TANZANIA OPERATIONAL REPORT

August 4, 2017

FACTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON PROGRAM OPTIMIZATION,

ADMINISTRATION, AND VOLUNTEER MANAGEMENT IN TANZANIA

Prepared By: Brian M Touray

Crossroads International
Tanzania Operational Report
 List of Abbreviations

CBO Community based organizations

CI Crossroads International
KWIECO Kilimanjaro Women Information Exchange and Consultancy Organization
NGOs Non-Governmental Organizations
TGNP Tanzania Gender Networking Programme

Crossroads International
Tanzania Operational Report
Table of Contents
1. Executive Summary .................................................................................. 4
2. Background ............................................................................................... 5
3. Priority Development areas ..................................................................... 7
3.1 Program Optimization.........................................................................................8
3.2 Volunteer Management ....................................................................................10
3.3 Vitality of Enterprise Development ................................................................14
3.4 Streamlining Administrative processes .........................................................17
4. Conclusion ............................................................................................... 18

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1. Executive Summary
Crossroads International has Partners with many organizations around
the globe, including KWIECO and TGNP enabling them in creating
envisioned change they want to usher in the geographical regions that
they operate in. Crossroads International has brought in its expertise and
acumen in Organizational Development and Competency Development,
etc., and assist the Organizations to take their next big leaps on various
fronts resulting in better program design and outcomes/results, better
coverage, and outreach to the community/Beneficiaries, accelerated
program goal achievement and improved Organizational efficiency and
capacity.

To further capacitate Crossroads International to create a greater value

for its partners in Tanzania and to streamline its own operation, a few
recommendations are being proposed through this report to the
Crossroads International Management team.

As part of its efforts to continually improve the synergies required for the
maximum impact on the issues being faced by partners, volunteers, and
Crossroads itself, the LO + M&E officer conducts surveys and other
feedback garnering exercises regularly. Information gathered from recent
exercises suggest that there is still room for some improvement, which if
the gaps are bridged, could help in building a better Partnership, lucid
working relations and create deeper impact and positive change. The
report discusses each of these areas in details, and suggests some short-
term and a few long- term measures which will have a considerable
influence towards the desired outcomes.

Feedback from key Client stakeholders (including members of the partner

NGOs across various levels of hierarchy and benchmarking studies are
some of the sources of inputs which have been employed to provide the
most optimal solutions.

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2. Background

Crossroads International is an International Development Organization

that works with local partners in 28 projects, in eight countries and
supported by hundreds of volunteers each year, Crossroads leverages
expertise and resources, North and South, required to help people
overcome poverty and assert their human rights. It strives to create a
more equitable and sustainable world by engaging and strengthening
individuals, organizations and communities through mutual learning,
solidarity, and collective action.

Crossroads International works with several Development

Organizations/NGOs including some CBOs across the globe and
empowers them with its expertise in Gender, Human Rights, in
Organizational Development, Program design and implementation,
staff competency development, Strategic planning, etc.

Community based organizations (CBO's) are nonprofit groups that work

at a local level to improve life for its communities. The focus is to build
equality across society in all streams sexual health, education, access
justice etc. These CBO's are staffed by local community members
mostly, who know the pulse and needs of their community members
and help in instilling the much-required trust and partnership between
the CBO and the community members. The desire and willingness to
help the community is the primary binding force amongst the CBOs
though their occupational skill sets and experience are could be very
diverse.

KWIECO and TNGP are examples of the many Non-profit Organizations

(NGOs) or CBOs that work on issues related to Gender equality, Human
rights for all, women and youth empowerment, sustainable employment
generation and providing Legal Aid.

The Program Officer of Tanzania did an excellent job in identifying the

partners few years ago, because both KWIECO and TGNP are well-known
due to the impact their programs have had in past and the benefits the
Community has derived from the same. Nonetheless, TGNP is gradually
slipping away, because their Gender Training Institute, a catalyst for the
partnership, is no longer operational. Change of leadership has its own
drawbacks sometimes, because different leaders use different style of
leadership, which may or may not work depending on the existing culture
of the organization. The TGNP leadership has been under lot of scrutiny,
and hopefully things will deviate to a better route.

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Lot of Crossroads volunteers worked with partners on various aspects and
levels of Capacity Building themes, using a data backed objective
approach. Several diagnostic inventories have been administered and has
helped in creating primary data and Baseline for interventions and
programs. This is an extremely critical exercise as it not only helps in
analyzing the situation at the grassroot level but also helps in drawing out
the Benchmark and therefore the targets for the current and future
programs.

