The Planning and Development Department is one of the core Diocesan Departments aimed at ensuring effective and adequate planning and sustainable development at all church levels including the Diocese, Archdeaconry, Parish and local church.
Department Vision: Spearheading Diocesan holistic development.
Mission: Contribute to the achievement of sustainable holistic development to all communities covered by Namirembe Diocese.
Department Values
Planning and Development department is premised on the following values;
- God fearing
- Accountability and transparency
- High levels of professionalism
- Hard work & partnerships for holistic development
Overall Department Strategic Objective
To have a Diocese that holistically contributes to sustainable development of its church community through effective planning, capacity building, social, and economic development
Department mandate
The mandate of Planning and Development department as derived from the office of the Diocesan secretary is “to promote sustainable holistic development in the Diocese”, through five (5) cardinal roles of:
- Planning strategies of all departments towards realizing an integrated development programme in the Diocese.
- Cause formulation of proposals and feasibility studies in the area of financial, physical, health and personnel development.
- Man power planning and training of the Diocesan staff.
- Monitoring Development Programmes at all levels of the Diocese.
- Identifying donors (Internal & external) and soliciting funds from them through the Bishop’s Office.
Core Programme Areas (CPAs)
The Department adopts an integrated approach to design, address, and meet clearly defined Diocesan development targets leading to holistic development of the Diocese so as to ensure effective promotion of GODS work. For purposes of effective implementation of its objectives and functions, the department is structured into four (4) core programme areas (C.P.As):
- Social Development Programme
- Economic Development Programme
- Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation
- Capacity Building Programme
CPA1. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
Program Objective
To have a genuinely inclusive social development process and activities that contribute to the reduction of poverty levels within the communities served by the Diocese.
Social Development Program Components
- Community development projects
Focus is on designing social development projects with sustainable strategic interventions that effectively address and meet the critical needs of the church community so as to empower communities depend on themselves through effective use of resources.
Social development projects are strategically designed to address and meet specific social community needs in regard to accessibility of social services such as education, health care, housing, social justice, and poverty reduction among others.
The department achieves such projects through working closely with the Diocesan departments, Government, stakeholders’ at all diocesan levels as well as local and international development partners. Such projects have included Masuliita and Kasanje community development projects.
CPA2. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
This program component focuses on all programs and activities which are purely income generating and strongly contribute to a stable and reliable financial base of the Diocese. Under this program, the department strategically plans to invest its resources in legally recognised businesses, projects, and partnerships that will not tarnish the Diocesan public image but increase its financial base and also create employment opportunities to sons and daughters of the church. With a strong, stable, and reliable financial base, the Diocese is in great position to achieve its mandate of mission work.
Key Interventions and activities
- Spearheading initiating and starting of income generating businesses and projects (IGAs).
- Strengthening and supporting already existing IGA projects.
- Establishing and strengthening partnerships with individuals, companies, organizations, institutions among others for economic development.
- Engaging the Diocese in viable investment ventures.
- Effective and proper use of Diocesan resources (Land, manpower, and infrastructures) for the benefit of church in the Diocese.
- Training of church leaders at all levels in income businesses and projects.
- Seeking for Government corporate support, among other interventions.
- Sensitizing Christians on how to initiate and manage income generating projects.
CPA4. PLANNING, MONITORING AND EVALUATION
- Planning component
The Diocese is enriched with a variety of resources at its disposal including but not limited to land, infrastructures, human and financial resources among others which require effective and adequate planning if there to benefit the Diocese spiritually, socially and economically.
The planning component therefore takes into consideration all planning stages and aspects from community development planning to strategic planning including policy development and analysis. Planning takes the following forms;
- Preparation of department work plans
- Preparation of Diocesan Annual work plan
- Preparation of Diocesan Strategic plan
- Policy development and analysis
- Planning meetings with stakeholders
- Research and documentation
Among others
- Monitoring and Evaluation component
Monitoring and Evaluation assess progress on the extent, relevance, impact and sustainability, quality/efficiency and effectiveness of implementation of the Diocesan programmes and activities at all levels. Under its mandate of monitoring development programmes at all the Diocesan levels, the department monitors, and reviews implementation of all the designed strategies and interventions and evaluate their performances in line with the designed Diocesan targets.
The monitoring and evaluation programme basically focuses and emphasizes planning, supervision, monitoring and evaluation as key in assessing the extent, relevance, impact, quality/efficiency, and effectiveness as well as sustainability of Diocesan Programmes and Projects.
In summary, the Diocesan monitoring and evaluation system seeks to answer questions related to the following:
- Objectives: What was the program, project or activity designed to achieve or do. Focus is on finding out whether the aims were realized.
- Results: What has the program, project or activity achieved in the immediate term (outputs), intermediate period (outcomes) and long term (impact)?
- Relevance: Was the program, project or activity suitable/ appropriate to the needs of the target population.
- Effectiveness: Did the program, project or activity meet the needs it was designed to achieve.
- Efficiency: To what extent was the program, project or activity cost effective?
- Indicators: The qualitative and quantitative methods used on how to measure the difference created.
- Attribution: How can the difference created be linked with programs, projects and activities?
- Divergence: Take note of any remarkable deviation of actual performance from what was planned? Understanding the causes of such divergence.
- Lessons learnt: Finding out what worked, what failed to work and why? Developing possible action points or alternatives.
- Best practices: What can be scaled up or replicated and integrated in the Diocesan programs, projects and activities to improve and better performance.
Key interventions and functions of M&E
- Strengthening record keeping and data management within the Diocese.
- Conducting regular field support supervision visits to monitor program and project implementation and adherence to the Diocesan M&E frame work.
- Support work to ensure that accurate and complete M&E, as well as data collection and storage systems are setup, maintained and updated.
- Analyze indicator results and provide feed back to program and project implementers on implementation progress.
- Assist in providing M&E training to staff as necessary.
- Carrying out budget monitoring exercises to ensure effective accountability, transparency and adherence to the Diocesan financial guidelines.
- Overseeing and ensuring the preparation of the monthly, quarterly and annual Diocesan work plans.
- Providing in-depth knowledge, analysis, policy development and advice and capacity building to relevant actors on the Diocesan Programs and projects
- Fully functional Diocesan web-site
- Enhancement of coordination of data.
- Employee performance appraisal exercises.
- Ensure monthly and quarterly performance review meetings are carried out to assess performance.
CAPACITY BUILDING
For the purposes of meeting the set Diocesan performance standards, the department has a designed capacity building program which provides Diocesan staffs involved in development work at all levels with excellent empowerment opportunities in planning and development work.
Program Objective
To equip knowledge and skills to all Diocesan staffs through capacity empowerment interventions in planning and development for holistic contribution to Diocesan sustainable development
Key interventions under capacity building
- Training workshops and seminars
- Empowerment conferences
- Further academic studies
- Resourceful partnerships
- Best practice study visits
- Study retreats, among others.