development

Development in Practice and Principle

We look at development challenges from multiple perspectives – and we have built a multi-talented team to allow us to do that well. We are always learning and we draw from past experiences to craft new responses to people’s problems and issues.  Our methodologies are ‘people-centred and we invest time in building and maintaining respectful partnerships with all the people we work with. Principles such as equity, sustainability, and inclusivity are evident in all our projects. We are constantly seeking the ‘triple-bottom-line’ – the achievement of combined economic, social and environmental outcomes. Our experience allows us to work efficiently and effectively…especially in conflict-affected areas. Our approaches are robust and well-informed, and we certainly have expertise but we choose to build the capacity of organisations and communities to increase their resilience and solve their own problems in the future. Often, our projects grow new relationships and sometimes help bridge divides and heal wounds. We work with organisations and individuals – government and non-government – that care and are passionate about achieving change and committed to peace-building.

Project Design

Our proposals are clear and practical. We use participatory processes to carry out scoping exercises and baseline assessments. We often work directly with conflict-affected communities and vulnerable people to help them express their needs… and then craft project designs that respond. Our projects  are inclusive and make spaces for women and vulnerable people to be active and have power. Our project designs aim to be effective and efficient and are based on world best practice combined with real local experience. We use our team’s extensive knowledge and experience to work with partners and build realistic projects that respond to real needs.

Project Implementation & Management

Our Core Team members are sought-after as individual consultants/ advisors and have worked with many leading development partners and NGOs. Collectively, as project managers and advisors, we have been involved with nearly a hundred projects in over 30 countries. We established Covenant Consult to work together as a team. We prefer to work with you as early in the design phase as possible, but we will always offer our suggestions if we see potential for improvements. We will often partner in consortiums that maximise the potential for the project or program. Our experience as project implementers gives us the confidence that we can build expert teams, manage challenges and deliver results – all within budgets and timeframes.

Building Local Capacity

Building capacity not only helps people make informed decisions but it gives them the practical tools to achieve their goals, and enhances their future resilience. We have seen the value of conflict ‘adversaries’ learning together and jointly developing solutions. We view our work as a learning experience for all involved and aim to use projects as an opportunity to build the capacity of partners as well as our own. We have earned a positive reputation from partners and participants for designing and delivering adult learning programs that are, interactive, innovative and ‘tailor-made’. Our programs are often competency-based and we measure and assess the achievement of actual learning.  Our learning programs have built capacity in topics such as: leadership, good governance, strategic & inclusive planning, organisational development, conflict analysis & peace-building, practical research, and project design &management.

Monitoring, Measuring & Evaluation

We monitor our own projects carefully and we don’t wait for external evaluations to find out how we are going. We also assist others to evaluate their work. We use practical and inclusive methodologies to conduct evaluations as valued learning exercises. We don’t do audits and as project managers ourselves we understand how M&E can be critical to a project’s success.