NZAID

PMC Update | October 2008

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The Programme Management Committee (PMC) is responsible for the running of the KOHA-PICD and HAF (Humanitarian Action Fund) funding schemes for New Zealand 's international development NGOs. It holds six meetings a year; each is followed by an Update. The Updates include information on decisions taken by the PMC at its most recent meeting and issues of general interest to the New Zealand NGO community regarding the two schemes. The PMC welcomes your feedback on the Updates and any suggestions you have for their improvement.

As well as being posted on the NZAID Website, this Update is also sent directly to people within KOHA-registered NGOs. We always welcome other names from your NGO to add to the distribution list. Just send the names and email addresses of people you would like to receive Updates directly to claire-louise@koha-picd.org.nz  and we will oblige, starting with the next Update.

KOHA & HAF Update | October 2008

 

Introduction

The PMC had a ‘normal' meeting on 24-25 September 2008, after the previous meeting with its focus on the annual reporting cycle and allocation of block grants for KOHA and HAF. We considered reports from the Block Grant Organisations (BGOs) and from the Independent Grant Organisations (IGOs). The Committee had limited business relating to HAF and Belinda Gorman (Deputy Chair, NGO Disaster Relief Forum [NDRF]) joined the PMC for this part of the meeting. A major item for discussion was the finalisation of the PMC's annual report for the Annual Meeting of NGOs with NZAID and checking the changes to the KOHA Handbook which will be discussed at the Annual Meeting. We also discussed the annual report covering HAF activities for the past year.

Hilary Smith outlined the “Lessons learned for the NGO community” report by Terry Butt and herself, based on the Organisational Reviews they carried out in the 07/08 financial year. This has been made available to NGOs with the material for the Annual Meeting and is felt by the PMC to be a really useful document. The PMC met with David Culverhouse, Aileen Davidson and Lee Sentes, Council for International Development (CID) to discuss details regarding the 2009 Forum event and the 2009 training programme, both of which are shaping up very well.

The main outcomes of the meeting are summarised below along with related items of interest on the KOHA-PICD and HAF schemes for the New Zealand NGO development community.

Organisational Profiles

The PMC granted provisional registration to two NGOs: Open Home Foundation International Trust (a care and protection agency with a focus on the wellbeing of impoverished, neglected and abused children); and Triyog Himalaya Trust (through its Nepalese partner, the Trust is working on community development in eastern Nepal ).

KOHA-PICD Reports

The PMC considered a number of project reports from BGOs and IGOs and accepted the following: ADRA (Sustainable livelihoods through microfinance innovation, Mongolia); Oxfam NZ (Capacity building and institutional strengthening, Vanuatu); HETA Trust (Bia Hula Reclamation, Timor-Leste); International Needs NZ (Prevention and withdrawal of children from the worst forms of child labour, Ghana); NZ China Friendship Society (Establishment of partnership with Women's Federation of Shaanxi Province, China); One Asia Trust (Kathmandu Valley waste minimization/separation at source, Nepal).

KOHA-PICD Applications Approved | September 2008

  • Christian Blind Mission NZ | Comprehensive community-based rehabilitation in Manzese , Tanzania . GEN. / Disability, disadvantage and development conference, Australia . OSG
  • Fred Hollows Foundation NZ | Community eye care in Tanzania . PfD
  • GO Trust | Sanitation for Matigara village, India . GEN
  • International Needs NZ | Partnership development, India . PfD
  • NZ China Friendship Society | Establishment of new livelihood in Guozhang Township , China . GEN
  • NZ Council of Trades Unions | CTU Aid and development review and training process. OSG
  • One Asia Trust | Kathmandu Valley waste minimisation/separation at source, Nepal . PfD
  • Rotary NZ WCS | Shyamaghat Village improved community health and welfare through natural resource management, India . GEN
  • Toraja Rural Development | Monitoring and evaluation, Indonesia . AM&E
  • UNICEF NZ | The Treaty of Waitangi and Te Tiri o Waitangi: a customized introduction for UNICEF NZ. OSG

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Reminder: reporting on mulit-year projects

This is a reminder to all Individual Grant Organisations that have multi-year projects. It is a requirement that at the end of each year the IGO provides an annual financial acquittal for the preceding year (see KOHA-PICD Handbook Part A, Section 2.3 on p32). This would normally be around 15 months after receipt of funds, unless the NGO has agreed a no-cost extension with the PMC, and is required even if reporting has been sent in at the 9 month point in order to ensure continuous funding for the partner NGO.

Administrator checks

From time to time the PMC receives applications and reports that need to be tabled because some of the basic requirements have not been met. To cut down on everyone's transaction costs the PMC has asked the Administrators for both KOHA-PICD and HAF schemes to check incoming applications and reports for three common shortcomings before reports or applications are added to the next PMC agenda. They will (only) be checking for:

  1. Budgets are given in New Zealand dollars;
  2. IGOs have provided evidence of matching funds for KOHA grants; and
  3. Multi-year projects have provided a detailed budget for the next financial year and indicative budgets for all years.

