Review of Norwegian Church Aid in Eritrea (NCA-E)

This report reviews the actions taken by the office of Norwegian Church Aid in Eritrea (NCA-E), its organisation and activities during the period 2005-2008. The background for this report is the Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) that the Norwegian Embassy and NCA-E signed in 2005, and the problems NCA-E has encountered in implementing the programme. The NCA is the only Norwegian NGO with a presence in the Eritrea. The report states that the NCA-E would like to examine the possibility of developing integrated programmes around water supply projects and food security.

The report notes that the SPA, although addressing relevant topics and partners, did not take off. This was mainly due to new government regulations, but also due to weaknesses in the design of the SPA projects, and in the dialogue between NCA-E and partners. On the other hand, the report points to the short of staff with the capacity and competence to improve the NCA-E programming, its implementation and reporting, including results reporting. NCA-E capacity seems to be overstretched, and there is insufficient monitoring.

The report's main recommendations are as follows:

• NCA-E should develop a more strategic approach to working with partners in the current difficult setting in Eritrea
• the NCA-E office needs to develop better job descriptions and internal capacity-building plans for the existing staff. NCA-E should make use of local available competence in Eritrea to devise an institutional and staff capacity development plan
• NCA-E should develop a country-specific project manual, linking the various NCA-tools to the project cycle, and to requirements for project planning and reporting in Eritrea
• NCA are advised to rethink their level of support to the country office, and institutionalise better support systems and communication routines
• half-yearly meetings are recommended, beside continuing joint field missions with partners.