the attitude of villagers: the poor members of the villages developed admiration of CO team because they are also integrating with them even if they are poor and that these educated young people were discussing various community issues with them and their opinions and views were respected and considered. These activities of the CO team with the poor villagers gave them confidence to interact with educated people within and outside their village. Likewise, they are now more confident to talk to government officials on their community issues and concerns;
• Some elected local officials were said to have developed a more positive attitude; they are now more sensitive to democratic processes and sensitivity to community issues;
• Greater concern for health and sanitation resulting to improvement of home latrines;
• Greater concern for gender issues: gender relationship has become a concern of the village such as greater sharing of agricultural work and house hold work by both men and women. Likewise, the role and contribution of women were expressed, particularly on finance management of the family income. Women are also given more space in decision making and in doing economic activities traditionally done by men like selling goods in the market. Self- organizing of women to do community projects has also been initiated. These include the formation of a women’s cooperative to engage in micro-credit project; herbal garden among others; this happened in the training areas and for the herbal garden; it is a direct result of the COT. The trainers brought representatives of the community to visit another village as part of their programme and the community leader decided to start the herbal garden. For the micro-credit, one of the trainees was working formerly with an organization so she had some experience. However the COT provided her the confidence to start.
• More youth getting involved in community initiatives and their sense of collectivity as indigenous peoples have sharpened;
• Because of the positive experience and impacts of the CO work, the villagers were recommending to organize COT or similar programs for other communities;
• Some village leaders have indicated the willingness to support the CO’s;
• Positive impact from the exchange visit to PACOS: the participants were provided with an insight of different training scenario and further provided inspiration for their own COT program;
• Inspired to organize women resulting in the formation of a women’s organization in the village of one of the trainees and she was elected as the Secretary of this organization;
• In some communities, “outsider-COs” (i.e. community organizers who are not from their own community) have allegedly been perceived as more “convincing” than some of their local leaders resulting in giving more attention to COs than to local leaders opinions and views. It is important to keep the local leaders involved and to actively seek their cooperation to avoid misunderstanding.
• The lack of tangible projects for implementation by COs is seen as negative by some villagers. This has also lead to frustrations among trainees, i.e. their inability to meet community expectations by providing community projects or funds.
The Leaders Training Component
Leaders Training (LT) programs were initiated with the local partners PACOS Trust in Sabah, Malaysia, and Kalumaran in Mindanao, Philippines. The objectives of the leadership training pilot program were:
1. Test training modules
2. Capacity building for staff as trainers
3. Capacity building for leaders
Again, the evaluation team tried to make a distinction between outputs and the impacts of the program.
Like in the COT, development of Skills, Knowledge and Attitude (SKA) of the trainers and trainees was a crosscutting goal in the leadership training. The evaluation team identified the following as the impact of the LT in the two project areas:
In Malaysia
Skills
• PACOS staff have developed more skills and confidence in giving training;
• Trainers are better at planning and organizing activities;
• Trainees gained skill at mobilizing people;
• Ability to localize the training modules and adapt the training to the specific conditions and situation of the respective community;
• Trainees have more confidence in giving presentations during meetings;
• Trainees have more confidence in approaching the government, ask for information and make demands;
• They have more confidence to take legal action;
Knowledge
• The trainers have gained a deeper knowledge on the topics covered by the modules;
• Trainees are better at identifying their needs;
Attitude
• Trainers and trainees (leaders) are happy with the modules. They found the modules rich in concrete examples/case studies and flexible which made it easy for the trainers to adapt the modules to the particular situation of each village;
• Trainers welcome more information and guidance on methods;
• Trainers and trainees are affirmed in their actions (realized that they are actually doing advocacy work already);
• Trainers developed deeper commitment to promote genuine indigenous leadership.
Other Impacts
• In Togudon community: the training strengthened the community and especially its leaders in their land struggle; some of the other villages are supportive; they have learned about the land issue of Togudon and formed land committees;
• Activity management skills were applied by leaders in their communities or their individual life on various occasions like organizing festivals, ecotourism promotion, follow-up on land conflict, leading women’s group;
• In Gana community, as a result of the training leaders were able to take action by sending a protest letter to the government, after which the plan to establish an oil-palm plantation was cancelled. They have submitted a request to plant rubber in smallholdings instead and the government has approved it;
• The training gave community leaders in Kalangaan community the opportunity to open up and seek further assistance from the outside;
• The exchange visit for trainers to the Cordilleras has given a lot of inspiration and encouragement, especially with respect to the importance of traditional leaders, strong roots in and pride of ones own culture and the power of peoples’ movement;
• No negative impact was reported or otherwise identified;
In the Philippines
In Philippines, the following impact of the training program in terms of increased skills, knowledge and attitude among the trainers and trainees were reported:
Skills:
• Increased skills of facilitation and public speaking;
• Increased skill on how to deal with the government officials on matter concerning the community issues;
• Ability to contextualize present situation and struggle with that of traditional leadership and historical struggle;
• Some of the trained leaders enhanced their skills, knowledge and confidence to plan and conduct follow-up trainings;
Knowledge:
• Increased knowledge on the different types of leaders, leadership principles, organizational, management, and advocacy and networking;
• Heightened awareness of the community issue and of indigenous peoples rights among youth and women;
Attitude
• Greater self-confidence, which in some cases led to encouraging activation of organizations;
• Helping attitude of trainees towards community members: The trainees developed a sense of responsibility and willingness to help the people in times of need and difficulties;
• Unity among communities and leaders developed. The training provided the community leaders with a platform for discussion and joint assessment of their situation resulting in better understanding and more unity among themselves;
Other impacts
• More outspoken leaders who are inspired to share knowledge. It means that leaders became courageous and bold enough to share their experience and knowledge;
• Stronger cooperation between community members and leaders;
• Activated regional organizations/leaders who are encouraged to activate regional organizations in Western Mindanao (especially through the modules on organization and leadership);
• Contributed towards unity and heightened awareness on issues faced by youth and women and encouraged to do more for these sectors;
• Stronger commitments to conduct advocacy on indigenous rights; the trained leaders felt the need to advocate for the rights of the communities, their capacity and confidence further ignited for the task;
• Independence as indigenous peoples to give indigenous-centered trainings (not dependent on others);
• Local organizations (Tagdumahan), Kalumaran are concerned enough to follow-up trained leaders to avoid co-option and corruption.