Crossroads however, need to revisit their approach in designing and

deployment of many interventions including those related to perception
about Management, Communication, Organizational Capacity, Benchmark
establishment, Competency Development, and Training Need Analysis,
etc.

There are some measures which can proliferate Crossroads Internationals

ability to provide better value in these partnerships and the same have
been discussed in the next section of the report.

Additionally, Crossroads International is also focusing around Women

Economic Empowerment and therefore, it will need to work with several
smaller entrepreneurship groups and community based organizations, to
reach out to the women target audience. Change in strategy is required
for the same too.

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3. Priority Development areas

Crossroad Internationals partnership with the host NGOs operating in

Tanzania has resulted in perceptible changes in the program management
and impact of these programs on the communities, brand image of these
organizations within the local communities and on international fora.

However, Crossroads International intends to proactively evolve its

partnership relations with its partner organizations to be more future ready
and agile to deal with the highly dynamic microcosm in which Crossroads
International and these partners operate in.

As part of this process, data collected from various sources like interaction
with key stakeholders including management members, benchmarking
data available of similar organizations, was collected and analyzed.

Crossroads International Volunteer Management Team has identified the

following developmental areas and requested that the Tanzania LO write
a report and make some recommendations for consideration by CI
Management team.

The Development areas are:

1. Program optimization
2. Volunteer Management
3. Vitality of Enterprise Development
4. Streamline Administrative processes

Each one of these areas and the suggested recommendations have been
discussed in the subsequent portion of this report. Some of these may be
short-term measures while others may require change or inclusion.

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3.1 Program Optimization

Since the commencement of Crossroads Internationals partnership with

the Organizations in Tanzania, a considerable amount of work has been
done on diverse areas including program designing and implementation
to address project/program needs. These programs have had
commendable impact on the lives of the community members and the
brand image of both these Organizations.

Current Crossroads Internationals M&E and LO conducted Baseline

studies to secure data for program design and setting goals. He devised
a more robust M&E framework for the Program Design which has added
more potency to the Program efficacy. The Advisor revamped and
designed the M&E field research diagnostic tools which are the very first
and critical step to collect relevant information from various stakeholders.

Additionally, Crossroads International intends to focus its work around

Women Economic Empowerment and therefore it should seek more
community based organizations, that primarily focused on Economic
Empowerment to reach out to women in marginalized communities. The
contributions made by grassroots organizations in providing services to
the marginalized, promoting human welfare and in promoting the growth
of the third sector in the world cannot be overemphasized. These
contributions enhance human development within their local communities
in terms of skill building, economic empowerment and enhancing quality
of life. Research has shown that CBOs program/project impact and
positive outcome are more imminent and easier to measure compared
projects/programs implemented by larger scale NGOs. Although, Change
in strategy is required for the same too.

1. The Crossroads International team need to plan for availability for

longer and bigger projects implemented by CBO partners.
Considering that organizations like KWIECO and TGNP are at a
juncture where they would look for bigger interventions in the
community, a more involved and hands-on partnership and
expertise availability is what these organizations require.
a. CI operations should draw up its plan for Tanzania for the
long-term and look at aspects like what kind of partners it
would like to engage further, which new themes it would like
to enter into, analyzing the changing demographics and issues
of the target population and identifying the trends of the
future, volunteer engagement and competency building (both
local and International volunteers), partner skill upgradation,
etc. They should share appropriate portions of their strategic
plan with its partners so that there is synchrony in their action
plans.

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 2. Comprehensive field visits for Volunteers should be conducted more
frequently. This will not only better volunteers understanding of the
local community and its issues but all help in assessing the
competency levels of the volunteers and how much of the same do
they exhibit while working with these communities. This is a
necessary check-point for the successful implementation of the
programs CI is involved in.

3. Per feedback from partners, Joint planning should be enhanced in

all aspects of the partnership which includes participatory
brainstorming, planning, implementation, analyses of programs and
their performance, etc. This means that there is more demand of the
CI participation and expertise.

4. CI Advisor needs to work on a more comprehensive strategy to work

on Women economic empowerment programs which is currently an
area of focus for CI worldwide operations. This could include
identifying additional partners of both small and medium scale
enterprises, small and multiple community based organizations,
through existing partners or engaging with new ones. This strategic
plan would need to formulate plan for capability building, operations
and planning, budgeting, partnerships that it would seek and
maintain in future, programs, data collection and analysis, etc.

