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Danish Disability Fund

APPLICATIONC: MAJOR DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

1. Cover pageGrant modality(insert X)

C: Cooperation project between several org.

C: Major development project X

D: Project of more than DKK 5 million

Danish applicant organisation (financially responsible):

Danish Association of the Blind (DAB)

Contact person for the project: Name: Susanne KjærEmail: [email protected], Phone: 21 71 67 84

Other Danish partner(s):(if relevant)

N/A

South Partner(s): Ghana Blind Union (GBU)

Project title: Employment Project

Country(ies): Ghana Country’s GDP per capita:775.46 US dollars in 2014

Project period: Commencement date:1 January 2017

Completion date: 31 December 2020

Total number of months: 48 months

Total amount applied for: 1.419.545

Is this a new activity? [ ] Yes, a new activity[ X ] An activity in extension of a previous project, namely: HP 115 - 008

Is this a re-submission? (i.e. a revised version of a previously submitted application).[ ] No[ X] Yes, date/year of previous application: 15 July 2016

Do you want a response letter in [ ] Danish or[ X ] English

Insert synthesis of the project in DanishProjektet er en opfølgning på et tidligere pilot projekt og sigter mod at fremme beskæftigelsesmuligheder på det uformelle jobmarked for mennesker med synshandicap i Ghana. På baggrund af læring og tidligere opnåede resultater vil GBU og DBS i fællesskab gennemføre en differentieret indsats i ialt 10 distrikter med henblik på 1) at kvalificere udvalgte medlemmer indenfor entreprenør og finansiel virksomhed og støtte dem til opstart af handel og små virksomheder, 2) at fremme inklusion for blinde og svagsynede i programmer udbudt af det statslige erhvervstræningsinstitut NBSSI og af finansielle institutioner, og 3) at skabe øget opmærksomhed omkring retten til arbejde for personer med synshandicap og større imødekommenhed ift disses evner og muligheder at understøtte egne levevilkår. Det bagvedliggende princip i projektet er ”mainstreaming” og ift fremme af bæredygtighed og bredere effekt af indsatsen vil der være stor fokus på lokal ressource mobilisering, tilretning af træningsmaterialer, vidensdeling og fortalervirksomhed overfor relevante lokale og nationale institutioner, samt kapacitetsopbygning af regionale og lokale tillidsvalgte, der gradvist vil overtage ansvar for de lokale aktiviteter.

1 November 2016Date Person responsible (signature)

Taastrup THORKILD OLESENPlace Person responsible (block letters)

Application – C: Major development project /Cooperation project – DANISH DISABILITY FUND (Oct. 2015) D: Project of more than DKK 5 million – DANISH DISABILITY FUND (Oct. 2015)

To be filled in by DPODDisability Fund ref. no.Date received

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mailto:[email protected]


2. Narrative application 1. WHAT IS THE CONTEXT AND THE PROBLEM? (suggested length: 4-5 pages)

1.a The overall context (max. 1-2 pages)

The right to employment for Persons with Disability (PWDs) is secured in general in Article 27 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) “Work and employment” - and with regard to self-employment specifically in point 1.f which reads: “States Parties shall safeguard and promote the realization of the right to work, including for those who acquire a disability during the course of employment, by taking appropriate steps, including through legislation, to, inter alia: f) Promote opportunities for self-employment, entrepreneurship, the development of cooperatives and starting one's own business”.

Over the years Ghana has developed a legal framework regarding PWDs, but this is only being implemented slowly. The legal framework in terms of employment comprises the 1992 Constitution, the Labour Act (2003) and the Persons with Disability Act (2006), which makes significant provisions for PWDs in terms of access to education, health care, employment and a decent social life. The Disability Act in particular provides considerable space to PWDs, civil society groups and Ghanaians in general to engage the government and other duty-bearers in complying with the law. The Disability Act of 2006 also established the National Council for Persons with Disability (NCPD) as an advisory body joining civil society with the relevant government ministries. It was first constituted in 2009. Its mandate elapsed in 2012 and a new board re-constituted in November 2013 following vigorous advocacy by the joint disability movement. The CRPD and its optional Protocols were ratified in 2012.

Under the decentralised system of government in Ghana, there are 216 districts in Ghana, all governed by the District Assemblies. The government’s decentralisation policy seeks to strengthen the District Assemblies to develop as autonomous units with the ultimate objective of reducing poverty. All district assemblies receive funds from central government namely the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF) which in addition to internally generated funds are utilised for development projects for communities within the district. 2% of the DACF from central government is earmarked as support to disability issues. GBU has jointly with the other OPWDs in Ghana- through efforts under the project “Strengthening the Disability Movement in Ghana” (e.g. HP 115 – 048) – worked to ensure transparent and efficient management and use of the funds, including establishing guidelines for Fund Management Committees, setting up monitoring mechanisms and building capacity for PWDs and officials. Even if challenges remain, significant results have been achieved in this respect, including PWDs being assisted with support to start up small businesses. Still the DACF funds are very limited indeed and can in no way meet the huge needs at district level.

The National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) is the only youth employment programme currently being implemented by the government of Ghana, and according to a report from 2011 (“Overcoming Structural Barriers in the Labour Market towards Employment of Blind and Partially Sighted Persons in Ghana”, commissioned by GBU and DAB, Annex D) the only viable employment programme for PWDs under the Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare. This situation has not changed since.

Launched in 2006, the NYEP has as its primary objective the creation of opportunities of employment for the youth and to empower the youth to create jobs. Under this programme is a teaching assistance module which is geared at augmenting the teacher strength in basic schools. Others are health assistance, traffic


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Danish Disability Fundwarders, environmental and sanitation and agriculture modules. A disability department has been established, manned by a visually impaired person, Mr Adongo. According to an interview with him in 2011, the programme had then since inception recruited 600 PWDs from different disability groups from all over the country. Some were engaged as teaching assistants, health assistants, while some went into the media. The programme has however throughout been faced with financial challenges which grossly has affected the smooth implementation of the programme. NYEP has currently refocused its attention on self-employment modules that provide training and logistic support to beneficiaries to establish and run their own business while some of the youth with little or no education are given the opportunity to access the services of the NYEP without necessarily being on the payroll of government. It is still early days yet to draw conclusions on how this recent development is coming off. All the modules under the skills training and development (tailoring, hairdressing, phone repairs) targeted at PWDs yet exclude Blind and Partially Sighted (BPS) persons.

The National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) is the apex governmental body for the promotion and development of the Micro and Small Enterprises (MSE) sector in Ghana. It was established in 1985 by an Act of the Parliament of the Third Republic of Ghana to contribute substantially to reducing the high unemployment rate and to the growth of the economy of Ghana. In 2012 NBSSI was assisting 500 Medium and Small Enterprises (MSEs) to access institutional credit, organising 1,500 tailor-made programmes for 45,000 entrepreneurs and establishing businesses in areas of competitive advantage in each district in Ghana. Since then, NBSSI has added another component to its functions (business advisory services) which facilitates MSEs access to bank credits and market outlets. Where possible, it facilitates the formation of cooperatives for the MSEs to access bigger credits to expand their businesses.

1.b Specific challenges faced by those groups of persons with disabilities, or their organisations, for whom the project aims to bring about change

Globally PWD are highly represented among the poor and among the unemployed, and women are represented to a higher extent than men. Poverty is both a cause and a consequence of disability. It is a cause since the poor lack resources to prevent or treat disabilities. And it is a consequence since PWDs often lack access to education, health services and income generating activities, as well as their basic rights. Employment of PWDs constitute a huge potential since the World Bank considers that leaving PWDs outside the economy translates into a foregone GDP of 5 -7 % on a global level (Good Practices for the economic inclusion of persons with disabilities in developing countries. Handicap International 2006).Still, the barriers on the labour market are numerous and interrelated. In Ghana they include:

Lack of implementation of legislation: The legal framework comprises, as mentioned earlier, the 1992 Constitution, the Labour Act (2003) and the Persons with Disability Act (2006). Even though the legislation is rather comprehensive, there are many problems in this regard:

The legislation is not at all implemented, nor enforced, due to state budget constraints and worsened by the fact that PWDs experience difficulty in competing for the scarce resources.

The legislation is not sufficiently known, neither by the employers nor by PWDs/GBU members. The legislation does not give enough incentives for employing PWDs by actually providing the

disabled persons with the assistive equipment and physical adjustments to the work site that would enable the disabled person to perform smoothly in the job. The costs of this are still to be covered by the employer and especially adjustments to the physical environment and purchases of assistive computer soft and hardware can be prohibitively costly for the employer.

Even though mentioned in the Disability Act, the public employment centres (Integrated Community Centres for Employable Skills - ICCES) are often non-existent at local level and when in


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Danish Disability Fundplace are not caring for persons with disabilities. Community based rehabilitation (CBR) is currently operating on a very low key for reasons of under resourcing.

