The Covid-19 pandemic has shown a greater need for new ways of working, innovation and effective partnerships for the implementation of Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (ASRHR) programming. Ensuring cross learning, knowledge exchange and a reflection on the strategies and learns learnt cannot be over emphasized.
With this in mind, Hivos through the Regional SRHR Fund, convened a linking and learning meeting for its partners in Zambia. The meeting was aimed at sharing country specific best practices, lessons learnt and challenges in program implementation; identifying capacity weaknesses, needs and gaps, as well as recommendations to enhance cross learning between partners; and enhancing understanding, appreciation and ownership of the monitoring and evaluation framework.
“For us who are under the capacity strengthening grant, we take this as an opportunity for continued capacity strengthening on how to improve our programming using lessons from partners’ implementation and using some of the data they have generated to inform our advocacy efforts” – Sibu Malambo, Executive Director – Zambia Youth Platform
The meeting provided a space for partners to explore synergies and deliberate on how they can harness collective efforts for enhanced project results. The meeting also supported partners to conceptualize how they can measure and record success in their project implementation through outcome harvesting.
“The meeting has helped us to align our project and learn best programming practices that other organizations are implementing especially in this Covid-19 era. It is also a learning platform for us as an organization and provides an opportunity to build relationships with other partners” Ruth Litaba – Senior Programmes Officer, Copper Rose Zambia
“This meeting is a networking opportunity for us to build synergies with other partners in the ASRHR field as well as to interact with colleagues” Fredrick Museke – Programme Officer – Alliance for Accountability Advocates Zambia
The meeting is part of the Fund’s series of country-level linking and learning processes implemented by the Regional SRHR Fund with support from the Embassy of Sweden in Lusaka through its development cooperation agency, Sida and Ford Foundation.