5. As the operations and partner base of Crossroads International is

expanding, demands for its expertise is increasing; increased local
presence is the need of the hour. The presence could be increased
by the following measures:
a. Crossroads International Regional Office establishment.
(currently in the works). This Office would provide ease of
operations to Crossroads International Head Office. This
would lead to closer follow-up and interactions with the local
partners etc.
b. Local Staff and CIs country representative working with
Crossroads International LO to coordinate all programs and
planning for the same. This would not only provide the
required helping hands but free up time for more strategic
engagement and planning activities. The CI management
would hold the accountability for day-to-day operational
action items from the Crossroads Partnership. CI must
however realize that running an office in Tanzania, especially
Dar es Salaam will not come cheap.
BANK ATM withdrawal fees by the Canadian Banks can be
exorbitant, depending on the number of transactions made
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3.2 Volunteer Management

Since the establishment of partners in Tanzania, about seven volunteers

come and work with KWIECO and TGNP, the only CI partners in the
country. However, some had issues with unrealistic assignments
designated by partners contrary to what is on their actual mandates, and
most had issue/concerns about the cost of living in Tanzania

The Volunteers additionally deal with culture shock, adjusting in a new

country which in most cases is very different from their own, reaching out
to people and the feeling of being left out/ being alone especially as they
are not able to speak the local dialect.

Therefore, in addition to the measures which are recommended for

partners to engage in national volunteering and retention, additional
measures have been suggested when the Volunteer is a non-local. In
addition to all this, the local partner need to be involved in the orientation
of new volunteers and be part of an assimilation process, accelerating the
same as many times as possible.

It is obvious that Crossroads is very particular about cost, however, there

must be a realization that some of the cost Crossroads is concerned about
could hamper the efficacy of its operation. The success of any
organization, especially a Volunteer management organization depends
on the employees on the frontline. Necessary Resources must be available
for maximum results. Crossroads need to be very upfront with potential
volunteers to Tanzania and elsewhere. Indeed, Volunteers are experts in
their field well as expats in the sense that they are temporarily stationed
here, nonetheless, they must acknowledge that they are only provided
with a living allowance that accommodates a minimum standard of living.

Crossroads must understand that having the next Liaison Officer in Dar
does not eliminate the anticipated cost forecasted. There must be a
realization that regardless of where the Liaison Officer is stationed, he/she
must travel to other locations of Tanzania where Crossroads volunteers
are or will be stationed, whether to receive them from Airport, orientation
purposes which includes meeting partners and introducing volunteers.

Volunteer living allowance is well below the standard of living in Tanzania,

and caused a row of criticism and dissatisfaction among volunteers.
Almost every volunteer that came to Tanzania has significantly
supplemented their allowance to live near comfortably. Most volunteers
are not willing to re-volunteer, because they feel there wasnt enough
support from Crossroads. Crossroads must come into terms with fact that
Tanzania is one of the biggest host of International Development
Organizations, as result there are many expats and experts, which
basically elevates the cost of everyday living. Monthly rental of modest
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type of accommodation in a safe and secure location can cost as much as
an apartment in Canada, and not talking about exclusive neighborhoods
where the rent can go as high as $3,000 to $5,000 USD a month. In Dar
es Salaam, it is not unusual for one bedroom to cost as much as $1000
USD per month. A volunteer previously attached to TGNP use to pay $800
USD per month, renting a room in a house.

When it comes to integration, Crossroads should encourage partners to

spend more time orientating new volunteers to familiarize them with the
organization, including holding at least one general staff meeting on week
one of volunteers arrival for initial introduction purposes. Part of the
Partner Orientation should also include introducing volunteers to the
community and community leaders prior to engaging with them.

It is the responsibility of the volunteer to let the community know that

he/she is there to work with them and together try to diagnose the current
situation and come up with intervention measures and implementation
strategies. The wrong this to say to any community is I am here to help
you and I will help you It does nothing but open complex issues and
will eventually catchup to you.

For smooth integration with local partners, volunteers must not have this
perceived notion that they are here to help the partner and that they can
single handedly handle task assigned to them. We must remember that
this is a team work and consultation with the partner is required at all
levels. Suggestions to the partner and rejection of assignments can be
made but on a very professional manner which doesnt raise any
animosity or rancor between the parties. There must be an understanding
from the volunteer that it is a learning process, because you learn and
gain from the partner and community as much as you give. It is never
one sided because Crossroads needs the partner as much as the partners
needs Crossroads.

