Guidelines for programmes, projects and hard earmarked multilateral support

Main updates to the bilateral guidelines include:

Country Strategic Frameworks have been abolished. A new approach to bilateral partnership agreements has been introduced. The partnership agreement goes beyond development cooperation by defining the broader scope of engagement with a particular country. AFRPOL has developed separate guidelines for the preparation of partnership agreements, therefore, the separate chapter on programming under a CSF has been removed from the bilateral guidelines.

Programmes financed under a specific country budget line in the Finance Act are now referred to as Country Programmes. These are considered regular programmes (although they may include up to ten partners) and may constitute one of several programmes/projects in a given partner country. 

Creation of task forces for programmes and organisational strategies (countries, thematic, organisations) is optional.

The Programme Committee is abolished and replaced by a kick-off meeting that takes place before programming is initiated. Units submit a 2-page information note and process action plan (PAP) for discussion during the meeting. For grants between 20-100 million DKK, a risk assessment is submitted with the information note based on which it is determined whether LÆRING should conduct the appraisal (for high-risk grants). Not applicable for grants above 100 million DKK.

External Panel form part of the quality assurance process. The panel contributes with recommendations for programmes/project with a budget above DKK 100 million and high-risk programmes/projects between DKK 20-100 million. The Panel consists of 9 members. For more information about the External Panel please refer to the website (in Danish (rules of procedure), in English (documentation for meetings in the External Panel).

Danish interests and synergies are considered in connection with the preparation of the identification note for the kick-off meeting and are included as part of the mandatory part of the context analysis.

It is no longer a requirement to prepare a communication plan.

The accumulation principle has been abolished.

Limits on number of projects under a programme:

• Country programmes can have a maximum of 10 partners (same as before)
• Other programmes over DKK 100 million can have up to eight partners (same as before)
• Programmes between DKK 20 and 100 million DKK can have a maximum of three partners (reduced from eight).
• Projects only have one partner

Programme and project documentation. The format for programme documents is slimmed and the number of annexes is reduced from 9 to 3. A programme is seen as a portfolio of projects. MFA programme document of max. 15 pages. Focus on strategic aspects of the programme. No requirement for a results framework or Theory of Change at programme level. More emphasis is placed on the underlying projects in relation to programmatic aspects.

For projects under a programme, the documentation consists of the MFA project document of max. 5 pages with focus on elements of relevance to the MFA – based on the implementing partner's project document, which is included as an annex with 4 other annexes (reduced from 8 annexes). For stand-alone projects (i.e. projects that are not part of a programme) the new format includes the MFA project document and 7 annexes (reduced from 9 annexes).

Appraisals of grants DKK 20-100 million must be carried out by an external consultant contracted by the responsible unit. Appraisals of high-risk programmes/projects between DKK 20-100 million and grants above DKK 100 million must be carried out by LÆRING.

Mid-term reviews (MTR) must be carried out for all grants above DKK 50 million by LÆRING (previously mandatory for grants above DKK 43 million). MTRs for country programmes were previously submitted to the Council for Development Policy (UPR). Now the “Summary of recommendations” is forwarded to the State Secretary for Development Policy (or Under-Secretary) for all programmes above DKK 50 million.

Annual stock-taking reports are mandatory for all grants above DKK 20 million (previously above DKK 43 million). Important part of monitoring and as basis for adjustments in the programme/project. The report must now be approved by the head of unit.

No-cost extensions up to 12 months for grants up to DKK 50 million can be approved by the unit head. Previously only up to DKK 10 million. Approval of longer extensions and for larger grants are submitted to the Under-Secretary for Development Policy.

Costed extensions have been replaced with the top-up modality.

Unallocated funds can be included for programmes above DKK 50 million and constitute a maximum of 25% of the budget as previously.