Of course, anything NGOs can do to ensure that these things are checked off before applications and reports are sent out would be much appreciated by the PMC (and the Administrators).

HAF Reports

The PMC accepted the following report: ADRA (Cyclone Gene food distribution, Fiji . Annual Notification).

HAF Applications Approved | September 2008

No applications were approved at this meeting.

HAF Training Success

The PMC had a very positive report on the recently held HAF-funded workshop on the Sphere project. This is a project that addresses the minimum standards for humanitarian relief work. Given the strong demand for a longer course covering this area of relief work CID is now investigating the options for a longer course to be held in 2010 (as the 2009 programme is now full).

Using the Right HAF Form

Just a small point. Please go to the Website when you need to use HAF forms. Some very out-of-date forms are still being used for HAF reports. The latest versions will always be on the Web, but may not be in your organisation's files.

HAF Funding for Emergency Contingency Stocks

NGO's will by now have received a copy of the annual report from the PMC on the HAF. The report makes mention of the discussion that has taken place at Regional Meetings and in the NDRF on the possibility of using HAF funds to purchase and maintain emergency contingency stocks in New Zealand . The annual report says that: “The PMC wishes to remind NGOs that, as per HAF criteria, any NGO deciding to use HAF funds for emergency contingency stocks should have a comprehensive contingency plan, which includes plans for the appropriate use of such stocks.” By way of further guidance on this question, and drawing on the criteria set out in the HAF Handbook, the PMC suggests that NGOs should consider the following points in applications and reporting:

  • What is the experience of the NGO in the use of such stocks in emergency situations?
  • Are timely transportation mechanisms to likely points of deployment in place?
  • Does the NGO have distribution networks in place with appropriate mechanisms for local needs identification/participation?
  • How will coordination with other emergency agencies be managed?
  • Are there plans for appropriate training and monitoring for the use of items supplied?

Survey on the HAF Handbook

During September, five NGOs responded to the informal survey that Amanda sent out asking for comments on whether the HAF Handbook could be clarified so as to improve its usefulness to users of the HAF scheme. While most replies indicated NGOs are relaxed with the current Handbook, we did get back some detailed and helpful comments. Some of these need to be considered further by the PMC and could usefully be discussed by the NDRF as well. We would still like to hear from more organisations on this topic as the rationale for the survey was making ongoing improvements to the scheme overall.

PMC Meeting Dates for 2009

In order to reduce the pressure on NGOs and NZAID alike to turn around the payments that result from the last PMC meeting of each financial year without squeezing too many meetings in between the New Year and the end of June, the PMC has decided to cut out one of the three meetings that have usually been scheduled during this period.

As per the notification sent out to NGOs at the start of October, the schedule of PMC Meetings for 2009 is as follows:

 

Deadline

Noon Wednesday

Meeting Dates 2009

Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday

11 February
3/4/5 March
29 April
20-21 May
8 July
28/29/30 July
KOHA & HAF Block Grant NGOs:
Friday 3 July – AM&E reports & Annual Notifications
Monday 20 July – Financial Reports & BG Applications
2 September
23/24 September
28 October
18/19 November

 

 

Payment of Refunds

NZAID has requested that refunds of unspent balances in KOHA-PICD and/or HAF projects be made by direct deposit in the following bank account:

Bank: Westpac
Address: Government Business, Level 15, 318 Lambton Quay, Wellington
Account name: MFAT CROWN PAY
Account Number: 03-0049-0001602-25
SWIFT Address: WPACNZ2W

It would be of great help in processing the refund if information could be included to clearly describe the refund e.g. KOHA subsidy, Rural NZ Partnership Trust.

Could NGOs also please inform the KOHA-PICD PMC of the refund, giving details of the project, the amount of the refund and the date it was deposited.

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Chair's Comments

I write these comments while two significant election campaigns are underway – one in New Zealand , the other in the USA . As is usual in most national elections, candidates for office will be extolling their achievements and outlining various but competing policies to improve the economy, society, environment, and/or personal wellbeing. The backdrop for both campaigns is global concerns over the financial crisis in the USA and its possible ramifications for many other countries, both developing and developed. How this crisis will play out remains to be seen, but the inter-dependence of an economically-linked world is presently more a source of concern than comfort.

By contrast, the PMC election in October will be a low-key and much, much less expensive event. Yet I am confident that the two successful candidates will live up to their pre-election promises – to work hard as members of the PMC and promote the interests of the NZ development community. There is also a point of contrast between how we talk about the KOHA-PICD scheme in public and statements by political parties extolling their past achievements. KOHA-PICD and HAF schemes both emphasise learning, sharing and continuous improvement. That's fine and appropriate. But we need to recognise the importance of celebrating achievements too. The NZ NGOs involved in development can justifiably take pride in the stories from many places and communities where their input has made a positive and lasting improvement to the lives of the poor and the disadvantaged. We need to tell these stories to the next government and to the New Zealand public.

Kia kaha

Wren Green

 

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Page Last Reviewed: 29 October, 2009