C. HUB CENTER ACTIVITY OVERVIEW 

R

EGIONAL 

O

VERVIEW

Organizational Development 

During the past quarter, Counterpart focused on strengthening staff's OD consulting skills by 

conducting a regional training in  Organizational Development and the Art of Consulting , and on 

building Hub and Support Centers' capacity and sustainability by conducting mock audits, providing 

advanced training in fundraising, and providing intensive organization development consulting for the 

Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan Hub Centers. 

This is the third time that OD and the Art of Consulting, Counterpart's introductory workshop on the 

basics of OD consultation, has been conducted. This time, the workshop was conducted by Janna 

Rysakova, Regional OD Coordinator, and Irina Dedova, Turkmenistan Program Manager, a measure 

of the progress that has been made in localizing Counterpart's OD consulting skills. Workshop 

participants are now participating with their program teams in OD consulting in all five countries 

across the region. 

According to their Performance Plans, Hub Centers must be able to pass USAID pre award audits so 

they will be eligible to receive funds directly from USAID. Together, regional financial and OD staff 

compared their assessment tools (Control Environment & Risk Assessment Checklist and Model of 

Sustainable NGO, respectively) to identify commonalities and avoid duplication of effort in assessing 

Hub Center capacity. They continue to coordinate their assessment and consulting efforts, ensuring 

that Hub Centers have a clear idea of their priorities for capacity building. 

Advanced Fundraising, which is one of the advanced training modules mandated for Phase III, was 

conducted in May with participants from all five countries. Content covered models and methods of 

fundraising, the creation of fundraising plans, and skills training in market research, marketing, and 

negotiation. Participants are now transferring their learning to Hub and Support Center colleagues. 

The new training module that was designed during the workshop is being conducted with Support 

Centers in each country; and hubs and Support Centers are developing fundraising plans, integrating 

them into their existing strategic plans, and beginning to take action to raise funds for sustainability. 

The new training module has been completed and is also available for use with the NGO community 

at large.   

Regional OD staff conducted direct OD consulting with the Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan Hub Centers 

in May and June. These consultancies are based on participatory methods: staff and OD consultants 

work together to determine the goals for the consultancy, gather and analyze data, set goals for 

development, and plan the follow up process. In both countries, the hubs decided to focus the 

consultancy on assessing their progress toward localization and sustainability and determining what 

still needs to be done. During the consultancies, data was gathered from Hub Center staff, clients 

(Support Centers, focus NGOs), donors and partners, and government structures using a variety of 

methods (observation, individual and group interviews, reviewing reports and other materials, and a 

confidential staff survey). The OD consultants then facilitated all staff meetings during which staff 

analyzed the data, set goals for development, and established Change Management Teams who are 

leading their colleagues in taking action to implement the goals. Regional OD staff continues to 

provide follow up consulting for Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, and will provide direct consultancies 

for the Hub Centers in Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan in the next quarter.  

Finally, the regional Country Directors' meeting in May provided an opportunity for all countries to 

share their plans and progress towards localization and sustainability. Meeting participants also began 

drafting regional projects designed to capitalize and expand on their current work in community 

development and capacity building. The proposal development process is continuing and it is 

expected that final proposals will be ready to submit to potential donors in November 2002. 

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