1. Volunteer Orientation Program: A one-week Orientation

program may be conducted for Volunteers which would provide
them insights into relevant past and current projects, their impact,
the partner organization, team/s they will be working with, etc. The
Program could also include interaction with all/most important
stakeholders.

Volunteers may be given an Integration Kit even before they start

they commence their journey to the host country. The kit could
include important information as commonly used words/phrases in
KISWAHILI.

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 2. Cultural Orientation: Volunteers may be unaware of the cultural
practices, taboos, and commonly used mannerisms, etc. to help
them understand the host community better and to help them act
in-sync and integrate better while working in-field.

3. Friend and Mentor allocation: Volunteers may seek or be

allocated a Friend who may be local friend from work and helps
them settle down. They would also benefit from being allocated a
Mentor who may be a mid to senior management member and has
a more guidance role and would yield more benefits if their areas of
work aligned.

4. Goal setting and feedback: It is highly recommended that the

Goals of the Volunteer are discussed and explained along with the
performance metrics. This would give them clear inputs about what
is expected from them. In addition, regular feedback sessions with
the Project Manager should be conducted so that they could discuss
any hurdles, bounce off ideas, mid-course corrections, request for
additional resources or assistance, etc. These meetings are also an
excellent opportunity for the Manager to gauge the engagement
level of the Volunteers, identify the low and exceptional performers
and if there is any need for intervention, proactively.

5. Handholding/coaching on job by more experienced members of

the team, especially in field trip and community work will help them
get integrated with the community members without anxiety.

6. Partners should also be oriented to understand the issues typically

faced by Volunteers and what assistance they could provide or who
they could direct them to for certain issues.

7. Volunteers may also be put in touch with those who have

successfully volunteered previously so they may get coaching tips
and feedback, if required.

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 8. Benchmarking of allowances, benefits, etc. should be done
periodically to ascertain that the Volunteer allowances and benefits
being extended are in alignment with other organizations or the
host countries cost of living standard. Organizations operating in
Tanzania and those working on similar issues may be a good
starting point. As the next step, benchmarking the same with other
employment opportunities available for these Volunteers may also
be considered. Allowances should be adjusted for hardship and cost
of living, suitably. (already been discussed and there are some
adjustments already made).

9. It was also suggested that CI could hire a permanent local premise

for Volunteer accommodation. (a phone call between the LO and
Volunteer PO on August 3, suggest that consideration is off the
table) This would ensure that they feel secure, amenities would be
of a more acceptable standard, the live with likeminded people and
do not have to struggle to deal with a landlord, leasing agents. This
facility could even house additional engagement activities like
sports, library, availability of high speed internet, etc. The Volunteer
accommodation would also have dining options suited to their
tastes.

10. In the past, few volunteers expressed dissatisfaction with their host
and has caused a couple of them leave their placement before the
end of their mandates. This is not something that should be a
pattern. Periodic surveys on what motivates and helps in retention
of Volunteers (especially the high performing ones) may be
conducted. When a Volunteer leaves, an exit interview could
provide valuable information about factors that aid retentions and
those that push them towards exit.

11. Selection process of these Volunteers should be geared towards

finding candidates that not only are good in their area of work but
also the willingness and passion to work with local communities and
Teams in developmental organizations. Research shows that
candidates who brought in qualities like inspiring confidence, trust
and were easily accessible and moved in well with the community
members made better and more impactful Volunteers. In addition,
focus should be to hire candidates that have expertise in multiple
areas of work and those who are looking for long term (1 year or
more) and steady engagement with Crossroads International
Tanzania operations to ensure less disruption in program
management.

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 12. A lot of Volunteers look for permanent employment opportunities,
especially if the Volunteering experience has been good. The
organizations would also benefit from committed staff joining them
that know the Organization and Team well and identify with the
work culture and values of the organization. Programs to select
good performing Volunteers for open positions within the
organization may be a great way to attract and retain them for a
longer term.

13. Lastly, Crossroads International may network with other likeminded

organizations to understand the Volunteer issues that they face and
how they are dealt with.

