Uganda Red Cross Society (URCS) is a leading humanitarian organization in Uganda established by an act of Parliament in 1964 as an auxiliary to government service and mandated to offer service to the most vulnerable populations mainly in the areas of health and disaster management. In 2013, URCS contracted Socio-Economic Data Centre to undertake a review of its five years Strategic Plan which had been developed in 2011 through a consultative approach
PROJECT TITLE
Mid-Term Review of the Uganda Red Cross Society (URCS) Strategic Plan 2011-2015
To assess whether the Strategic Plan is on course to achieve its objectives, whether the approaches employed are sufficient to deliver the intended outcomes and whether the implementation machinery is appropriate to deliver the desired outcomes
I. To assess the level and progress of implementation of the strategic plan relative to the plan as was set out at inception and determine whether the strategic plan implementation is on track to achieve the intended objectives/outcomes.
II. To assess the adequacy and appropriateness of the structure set up for the implementation of the SP from the communities, branches, regions and the headquarters and make recommendations where changes are necessary to make the implementation more efficient.
III. To assess the methodologies and approaches that are being utilized for the SP implementation with a view to determine their effectiveness.
IV. To assess the adequacy and effectiveness of the Monitoring and Evaluation Framework for the SP as well as the tools being used for monitoring the implementation.
V. Using the five evaluation criteria, namely: a) Relevance, b) Efficiency, c) Effectiveness, d) Impact, and e) Sustainability; assess the implementation of the SP against the plan and targets as were set for the mid-term period and provide practical recommendations on how each of the 5 criteria can be better achieved in URCS in the remaining period of the SP 2011-2015.
VI. Assess the partnerships at branch and headquarter levels that have been established to support the achievement of the objectives of the SP.
VII. Make conclusions and recommendations on the implementation status, structure and other parameters and document best practice and lessons learnt that can be used to improve the implementation of the SP.
VIII. Based on the results of the MTR, revise/update the Strategic Plan.
A combination of qualitative and quantitative methods was used to conduct the MTR. The process was highly participatory, aiming to enlist views from a variety of stakeholders and partners involved in the implementation of the Strategic Plan. The assessment also entailed a review of documents, field visits and other consultative and participatory methods such as validation workshops