Discrimination and lack of general awareness: In Ghanaian society, BPS persons experience prejudice and are often directly or indirectly discriminated against. In some cases the discrimination is rooted in socio-cultural beliefs, such as the belief that persons are cursed by God or that the disability originates from wrong doings in previous lives. Accessing job opportunities is not only based on qualifications but unfortunately largely influenced by the general negative perception related to disability. Disability is most often conceived as inability and many potential employers hesitate to take on PWDs, especially youth who have no previous experience. Further, huge competition and the general lack of opportunities in the formal job market coupled with the fact that many BPS persons do not have an education (ref. below), lead BPS persons into informal self-employment. But also here, BPS persons often face exclusion and discrimination on market places etc.

Limited access to education and vocational training: When looking at the area of education, BPS persons in general have a lower educational level. This is due to various reasons, in particular poverty which makes it difficult for BPS to attain higher levels of education (ref. Annex D). Furthermore, there are only two schools in Ghana for BPS up to secondary level, and inclusive education is not practiced so it is very difficult for children with visual impairment to attend normal schools. As indicated, there are not sufficient training possibilities in ICT, business management, and entrepreneurial skills available to the BPS. Some youth outside the school system still hold some skills in petty trading, food processing (ground nut cakes, shea butter and palm oil production, poultry etc), but have limited knowledge on how to manage businesses as well as financial literacy. This same goes for women some of whom might have a small retail shop but with very little profits/returns which barely sustain them. The have low skills to manage the businesses, no savings and consequently seldom think of expansion. This results in a general state of stagnation. In terms of formal employment, the lack of especially secondary and tertiary education creates a huge barrier for BPS persons. Those who manage to complete a formal education find it very difficult to find other jobs than teaching.

The NBSSI at district level (business advisory centres) only work with PWDs on an ad hoc basis and so does not have specific programmes targeted at enhancing employment opportunities for PWDs. As will be elaborated upon below, a positive relationship with the NBSSI was established in a pilot project, preceding the current proposed project, however further sensitization and consolidation is needed.

Barriers relating to infrastructure: The infrastructure in Ghana is largely inaccessible to BPS, and there is limited public transport; factors that enhance the travel time and distances for most BPS to relevant schools, training institutions and job places.

Barriers on an individual level: In addition to the low levels of education, lack of vocational experience, and mobility challenges, also many BPS persons lack a working identity, capabilities, motivation, self-confidence and self-esteem. Many have no attachment to the labour market at all, and there are few role models. In other words, many BPS persons lack (economic) empowerment. This in turn impacts negatively on the possibility to take part in social activities such as family, community and district gatherings. The lack of future prospects and opportunities are often particularly difficult for the youth who are put into a position of receivers of sympathy and pity and tend to descend into a state of despair, desolation and ultimately poverty.

In terms of getting access to microfinance services, GBU’s experience also show that many BPS have a fear of debtedness and at the same time also do not appreciate the value of savings. Women with visual impairment often face double barriers because many are denied access to family properties and inheritance because of prejudice and traditional beliefs. Consequently, since they have lack of assets to


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Danish Disability Fundshow as collateral to the banks, they have limited opportunities to access capital in the mainstream financial institutions /micro financial institutions.

Limited access to financial services and microfinance schemes: The poor and vulnerable have traditionally not been a target for the ordinary banks; loan amounts required by the poor are usually small, as well as their savings. But also in many cases the poorest, often including PWDs, experience exclusion from the microfinance institutions, which are supposed to cater for this group. This is due to:

Self-exclusion (the barriers on individual level, ref. above) Exclusion by the staff (PWD considered to be risky business because of their disability) Exclusion by other members (PWD have difficulties in getting collateral for loans) Exclusion by design (lack of start- up capital, the interest rates being too high and the payback time

too short, no outreach to rural areas etc.).

At the end of the day, many BPS persons experience that they are not considered creditworthy, neither by banks nor by microcredit institutions. Even if microfinance institutions often are socially-oriented and aim to provide financial services to those who traditionally are excluded, they typically require borrowers to have an economic activity prior to receiving a loan, whereas many PWDs require a loan to start up their activities. Though some financial institutions occasionally reach out to BPS persons, the services rendered to them do not take their unique needs into consideration. In line with this, the research in “Overcoming Structural Barriers in the Labour Market towards Employment of Blind and Partially Sighted Persons in Ghana”(Annex D), show that most BPS do not have enough money to save; 26,2 % use a kind of banking system for savings, while 16,7 % use the informal “susu collectors”.

1.c General response to the challenges - who has done what until now?

On an overall level, the disability movement in Ghana, headed by the disability umbrella organisation, Ghana Federation of Disability Organizations (GFD), has worked intensively to address the challenges related to lack of implementation of relevant legislation and stigmatisation of PWDs. Specifically in terms of employment, GBU has previously for a number of years been running a revolving funds scheme with the purpose of supporting BPS persons in self-employment. These funds were financed and administered by GBU. However, practical experience as well as research conducted in 2012 showed that it was important to try out a new approach to include BPS persons in micro-credit programmes since this represents a more sustainable livelihood strategy. This led to the a pilot project “Inclusion of Blind and Partially Sighted Persons in Ghana in existing Microcredit Programmes and the Informal Labour Market” (HP 115 – 008), initiated in April 2014 and ending by end of August 2016 (with a two month extension). Further information on this below.

As outlined above, the issue of unemployment is a problem that continues to harper the development, not only of BPS persons, but of all PWDs. The government in Ghana has recently committed to providing employment for 5000 PWDs, and the disability movement, headed by GFD, have subsequently submitted a proposal to create 6000 jobs for PWDs in the formal and informal sector. Also, GFD has current plans to pursue employment of PWDs in particularly the formal sector and e.g. targets NYEP/YEA at the national level in this respect. This is an initiative funded by DPOD under its framework agreement. Also the Ghana Society of the Physically Disabled (GSPD) is operating a micro credit project comparable to the present one suggested where its members are taught to save and build capital for the establishment of their own businesses or any form of investment. However, contrary to the GBU activities, the GSPD microcredit scheme is run at group levels among members. Previously, also NGOs such as Sightsavers have been involved in activities promoting social inclusion and access to micro-credit, including a programme with GFD on employment (2012-2014). However, some of these programmes have been faced with various challenges and all these initiatives have currently been phased out. GBU will coordinate closely with GFD


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Danish Disability Fundand GSPD in order to gain from any synergy from the related activities. There are currently no known NGOs that engage in similar activities at district level.

The experience from the previous pilot project has underscored the essentiality of the above mentioned challenges. In particular, this project addressed barriers and challenges related to awareness, training, individual esteem and access to financial institutions – and these will continuously be focus areas under the present proposed project. As will appear below – and confirmed by the evaluation - the pilot intervention has proven that by engaging the right stakeholders and providing adequate support, it is indeed possible to overcome stigma and misconceptions and for BPS persons to obtain access to microcredit and run small sustainable businesses (Annex E). However, it also found that there was a need for “wide sensitization” and “deeper engagement” with NBSSI and the rural banks.

2. WHICH EXPERIENCE AND RESULTS DOES THE PROJECT BUILD UPON?

2.a Knowledge about or previous experience of cooperation with the South partner

Is the partnership between the Danish applicant and the South partner organisation known to the Danish Disability Fund, i.e. described in (an)other application(s) in previous years?

Yes X Insert the six-figure Danish Disability Fund reference number(s):No

GBU and DAB share a long history of partnership. Over the previous years, the two organisations have jointly engaged in the following interventions, funded by the Disability Fund:

- Inclusion of Blind and Partially Sighted Persons in Ghana in existing Microcredit Programmes and the Informal Labour Market” (HP 115 – 008) – pilot to the present proposed project

- Global line 2014 (HP 405 – 100), 2015 (HP 405 – 073), 2016 (HP – 405 – 106)- Strengthening the Disability Movement in Ghana, phase II (HP 115 - 048)- Strengthening the Disability Movement in Ghana, phase III (HP 115 - 077)- Evaluation of Gender Project of the GBU Women’s Wing (HP 115 - 093)

Does the project’s theme lies within the partners’ normal field of work?

Yes XNo

Reference is further made to Annex A: Partner Profile.

2.b Results

As mentioned above, the present project is preceded by a pilot project. The evaluation of this project (draft evaluation report June 2016, Annex E) concludes the following: “To a larger extent, this pilot project has been very successful in achieving its intentions. Its approach has been unique because it sought to competitively position members in the labour market as active development participants. Through its partnership with rural banks and state organisations for financial literacy, capacity building, business management and credit intermediation, the mother union (GBU) has been weaned of membership


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Danish Disability Funddependence. It has consolidated the livelihood initiatives started by the members and improved on the potential of blind people in making meaningful living”.

Specifically, the project has generated the following key results:

- Establishment of relationship with and overall ownership of NBSSI, APEX bank and three rural banks.

- Successful negotiation of lower lending rates of credit facilities.- Commitment and change of perception among several loan officers and NBSSI officers.- 105 BPS clients now operate their own businesses (however not all making enough profit to

enable them to save funds). Refer Annex M.- 85 BPS persons have obtained loans to expand their businesses (one or more times). Annex M.- Documentation of success stories (Annex J)- Development of training manual for financial inclusion of BPS persons based on best practice

(Annex L). - Numerous examples of change of perception / decrease in discrimination towards BPS persons

among local community stakeholders.

