The Partnership Unit developed the Partnership Management 101 (PM 101) course in early 2017 to strengthen how implementing offices connect and work with partners in their projects and programs. This is targeted at enabling SCP staff — ranging from project officers to program managers – to work together to support the different program offices in developing and strengthening partnership management. Together, they will be known as the organization’s Partnership Learning Group (PLG) and it is essential that they have the sufficient background on the theories and appropriate tools on working with partners in their arsenal.

The Partnership Management Course consists of a series of semi-blended learning sessions where the PLG participants will have both face-to-face learning sessions, supported by web-based resources and online learning platforms where they could review, discuss and share their insights with the other members wherever they are based. Last May 24-26, the initial face-to-face session was conducted at the B Hotel, Quezon City with the select 16 representatives coming from all program offices of Save the Children Philippines.

The first day of the course covered topics on the global and country directive of SCP on partnership. It was followed by giving the participants an opportunity to rate their Local Partnership Capacity for each program office. The afternoon was dedicated to reviewing the partnership roles and functions of the partnership manager and partnership focal persons and comparing their tasks at the national level and program office level. On the second day, the participants reviewed the Partnership Management Cycle with particular emphasis on the Partnership Assessment and Participatory Proposal Development. It featured hands-on assessment and resource persons sharing their experience on participatory proposal development as it relates to implementing grants and working with CSO partners on the Theory of Change. On the final day, the participants were provided the opportunity to immerse themselves in the assessment proposal development processes by conducting partnership assessments with 3 potential partners, and a proposal development starter activity with a partner who is already on board.

Succeeding sessions will make use of the Partnership Website as the main “textbook” of the participants, while case studies, field work, comment boxes and live chats will be incorporated to enhance their understanding of the tools and processes. The next sessions of the PM 101 will consist of web-based discussions using an online forum, where they will discuss the results of their hands-on assignments on partnership concerns such as the Quality Benchmarks and the Partnership Learning Agenda.

It was critical to have all the participants understand the reasons why the organization is deliberately choosing to engage with more partners. In her welcome address during the opening of the training workshop, Rowena Cordero, Deputy Country Director for Program Development and Quality, explained that the global trend in humanitarian action is to localize action.  This springs from the outputs agreed upon during the Agenda for Humanity from the World Humanitarian Summit held last 2016 in Istanbul. She further added that, “Localizing action is particular for countries affected by disasters and armed conflict. With the cut-back of aid and donor agencies, the active participation of local agencies will help increase the effectiveness and efficiency of humanitarian response programs.” She also went on to describe the organization’s reality and the challenge it is currently facing. “Currently, Save the Children is still an organization whose program delivery platform mainly focuses on direct implementation which spans both humanitarian response and development programs.  The challenge is how we can more strategically engage civil society, the academe and the private sector so we can effectively design and deliver quality programs for children.  Partnership lies at the center of our Theory of Change because without it, it will be difficult to achieve our Breakthroughs for Children.  Remaining at the frontline of full spectrum programming will not be sustainable in the long run.”

It is the organization’s hope that the participants who were trained on the Essentials of Partnership will become Partnership Champions and will start to think outside the box and beyond the usual practice of direct implementation. They are critical in bringing their perspective into their teams to explore, develop and maintain partnerships – both implementing and strategic – with civil society organizations that can effectively complement and support our work in delivering positive and sustainable changes for children, families and communities.

The full documentation of the 2.5 days training is available here : https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B61D19YSAOQ8amRNNW5SMTNlUnc/view?usp=sharing