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Requirements for project proposals |
1. Priority will be given
to projects that strengthen democracy, good governance and human
rights;
2. Equal priority will be given to:
a. tackling HIV/AIDS. Account should be taken of Lesotho’s HIV/AIDS
strategy and a project’s relevance to the country’s mainstream
HIV/Aids programme; support to the most marginalised affected groups
(e.g. orphans, older people) would be good;
b. developing effective poverty alleviation strategies.
General
1. What is the problem?
A project should identify a problem and propose a solution. You
should make sure you understand the problem and how the proposed
solution addresses it. This will help clarify the project's overall
goals or wider objectives and may show you how it relates to DFID’s
priority objectives.
2. What are the immediate objectives?
Unless the overall problem is very simple, a project will
contribute to, rather than provide, a solution. The immediate
objective is the project's purpose.
3. How will you tell whether the wider or immediate objectives
have been realised?
If the project contributes to solving a problem, its
contribution should be identifiable and, ideally, quantifiable and
at appraisal you should set a clear target for this contribution.
4. Are the immediate objectives realistically achievable?
The activities to be financed may be insufficient to achieve the
objectives and, even if they are sufficient, the implementing
organisation may not have the required competence or resources.
Internal risks:
• Has the applicant any experience of similar projects?
• Are the planned resources and activities sufficient to produce the
outputs?
• Do the proposed beneficiaries want the "benefits"?
External risks:
• Does the project design make realistic assumptions about factors
outside its control?
5. Who are the beneficiaries?
The project should identify the target group of people who will
benefit. You should also consider others with a stake in the project
who may be overall losers as a result of it.
6. Is the project sustainable?
If the project requires running costs for staff, materials, etc.
then a reliable source must be identified in the design. If SGS
finance is sought for running costs, an external source must be
identified at the outset to take over when SGS support stops.
You should aim to support projects that will eventually be able to
survive without SGS or any other external support.
7. Are we getting value for money?
If possible, compare the costs and benefits with what you would
expect from another local source.
8. Are the proposed inputs realistic?
Apart from any possible SGS input, are the resources the project
needs likely to be available? (e.g. volunteer time, equipment,
technology, other funding)
Organisational
A. What organisation(s) is/are involved in the project and what are
their roles in project implementation?
More than one organisation may be involved. However many there are,
roles should be clearly defined and you should assess their capacity
to fulfil those roles.
B. What are the main organisation's objectives?
At best, a project proposal will represent an area of overlap
between the SGS objectives and those of the main ‘sponsor’
organisation. You need to know how central the project is to their
main purpose and, in broad terms, what else the organisation stands
for.
C. Are the beneficiaries part of the organisation?
If so, is there any conflict of interest? Who is excluded from
project benefits through non-membership of that organisation? Were
they consulted?
D. Does the organisation have the capacity to implement the project?
What is its track record?
E. Is the organisation sustainable?
With large, established organisations, assessing sustainability
should be straightforward. However, the opposite is true of a small
or fledgling organisation. These are extremes, but you may find you
have only incomplete information on which to decide whether a
promising but embryonic organisation represents too big a risk to
take with taxpayers’ money or the potential contribution to
development is too important to miss. |
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