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.


Contextual assessment process refers to:
A process of identifying the detailed context of a particular situation which is a focus of a development program
The contextual assessment process should enable a community to consider and clarify the components of the situation and potential contributing factors in a manner which enables community members to participate freely and effectively and reach agreement about the nature of the situation


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


Stakeholders with special needs and disadvantages may include:
Refugees
Children
The elderly
Widowed
People with disabilities


Participatory approaches refers to:
The use of appropriate tools and processes to enable and support community members to participate in discussion, planning, decision-making and action in relation to development work in their community


Processes and resources may include, for example:
Systems
Processes
Individual skills
Training needs analysis
Corporate goals


Capacity building solution may include, for example:
Workshops
Training on the job
Courses
Incentives
Encouragement
Coaching and mentoring
Communication
Identifying hurdles creating impairment


Project cycle is:
A well-known construct used to describe the normal life-cycle of a project
In relation to capacity building, the focus would be on providing technical assistance and using approaches to build capacity in a development assistance context
The project cycle generally includes:
assessment
analysis
design
marketing
monitoring
reporting
evaluation


Central issues contributing to the situation may include:
Health issues, such as:
health indicators such as infant mortality and malnutrition
health surveys in order to derive health data
health interventions such as immunisation or supplemental feeding programs
international standards for health
HIV/AIDS
Food aid issues, such as:
food for work programs
dietary requirements of project participants
international standards on food aid
cultural requirements of project participants
Issues of stakeholders with special needs and disadvantages, such as:
refugees
child protection
the elderly and widowed
people with disabilities
Refugee issues, such as:
familiarity with The Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Relief (the Sphere standards) and with international law pertaining to refugees and their rights
consideration of cultural issues and of host communities' needs and rights
Water issues, such as:
access to water and its management and purification
formulas for calculating the volume of water required
ownership and distribution of water, including storage and plumbing infrastructure
Human resource issues, such as:
hiring of local staff
local labour hire laws
local workers' demand for daily cash payment
gender
capacity (such as education and experience) of counterparts
staff accommodation and other conditions
evacuations
notification of next-of-kin where necessary
Communication issues, such as:
dealing with local or international media
preparing press releases and hosting media visits
preparing non-media marketing information
Governance and finance issues, such as:
acquittals and budget submissions
preparation of invoice and receipt books
cash security
foreign currency restrictions and transactions
fraud and corruption

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


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 actual community development context or a realistic simulation


Method of assessment:
Assessment needs to take into consideration the practical difficulties associated with attempting on-job assessment in the field
Given the nature of this unit, candidates should be expected to present evidence from within a real field environment
If this is not possible, demonstration of some performance criteria in this unit may be achieved through observing the behaviour and responses of the candidate under a stressful situation similar to those likely to be encountered in the field
Underpinning knowledge may be assessed through:
written assignments
project reports
debriefings
action learning projects
Assessment should be supported by supplementary evidence from a wide range of sources, preferably including evidence from one or more field situations