Achievements
Analysis of aims and objectives
The project distinguished clearly between aims, overall objectives, specific objectives, and expected results. Indicators, which can help in assessing the level of achievement of the objectives and results, have however been identified only for the expected results. The assessment of the level of achievement of the general aim, the overall and the specific objectives therefore had to be done on the basis of ad-hoc criteria and indicators.
|
AIM |
ACHIEVEMENT OF AIM |
|
|
|
Project Management
Partnership and coordination
The ICOLT initiative sees itself as a joint effort of indigenous organizations for mutual support and empowerment. Well functioning partnership is therefore fundamental for the program, as is regional coordination since six organizations are directly involved in program implementation.
While local partner organizations have emphasized the value of being able to learn from each other, a common problem was poor communication between the regional coordinator and the local partners as well as between the Lead Trainers and the local partners. Communication with the focal persons in the local partner organization was not smooth, which was only in some cases partly due to the lack of communication facilities like easy and good internet access.
Compiling narrative progress reports and periodic financial reports proved to be another major challenge. One of the reasons identified was that no common report format was used resulting in inconsistent reports from the different partners.
Another hindering factor for good cooperation and coordination were the problems of handing over responsibilities when partner organizations and staff changed. During the 18 months long pilot phase, three replacements took place: the local partner organization in the Leadership Training program in Mindanao (Panagtagbo by Kalumaran), the Lead Trainer for the Leadership Training program and the Regional Coordinator.
Problems with turn-over of roles and responsibilities could however eventually be overcome. The guidance and support provided by the AIPP Secretary General to the Regional Coordinator and the good cooperation between the latter and the Finance Manager can be considered important facilitating factors. At present, the Regional Coordinator feels she is able to cope with the work load.
Partnership between the RLT (from CPA and PACOS) and the local partner organizations in Cambodia, Bangladesh, Malaysia and the Philippines) was generally considered very satisfying. There were however also a few factors that to some extent hindered a more effective cooperation. The RLT felt they did not have enough time to prepare their work, and some of the local partner organizations were also not sufficiently prepared for the visit of the Lead Trainers. Keeping in mind that this project was a pilot project, the choice of Bangladesh and Cambodia for the Community Organizer Training was unlucky since the conditions – politically in the former and with respect to the capacity of the local partner and the communities in the latter case – are extremely difficult, putting a heavy burden on the COT RLT. The COT in these two areas could nevertheless be successfully implemented. Because of the considerable challenges faced by the COT RLT with the training areas, more support from ICOLT, her local organization and the Coordinating Committee would have helped considerably.
Management, administration and finances
The Coordinating Committee (CC) provides overall guidance and support to the Regional Coordinator, who also receives support from the AIPP Secretary General. As mentioned before, the latter’s support was considered very valuable. Not all of the CC members were able to be equally active, largely due to heavy workload.
Overall administration is the responsibility of the Regional Coordinator, but she receives help from AIPP’s Administrative Manager. However, he is generally overburdened with work and the Regional Coordinator therefore could sometimes not count on his support.
Filing of reports was difficult and some reports could not be located when the new Regional Coordinator took over. Documentation of the project (training modules and material, photos etc.) is also incomplete.
Financial administration was also sometimes difficult due to problems in communication (it was not clear to the finance administration who was the focal person in the partner organizations) and due to the lack of a common report format. Since the budget has been revised several times, there was also confusion by the Regional Coordinator over which version had to be followed.
Monitoring
Regional Coordinator did monitoring of the project largely by email and telephone communications to all partners concerned. Except in areas where internet and telephone services are poor, the monitoring and coordination had been satisfactory. The Regional Coordinator also personally monitored the exchange program of COT with PACOS in Malaysia and of LT exchange program with CPA in Philippines.
CPA did monitoring of the LT project areas regularly by e-mail and phone and (limited) visits to the LT project sites. The email and telephone communications for the two LT partners had no problem. The RLT and her assistant made backstopping visit to PACOS, Malaysia for 4 times and 5 times to KALUMARAN including the evaluation visit.
For the COT, PACOS did monitoring through backstopping visits to Cambodia 7 times and 5 times to Bangladesh including the evaluation trip. Email communications also formed part of the monitoring activities. However there were difficulties faced in the communications due to the poor connectivity of internet and telephone in the two COT project areas.