2.c Challenges

The pilot project experienced a few challenges, all of which will be addressed by the proposed strategic interventions under the present project:

- Despite being trained, some beneficiaries still lacked sufficient confidence to obtain loans (leading to self-restriction to small loan amounts) or to effectively engage with bank officials.

- Some beneficiaries have experienced that the sales of their products have slowed down and as a result they have been unable to save or take new loans.

- Some bank officials at the involved banks have demonstrated lack of sufficient understanding, because most of the engagement was done at the higher level with little involvement of officials in the districts (ref. evaluation, Annex E, p. 17-18).

- Negotiations with one out of three banks as regards as continuation of (tailor made) services beyond the project period are still on-going. The negotiated low interest rate is a concern raised.

- Likewise, efforts are still needed to fully anchor commitment and ensure full sustainability of the collaboration with NBSSI. Generally, it has turned out that there is a need to engage more individual staff members of the NBSSI and the rural banks in order for them to appreciate the peculiar needs and potentials of BPS persons.

- In terms of the collaboration and partnership between GBU and DAB, staff turnover on two occasions of key project staff at DAB over the pilot period generated some confusion and need to build up new knowledge and detailed insight into project issues on the part of DAB. The situation has now stabilized.

2.d Learning of relevance to the application

As will appear from the above, the present project stands on the shoulders of a several related interventions. A number of findings and learnings have confirmed or helped to slightly adjust the approach as compared to the pilot phase. The key areas of learning – which jointly with a few others will be elaborated upon in section 3.d below - are the following:

- The training provided was a good starter since almost every activity that followed was connected to the skills and knowledge that the participants had acquired. The practical training approach should be continued but for sake of sustainability, the training should be an on-going activity and not a one-off event (Annex E, p. 9).


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Danish Disability Fund- Emphasis on the culture of opening accounts and saving has proven to be a good strategy since it

(compared to earlier related interventions) has facilitated that many BPS clients have managed to both save and increase their capital base.

- Intensification of education and sensitization to help members understand the benefits of credit facilities long enough before the project commences will boost repayment rate and help cement relationship between GBU and the bank (p. 16).

- The initial small grant (“input support”) served well as a “pull factor” to encourage beneficiaries to open and operate bank accounts (p. 10).

- Sharing of information and learning between beneficiaries should come relatively early in the implementation stages (p. 12).

- When the success stories of BPS persons are apparent to society, perception and discrimination will change. The banks involved in the pilot project were surprised by the performance of the BPS persons especially regarding loan repayment which has been 100% for all groups (p. 17-18).

- Future technical advisory services should consider the use of a standard guide across all locations (p. 13).

- The intervention proved to be a good platform to drive membership mobilization for advocacy and sensitization. Members should be encouraged to take advantage of opportunities like this to drive membership activities within the districts. Women with economic empowerment are better positioned to strengthen the WW as an organ of GBU (p. 11).

- Routine engagement with other key stakeholders should be firmly established (p. 2) – and initial involvement take place at the very early stages of starting up businesses.

With regard to the management of the pilot project, also a few learnings have been generated which have been addressed and are integrated in the present proposal:

- The project team should constantly seek feedback from beneficiaries in order to re-engage bank officials where beneficiaries are raising concerns (p. 18).

- Close monitoring and direct contact to beneficiaries by GBU project team is necessary. It is not possible to rely too fully on (voluntary) regional coordinators.

- More meticulous documentation as regards both beneficiaries’ situation, feedback from trainings, and results of awareness activities.

- A closer integration of the wings at national level in project management should be considered to create broad ownership within the wings and for the project to tap into the rich experience of the wings leadership (p. 21).

This latter point was also referred to in the external evaluation of the GBU/DAB Gender Project (MP 278) which finished by the end of 2016. The evaluation concluded that “… making the WW responsible for the implementation and management of the activities would continue the approach of the Gender Project and enhance the sustainability of the Wing. One such project could be the GBU micro-credit project which already has a focus on women but where the WW could be further involved in the management and implementation of the component focusing on women” (Gender Project, external evaluation, p.32, may be forwarded upon request).

2.e Preparatory process

The proposed project is, as mentioned, a continuation of a pilot project. As such it has all along been the plan and expectation – provided that the pilot turned out to be successful - that it should be followed by another project phase in joint collaboration between GBU, its wings and DAB. Consequently, experiences and learnings have been captured over the past few years with a view to informing the design of the current project and further developing a sustainable model for economic inclusion.


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The actual preparation of the current project commenced with consultative meetings between the leadership of the GBU wings and the regional chairpersons on the modalities for the selection of the project regions and districts. The regions and the districts were as such chosen based on the approval of all (ref. below).

The ideas of the strategies/ expected outcomes of the new project were carefully formulated by the GBU project team with input from the wings. Most of the learnings that form the basis of the development of project outcomes, outputs and related activities were captured drawing on reports from information sharing sessions held for project stakeholders and beneficiaries, as well as experiences picked up from field visits under the pilot project. Further, the final evaluation (including a debriefing session with key stakeholders) has provided important input to fine tune ideas and approaches. In the drafting process, telephone calls were intermittently made to the wings and project beneficiaries to collate /confirm ideas and information activities and monitoring procedures. The actual writing of the application was shared between GBU and DAB with mutual inputs to various drafts.

3. WHAT CHANGE WILL THE PROJECT ACHIEVE AND HOW? (suggested length 8-10 pages)

3.a Change which the project aims to bring about (max. ½ page)

Unemployment is a national phenomenon and a developmental issue that most developing countries, such as Ghana, are striving to resolve. GBU has over the years experimented with various interventions geared towards creating a sustainable livelihood for blind women and youth in Ghana. The just ended pilot project has carefully applied strategies in creation of jobs as well as integrating blind persons into financial services in 6 districts in 3 regions. The overall ambition of the next phase of the project is to strengthen results and documentation and to pursue new approaches which collectively will enhance the prospects for sustainable replication of a cost effective economic inclusion model. Drawing on lessons, project achievements and best practices from the pilot, the project will generate a greater volume of positive experiences for advocacy and institutionalization of relations, apply alternative strategies for mobilization of start-up capital, and gradually hand over responsibilities to GBU and wing executives at district and regional level.

Specifically, the project will equip 100 BPS persons (50 women and 50 youth) in the informal sector in 4 new districts in 2 regions with adequate knowledge on business management practices to establish and manage their own business enterprises. They will also be given knowledge in financial literacy and be encouraged to save and access micro credit facilities to expand their businesses. Ultimately, it is expected that the 100 BPS persons will be fully and sustainably integrated into self-enterprises to earn regular income and adequately cater for themselves and their families, including support to children’s education, as well as participate in social activities in their respective districts. Economically empowered BPS persons will in turn strengthen GBU and its wings as strong democratically based organisations. Refer Annex M, Annex J and evaluation report, Annex E (e.g. p. 10).

Moreover, the project will continuously monitor and support the 105 BPS persons who established small scale enterprises as part of the pilot project, while applying a new methodology of community engagement and resource mobilization (asset based approach) to facilitate that more BPS – without project subsidies - can start up ventures and access mainstream services, a min. of 60 BPS persons will gain from this. This new approach, which will be driven by capacitated GBU/wing regional and district executives, will also gradually be applied in the 4 new project districts.


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Danish Disability FundThe present project will further deepen the relations between GBU, NBSSI, and the APEX bank and its agencies (rural banks) for them to offer tailor made trainings / technical advice in business management and financial services to BPS persons. Enhanced engagement with the institutions, also at national level, drawing on systematic gathering of data, cases and positive experiences, will both increase the likelihood of continued services in the targeted districts and inspire and encourage banks outside the project districts to include BPS persons in similar schemes.

Through intensified engagements, key stakeholders (market queens, traditional authorities, District Assemblies etc.) in the communities and the general public will be sensitized to correct misconceptions about BPS persons’ capabilities and potentials to work. Thus the project will serve to change the perception of the general public, the targeted stakeholders and service providers, and of the BPS persons themselves about capabilities of BPS in engaging in self-employment.

3.b Target groups and stakeholder analysis

The primary target group embraces a min. of 654 persons, spread over 4 regions and 10 districts in Ghana, and divided in five subgroups (see also Annex O):

A1. Rights-holder - BPS persons in 4 new districts 100 persons

A2. Rights-holders – BPS persons in 6 pilot districts 165 (105 + 60) persons

B. Rights-holders – GBU and wing executives in 10 districts 74 persons

C. Duty bearers and service providers 115 (45+20+50) persons

D. Other stakeholders 200 persons

A. Rights-holders – BPS persons who will be supported in various ways to start up or expand small businesses

100 BPS persons - 50 from the women’s wing (WW), and 50 from the youth wing (YW) of which approx. 20 female youth - who will be assisted to establish and/or expand own businesses; the majority of them (80 persons) will be provided with training, follow up and seed capital, and the remaining group (20 persons) with training, follow up and limited seed capital dependent on co-funding. Focus will be on those BPS persons who are not in business but have the potential to become small scale entrepreneurs (approx. 95%). Assessment of “potential” is based on criteria relating to commitment to wings and GBU (e.g activity level in wing activities), economic situation/need, and demonstrated ability to pursue an economic venture. This group of rights-holders will be drawn from 4 new GBU district branches in 2 different regions, 50 persons in each region; Ejisu Juabeng and Bosotwi in the Ashanti region, and Ketu South and Hohoe in the Volta regions of the country.

