Re: The role of Indian Civil Society in Preparing Globalfund application

[Guest guest]

Friends,

The idea of a website for suggestions for the India's next application is

good. However, a representative group of persons such as govt. reps, NGOs,

PLWAs, researchers deciding on which application(s) should be going to the CCM

(for forwarding to the Global Fund after due process) will only serve to

increase lobbying for applications to be received by CCM. What happens if an

NGO sends a good application directly to the CCM without going through this

group? Therefore, it would be better if the same group of representatives got

together to

1. provide access to the necessary information and subsequent assistance to

write/ whet proposals and

2. lobby with the CCM for resources - technical and financial - to be made

available to civil society for preparing proposals

In our country, the issue is not so much the lack of ability to come up with

good ideas or write proposals as having access to necessary information.

There are many capable NGOs doing commendable work. The challenge for

representative groups would be to get the information to public domain.

Sundar

E-mail: <sdaniel@...>

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[Guest guest]

I think that from a universal perspective Sundar is describing a significant

and important problem regarding India's share of the Global Funding and the

capacities of ALL agencies who are providing significant services to

affected populations.

I am a visitor to India with some sort of aura that suggests that I might know

more than local folk about how such Global funding applications should be

completed and a whole batch of first round funding documents were placed

on my desk to provide advice as to how one group of agencies might approach the

second round applications.

I found the whole batch of documents to be initially incomprehensible and found

great difficulty knowing where to start in even understanding the material or

the processes. I have been visiting many service and support organisations whose

abilities to provide services are significantly more developed than their

capacities

to complete complex funding submissions and I might say that the delivery of

services is a far more necessary skill to have.

I support the view that all agencies briefly state their priorities for their

funding needs and their program developments and that a specialised task force

take on the task of preparing the necessary applications to the

Global Fund otherwise it will be an unbalanced second round funding round going

to those agencies better equipped for submission writing and not necessarily

providing the services that people are depending on for their day to day

survival.

The share of funding in the first round, whilst appearing to go to worthwhile

agencies, nevertheless did not amount to the kind of volume of funding or the

spread of programs that India needs.

Thank you Sundar for providing this focus view.

Geoff Heaviside

Brimbank Community Initiatives Inc

Sponsoring Sunshine Budget Advisory Service

5 Brisbane Street

P.O. Box 606 Sunshine 3020

. Australia.

Ph: 0418 328 278

Ph/Fax : (03) 9311 5052

E-mail: " <gheaviside@...>

or in India

Mr Geoff Heaviside

Flat #10 Kash Towers

93 South West Boag Road

T.Nagar, Chennai

INDIA 600017

Ph: (91 44) 4329580

Mobile : (91) 9840 097 178

_________________________________

[Guest guest]

Dear Forum Members,

I share the views of Sunder and Geoffrey, I have tried to find out from NACO

about the CCM its constitution and the applications for the Global Fund.

This is the information I have. The CCM in India is headed by the Secetary

(Health) and comprises 23 members, with the following breakup:

1. Government - 8 (from the Ministry and the 3 programmes)

2. ICMR - 1

3. Private Sector- 3 (CII, ASSOCHAM and FICCI)

4. UN and Bilateral agencies - 5

5. NGOs - 4

6. Representative of INP+ - 1

(Though all this is on paper It is still not very clear as to Who the NGO'S are

and thier actual involment. I have spoken to the heads of a few, like INP+ and

The Freedom Foundation (the largest care and support NGO in the country) both

said that they were not involved. Mr. Ashok Rau of the Freedom Foundation and an

intrnationally known consultant said that he was in touch with NACO about the

CCM )

The NGOs were selected to represent different regions and also bring their

diverse experience to the CCM. Apart from NGOs being represented on the CCM all

the proposals that are been put together in India’s application have substantial

involvement of NGOs in actual project implementation. It is also proposed to

have a consultation in October to further improve NGO Participation in this

process.

The CCM is responsible for finalizing the application, overseeing monitoring and

evaluation of projects funded out of the Global Fund, and to assume

accountability towards the Fund.

Regards

VINEETHA

E-mail: <vin_eetha@...>

_____________________________________

[Guest guest]

Dear forum members,

I do not share the idiea of outsourcing the application of funding to a other

special party. I think that a group who delivers a service has to develop

themselfs the capacity to develop systematicaly the plans to improve and develop

the service. Every business needs the capacity to look into the future and to

plan the activities. This core capability is not a capability to bring outsite

your organisation.

A supporting organisation can only do some work in the field of education and

perhaps do educational work at economical schools to teach students how a

application for funing is structured etc.

The task of the CCM is to publish a masterplan freely available and each

organisation who apply for funding can fill in a part of the master plan with

his own service. The CCM can update this master plan based on request of the

participating organisations etc

Yours sincerely,

.M. Nivard

VisionFactory/GlobalQualityServices

Slimdijk 1, 1631 DB Oudendijk NH

The Netherland, +31229542087

E-mail: <jnivard@...>

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[Guest guest]

[This posting is in reference to the message posted by Nivard "

jnivard@... Re: The role of Indian Civil Society in Preparing

Globalfund application. Moderator]

Thanks for continuing this valuable debate and let me try to make some

comments to your response so I can make myself clear :-

Funding submission writing is a special skill that is not shared in even the

best of agencies. In fact well funded agencies usually contract this process

out anyway to ensure their funding success.

