Elements and Performance Criteria

RANGE STATEMENT

The Range Statement relates to the unit of competency as a whole. It allows for different work environments and situations that may affect performance. Add any essential operating conditions that may be present with training and assessment depending on the work situation, needs of the candidate, accessibility of the item, and local industry and regional contexts.


External influences may include:
Trends in funding opportunities, both within the organisation and from other sources
Domestic political forces within the country
Non-domestic political forces
Government and non-government agencies and organisations including humanitarian agencies, World Bank and UNHCR


Concepts and principles of aid effectiveness and community development include:
Ownership, including:
using delivery processes that support partner countries to exercise effective leadership over their development policies and strategies
coordinating development actions
involving communities and local government in decision making, implementation, monitoring and evaluation
encouraging community's and local government's contribution to problem solving
Alignment, involving maintaining a comprehensive understanding of partner countries' national development strategies, institutions and procedures to guide program delivery
Harmonisation:
actively seeking to collaborate with other Official Development Assistance (ODA) partners to create added value and greater development effectiveness
Managing for results, including continuous improvement of systems to:
manage for development results
support evidence-based decision making
Mutual accountability, involving demonstration of:
full transparency and accountability for the use of development resources in program delivery


Efficiency gains may include:
Use of personnel across a number of projects or programs
Cost savings through sharing office support for projects


Cross sectoral issues may include:
Child protection
Peace building
Relief to development transition
Sustainability of program / project (i.e. relating to whether the program activities are able to continue once project funding has ceased)
Human rights:
as set out in the United Nations' Charter of Human Rights
target groups within a field situation maintain these rights and therefore are treated as 'rights bearers' rather than as beneficiaries
Gender issues which encompass but are not limited to the socially defined sex roles, attitudes and values to which communities and societies ascribe as appropriate for one sex or the other:
gender does not describe the biological sexual characteristics by which females and males are identified
it is ensured that both sexes are included in data gathering using appropriate PRA exercises and 'shielding'
as per Oxfam Gender Training Manual which provides further guidance on gender issues
Potential political, social and cultural impacts of project
Environmental issues such as adhering to the minimum standards set out in the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response (Sphere standards)
continued ...


Cross sectoral issues may include (contd):
International standards and conventions on environmental issues include:
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Environmental Checklist
Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) Environmental Markers
AMS Generic Field Codes
World Bank Environmental Assessment Sourcebook
Convention on Biological Diversity (Rio de Janeiro, 1992)
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (New York, 1992)
International Convention to Combat Desertification (1994)
Basel Convention on the Control of Trans-boundary
Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal (Basel, 1989)
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) (Washington, 1973)
Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer (Vienna, 1985)
Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (Montreal, 1987)
Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat (Ramsar, 1971)


Operational plan includes:
Goals and objectives
Outputs
Indicators
Resource requirements
Timelines


Performance indicators will depend on the nature of the program and may include:
Achievement of goals in areas such as:
health statistics (such as mortality rates and weight for age ratios)
food distribution
commodity distribution
infrastructure establishment
micro economic development
Improved outcomes for the community in specified areas of community living
Enhanced community capacity to address identified issues
Achievement of identified goals within a specified timeframe


Program information may include:
Internal or external information, such as
monthly project reports
financial reports
project activity schedules
project logbooks
receipts and invoices
data from related projects
international agency reports (World Bank, UNHCR and data from government agencies
data from other organisations


Key stakeholders may include:
Program staff
Host governments
Donor agencies
Program participants
Other organisations


Culture and gender sensitive interview techniques may include:
Separating genders
Separating age cohorts
'Shielding' the group from overt influence


Field constraints may include:
Local political environment
Technological infrastructure
Environmental conditions
Road and transport networks
Ethnic or religious tensions
Criminal activity
Cultural factors


Appropriate adjustments may refer to changes to the program to better address issues and achieve outcomes and may include:
Changes to design of certain elements of the program
Additional or different resources to be applied
Training or development of personnel involved


Performance variations may include:
Program activities that have not been planned but could occur or are occurring and are not being reported by local personnel

EVIDENCE GUIDE

The evidence guide provides advice on assessment and must be read in conjunction with the Performance Criteria, Required Skills and Knowledge, the Range Statement and the Assessment Guidelines for this Training Package.

Critical aspects for assessment and evidence required to demonstrate this unit of competency:
The individual being assessed must provide evidence of specified essential knowledge as well as skills
The application of competency is to be assessed in the workplace or realistically simulated workplace
Assessment is to occur under standard and authorised work practices, safety requirements and environmental constraints
Consistency of performance should be demonstrated over the required range of situations relevant to the workplace
The circumstantial or unsolicited testimony of project participants, governments or other non-government organisations regarding ethical behaviour should be considered as significant evidence in relation to this unit
Certain aspects of program monitoring and evaluation present a greater level of difficulty, including actively considering cross sectoral issues, evaluating the impact of the project, identifying non-reported interventions and identifying staffing needs
The type and scale of evaluation may vary considerably and it may be necessary to undertake several evaluations before gaining sufficient competency to achieve this unit
Assessment must confirm a reasonable inference that competency is able not only to be satisfied under the particular circumstance, but is able to be transferred to other circumstances


Access and equity considerations:
All workers in development and humanitarian assistance should be aware of access, equity and human rights issues in their own area of work
All workers should develop their ability to work in a culturally diverse environment
In particular workers should be aware of cultural, historical and current issues facing the people and culture in which they are working
Assessors and trainers must take into account relevant access and equity issues relating to the culture in which they are working


Context of and specific resources for assessment:
This unit may be assessed independently, however holistic assessment practice with other related units of competency is encouraged
Assessment of essential underpinning knowledge, other than confirmatory questions, will usually be conducted in an off-site context
Resources required for assessment include access to:
workplace location or simulated workplace
specifications and work instructions
policy manuals and procedure manuals (international and local, including donor manuals)
relevant documents (such as assessment notes and conclusions) and standards documents
relevant equipment (such as office equipment and communications equipment)
managers, co-workers and local staff


Method of assessment:
Assessment needs to take into consideration the practical difficulties associated with attempting on-job assessment in the humanitarian assistance environment
Assessment methods must be by direct observation of tasks and include questioning on underpinning knowledge
Assessment may be applied under project related conditions (real or simulated) and require evidence of process
Assessment should be supported by supplementary evidence from a wide range of sources, preferably including evidence from one or more field situations