105 BPS persons, beneficiaries under the pilot project, whose established businesses will be monitored and supported by GBU and wing executives (besides on-going technical support by loan and NBSSI officers, not financed by the project). Furthermore, min. 60 additional BPS persons (10 per 6 pilot districts) who will receive general support by GBU and wing executives to harness community resources to start up business, and to access financial and vocational training services and follow up by banks and NBSSI. This group of rights-holders are spread over the 6 pilot districts in 3 different regions; Bekwai and Obuasi in the Ashanti region (i.e. one regional overlap), Lawra and Nadwoli in Upper West region, and Ada East and Ada West in the Greater Accra region.

For further details and overview on GBU structure, regions, districts and target groups, refer to Annex O.

B. Rights-holders – GBU and wing executives in pilot and new districts who will be trained to monitor and


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Danish Disability Fundsupport their members A total of 74 GBU and wing executives in 4 new and 6 pilot districts who will receive training in monitoring and documentation as well as community engagements and advocacy. This group consists of the following: 2 GBU district leaders in each of 10 districts and 1 GBU regional leader in each of 4 regions (=24 persons); 2WW/2YW district leaders in each of 10 districts (=40 persons); 1 WW/1YW regional leaders in each of 4 regions (=8 persons); and 2 national WW/ YW leaders (=2 persons).

C. Duty bearers and service providers – rural banks and National Board for Small Scale IndustriesThe project will directly engage 4 rural banks whose staff will be targeted and capacitated to continue or open up their financial services to BPS persons in the 4 regions. The 4 banks are each at different stages in terms of commitment and engagement which provides ample opportunity for gathering of learning for future replication. Three of the banks formed part of the pilot project; two of them (Odotobire and Lawra – see annex R for confirmation) have continued to render tailor made services to BPS persons, and one bank (Ada) is yet undecided but negotiations with GBU are on-going. The experiences with Odotobire rural bank have been particularly positive and this bank will serve as a model bank in the present project (refer 3.d below). The fourth and new bank will expectedly be Afadjoto bank. Investigation is currently taking place to check the background and performance of the bank with the APEX bank (the umbrella body that coordinates the operations of all rural banks in the country) and BPS members in the region. The 4 banks will be engaged at both regional and district levels. A min. of 12 bank staff at regional level (3 per regional headoffice) and 30 loan officers at district level (3 per district), will be directly engaged in the project through sensitization meetings and information sharing sessions. Furthermore, expectedly 3 staff at the national APEX bank will be directly engaged in bank selection, follow up meetings and information sharing sessions.

Aside the rural banks that will render the micro financial services to the project beneficiaries, the NBSSI is also strategically targeted to provide (or continue to provide depending on district) tailor made training to BPS persons in business management techniques, as per their mandate by government to provide training in skills and business management at the grassroots level. As a good lesson drawn from the pilot phase, the NBSSI will be engaged at national, regional, and the district levels. Expectedly 2 NBSSI staff at national level, 4 at regional level and 14 (2 per new district and 1 per pilot district) will be directly engaged in the project.

Finally, District Assemblies, District Common Fund Management Committees (DACF FCMs), and other relevant local authorities (e.g. Social Welfare) will be engaged in order to identify available community resources that may be of benefit to the establishment of businesses of the project target group and beyond. DAs are for example responsible for establishment of markets, and for all resources pertaining to development of services in the districts. A minimum of 5 decision makers and district officials in each of 10 districts, total of 50 persons, will be directly engaged for support during and after the project period.

D. Other stakeholdersThis group consists of other (some non-disabled) stakeholders that will assist BPS persons in leveraging market opportunities. These are BPS family members, traditional/ opinion leaders, market queens, tomatoes/rice/cloth sellers associations, leaders of social groups and networks in the communities, religious leaders among others. Chiefs and queen mothers are responsible for land and have influence on resource allocation in the district (e.g. market), have networks of individual philanthropist etc. Families will specifically be engaged in the provision of financial and material resources such as office space, stores, tables, kiosk, cereals etc. An estimated 200 persons will be directly engaged through stakeholder dialogues and community engagements in the 4 new and 6 pilot districts (min. 20 per district).

The secondary target group, who will benefit indirectly from project activities, embraces the following three groups:


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Danish Disability FundThe families of BPS beneficiaries can be expected to benefit from either a personally empowered or materially benefitted BPS member. Using the average household size of four in Ghana1, the number of people involved would be about 1060 persons.

The total GBU membership in the 4 new and 6 pilot districts – a total of 4.697 persons - who may gain inspiration from case stories and BPS role models, and who expectedly as potential future loan takers will gain benefit of changed perception and access to opportunities at the level of the banks and NBSSI.

The local communities of the 4 new project districts that will be engaged through local advocacy and awareness raising efforts through collaboration with 8 radio stations (2 per district) and 2 TV stations.

Finally, BPS persons in non-project districts in the 4 regions may indirectly benefit from the spill over of the rendering of services from other district branches of the rural banks and NBSSI. Project beneficiaries will share their experiences with other GBU members during the wings congresses and other fora/meetings. Also, the national GBU board will be updated at regular level of project progress and board members will be encouraged to create platforms in their districts where NBSSI and the rural banks can be invited to educate members on business management and financial literacy. GBU has a collective membership of 8.307 BPS persons in the targeted 4 regions and approx. 16.000 members spread across Ghana.

Reference is further made to the stakeholder analysis contained in Annex F.

3.c Objectives and indicators (attach a logframe)

Reference is made to Logframe (and activity plan) in Annex B.

3.d Strategy (suggested length: 5-7 pages)

The project is the second step in a joint effort between GBU and DAB to promote access of BPS persons to financial services and inclusion in the (informal) labour market in Ghana on similar conditions as their sighted colleagues. The change logic underlying this is that an inclusive society is a duty of the state and its institutions – in this case including the Bank of Ghana and NBSSI – but needs to be informed and brought about by capacitated BPS persons who, with the support of their organisations and sensitized key community stakeholders, can serve as examples and role models, which in turn will help fight exclusion. Changes of behaviour among these three key groups (BPS persons, duty bearers/service providers, and community stakeholders/public) are therefore central to the overall goal and define each of the three identified outcomes. As the logic indicates these intervention areas do not stand alone but are mutually supportive and collectively address the plethora of barriers and challenges mentioned in section 1.b.

Consequently, the project will apply two main overall strategic approaches (strategic service delivery and advocacy) in the implementation of its activities. The strategic service delivery component will focus on the primary targets of the project, i.e. capacitation and empowerment of BPS women and youth as well as GBU and wing district/regional executives in 10 districts (Outcome 1), whereas the advocacy and sensitization activities will be directed towards partly the relevant duty bearers and service providers – notably the NBSSI, APEX bank and the three rural banks (Outcome 2) – and partly other relevant stakeholders in the community; market queens/sellers’ associations, traditional authorities and families of BPS persons as well radio/TV stations and general public (Outcome 1 and 3).

1 www.statsghana.gov.gh/docfiles/glss5_report.pdf


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Danish Disability FundAs indicated earlier, the project will constitute an up-scaled replication of the pilot project with significant emphasis on applying strategies for increased sustainability, including intensified engagement with community stakeholders and intensified advocacy towards the relevant (national) institutions for broader mainstreaming and impact. This approach is in line with the evaluation of the pilot project which concluded that the project “had been very successful in achieving its intentions” (p. 1), however it also recommended deeper and broader engagement with key stakeholders. This will be addressed by the current suggested intervention while at the same time generating and systematically documenting a greater pool of positive experiences and examples which convincingly can demonstrate that BPS persons have potential to successfully engage in livelihood activities.

Strategic service delivery for capacity building and evidence based advocacy (Outcome 1)

The learnings of the pilot phase revealed that BPS persons are indeed able to strive successfully in businesses, sustain gains and even expand their businesses when they have knowledge on business management techniques and financial literacy (refer to Annex M – beneficiary survey pilot project). In linking the BPS beneficiaries with vocational training and financial institutions, the individuals are assisted in making themselves financially attractive. Further, in order to achieve this, the project will strategically assist the beneficiaries, aided by regional and district executives, to harness all available community assets in form of community good will, material input, land for ventures, to establish and maintain their business ventures. Documented case stories and role models will be used in advocacy and awareness raising efforts.