3.3 Vitality of Enterprise Development

Crossroads International wishes to work extensively and with added

vigor on Women economic empowerment programs. Women belonging
to marginalized or underserved communities in Tanzania are highly
vulnerable and despite working as much or even more than their men
counterparts, they still fall victims of unfair pay practices, gender based
violence, lack of access to justice, poor health and sanitation, poverty,
discrimination within the justice system.

Making inroads and reaching out to women in these communities may

be a difficult task. However, working with small and medium scale
enterprises, community based organization is the first step towards this
initiative. The long-term objective however should be to bring all these
small and medium scale enterprises under a unified umbrella and
operate as a Cooperative. Eventual objective would be for the
community members or elected leadership to have the ownership and
accountability to run the Enterprise per the needs of the community.
Enterprise Development would provide the final integration step which
would act as the self-sustaining movement that not only holds local
communities accountable and involved but attracts and motivates them
to work collectively for the development of the entire community.

There are a numerous examples of such organizations across the globe

which have completely transformed the lives, outlook, gender and
equality balances and economic conditions of the members, especially
women.

These Organizations have the necessary skill set and the strong foot
hold already established which can be the commencement point. Local
produce and resources could be utilized effectively to service the
demands of consumers across Tanzania as well.
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The Enterprise would have numerous benefits some of which have been
illustrated below:

1. Business Incubation: The Enterprise would provide the necessary

handholding and assistance to the Entrepreneurs till the time they
are fine to carry on independently. Entrepreneurs may keep coming
back or be in touch with the nodal incubation team for any
assistance in future as well.

2. Access to funding and Donors: Enterprise is a unified and far

more powerful platform which would attract the right Donors and
funding opportunities with better ease. Self Help Groups run the
facility of extending loans to the members and this practice could also
benefit a lot of women Entrepreneurs who have ideas and will but no
funds to start their business.

3. Business expertise: The Enterprise nodal team could be the

source of information on how to make business decisions,
organizing the operations, formulating the policies, and pricing,
etc.

4. Vocational Training: The Enterprise could also provide vocational

training to new members or youth. Through this platform they may
have access to superior technologies and latest developments and
have access and learn from the finest teachers available even
remotely.

5. Access to International Markets: Once the Enterprise

establishes its market credibility and a strong brand name, it will
have better bargaining power, access to International and better
paying markets which would multiply the profits generated
otherwise.

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 The Enterprise can also become the hub of support for the members
especially women who have the major responsibility of child care,
nutrition, and health of the family. As the next step, the Enterprise
could provide these benefits to the children of women members. It
could also work as a catch em young strategy to help develop the
human resource which will join the Enterprise movement in the near
future. Legal Aid may also be similarly extended to women.

Economic empowerment and association with a supportive

Mammoth like this Enterprise will help in changing the gender
balance and perception of the society towards women and their
rights.

Enterprises have a collective bargaining power with all important

stakeholders which includes funding partners, international
developmental organizations, government authorities, political
parties, community members, etc.

Enterprises have the capability to create greater impact and

influence on the policy making machinery of Tanzania.

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3.4 Streamlining Administrative processes

Crossroads International suggests that a few processes related to

processing of visas for visitors, volunteers and Advisors should be
streamlined to provide a better experience and improve the time and
effort efficiency. The LO is very familiar with Tanzania and has gone
through the work and residence permit application process few times, and
2016 been the latest. (after the new immigration laws took effect). On
Thursday, August 3, 2017, a phone call between the LO and Crossroads
volunteer PO, it was brought to the LOs attention that Crossroads
consulted with a volunteer team manager of another Development
organization, inquiring about VISAS and CIs proposed registration
process in Tanzania.

Some of the information provided to Crossroads is over exaggerated. E.G.

A VISA holder may be denied entry into the country of the issuing
authority, nonetheless, the reason for entry denial cannot be and will
never be because the VISA in invalid. Generally, most reasons for port of
entry denials is a result of prior immigration violation, and undeclared
criminal conviction.

The Tanzania LO gets his information directly from the source and not
from a medium. Getting lot of information from different sources creates
confusion, conflicting and inconsistent information. Although, there is no
ramification to enter Tanzania with a business/visitors visa and launch a
work permit application, however, it is recommended that volunteers wait
to receive their work permits before leaving Canada. CIs volunteer team
must understand that the business is like the visitors visa, because they
both prohibit employment, except that the business visa is more complex
to apply for with lot of requirements and yet, no added advantaged to it.

