Organizational analysis and strengthening of Réseau Cref

The project is a result of a short organizational analysis of Réseau CREF, and is geared at the organizational and institutional reinforcement of the CREF Network secretariat in order to allow it to be more effective, organizationally sustainable and to increase the quality of the work to its members and therefore creating the maximum of synergy possible. CREF exists since 2002 and has proven to be a strategic and reliable partner to the Rainforest Foundation Norway (RFO) and Ecosystem Grants Programme (EGP) / GW and FM. Their focus is on implicating local communities in good / transparent governance of forestry resources in the province and they have proven to be strategic and truly committed to this cause. During the preparation of the last institutional support from EGP to RCREF it became more evident than ever that RCREF secretariat needs urgently to take a step backwards and incorporate these keys issues (institutional performance and liveability) in its planning for 2009. CREF has grown rapidly in budget over only a few years (budget 2009 was over 900.000 $, mainly for activities by the members and funded by RFF Norway), but the secretariat staff has not grown accordingly (or at all). This means that CREF Secretariat senior staff is overstretched and that they do not allow themselves to sit back and reflect on the institutional needs, weaknesses, outlook etc. Question now is how CREF as an institution can be strengthened as local conservation actor facilitating good resource governance and as an IUCN member organisation. The following points of attention were specifically discussed with RFF: Organisation building of CREF (institutional analyses) with professional, external, coaching and as part of the above, setting up a strategy for long term financial security, After intensive consultation between RCREF, EGP and RFO, all agreed that institutional support of the CREF Network had to be planned asap, and that RCREF needed professional outside assistance for this process. The person chosen for this assignment is Ms. Dieuwke Klaver from Wageningen International. Ms Klaver has an extensive experience in facilitating similar process as well as being well embedded in natural resources management and the context of DRC. The Rainforest Foundation Norway and the Ecosystem Grants Programme (EGP) have agreed to share the costs of this reinforcement trajectory. This learning trajectory will most likely be composed of three missions, covering a period of 18 months. The fist one being directed to the organizational performance diagnostic (July 2009), the second to the planning of the organizational change (January 2010) and the last one to the evaluation of the organizational change and the promotion of the new RCREF (December 2010).