Feasibility study | Partnership agreement | Collaboration agreement
The following are the steps leading up to an actual exchange in the Fredskorpset Primary Programme:
- identify partner
- conduct feasibility study
- entry into a partnership agreement
- apply for collaboration agreement with Fredskorpset
- application processed by Fredskorpset
- if application is granted, collaboration agreement signed
- participants recruited
- partner course
- preparatory course for participants
- participants exchanged
Feasibility study
The purpose of the feasibility study is to determine whether there is the basis for a Fredskorpset project, and to promote the development and execution of a sound partnership agreement. In the next stage of the process, this will constitute the application for a collaboration agreement. Potential partners apply through the feasibility study for a grant to cover travel, maintenance and any costs associated with reporting.
The granting of any funds for a feasibility study does not automatically guarantee a later collaboration agreement. All applications for collaboration agreements will be considered on their individual merits, with the results of the feasibility study forming part of the basis for assessment.
Concept and objectives
The objectives for the Fredskorpset project must be specified. At this stage, the focus should be on the concept and objectives, rather than on recruitment of participants and financing. Any discussion as to who should or might take part should come after the objectives, activities, location and so forth have been determined. Funds are awarded primarily to facilitate the exchanges, so the budgetary work should follow from discussion of the objectives and their scope. The partner must have the status of a legal entity, authorised to sign a partnership agreement.
During the course of the feasibility study, the partnership will need to jointly review the templates for the partnership, participant and collaboration agreements, to ensure that all parties involved appreciate the potentials and limitations of the Fredskorpset project. Sufficient time must be allowed for planning the project. Experience shows that it takes at least nine months from the planning phase until the actual exchange of participants.
Fredskorpset urges applicants to contact others, within the same specialist area or country, who are already involved in a Fredskorpset project, in order to learn from their experience. Please refer to the list of partners and Fredskorpset projects.
Who participates in the planning?
One person from each organisation is to have chief responsibility for the planning process. This person will need to obtain full backing for the process and the associated agreements in his/her organisation, in the form of a mandate from a decision-making authority or by a representative from management/the board participating in the planning process. Fredskorpset advises against permitting potential participants to take part in or be given responsibility for the feasibility study, as the focus should be on the partnership.
Report
Once the feasibility study has been completed, the partnership must produce a brief report with a statement of accounts to show how the funding has been spent. This statement is to be signed by the general manager.
Project accounts must be presented by 15 March of the following year. By 31 August of that year at the latest, project accounts must have been certified by a Norwegian public licensed auditor. Fredskorpset must be presented with a report also in instances where the feasibility study does not lead to a partnership and collaboration agreement.
Partnership agreement
The partnership agreement is signed by the parties in Norway and the South. It describes the partnership’s division of roles and obligations in connection with the Fredskorpset project. The partnership agreement, together with its annexes and the feasibility study report, constitute the application for a collaboration agreement with Fredskorpset.
The annexes to the partnership agreement are as follows:
Annex 1. Substance of the programme
Annex 2. Grant calculation sheet
Annex 3. Contact information
Annex 4. Contact information for accounting
Annex 5. Emergency plan
Annex 6. Statutes
The partnership’s responsibilities
- designate and maintain regular contact with the contact person for each of the parties to the project
- monitor the participants and the project as a whole
- ensure that all conditions and matters concerning participants have been properly attended to
- honour their obligations under the partnership agreement
- ensure that the project is run according to the plans set out in the partnership agreement and the participant agreement, and ensure that any changes in these plans are notified to the participants concerned
- arrange for one or more inspection visits to the project, as necessary
- maintain at least monthly contact with all participants, throughout all phases of the project
- ensure that all necessary arrangements are made for the social integration of participants with their host partner and the host society in general
- ensure that participants are received in a proper manner, and ascertain that they have suitable accommodation, employment, board, security, etc.