Specifically, 100 BPS persons in 4 new districts with potential to work will be selected through a careful screening exercise building on experience from the pilot project. A needs assessment team will be set up, consisting of GBU district presidents, leaders of the YW and WW and a representative of NBSSI. The team will be responsible for the actual screening and the final selection of the BPS, as mentioned above based on criteria such as level of commitment and empowerment and previous work experience and will help candidates fine tune their request in line with the criteria set by the banks (open an account, save a percentage of the loan amount, credit officer analysis).

The role of the GBU representatives, as regards both the screening and follow up on the BPS entrepreneurs, will be as a liaison between BPS beneficiaries and the banks and NBSSI and facilitator of a long term relationship based on mutual understanding and trust. The representative of NBSSI is part of the team for NBSSI to learn how to fully assess the real abilities and resource base of the GBU members and in order to ensure the economic viability of business ideas. As such, the screening and assessment will help ensure the marketability of the business ventures and offer technical advice on market conditions.

Based on the technical assessment, the selected beneficiaries will receive a modest “seed capital”. This economic input is strategically used to enable beneficiaries to establish or expand a business, raise self-confidence and for them to commence savings with the selected banks thereby gaining eligibility for a bank loan and demonstrating to banks and community the business capability of BPS persons.2 In order to find alternative means of capital input, the project will as indicated above, test an “asset based approach”, engaging a wide range of community stakeholders with a view to harnessing district assets relevant to establishment and development of BPS businesses. This approach will be used with regard to 20 BPS (out of the 100) in the new districts in the sense that these must show co-funding prior to receipt of seed capital. Also, it will be applied in the pilot districts with the aim to facilitate and demonstrate that new and

2 Research shows that such “micro grants” can with effectively be used for assisting extremely poor to overcome social isolation, low confidence and to prepare for use of micro-credit. E.g. C-GAP, Donor brief 2002


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Danish Disability Fundadditional BPS persons (min. 60 persons), can start up businesses and access services, without any kind of project subsidies. 3

Stakeholder dialogues and meetings were also carried out in the pilot project with good results and will thus be taken to a greater extent in the current project. The workability of this approach is also underlined by the experience of GBU from other project and interventions that local fundraising and mobilizing of resources is much easier when concentrated on harnessing in-kind support rather than cash. The rationale why full seed capital will still be provided to 80 of the 100 BPS in new districts is an attempt to gain strategic momentum with the banks and NBSSI.

Specifically, the BPS beneficiaries will be guided - through the screening and needs assessment - to identify specific and available community resources that will be of benefit to the establishment and running of their businesses, for example allocation of market spaces and stores without advance payment, provision of space around hospitals and bus terminals on goodwill, commodities for trade among other (also see below Outcome 3). To support this, the local and regional executives will be given a one-day training at district level on how to initiate and organize community conversations with key stakeholders, such as DAs, traditional authorities, government agencies, social groups, families and individuals for the set-up of BPS persons in business ventures. The trainings will commence in the pilot districts and continue in the new districts drawing on gathered learning. Initial engagement with stakeholders will be carried out jointly by the district/regional leaders and the GBU project team and will thereafter by handed over to the district/regional executives. The training will include guidance on the development of a community asset register on all resources available in the communities than can be used by members (market space, market shades, individual philanthropic/guarantors, traditional/community land, volunteers, media support in advertising, DACF funds etc). Further, the executives will be given skills on how to approach and conduct conversations with the relevant stakeholders. Refer to Annex Q for a recent GBU study (community action plan for economic empowerment for women with disability) which explains the overall concept.

Following the assessment process, the NBSSI and the micro financial institutions will train the selected BPS persons to manage their businesses and also utilize financial services. The evaluation of the pilot phase praised the multifaceted and practical approach adopted to equip members with financial literacy skills, business management skills as well as customer service (Annex E, p. 9) and this will be continued under the project. For details on the two types of training, see below Outcome 2. In order to address a recommendation that sensitization of members should start early and training should be continuous (p. 16), GBU branches will be encouraged to invite bank officials to their district meetings to educate members on financial literacy and credit facilities. Once enrolled in the project, the regular visits by loan officers and NBSSI staff will serve as hands-on support (refer further below Outcome 2). And additionally, the GBU team will where possible use wings’ forum and districts meetings to provide continuous support and guidance to members.

A lesson from the evaluation of the pilot phase is that some beneficiaries are still afraid to be indebted and therefore restrict themselves to small loan amounts which may not expand their businesses that much (Annex E, p.15). In order to address this, the initial sensitization meetings with the NBSSI and rural banks will stress the need for loan officers and NBSSI officers to increase their visits to BPS persons and encourage and coach them to build their confidence. Similarly, the interaction between the GBU and the members will

3 A part of the local resource mobilization will be aiming to access loans offered by the business advisory centers (BACs), attached to the rural banks at district level. These centers provide additional information on financial sources and occasionally provide financial support to those businesses with larger thresh holds. As part of the advocacy activities, GBU will negotiate flexible criteria for BPS persons to access the BAC financial support in the districts where they are available.


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Danish Disability Fundintensify focus on strengthening the self-confidence of especially the women to claim their rights when engaging bank officials. As part of this, they will be encouraged and guided how to value their efforts and investment, as also recommended by the evaluation.

In the pilot project, some women’s groups were involved in the project with limited success. It was established that individual cases were far more successful as members were more responsible and commented to running their ventures profitably.4 In addition, profit made by individual members, however small, imparted directly and immediately on the lives of the individuals. Further, in the pilot project the women’s groups already existed and operated prior to the project. In the suggested new districts, such groups do not exist. Therefore, formation of collectively enterprises will not specifically be encouraged. However, key strategies will be applied to create avenues /platforms for BPS persons to showcase their potentials, network among themselves and other business groups in the districts to share and learn experiences. This includes sharing of information and facilitating interaction with non-disabled members in the districts engaged in similar activities.

Further, as recommended by the evaluation (p. 11), the project intervention will be used to drive membership activities and mobilization and will be used as a strategy to strengthen the wings in the districts, e.g. by increasing their membership since not all youth or women are currently members of the wings (currently an average of 10 WW and YW members per district).

Advocacy for business training and financial inclusion (Outcome 2)

As in the pilot project, the NBSSI and financial institutions (rural banks) are targeted and engaged in the project as strategic partners - the NBSS, as an official institution mandated to provide training and business advisory services to small scale enterprises, and the rural banks (and the APEX umbrella body) as institutions which render financial services to all at the grassroots level. As described, prior to the pilot project, few BPS persons accessed these services and only with difficulty. Rather than building new structures, the project aims to consolidate and further expand the access to tailor made services by existing institutions thereby assisting these institutions to fulfil their core obligations and responsibility of rendering services to citizens regardless of any disability.

Specifically as regards the NBSSI, the project will engage this institution at both national, regional and district levels on the inclusion of the needs of BPS persons in its business training programmes. Though the evaluation report of the pilot phase stressed that one of the successes of the project was the involvement of NBSSI, it also, as mentioned, identified the need for further sensitization of the staff of NBSSI. The project will commence with a sensitization forum for the NBSSI officers in the districts, together with the national training coordinators. Subsequently, drawing on the experience of the pilot phase, the NBSSI will provide tailor made training in business management for the selected BPS persons in the project districts. Specifically, the content of the training includes skills for business start-up, sources of business opportunities and skills to maintain and grow customer base. Standard NBSSI training excludes BPS persons since these are held in cities for at least one week, using visual methodologies, and non-provision of training mentoring, coaching and advice after the training. GBU have negotiated with NBSSI to make trainings more inclusive, for example training of BPS persons in their districts, and provision of follow-up meetings on a one-on-on basis in the communities and in the specific business settings to give individually based technical advice. As a new feature NBSSI officers will provide written reports – as opposed to previous verbal reporting - to GBU on the quarterly follow up visits.Further, based on the positive experience with the development of a tailor made financial manual in the pilot phase, the project will engage NBSSI to review and revise its business management training manual to capture the unique needs of BPS persons. The positive expectation is that the NBSSI will disseminate copies

4 This is supported by an IDCT annual report from 2002 which underlines the importance of individual responsibility and persons relations with the respective loan officer.


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Danish Disability Fundof the reviewed manual to its offices in all regions and districts during regional and district forums/meetings, where also officers from the project districts will update the national office on progress. As such, the standard training manual to guide the delivery of technical advice will add to general standardization of services and sustainability. Other project documentation, including success stories of BPS entrepreneurs, will likewise be disseminated at these fora to encourage that NBSSI generally opens up its services to BPS persons in the project districts and beyond, also after the termination of the project. Coordination and synergy will generally be sought with related efforts under the on-going Joint Project in Ghana (HP 115 - 077).

The partnership and collaboration between GBU and NBSSI will in this phase - drawing on lessons in the pilot project from collaboration with the banks - be sealed through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which will outline mutual commitment and obligations with a view to long term partnership. The MoU will be concluded with NBSSI at national level and disseminated to the NBSSI at regional and district level for their information and guidance. Refer to Annex N for a tentative list of content for the MoU.

As regards the involvement of rural banks, the training of BPS persons by the banks and the inclusion of BPS persons into their financial services constitutes one of the positive findings of the pilot project. In fact, the evaluation report concluded that the game changer was the acceptance of BPS persons by the partner banks and their willingness to continue supporting members financially and technically (Annex E, p.2).

