25.09.2011

Dialogue between equals

medico’s work with partners

medico does not implement development projects itself but supports the work of partner organisations in Africa, Asia and Latin America. In many cases cooperation lasts for many years and we develop a close relationship with our partners. However medico is also always entering into cooperation with new partners. Before agreeing to become partners, both sides need to check whether their respective aims and objectives coincide. The partner organisations then submit specific funding applications. During a cooperation programme we consult with our partners on whether we are on track towards achieving our common objectives and reflect on what improvements we can make. At the end of a project we also check what went well and what we should do differently next time. This process is often referred to as planning, monitoring and evaluation, or PME for short, but we prefer the terms reflective practice and partner dialogue.

Finding partners

When medico decided some years ago to become more active in the field of migration we wanted to find partners whose politics and programming matched medico’s vision. While researching on the internet and discussing this with colleagues from other non-governmental organisations, one of medico’s staff came across the Association Malienne des Expulsés (AME), a self-help group of deported migrants in Mali. A visit to Mali confirmed that medico should cooperate with AME. The organisation not only provides emergency relief for individuals who have been deported or expelled immediately following their return, but also carries out public awareness campaigns and is politically active. It is a committed member of national, regional and international migration policy and anti-globalisation networks and encourages the deportees and expellees to help themselves and to become involved in shaping their political reality. This comprehensive approach closely matches medico’s objectives and way of working and AME’s first application in 2008 was approved. Since then medico and AME have been working together.

Cooperation based on mutual respect is the basis of every partnership for medico. This also includes recognising our partners’ autonomy and their specific features since they work under a wide range of conditions. A standardised PME process would be too rigid to cover all this diversity. We therefore apply PME tools flexibly, for example tailoring them to the size and capacities of our partner organisation. We use them primarily as a means of communication at the various stages of cooperation. By maintaining a constant dialogue both sides can reflect on their own work and learn from each other. This allows a relationship of trust to be built up which also makes it easier to overcome difficulties and conflicts.

Joint evaluation

In December 2010 AME and medico staff met to evaluate the cooperation so far and to discuss future plans. Two colleagues from La Cimade, one of AME’s French partner organisations, also attended, since AME, like many other organisations, is not only funded by medico. This means its work needs to be coordinated and agreed with a wide range of stakeholders. The interim evaluation report stated that: ‘AME has made impressive progress since 2007: its political position is sounder and the organisational structure has improved.’ But it was also clear that AME had taken on too much and that it was losing sight of its core tasks. The joint report stated: ‘It is important for AME to remain true to its mandate and to set priorities to avoid weakening the organisation.’ However the joint evaluation was not only used to assess AME’s work, but also to reflect on how the different organisations were cooperating with each other. For example, the report states: ‘The relationship between AME, La Cimade and medico is very good; we speak “the same language” and our organisations complement each other.’ As so often, here too, we saw that other donors wanted to tie their funding to specific activities; whereas, medico also finances the organisational infrastructure such as office space, staff costs, etc. medico is bucking the trend of funding publicly visible projects at the expense of expanding and maintaining local organisational infrastructure.

This is as unsatisfactory for medico as it is for our partners: the constant need to apply and bill for individual projects to different donors places a huge administrative burden on them. Therefore, in AME’s case, an agreement was made at medico’s suggestion following the joint evaluation that all partners should pay into a pooled budget in future and use this to fund the organisational infrastructure as well as projects. For AME, this means not only that funding for their infrastructure is more secure, it also relieves the burden by standardising administrative procedures. The pooled budget was also approved over a longer term, which also reduces the administrative burden for all sides.

The joint interim evaluation of AME, La Cimade and medico in December 2010 was thus not merely a chance to consult and plan future cooperation. Agreements were made on very specific improvement measures affecting all the organisations involved. At the next evaluation we will need to check the extent to which the agreed changes have been implemented and whether they have had the expected impact. Until then, however, we will still consult frequently with our AME colleagues, remaining open to any changes and maintain our partnership.