RBA, Health Improvement, and Funding Challenges; the Latest Discussion in South Africa

The following article was written and generously contributed to us by Kenneth Fullerton of PlaNet Finance.

The most recent South African Results Based Accountability (RBA) Community of Practice (CoP) meeting was held in Johannesburg on 19 June 2015. Four of the seven participants were attending a meeting and discussion of this type for the first time, stimulating interesting debates, discussions about different developmental challenges, and an improved knowledge of how organizations are striving to overcome such issues. Some participants had been at the 2014 RBA Africa Summit, and some had not. “The RBA CoP meetings are a platform created for organizations to share their experiences with RBA, learn more about the implementation thereof, and network with likeminded people within the NGO/ NPO environment,” says Charlotte Tervitt of Accelerate Performance.

Mark Chivere of Accelerate Performance was responsible for chairing the meeting and guiding the discussion. Clear Impact’s ‘Introduction to RBA’ presentation was used to recap the basics, to introduce the methodology to those not familiar with it, and to encourage questions. The importance of recognising the difference between Population Accountability and Performance Accountability was highlighted, as were the three critical performance measures:

1. How much did you do?
2. How well did you do it?
3. Is anyone better off?

For this meeting, special attention was given to the challenges of implementing RBA in health-focused initiatives. Improving the sexual health of students and overcoming breast cancer were both used as examples throughout the lively discussions. On these topics, the creation of meaningful and sustainable partnerships–a core component of the RBA methodology–was a solution put forward to help maximize resources and avoid repetition of activities. Ensuing discussions involved identifying suitable partners, engaging and collaborating with them, and how best to break down the ‘silos’ that are commonly found in South Africa. These consist of a limited number of organizations that act together, when many others are involved in trying to overcome the same/similar challenges and can have a legitimate role to play. As a framework that starts with the ends and works backwards to the means, it was recognized and  understood that RBA can help organizations cut across cultural, racial and/or political boundaries and differences. Mark further explained how the ‘Turn the Curve’ exercise can be used to achieve multi-party alignment through shared understanding of a problem.

The issue of funding was also a focal part of this discussion. Despite it being generally recognized that there are limited funds available and intense competition for these funds, representatives of both NGOs and funding organizations discussed how to overcome these limitations and achieve the best community impact using RBA. More specifically, RBA can be used to help allocate resources more effectively since the framework uses the actual performance and impact of programs and services as a basis for funding, rather than using intentions or vaguely defined goals.

The next CoP meeting is scheduled to be held on Friday August, 21st in Johannesburg. Anyone interested in attending, learning more about RBA and how it can be used to improve funding decisions should contact Charlotte of Accelerate Performance (charlotte@accelerateperformance.co.za).