Beyond barriers Somalia Case Study: Somalia NGO Consortium-led initiative
ICVA member Somalia NGO Consortium case study on the Standardized Partnership Assessment Tool (SPAT).
In Somalia and Somaliland, national NGOs deliver a range of humanitarian services in diverse regional contexts, but the various Partner Capacity Assessments (PCAs) required by donors and international NGOs (INGOs) often strain their limited resources, potentially excluding key local partners.
To address this, SNC member organizations commissioned an analysis to create a standardized assessment tool, allowing INGOs to share general partner information and reduce the need for multiple assessments. This tool, with options for collecting additional specific data, aims to streamline the process, saving time and resources. A task force and technical steering committee oversaw the development and review ofthis tool.
The objective of this exercise was to develop a harmonized Standardized Partnership Assessment Tool (SPAT) for evaluating the capacities of National/Local NGOs and community-based organizations (CBOs) in Somalia/Somaliland. This process involved reviewing INGO capacity assessment tools, mapping common and sector-specific features, assessment criteria, and determining recommendations to guide the harmonization of these tools.
The goal was to create a unified SPAT that includes shared PCA criteria as a baseline for partnerships, along with a tiered due diligence framework and a dynamic partner risk rating system for assessing the capacities of LNGOs and CBOs, with clear guidelines for upgrading or downgrading tiers. The harmonized SPAT is designed to make general PCA findings available to any INGO needing information on a national or local NGO. With common data accessible for all PCAs conducted by INGOs, any additional specific information required by INGOs or donors can be collected through an annex to the general information. This streamlines the assessment process while still allowing for the inclusion of specific donor or INGO requirements.