- stay informed of the participants’ address and how the partner can contact the participants. The contact person is also required to keep participants and partners informed as to his/her whereabouts and how to contact him/her
- ascertain that participants have attended to the following: visas, tickets, vaccinations, insurance, national insurance, tax, etc. The partnership should ensure that the processes surrounding these matters are dealt with sufficiently in advance of the actual exchange. The practical arrangements for such matters should, however, be left to the participants themselves
Fredskorpset’s processing of applications
Fredskorpset considers applications on a continuous basis. Applicants will be advised as to whether their application for a collaboration agreement with Fredskorpset has been successful or has been rejected.
If the application is successful:
- The collaboration agreement and budget will be finalised by Fredskorpset in conjunction with the partnership, within the financial parameters specified in advance.
- A decision will be made as to which preparatory course participants are to attend.
- The grant will be disbursed in accordance with the transfer plan.
Annex 1. Substance of the programme
This document sets out the aim of the Fredskorpset project for the partnership and participant. It covers the following:
Objectives
The objectives for the project must be specified and well defined by the partnership.
These should include:
- primary aims for the project
- the partners’ own interest in the exchange
- anticipated measurable and specific results
- recruitment of participants (from own staff/members/other)
- participant’s tasks and responsibilities during posting abroad
- participant’s role at the host and at sending partner
- participant’s relationship with sending partner upon expiry of term of agreement.
Monitoring
Monitoring is intended to enable the partnership to make regular checks to ensure that the exchange project is proceeding according to plan, in order to attain the objectives set out in the partnership agreement. The partnership is to determine how it will exchange information concerning the progress of the project, how often such communication will take place, and what measures need to be implemented in order to monitor participants during the exchange.
Follow-up activities
In order to reinforce the learning benefits of the exchange among the partners and in their environments, it is important for knowledge and experience to be transferred to more than just the individual participants in the exchange. The partnership should work jointly with participants to arrange for the transfer of what has been experienced and learnt. Follow-up activities constitute the final formal phase in a Fredskorpset project.
For most partnerships, follow-up activities will focus on the dissemination of information and expertise at a more specialised level. Additionally, however, attention should be devoted to raising awareness on more general aspects concerning the host country – cultural and political framework, for example.
The programme of follow-up activities will be formulated by the partnership. It may be adjusted
following the recruitment of participants, in order to take into account participants’ personal preferences and abilities. At the preparatory course, participants will be expected to prepare their own personal programme of follow-up activities. Therefore it is important for the sending partner to inform participants of its plans for follow-up activities before this course commences.
In the programme for follow-up activities, the partnership is to determine:
Target audiences: The specific target audiences for follow-up activities must be identified. To whom does the partnership aim to communicate the knowledge and experience gained – internally within the sending partner’s organisation, within the specialist network surrounding the organisation, and to other relevant target audiences? The choice of target audiences should follow from the objectives for the planned follow-up activities.
Activities: What activities are participants to carry out in order to transfer knowledge, expertise and experience? The majority of the activities should be planned to take place after the participant’s return, although some can also be carried out during the posting abroad.
Examples of activities:
- presentations at seminars and conferences
- arrange workshops at own workplace or elsewhere
- visits to local societies/associated enterprises
- articles for intranets and the Internet, professional journals and local media.
A budget for the planned follow-up activities should be prepared. A grant for remunerating participants during follow-up activity period (normally one month) is incorporated in the grant funding. The partnership can apply for a grant to cover such expenses as travel, producing presentation materials, etc.
Annex 2. Grant calculation sheet
The Fredskorpset project is funded through the award of a fixed grant. Separate guidelines have been prepared on how to calculate the grant.
Annex 3. Contact information
The partnership is required to produce a continually updated list of contact persons for the Fredskorpset project. Any changes are to be notified immediately to all partners and to Fredskorpset. The list must include telephone numbers, fax numbers, e-mail and postal addresses for all contact persons.
Annex 4. Contact information for accounting
The partnership is required to provide continually updated contact information for accountants, auditor and the bank(s) for the partnership. The list must include names, telephone numbers, fax numbers, e-mail and postal addresses and the partners’ account numbers. The partners are mutually responsible for immediately notifying each other and Fredskorpset regarding any changes to this information.