The project will engage 4 rural banks covering 10 districts to render/continue to render tailor made services and support to BPS persons. This includes: screening and advice on business plans for viability and profit-making, training on financial literacy before and after opening of accounts, building of personal trustful relation between loan officer and client, advice on saving strategies, negotiation of repayment with the clients to meet their convenience, and visits by loan officers to clients on agreed days for savings and loan repayment thus handling mobility problems. In the 4 new districts, a one-day training per district will be organised as part of the project for the BPS beneficiaries. The content of the one-day training includes savings, information on the various financial products, criteria for accessing loans, repayment terms etc., using an training manual developed in the pilot phase (Annex L). A MoU between GBU and the selected banks will be signed on the agreed terms (refer to Annex H for an example of a MoU). The banks will be engaged on a one-by-one basis as well as a group to agree on the tailor made services for the blind.

As mentioned above (section 2.b), the 4 banks are each at different stages in terms of commitment and engagement which provides ample opportunity for gathering of learning for future replication. Particularly, the Odotobire, a target bank under the pilot phase, will be used as a “model bank” under the present project in the sense that officers from the bank will serve as resource persons in GBU’s advocacy efforts towards other banks, in other districts as well as at national level underlining both the fact that BPS persons are good and reliable clients and that banks have a corporate social responsibility in terms of making services available to all population groups. In the course of the pilot project Odotobire bank on its own initiative developed a TV documentary on micro-credit to BPS business which will serve as a tool in the advocacy efforts.


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Like in the pilot phase a “guarantee fund” will be available in case repayment of loans does not happen as expected, however only concerning the 100 BPS beneficiaries in the new districts. The purpose of the guarantee fund is to ensure that the BPS persons meet an “open door” when they approach the banks by guaranteeing that these do not risk a (perceived) economic loss by including BPS persons. As confirmed by the pilot project, financial institutions show a higher degree of willingness to include PWDs, when the potential risk is removed from the financial institutions’ engagement. Thus it is also the purpose in itself to show the institutions that BPS represents a potential business opportunity, as they are credit-worthy to the same extent as any other persons. The workability of this approach is evidenced by the fact that two out of three banks in the pilot project continue to render the same services, and negotiations are still on-going with the third bank. Additionally, the remaining guarantee funds will be drawn back from the banks 1½ years before the close of project to allow for a sustainability assessment of the bank relations, i.e. to verify that banks continue and open up services to a larger group of BPS persons (for further details on the guarantee fund, refer to Annex G).

Despite the positive experience from the pilot phase, the evaluation recommended - like in the case of the NBSSI - further sensitization of the banks, notably bank officials at all levels should be engaged to get their buy-in. In the pilot project, the engagement at higher levels did not in all cases trickle down to the direct implementing banks at the district level. Consequently, a broad based engagement will be adopted under the present project to enhance good understanding at all levels. This will enhance the receipt of appropriate support/services by BPS persons even when the assigned officers are not present or no more in the districts, thereby also adding to sustainability. Sensitization and information sharing forums will be held for all relevant loan officers, in particular in the 4 new districts who will be conducting training for BPS clients, in addition to the training managers in regional offices of the banks. The officers will be sensitized on the unique needs of BPS persons and outline their expected role in ensuring financial inclusion of BPS persons at low risk. Use of good case stories and presentation of tangible results and profit-making will serve as a tool to that effect, and practical exercises will be included to give staff confidence in communicating with persons who are blind or partially sighted.

At the national level, the APEX bank will be engaged in the selection of the fourth and new project bank. APEX has track records of all rural banks and a lesson learnt from the pilot phase is that its involvement places responsibility and involvement in the project from the start. APEX will monitor the four targeted banks from time to time to ensure that the project progresses well. As recommended by the evaluation of the pilot project, GBU and Wing executives will on their part upscale the number of dialogue and follow up meetings with both APEX and the rural banks. This will also include targeted lobbying of the boards of the banks to ensure that continuity of the agreement/tailor made services to BPS persons is captured in the official policy of the respective bank as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR). The GBU national board members will contribute to these efforts where necessary. All four banks will, as part of their responsibility under the project, share project information with APEX and other rural banks during so-called Managers’ Forum and other strategic fora of the rural banks. Project documentations and success stories will be disseminated by APEX during their congress meetings for other banks to emulate. Where relevant, information and experiences will also be shared with other credit institutions and Sosu collectors, however focus is on institutions which hold legal accreditation and draw their mandate from the Bank of Ghana, since these present a safer and more sustainable option.

Advocacy and awareness raising for support and general inclusion (Outcome 3)

The evaluation report of the pilot project concluded that the communities in which the project was implemented came to acknowledge the value of the initiatives being championed by BPS persons (Annex E, p. 2). The experience is that the role of traditional authorities, market queens, opinion leaders, families and


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Danish Disability FundDistrict Assemblies cannot be over emphasized in the attainment of the project results. As mentioned above, the project will therefore intensify engagement with these stakeholders both on a one-to-one and a group basis to sensitize them on the capabilities of BPS persons and their business needs. The meetings will outline the expected role of the stakeholders in ensuring that BPS persons are granted market opportunities equal to their sighted counterparts in the communities. As an additional approach, as mentioned above and earlier tested by GBU in different context, these stakeholders will also be engaged in terms of harnessing of resources and in-kind support to facilitate setting-up of businesses. The GBU wing regional/district leaders will be guided on how to engage these groups, both in pilot and new project districts. These engagements / lobbying sessions will as recommended by the evaluation commence at the very early stages and will continue throughout the project period.

Also the role of the general public is critical to the project as the general public serve as the market force in the patronage of the goods of BPS persons. Radio has previously proven to be an effective way to create awareness at community level. GBU will therefore contact radio stations in the regions – and as a new approach also TV stations - in order to facilitate production and broadcasting of radio programmes and documentaries to educate the general public on blindness issues as well as the capabilities of BPS persons in business. The intention is to partner TV stations with students in film documentary to increase prospects that TV stations show themselves forthcoming to the idea. BPS persons who have distinguished themselves in their business careers during the pilot phase and other GBU projects will be used as resource persons, both in the documentary and if possible live TV discussions (broadcasted in conjunction with the documentary) where they can share their practical experience and stories jointly with other sighted entrepreneurs to demonstrate that they are not all that different.

Overall concerning all three areas of intervention, GBU will coordinate closely with relevant actors and like-minded organisations, in order to ensure coherence with related interventions by other actors, not least with GFD and GSPD (ref. further above). To the extent possible, the GBU project beneficiaries will share information and experience with the GSPD project beneficiaries. The activities of the GSPD are carried out under the on-going Joint Project Ghana (HP 115 – 077) where both GSPD and GBU, alongside GFD and a few other organisations, are partners. Likewise, close coordination and collaboration will take place between the related sister organisations in Denmark – DAB, DPOD and GSPD’s Danish sister organisation “Dansk Handicap Forbund“(DHF).

Reference is further made to the tentative project implementation plan (Annex H).

3.e Risks

Refer to Annex P for an overview of risks and mitigation strategies.

3.f Monitoring, documentation and learning – how to ensure learning in the project

A comprehensive monitoring plan will be developed within the first month of the project period. The plan will be strategically divided into three overall components in order to cover strategic documentation of: 1) selected activities, including training, 2) results according to the logframe, and 3) selected learning objectives (e.g. preconditions for ensuring viable business, value of project effort and economic input for BPS and family/community etc). The plan will further contain details (data collections methods, frequency, responsibility etc.) on the following elements and components:

- In order to enhance local ownership and responsibility, ensure sustainability and save costs, the leadership of the wings at district and regional level will play a key role in monitoring the project proceedings. A one-day training seminar will be organised at district level in all 10 districts to capacitate


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Danish Disability Fundwing leaders on monitoring and documentation (regional leaders added to the closest district). The training will be carried out in the pilot districts within the first few months, in order not to lose momentum in these districts and to start monitoring and tracking developments as soon as possible. Following the training, the executives will be resourced to monitor their members monthly (at district level) through telephone calls and field visits. Regional leaders will conduct half-yearly monitoring. Quarterly reports will be submitted to the national leadership and the GBU secretariat. Additionally, monitoring reports, especially key lessons, will be shared with wing members during their district meetings for non-project beneficiaries to also pick lessons from the project.

- To address the challenges of systematic documentation in the pilot project, GBU, in collaboration with DAB, will develop an electronic database on all the project beneficiaries for systematic follow up. In order to effectively monitor developments and gather data, GBU will also develop a survey questionnaire and survey guide in order to keep track of the beneficiaries and the business developed, including measure changes against previous income level and source, and the size and repayment of loans. Also non-subsidized BPS persons who establish businesses as an indirect result of the project. The beneficiary overview in Annex M will serve as a point of departure for development of these tools. The questionnaire and guide will be discussed and shared with the designated wing leaders during the training seminar and will be used for quarterly follow up with beneficiaries in the respective districts. The GBU project team will likewise monitor the project quarterly through regular phone calls, and field visits at least once a year, in order to support the monitoring done at regional/district level and in order to triangulate data. The DAB project manager will participate in one of the field visits. As recommended by the evaluation of the pilot project, these visits will also include review meetings with partner institutions like the banks to assess the extent of adherence on the part of the stakeholders to the agreed MoUs.

