Micro-project
The micro-projects are one of the designations used by donors in their field actions; as opposed to programs of direct aid to governments or major institutions of beneficiary countries.
Most donor countries or multilateral development institutions fund and implement micro-project programs, usually with the active involvement of host country authorities.
Micro-projects are “micro” as opposed to macroeconomic programs, such as import support, port construction, or the ongoing training of a whole government staff, in the tens or hundreds of millions of countries. euros or dollars. In this sense, the micro-project is less important than a macroeconomic program, it remains at the village or community level and has only a local influence, but this is multiplied by as many times as there are micro-projects in a country. It touches people at the heart of their concerns and allows them to act on their situation.
The specificities
- the participation of the actors-beneficiaries
- a suitable financial envelope
- fast and sustainable results
Participation of the actors-beneficiaries
The micro-project – to be concrete, say the construction of a bridge spanning a dangerous gully currently crossed by fording – expresses the participation of people as soon as it is identified. So this is the neighborhood committee of this shantytownwho sends a delegation to the program office to explain that residents need this bridge. They also say that they have the people who can do the technical study and the construction of it. As they negotiate with the funder, they have a quote produced and presented, they show that they will be able to manage the money, that they will obtain all the necessary authorizations, that they will be able to appeal to the goodwill of all on the ground or in work, that they take into account the foreseeable changes that the new bridge will bring about, that they will also be able to manage the conflicts … And the lessor releases the money, by slices, and the project begins to become a reality.
Adapted Financial Envelope
The amount of a micro-project can vary from 25000 to 250000 euros. In any case, it is important when you are only a neighborhood committeeor a peasant association or a group of young people determined to run a small factory … The global sum corresponds to the real need, taking into account the participation locally brought in work, in kind or even in money. It is a sum negotiated closer to reality. The very negotiation of the envelope induces in the beneficiaries the need for skills and transparency as well. To this end, safeguards are put in place, so that the population is informed of financial issues and can exercise its monitoring rights. Training can be included in the project, for the smooth running of the construction and for the accounting management of the sums spent. The trustee’s follow-up, on a slice-by-tranche basis, of expenditures and achievements in parallel is a necessity.
Rapid and lasting results
So, if everything went well, the bridge is built, on schedule, taking into account the inevitable delays, and it is solid. It provides great services, saves lives on stormy days, reassures children, serves as a new meeting place, is the pride of the slum. A stage in the development of this peripheral district is crossed. The future passes by the bridge … The neighborhood committee is credible enough for some days to organize a toll to consolidate the banks, or to compensate an owner whose house, inconvenient for traffic, will be demolished. In short, the microproject has made it possible to build a structuring equipment, normally under the purview of the public services, which has a direct local impact on jobs, and above all by its utility, for thousands of people. In other cases, the service rendered may relate, apparently, to a smaller group. The interest is then in the social effect of training and the role of the lessor is to accompany the group far enough to overcome its obstacles.
Sectors of intervention
- economic life
- public facilities
- avoid dusting