Annex 5. Emergency plan
The partnership has executive responsibility for the participants, and overall responsibility in the event of any emergency or crisis situation involving them. The partnership must prepare an emergency plan for dealing with the various contingencies that might arise (e.g. accident, serious illness, death, crime, natural disaster, war). The emergency plan must specify who is responsible for what in an emergency, and the partnership is required to designate a crisis management officer and a press officer. Fredskorpset expects its partners to be able to deal with emergencies themselves, but will provide assistance as dictated by the extent of any emergency. Fredskorpset has drafted an emergency plan for use as a template by the partners.
The partnership is required to complete and update a registration form for Fredskorpset participants. This is to be sent to the partner and the relevant embassy/consulate in the participant’s host country.
Annex 6. Statutes
Fredskorpset’s Statutes should be reviewed by the partnership, and be annexed to the partnership agreement.
Collaboration agreement
The collaboration agreement is signed by Fredskorpset and the Primary Partner (on behalf of the partnership). It sets out the division of roles and obligations between Fredskorpset and the partnership in carrying out the Fredskorpset project. A partnership agreement, together with its annexes, constitutes the application for a collaboration agreement. The template for the collaboration agreement is available on the website to enable the partnership to review it, but the points of the final agreement will be filled in by Fredskorpset.
The annexes to the collaboration agreement are:
Annex 1. Grant calculation sheet (revised)
Annex 2. Partnership agreement and annexes
Annex 3. Participant agreement (pending approval of partnership agreement)
Participant agreement (Annex 3 to the collaboration agreement)
The participant contract is an employment contract between the partner and the exchange participant.
Participant agreements shall be based on the standard employment contract for partner institutions. They are be in accordance with local employment legislation and contain the same rights and obligations common to all employees in the organisation. Participant agreements must be entered into subsequent to an approved partnership agreement, and are to be presented to Fredskorpset no later than on registration of participants for the preparatory course. A copy of the participant agreement must be sent to the designated officer at Fredskorpset.
Recruitment of participants
It is the partnership itself that recruits the participants. Recruitment cannot commence until the partners have signed a collaboration agreement with Fredskorpset.
General principles
- The recruitment processes and selection criteria must be available for inspection by the partners concerned and by Fredskorpset.
- Selection of participants must be made jointly by the partners in close dialogue.
- Recruitment must be made for positions and job descriptions defined by the partnership.
- The partnership should have discussed the extent to which the host partner will be able to make arrangements for participants who have families.
Criteria
The partnership prepares its own criteria for the selection of participants. It is reasonable to allow the host partner to propose the general policy for the criteria, but the partnership must agree on the final criteria for recruitment.
- The criteria must be accessible to the partners and Fredskorpset, and be formulated in writing.
- Requirements regarding language skills must be clearly specified.
- The criteria must not be discriminatory with respect to gender, religion, ethnicity, skin colour or sexual orientation.
- The criteria should specify which personal qualities are important for the work,
and what is required as regards previous experience, education, previous postings abroad, etc.
- The criteria should specify any requirements regarding the capacity to work under especially demanding physical conditions such as difficult climate, special living and transport conditions, etc.
Checklist for Fredskorpset project
Primary partner is required to send to Fredskorpset a completed Checklist for Fredskorpset project no later than four weeks before the participants are to be posted abroad. The checklist should be sent to Fredskorpset at program@fredskorpset.no.
In the checklist, the partners must declare that all formalities and practicalities surrounding the Fredskorpset project have been attended to. Fredskorpset has the right to withdraw places booked on the course and reschedule the grant transfer plan if any significant irregularities are not remedied.
Partner course:
Fredskorpset’s preparatory course:
Division of tasks in the Fredskorpset project:
This form is intended as an aid to planning a Fredskorpset project. It does not include a comprehensive list of all tasks, but may be useful in network-based partnerships involving different partners in two or more countries, with different roles and tasks.