Tool

Communication about project development to all stakeholders

Inform all relevant stakeholders about your project implementation

To inform relevant project stakeholders a complete and logically organized overview of information about the development of a project (e.g. in the form of a report, poster or presentation) is presented and explained wherever needed.

Purpose and link to IQC

The purpose of communicating project related information is to maintain a transparent relationship with the different stakeholders, including the target community, the local government and the funders of the project. This allows stakeholders to scrutinize the effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability of the project and helps to develop trust for longer-term engagement. It should therefore be a regular effort and not a one-off activity. Transparent communication also provides a basis to collect feedback, which in turn helps to prevent misunderstandings and conflicts.

How to

1.   Define format and type of information to be communicated

Towards certain stakeholders (e.g. donors, local government, etc.) you have specific reporting requirements. In case you are not sure what information needs to be reported in which format you should request the reporting standards, procedures and relevant guidance from the respective stakeholders. For stakeholder where no standards and/or formats exist (e.g. towards communities) it is advisable to explore what information is of interest/relevant and how the information should be provided (e.g. report vs. presentation during a community meeting).

2.   Synthesise relevant information

Produce the required reports and communication materials, describing the progress made towards completing activities and achieving the results articulated in your project proposal.

The report should include the following information:

Introduction: background, location of activities (village, parish and sub-regional details must be given), population, hydrology and links to other relevant projects (e.g. water and sanitation projects) in the area. You can summarise the information from your Needs Assessment here.

Achievements: refer to the Implementation Plan and inform about the actual development and the outputs generated and how the objectives were (or why they were not) achieved.

(In case of infrastructure projects) Results from measuring quality after completion: document the results from the quality control of water/services.

O&M/follow-up: Document the results of monitoring O&M/follow-up activities.

In case an evaluation has been carried out include the evaluation results.

3.   Define what you communicate to whom, when and how

Establish who is interested in what information and how it can best be presented. If you are not sure ask stakeholder representatives and keep in mind that not all stakeholders need to receive all information about your project. Your target community may require information about the quality of services and details relevant for operation of the project outputs. Local government or donors on the other hand may be interested in answers to the following questions:

  • What progress has been made towards achieving the objectives stated in your proposal?
  • How was the money spent?
  • Who was involved in the project design and implementation, in particular women, youth, or other marginalized groups?
  • How did they benefit?
  • How is the O&M/follow-up planned to be implemented after project completion?

Document to who you communicated what information, when and how.

Template

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References & Further Readings

Last updated 04 May 2018

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