A three-stage Partnership Framework

In 2015, to accompany the Partnership Policy, a partnership framework was developed and rolled out. Designed to mirror and align with the project life-cycle, the framework outlines the three key stages that the majority of programme partnerships will progress through.

This framework helps ensure that they develop appropriate partnerships, that the project is properly planned and implemented, that performance is monitored against agreed key measures, and that a regular review of the partnership’s performance is undertaken to take stock of learning and make decisions about its future.

Tools to support the partnership framework

Through partnership due diligence and quality standard tools they assess capacity with the partner organisations in order for both parties to understand their strengths and weaknesses and how these will affect delivery of the projects. The due diligence tool was piloted with partners in 3 regions and feedback was collated from both partners and the country office team which identified areas for change and improvement and fed into the finalised version.

A series of tools support the three phases of the framework.

• Partner Due Diligence tool (PDDT) – a comprehensive tool that enables assessment and baselining of partners for capacity (human resources, project management, safety & protocols, infrastructure etc.), strength of financial frameworks and accounting mechanisms and partner credibility and track record assessment. There is a light touch and in-depth version for Government partners, BPO/DPO or other community- based organisations and National NGO/international NGO/private sector organisations. Results of this assessment are linked to project design criteria so that capacity needs of partners can be considered and planned for within a project.
• A new Partnership module will be added to the Quality Self-Assessment Tool (QSAT) – to enable ongoing assessment of partner strengths and weaknesses, following the baseline assessment carried out in the PDDT.
• Partnership review survey – a short survey focusing on the relationship and collaboration between the partners based on the seven Partnership Principles.
• Partnership Learning Capture: captures important learnings from the partnership such as key success factors, challenges and lessons learnt for future initiatives
• Exit Planning toolkit: Includes tools and templates including exit planning guidelines, exit checklist, risk assessment template partner communication guidelines