“Do you know that Children are the most vulnerable to the effects of Poverty?” Poverty has been known to be perhaps the greatest scourge of the human race. Despite various efforts to eradicate poverty over the years, developing countries still have it as an enormous challenge. Could we blame this on insufficient developmental programs or the ineffectiveness of the program execution? There is also the argument that funding quoted for poverty alleviation programs sometimes get diverted to other projects due to ambiguous program agendas. Recent studies have proved that Children are the most vulnerable to Poverty. Focusing developmental programs on Children would thereby significantly reduce the population of humans affected by this scourge. The question that now arises is “how do Program Managers channel funding resources effectively and efficiently to ensure that Poverty alleviation agendas have the desired impact?” Desired impact will be achieved when Program agendas are: Clear and Concise: Break program agenda into small targeted stages (TS). This will ensure that resources can be effectively and efficiently channeled on a stage by stage basis. Bottlenecks will then be easily identified and addressed on time. Flexible: Developed plans to execute program agenda shouldn’t be rigid. Contingency measures should be adopted once it is discovered that any given stage of the project is flawed. These measures shouldn’t however alter the overall program agenda, but should be used as a quick-fix mechanism to set flawed project stages back on track. Feedback: Allow for target audience feedback at every given stage of the program agenda execution. Perception is almost everything! What’s the impression of the target audience on the program being executed? Does it meet their current needs? How will it affect their desired future? All these are vital questions program managers need to be aware of, so as to incorporate solutions to these questions at every given targeted stage of program execution. Control: Processes must be in place to monitor project execution at the targeted stages. When designing ‘Children-focused’ Poverty alleviation Programs, Program Managers are faced with the decision of whether to structure the Programs to affect the target audience on the short term or on the Long term. Short term programs are usually a quick-fix approach. They solve current problems, but are very ineffective for broader objectives. Long term programs on the other hand could fit into broader objectives and agenda. These can be further broken into targeted stages (TS) for effectiveness and efficiency in implementation. Given that the greatest asset which would benefit every Child is Education, as educated children are likely to become future income earners; Program Managers could develop Long term Program agendas centered on education. The challenge before program managers of International Agencies would then be to ensure that Children: * Have access to adequate learning * Are motivated to learn (through techniques like providing free meals during school lunch hours, free transportation to/from school, etc) * Are provided with subsidy on educational supplies (stationeries, uniforms, tuition fees, etc) This Program Agenda should then be divided into targeted stages for the effective and efficient deployment of funding resources. By: Olubusayo Aina (Mr.) B.Sc, PGD, MIE, OCA (CEO, Latoyavita) Copyright © 2013
Posted on: Fri, 14 Jun 2013 13:02:06 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015