" " " I think that a group who delivers a service has to develop themselfs the

capacity to develop systematicaly the plans to improve and develop the

service. Every business needs the capacity to look into the future and to

plan the activities. This core capability is not a capability to bring

outsite your organisation. " " "

This point is well made but it does not bear on your first point. Of course

the systematic delivery, improvement and development of a service that is

trusted and accessed by the persons whose needs are being met or whose

behaviours are being modified will have to be competent but this does not

equate to good funding submission writing skills or the ability to read the

submission application in a way that the application process is clear and

unambiguous.

No incompetent agency should access Global funding but conversely no agency

whose work is crucial and important should miss out simply because it doesn't

have a fund raising committee or budget and it is here where some systematic

analysis needs to happen from some vantage point close to the CCM but with

sufficient understanding of the needs in the India community to make sure the

flavour of the masterplan is comprehensive and embraces all the stake holders,

not just those with the fundraising departments.

I am biased in my comments of course because I have seen the work of

unfunded self help groups in my country and observed the parallel funded

projects whose results don't come near to measuring up to the former but

already I have seen some impressive initiatives in India, locally flavoured

whose workers are not represented in the CCM.

One of the problems with funding bodies and their submission formats is that

they need to have a measuring tool to make the decision about who gets the

money and how will outcomes be measured.

I would like to use the analogy of the Doctor when it comes to the Global

Fund. Before writing a prescription to the patient (Grass Roots Agency) a

comprehensive patient intake assessment will have to be taken to ensure that

a good knowledge of the symptoms and the likely prognosis before prescribing

the treatment. And if this process is done well a healthier patient will

result.

Of course the Global Fund will have to rely on its known Practitioners out

there to know how to prescribe and with all due respect the Civil Society in

India must get involved because if it is not part of the solution it will

continue to be part of the problem.

The problem with masterplans is they are often prescriptions written before

the diagnosis is made.

As a volunteer in India I have been moving round the country both by Train

and by Internet and talking to many people about HIV-AIDS and better

outcomes. I have some facilitation skills to use here but what is necessary

is a response to this epidemic in India that catches people early, cherishes

their confidentiality, understands the nature of this virus and empowers

them to take action before the sufferer has one foot in the grave and the

other on a banana skin.

There are some incredible self help initiatives I am observing which are

being undermined through flawed law enforcement activity, dangerous cultural

piety and down right ignorance and fear. There is life after a HIV+

diagnosis but lots of supports that need to be in place if the transmission

rate is to be addressed. It is happening successfully in other parts of the

world and it should also be happening in India.

Geoff Heaviside

Brimbank Community Initiatives Inc

Sponsoring Sunshine Budget Advisory Service

5 Brisbane Street

P.O. Box 606 Sunshine 3020

. Australia.

Ph: 0418 328 278

Ph/Fax : (03) 9311 5052

or in India

Mr Geoff Heaviside

Flat #10 Kash Towers

93 South West Boag Road

T.Nagar, Chennai

INDIA 600017

Ph: (91 44) 4329580

Mobile : (91) 9840 097 178

E-mail: " Geoffrey Heaviside " <gheaviside@...>

______________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Dear forum members,

If we can agree on the fact that a core competence of a service organisation

include the development and planning part than we can derive the following

conclusions:

1-We need information about the funding posibilities

2-We need a education program for the people who has to develop and write the

plans

3-We need a standard structure or format for the plans

4-We need a translation of the busniplans to the format of the funding

organisation

5-We need to publisch to proposals and results of the requests

ad 1-We need information about the funding posibilities

This is a task of the CCM, govermental or other organisation. A welstructured

website containing a directory with funding organisations and contact persons

and format can do the job

ad 2-We need a education program for the people who has to develop and write the

plans

A good service organisation has allready skils inhouse. What is needed is some

ecucation in the way how you can develop and write your plans down in a

systematical manner. A normal business plan can do the job and education in

developing and writing a business plan for a service organisation can do the job

in this case. Posible self education using a good software sollution is the best

sollution in this case. As a suplement you can initiate it as a post educational

course in a business school

ad 3-We need a standard structure or format for the plans

You have to promote some standard software direct available on the market and

the best thing is to advise some sollution for a specific market segment (group

of NGO's etc). No need to develop software for this service market all software

is already direct available.

ad 4-We need a translation of the business plans to the format of the funding

organisation

In fact this is only a technecallity. Funding organisations have requirements

and the plan has to meet the requirements. In most cases this translation is not

to dificult. A good businessplan contains all the elements for a funding

request. Only in this stage a outsite service organisation can come in to add

advise for the specialitys of the funding organisation and help to format the

plan in the format of the funding organisation.

ad 5-We need to publisch to proposals and results of the requests

Accountability is a important part and publiching the proposals on the website

and the results of the request can do the job for the civil society and improve

the quality of the proposals

Using this approach every organisation in the funding process can execute his

own responcibility's and we only ask the doctor in, if we need advise in a

special case or if we are ill. If the quality is not what we need we have to do

more educational work. And we can bring in a price/awared for the best proposal.

Yours sincerely,

. Nivard

VisionFactory/GlobalQualityServices

Slimdijk 1

1631 DB Oudendijk NH

The Netherland

+31229542087

E-mail: <jnivard@...>

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