Building Support for South Sudan’s Development through M&E and Reporting

By admin | Published: May 24, 2013

SUPPORT_Mobilization-01For six years, MSI produced robust monitoring and evaluation under the Service Under Program and Project Offices for Result Tracking (SUPPORT) project. The SUPPORT team produced a steady flow of studies on numerous sectors, as evidenced in the infographic.

The support came at a historic time, as USAID was setting up the new South Sudan Mission and faced numerous logistical and program challenges. In addition to monitoring over $1 billion of the USAID portfolio, we also organized and prepared numerous high-level meetings and conference logistics.

We helped to strengthen the mission’s capacity through mentoring and building skills of USAID staff. In an ever-changing environment, we achieved concrete results and maintained a noteworthy efficiency.

Last fall, the SUPPORT project closed. MSI produced an user-friendly report to highlight the achievements of USAID/ South Sudan and the project:

To download the paper, please visit the USAID DEC page.
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MSI’s Hisham Jabi Presents Behavioral Approach to Entrepreneurship

By admin | Published: May 21, 2013

DSC_0002 - Copy 1MSI Technical Director Hisham Jabi participated in the Young Entrepreneur Forum international conference last week in Marrakech, Morocco. He presented MSI’s established methodology and models for fostering entrepreneurship, including MSI’s Entrepreneurship Development Program (EDP). The EDP has been applied in 14 countries with 300,000 participants.

Jabi explained the common challenges faced by disadvantaged entrepreneurs in rural areas. Those entrepreneurs have limited access to markets and face resistance from relatives who discourage risk taking.

While most existing management training programs seek to manipulate the surrounding environment in order to support entrepreneurship, MSI takes a behavioral approach. The behavioral approach views entrepreneurship as a set of behaviors that may be observed, acquired and built upon over time.

“MSI’s approach is an opportunity to develop and apply these entrepreneurial behaviors in real life settings,” Jabi said.

The behavioral approach allows participating entrepreneurs to become acquainted with the behaviors of established, successful entrepreneurs and to analyze, acknowledge and consolidate the behaviors that they observe through practical exercises.

To illustrate one of MSI’s regional models, Jabi presented the Palestinian Youth Empowerment Program, known as Ruwwad. The program focuses on promoting positive behavioral change to stimulate youth entrepreneurship, specifically in at-risk communities.

After his presentation, Jabi responded to several inquiries about how the EDP could be launched in the Middle East.

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MSI Development Podcast: Scaling Up with Larry Cooley

By admin | Published: May 15, 2013

MSI_PodcastFor the eighth MSI Development Podcast we were fortunate enough to sit down with MSI President, Larry Cooley, to discuss Scaling Up – a hot trend in development.  Podcast producer Noah Wilderman and Larry Cooley discuss some background info, MSI’s application of Scaling Up, and an outlook on the future of the practice area.

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Helping to Launch First Professional Association on Organization Development in Zambia

By admin | Published: May 8, 2013

zambia IODF trainingMSI provided a start-up grant and technical support to the newly founded Institute of Organization Development Facilitators (IODF) in Zambia through the USAID-funded Local Partners Capacity Building project (LPCB).

The first professional association of its kind in Zambia, the institute organized the first conference on Organization Development (OD) in Zambia, called “Building High Performing Organizations through OD,” from May 15-17 in Lusaka.

The conference was picked up by broadcast and print media, including Lusaka Voice and Zed Chronicles, and generated a high degree of local interest.  The conference identified best practices for organizations to become more effective and sustainable as Zambian people embrace leadership opportunities in a growing middle-income country.

The conference attracted 150 participants from civil society, government and the private sector. Guest speakers included the Permanent Secretary of the Management Division of the Cabinet Office, Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation Director General and Tanzania-Zambia Railways Managing Director. MSI Technical Director in Organizational Capacity Building, Dr. Darcy Ashman, gave a presentation on Organization Development for partnerships and networks.  MSI Deputy Chief of Party Francis Johnston presented the LPCB Capacity Building Model, based on MSI’s signature toolkit, the Institutional Development Framework (IDF).

The IODF also organizes regular evening professional discussion forums in Lusaka and publishes a regular newsletter for practitioners, called the OD Facilitator. They plan to extend their reach to include all of Zambia through a network of provincial and district level chapters.

The LPCB project has strengthened the organizational capacities of more than 100 Zambian NGOs engaged in providing HIV prevention, care and treatment services throughout the country.

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Treating the Cause, Not the Symptom of Youth Violence in South Sudan

By admin | Published: May 3, 2013
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Youth union leader presents at a workshop.

While migrating during the dry season in Jonglei, South Sudan, the Lou Nuer tribe came under attack. The violence was attributed to the Murle tribe. Rumors surfaced that Lou Nuer were mobilizing for a violent retaliation against the perpetrators.

The newly formed Jonglei State Youth Union quickly sent a youth team to intervene before the conflict escalated. The dialogue was intense between the youth team and Lou Nuer. However, the youth delegation convinced the Lou Nuer to delay an attack and try to appeal to the government, responding without bloodshed.

Following the recommendations from the youth union, the Lou Nuer organized a peaceful demonstration in Bor to petition the state government for more vigorous disarmament initiatives. The governor listened to the demonstrators and pledged to ramp up disarmament. Lou Nuer tribe members were pleased with the response, and tensions subsided.

The Conflict Mitigation & Stablization Initiative (CMSI) project has played a large role in establishing and empowering these youth unions in various states across South Sudan. In partnership with PAE, MSI implements CMSI’s technical approach. The CMSI team helps youth to recognize that working with the government can help prevent further violence and advance their cause.

The project supported several of the state Ministries for Youth and Sports to develop strategic plans that better engage youth in peacebuilding activities. The project team created a receptive environment for the plan, bringing youth leaders, state government agencies and potential donors together in consultative planning conferences. The youth unions originated partly from a successful youth conference that CMSI sponsored.

The project also assisted the Jonglei State Youth Union in developing its constitution. The project continues to support the Jonglei State Youth Union expand their reach to all counties in the state.

Youth leaders that have participated in CMSI peacebuilding events have played active roles in convincing more militant youths from retaliating, including another almost violent incident in Western Equatoria over teak harvesting.

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