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By Loubna Flah
Morocco World News
Rabat, February 21, 2012
Civil society in Morocco has undergone a structural and ethical metamorphosis as far as social emancipation is concerned. These social dynamics can be ascribed to the relaxation in the procedures governing the formation of NGO’s and the intellectual openness among Moroccans. In fact, the government has eased restrictions for establishing organizations. Consequently, Moroccan NGO’s, addressing a myriad of social ills and operating among a wide range of social and political issues, have sprouted like weeds across the country.
Albab, an NGO based in Rabat that aims at forging high caliber intellectuals through the organization of book discussions, presentations and cultural events, organized a workshop under the theme “Project management” last Sunday. The workshop was facilitated by Mr. Anane Addioui, a project manager in governance and society at the British Council and the national vice president of the Junior Chamber International.
Project design is encapsulated in a number of misconceptions. A thorough evaluation of dawdling NGO projects reveals that good intentions are by no means a sine qua none for prowess in the associative work. Mr. Adioui provided the participants with a practical framework to help them design a preliminary canvas for social projects taking into account both intrinsic and extrinsic variables. The first challenge for the participants was to define the word “project”. Using visual, kinesthetic and verbal forms of communication, the participants tried to mold their mental representation a “project” into different forms of expressions.
Mr. Addoui pinpointed that project design requires a well thought strategy that identifies the project’s target population, goals, specific objects, methodology, resources and an action plan. He argues that the project’s results should be quantifiable and measurable for the organization to be able to assess its progress and to predict a follow-up phase with more confidence. Most organizations belittle the importance of the design phase and embark directly in the development phase. Mr. Addoui provided examples of projects whose delivery was hindered due to the absence or the inadequacy of a needs analysis and investigative work that should be conducted jointly with the target population at the early stages of the project design.
The pre- implementation phase requires a comprehensive and in depth need analysis taking into account the contextual elements that the project may alter. Social projects designers also need to consider potential partnerships that could enhance their NGOs’ performance and outreach. Mr. Addoui highlighted that newly founded NGO’s need to contrast their own experience to that of seasoned associations.
The workshop provided the participants with a well-grounded outlook on project design. It also addressed all the misconceptions related to project design. It is believed that any social project starts with the sketching of the action plan whereas a prelude to identify the needs and goals is of paramount importance. This includes, discerning the NGOS’ basic needs, conducting a needs analysis, taking into account personal motivations and institutional priorities and defining aims and objectives. Unless a comprehensive approach is adopted during the project design, malfunctions are likely to occur at different levels of the project execution. Thus, project designers need to capitalize on the preparation phase with the same enthusiasm and commitment they show in the implementation phase.
Edited by Benjamin Villanti
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