- As part of the follow up visits to BPS clients, and as a new feature in this phase (included in MoUs with banks and NBSSI), also the NBSSI and bank staff will make written quarterly reports on their visits to beneficiaries and share these with GBU for adequate follow up support to clients, and for learning and documentation purposes.

- As noted by the evaluation of the pilot project, one shortcoming in the pilot project was that there was also no systematic documentation of trainings and awareness raising activities, e.g. minutes from dialogue meetings, networking sessions and records of sensitization and awareness on radio. Therefore, these elements will be built into the monitoring plan to ensure that adequate documentation is in place, also with a view to strengthening follow up on pledges and agreements made. Likewise, as recommended in the evaluation report (Annex E, p. 9), training feedback will be documented in order to assess – and learn from– the performance of trainers and content of training.

- In terms of sharing and learning, the project beneficiaries will hold information sharing sessions including also other GBU members and PWDs involved in similar activities. The evaluation of the pilot concluded that these sessions had been very useful but came late in the implementation stages and therefore gave limited time for members to apply lessons learnt from their colleagues within the project period. This has been taken into account in the implementation plan of the present project. Further, the project entails information sharing sessions for the project beneficiaries and non-disabled persons engaged in similar businesses in the districts. Reports and minutes from these sessions will be shared among GBU members at both regional and national levels. Project experiences /learnings will further be captured in GBU newsletters. As outlined further above, the project also includes learning activities for key stakeholders, i.e. information sharing sessions will allow GBU, NBSSI, and the rural banks to learn from and document new learnings and best practices. Reports and documentation will be shared with other officers /branches through APEX and NBSSI national office.


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- A comprehensive midterm review (likely aided by a local consultant) will be organised to assess whether the project is on track and to gather learning to inform implementation in the remaining period. In particular, the review will look at developments in the pilot districts following the closure of the pilot intervention in order to obtain a picture of the sustainability of the activities, including continued service delivery by the banks and NBSSI to BPS persons and extending beyond the original target group. A special focus will be to evaluate to what extent it has been possible to harness local resources to support establishment of small businesses of BPS persons. The DAB project manager will participate in and contribute to the midterm assessment. Six months prior to project close, an end-term assessment will be conducted in order to inform the use of the remaining guarantee funds and guide the strategic development of future related GBU activities. Key lessons and best practices will be highlighted and shared among GBU and its wings at all levels, and summaries/leaflets will be disseminated among partners, various stakeholders and other disability and likeminded organisations.

3.g Information work

The challenges related to employment of BPS persons are also very present in a Danish context and the previous pilot project has been subject to great interest from the DAB membership. Coinciding with this, it is the wish and strategic ambition of DAB to strengthen the anchoring of its international development collaboration within the membership, and the present proposed project will provide an obvious means to this end. The project learnings and changes will expectedly be shared widely within the membership of DAB through a number of channels, including at meetings in the DAB development committee and at the general assembly. Furthermore, information and updates on the project will appear in the DAB newsletter, on DAB Facebook and on the organisation’s website in a revised and improved section on the international work (to be carried out in 2016).

The project budget does not include any funds for any broader information work in Denmark. However, sharing of project learning and results will be considered in connection with planned information initiatives under other projects, including not least an event within the framework of the Ghana Joint Project (HP 115 – 077) and in close collaboration with DPOD with a view to promoting mainstreaming of disability issues in the work of the Danish development NGOs. This is in the pipeline for 2017.

3.h Setup – division of roles and responsibilities between partners

In light of the ambition of the project to include BPS persons in mainstream services, the primary role of GBU is to facilitate economic empowerment of its members and BPS persons by acting as advocate and liaison between the BPS group and the targeted institutions and community stakeholders. Hence, the role of GBU is not to act as finance provider or carry out economic empowerment but to support the building of sound relations based on mutual understanding.

As will have appeared from the above, the planning, coordination, implementation and monitoring of all project activities will be carried out by the GBU in close partnership with the WW, YW and DAB. The GBU project coordinator (refer to TOR in Annex I) will be responsible for the day-to-day implementation of activities, quarterly updates and half-yearly reporting, and will facilitate documentation /dissemination of project success stories and new learnings. The involvement of the two wings will build on experience from the previous pilot project as well as the aforementioned GBU Gender Project. The wings have been involved in the selection of the districts and will moreover participate in the assessment team, alongside NBSSI, to nominate the beneficiaries of the project. Further, as outlined above, the capacitated WW and YW leaders will be closely involved in the


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Danish Disability Fundcommunity engagements and monitoring of the project beneficiaries, including field visits, and will gradually in the course of the project period take over all responsibilities at district level. GBU project reports will be shared with both wings, and their concerns and suggestions will be taken on board according. This will be in addition to reports which the wings will receive from their own district/regional leadership concerning the project. Representatives from the wings will further take part in mid-term and end-term assessments. GBU is in the process of developing a Wings Policy following a recommendation from the evaluation of the Gender Project and this will further inform the set-up and any required changes. Finally, the Executive Director will update the GBU National Board on the progress of the project during board meetings.

DAB will contribute with support and advice in particular on issues related to monitoring of project progress (including development of the monitoring plan and tools) and activities to enhance dissemination and sharing of learning besides sustainability measures. The DAB project manager will participate in one monitoring visit beside the midterm assessment. GBU will submit half yearly and annual reports including other project documentation to DAB that holds key responsibility for reporting and accounting and for relaying relevant information to DPOD and other relevant actors within the Danish disability movement. The DAB Executive Committee and Development Committee will follow the progress of the project, provide technical advice and be responsible for the alignment with DAB’s own strategies.

The key external stakeholders (NBSSI and rural banks) will be responsible for training the BPS persons in business management and financial literacy and will further monitor and provide support to BPS persons through field visits and phone calls and will submit quarterly reports to GBU. Finally, they will, as part of their responsibilities under the MoUs, document and share experiences and success stories with other relevant institutions at national, regional and district levels.

3.i The budget explained

More than half of the project budget is dedicated to activity costs, and the majority of the activity budget (when excluding the input support to beneficiaries) will be spent on outcome 2, i.e. advocacy among key stakeholders). In line with the increased efforts to broaden potential impact and increase sustainability, considerable amounts under outcomes 1 and 2 as well as “cross cutting activities” have been set aside for gathering of good practices, information sharing, dissemination, and follow up at both local and national level.

Guarantee funds of 130.788 DKK (guarantee funds to the involved banks) are included in the budget on two separate budget lines, under “activities” and “investments” respectively. The amount included under “investments” (95.788 DKK) consists of unused funds which are carried over from the pilot project. The project agreement between GBU and DAB will make reference to these funds underlining that they are reserved for the mentioned purpose. A decision on use of any remaining funds will be made six months prior to the end of the project. However, expectedly the funds will be spent within the project period on initiatives to enhance sustainability and replication, i.e. used for the development of additional educational and awareness raising materials, organisation of information dissemination seminars with GBU members, rural banks and other potential stakeholders in the districts. Should this for some reason not be desirable, the funds will be paid back to the Disability Fund after termination of the project period. Any funds staying with the banks to cover for unpaid loans will be documented as loss (further details on the Guarantee Fund in Annex G).

The budget includes a lump sum contribution for the purchase of a second GBU vehicle. GBU has currently identified approx. 50% of the total costs and adding the suggested lump sum, this will leave a remaining


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Danish Disability Fundbalance of approx. 6000 USD which DAB will assist GBU in locating. The rationale for having a second vehicle is that most of the GBU activities are in the field and spread among several regions as a reflection of the widely spread membership. Over the past years it has proven very difficult to rely on only one project vehicle to meet all project deadlines. Secondly, when the vehicle is in the field or being repaired due to heavy use, work in Accra is virtually grounded (including i.e. meetings, fund raising, outreaches like eye screening in the communities, visits to local branches and the schools to provide educational support). Using public transport is often not an option and using commercial vehicles is very expensive and time consuming. Additionally, the heavy use of the single vehicle puts the vehicle at the risk of frequent breakdowns.

Does the budget include spending on the Danish organisation’s man-hours dedicated to activity-specific assistance?

X

YesNo

The budget for DAB man-hours covers in particular support and advice in regard to monitoring, gathering of learning and documentation, efforts to achieve synergy with similar interventions, and advocacy to enhance sustainability of activities, this especially in light of the fact that DAB will discontinue its project engagement in Ghana following the termination of the present project.