These are a few suggestions that could be useful the VISA/PERMIT

application process:

1. If registered, organizations like Crossroads International could

request for a more relaxed VISA/Work & Residence permit
application process from the Government, considering its
contribution towards the development of Tanzania along with its
partner organizations. Governments do extend special exemptions
to staff and volunteers associated with such organizations. (this was
suggested by the commissioner of labor) whom the LO spoke with
on August 3, 2017, to confirm the processing time of work permit
applications. The answer was no different than previous information
LO provided to Crossroads volunteer team, which is two to four
weeks depending on number of applications received that week.
Nonetheless, it cannot be more than 4 weeks, if all requirements
are met.
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 2. Crossroads to continue using their local partners to file for work and
residence permits of volunteers. With 90 to 95 percent of its
workforce being lawyers, KWIECO has experience working legal
documents, contracts etc. The Managing director of KWIECO often
processes lot of work and residence permits applications for not only
Crossroads volunteers, but also staff for other International NGOs
based in Kilimanjaro.

3. The work permit should normally be filed by the partner

organization with the support of the Liaison Officer. According to
the Ministry of Labor, in the interest of consistency it is always
better to have a familiar face from the volunteer host organization
filing the launching work permit applications, and make sure that
the applicants role and responsibilities doesnt fall under the
restricted occupation list, which includes but not limited to
Accounting, Engineering, Medical Doctors, and Human Recourses
professionals. The residence permit application usually goes smooth
because, it can only be launched after a work permit has been
issued. The same particulars and supporting documents submitted
with the work permit application is to be submitted with the
residence permit application. Again, it is recommended to have a
familiar face from the volunteer host organization to file the permit.

4. Registering Crossroads in Tanzania and they can file permits for

their own volunteers. Per the advice from the commissioner of labor
and an inspector at the immigration department, work and
residences permit application would be much easier when the
organization brining in volunteers is registered in Tanzania.
However, there is a process. The PO and LO of Tanzania met with
the attorney working on the registration process, also CIs ED and
the Tanzania LO met with both the attorney and the head of Farm
Radio Tanzania who helping facilitate the process as well. The
process was stagnant for a while but recently on full throttle after
the LO facilitated a meeting between the attorney and the farm
radio representative. After speaking with both, it seems the process
has begun and the attorney will come back to CI with expected
completion date.

5. It is still not clear where Crossroads wants to permanently house it

head office in Tanzania. If cost is still a concern for Crossroads, then
having the office and the next LO in Dar es Salaam should be a topic
to be revisited by CI management. It is more logical and practical
to have the LO and the Crossroads office located at the same
district, if not share the same office.

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 4. Conclusion
We have witnessed the impact Crossroads International and its efforts have
had on various facets of both these Organizations. The results being
achieved by them, improvement in program performance, better outreach
to the community, better awareness about the aid available to Locals,
better services being rendered to the Target groups, improved morale, etc.
is a clear indication of the same.
Defining success can be a challenge, especially within the Non-Profit
Sector, nonetheless, success can be measured on an individual level
rather than on general outcome basis. That is however, is easier to
achieve with CBO projects and programs.

However, for evolving this partnership to the next level, the

recommended suggestions may be considered for implementation by the
Crossroads International management. These measures will help to
develop a more strategic and long-term operation plan in the region.

For the most past, Crossroads do engage in consultation from the field,
seek advice/recommendation and even partially of fully adopt them.
Nonetheless, team work means visiting each others strategies or
approach of scenarios or issues. It is essential we continue to learn from
each other and should not overlook or undermine each others inputs
and or feedbacks.

It is highly recommended that Crossroads include the LO in all

correspondence related to the partners situated in the Los host country.
There have been instances, where the LO is been contacted to follow up
on pending issues which he didnt have any prior knowledge. On the
other hand, it is integral that Crossroads be very firm by setting
acceptable communication standards which must include;

Maximum number of days/hours to respond to correspondence

Copying of the LO in all correspondence

This is very important, because there have been occasions when the PO
of Tanzania tirelessly try to get in touch with partners, mainly, TGNP, and
without response, the PO directly appeals to the LO to contact partner in
question about the matter.

Strong, healthy, and sustainable relationship/partnership can only be

achieved when everything is put on the table during process of
developing a new partnership. Things are not always what they appear to
be, especially when dealing with multiple NGOs in the developing world.
The littlest of things can make a difference, therefore a periodic rigorous
partnership review using as many criteria as possible could be useful in
determining whether to continue a partnership to terminate.
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