4. WHAT ARE THE PROSPECTS AFTER THE PROJECT? (suggested length 1-2 pages)

4.a How to ensure sustainability

As will have appeared from the above, the proposed project is by design an “inclusion” project aiming to change perceptions and structures in order to obtain broad access for BPS persons to mainstream (yet tailor-made) business and financial services. It is the ultimate ambition of the project to create jobs in the informal sector for the selected BPS thereby adding to sustainable livelihood at an individual level. One of the key ways to ensure this is that there is a demand for the economic venture that they engage in, in such a way that the products can compete with others on the local market. In this respect the work of the assessment team is of crucial importance, as is also the regular follow up and hands-on support and guidance by NBSSI staff and loan officers, building on the confidence and personal relations facilitated through GBU. The findings from the pilot project promises well for sustainability of the individual enterprises (refer Annex M – beneficiary survey), however for sake of cautiousness the project calculates with a 75% success rate in terms of sustainable businesses.

The interaction and integration of BPS entrepreneurs in local networks as well as local resource mobilization and the intensified engagement with community stakeholders (“asset based approach”) will also work towards enhanced sustainability as well as replication/expansion of the target group beyond the direct project beneficiaries, also within the project period. Further, GBU will, in close collaboration with GFD and the efforts carried out under the mentioned Ghana Joint Project, encourage its regional, district, and wings leadership to access the DACF and any other official resources that may be available in the districts for members to set-up their businesses. Collectively it is estimated that the harnessing of community resources, incl. DACF funds and increased accessibility to flexible BAC loans, will present viable and cost-effective alternative strategies to raising resources/seed capital for business start ups.


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Danish Disability FundUnderpinning this, the evaluation of the pilot project notes that the project has great potential for a spin-off effect in the sense that successful beneficiaries serve as important role models for their peers. An example mentioned is the fast expanding nature of Osaie Emmanuel’s poultry farm (refer Annex J), which has had the effect that other members constantly are enquiring how they could become beneficiaries. In the project, mobilization of new members will be pursued in a more strategic manner than previously in conjunction with the district activities.

In terms of consolidating and sustaining the relationship with NBSSI, the NBSSI is mandated to provide business training/support to small scale business persons. As described BPS persons are largely excluded from this mainly due to ignorance and non-accessible training. However, conclusion of a MoU at national level (reaching beyond the project period), increased advocacy and sharing of experiences at different levels (using best practices), and redesign of the NBSSI training manual to include the special needs of BPS will expectedly work to that effect. Also GBU members will be continuously informed of the services of NBSSI in the districts and this will lead to more members requesting services from NBSSI.

The high loan recovery rate and the general positive experience from the pilot phase promises well for the sustainability of tailor-made financial services of the involved banks after the project; a decision which is to be taken by the board of the respective banks. The MOU that will be signed by the rural banks will state that that the given bank will continue to render the same flexible service and loan terms to the BPS after the termination of the project. As mentioned, two out of three banks in the pilot project - the Odotobire and Lawra banks – have continued this practice. The third bank has expressed concern that the agreed interest rate for the loans was low, a situation that the bank could not leverage to make any margin. As recommended by the evaluation of the pilot project, GBU will continuously engage and advocate with this bank, and especially lobbying board members who hold the decision making power, for them to appreciate the long-term prospects of increased savings culture among GBU membership and that it could be a source of cheap liability for the banks in future. This approach will also be applied towards the fourth and new bank. The guarantee funds, which will be accessible to the banks to cover for any loss in regard to the BPS beneficiaries in the new districts, will as previously described be brought back to GBU 1½ years before project close to test and verify the sustainability and inclusiveness of the bank services. At an overall level, a greater pool of expected positive case stories together with the described intensified strategic national level advocacy – and sharing of experiences to other rural banks – promises well for a future opening of services to BPS persons by also non-project banks even without the provision of a guarantee funds.

At an organisational level, capacitated GBU and wing executives at regional and district level will gradually take over responsibility for all activities in their respective areas which adds to local ownership, responsibility and cost effective replication. Moreover, the regional leaders will leverage on their involvement and experience in the project to brief, support and capacitate other district leaders outside the project districts during regional council meetings and other for a for them to buy-into the idea and initiate community conversations in their respective districts.

The intensified involvement and responsibility of GBU and wing executives generates important learning for future cost effective replication of activities. Building capacity of BPS leaders at different levels in the use of community conversation to harness community resources constitutes a main element in GBU’s strategy moving forward, and the training in both conversation and documentation is a crucial vehicle for the expansion of economic empowerment to other districts, since this is a key priority for GBU members. When GBU advocates for the access to business training and financial services and the right to employment, the organisation is fighting directly for the basic needs of their members which creates a stronger feeling of ownership to the organisation. When the members of GBU have a stronger feeling of ownership, GBU will


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Danish Disability Fundbe strengthened and more sustainable at an organizational level with an ability to advocate with a louder voice for the best interest of its members and BPS persons in general.

4.b New phases and future cooperation

The DAB-GBU partnership goes back more than 30 years. In line with GBU growing stronger as an organization supporting and claiming the rights of BPS persons in Ghana, DAB has gradually begun to decrease project support. The partnership will continue, also after the termination of the present project, however with increased focus on strategic partnership interventions rather than project collaboration which expectedly will be fully phased out with the closure of the present project in 2020.

GBU will continue with related interventions after 2020 building on the results, alliances and learning from the pilot and present project. GBU has a long term goal of institutionalising economic empowerment for BPS persons as an advocacy tool. This has been captured in the organisation’s strategic plan 2015-2020, objective 3. Among the key actions in the strategic plan is a mapping of BPS persons outside the job market, and in particular engagement and advocacy with relevant stakeholders on the creation of job opportunities and the inclusion of BPS persons in mainstream services (such as NBSSI and rural banks). As mentioned, the overall strategy will in the course of the project be further detailed into a specific strategy on cost effective replication and continuation, which can be used for fundraising initiatives during the latter part of the project period. A possible scenario is that GBU and GFD will join forces building on their respective employment activities.


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3. Budget SummaryHere a summary of the main budget items should be provided.

A detailed budget with notes must be submitted in the Annex C:‘B-E Budget format’, in which tabs 1-4 must all be filled in. In case you are applying for disability compensation, this must be set out in a separate tab in the budget format.

See also DPOD’s “Guide to the preparation of budgets for the Danish Disability Fund” (in Danish).

Main budget items: Financing planFull amount Of this, from the

Disability Fund Of this, from other

sources

1. Activities 786.147 786.1462. Investments 130.788 35.000 95.7883. Expatriate staff4. Local staff 260,820 260,8205. Local administration 57.512 57.5126. Danish project monitoring 75.964 75.9647. Evaluation8. Information in Denmark (max. 2% of 1-7)

9. Total project expenses (budget line1-8) 1.311.230 1.215.442 95.78810. Budget margin (min. 6% and max. 10% of 9) 97.235 97.23511. Disability compensation12. Auditing in Denmark 14.000 14.00013. Subtotal (Budget line 9-12) 1.336.801 1.241.013 95.78814. Administration in Denmark (max. 7% of 13) 92.867 92.86715. Total (Budget line 13+14) 1.515.333 1.419.545 95.788

Note: Exchange rate used for the budget: ______7__________


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4. Cross-cutting issuesPlease fill in the information on cross-cutting issues against an assessment of what share of the budget for this application is allocated in pursuit of each priority. In the fields entitled “weight”, you indicate the percentage that each cross-cutting issue takes up in the total budget. These figures should merely be based on an estimate, and not on exact calculations.

Please note that the total allocations may well exceed 100%, as specific initiatives may address several cross-cutting issues simultaneously, so that funds allocated in favour of women’s conditions may also contribute to, say, environmental improvements.

Even though Denmark gives priority to these issues being integrated into development work, it must be stressed that this exercise is not about reporting as high percentage weights as possible. For instance, you may write 0%, if it is not clearly documented that specific costs are incurred by promoting the priority in question in the activities.

Cross-cutting issues addressed by the project applied for as percentages of budget spending

Gender Environment Good governance and human rights

HIV/AIDS Reproductive, maternal, neonatal and child health (RMNCH)

Weight (%) Weight (%) Weight (%) Weight (%) Weight (%)75 % 0 % 50 % 0 % 0 %


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5. Annexes i. OBLIGATORY ANNEXES

A. Updated ‘Partner Profile’ (GBU)B. LFA, including list of activitiesC. Budget

ii. SUPPLEMENTARY ANNEXES

Examples of supplementary annexes could be reports or analyses that directly substantiate the objectives and rationale of your intervention. Only attach annexes that are of crucial importance to understanding or assessing the project.

Annex no. Annex title:D “Overcoming Structural Barriers in the Labour Market towards Employment of Blind

and Partially Sighted Persons in Ghana”, 2011E Evaluation report, Inclusion Project, pilot phase (HP 115 – 008)F Stakeholder analysisG Guarantee Fund (seed capital lump)H Implementation planI TOR for project coordinatorJ Case stories (pilot project)K Example of MoU with bankL Training manual – micro creditsM Beneficiary survey – pilot projectN Tentative list of content – MoU with NBSSIO GBU structure, regions, and districtsP Risk and mitigation overviewQ Study: Community Action Plan - economic empowerment of women with disabilityR Odotobire Bank continued service documentation


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