Review Report: Friendship North South's Results

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2 FNS EvaluatioN REpoRt 2014

Research Team .................................................................................. 3

Executive summary ........................................................................... 4

Connecting the world; map .............................................................. 6

1. Introduction .................................................................................... 8

1.1 purpose of the evaluation ............................................................... 8

1.2 Scope of the evaluation .................................................................. 8

1.3 Background, Friendship North/South ............................................. 8

1.3.1 FNS partnership Model ............................................................... 9

1.4 overview of the EliMu programme ............................................. 11

1.4.1 programme and target group objectives .................................... 11

1.5 overview of the Community programme ...................................... 11

1.5.1 programme and target group objectives .................................... 11

1.6 integration of information funds..................................................... 11

2. Research methodology and sources ......................................... 12

2.1 Methods of data collection ........................................................... 12

2.2 Selection of groups ....................................................................... 12

2.3 type and number of participants ................................................... 12

2.3.1 Focus group participants ........................................................... 13

2.3.2 Questionnaire participants ......................................................... 13

2.4 Methodological theory and practice .............................................. 14

2.5 Methodological implications .......................................................... 15

3. Baseline situation prior to 2011-2013 ........................................ 16

3.1 Baseline Friendship North/South................................................... 16

3.2 Baseline for the EliMu School programme ................................. 17

3.3 Baseline the Community programme ........................................... 17

4. Findings; Results and Impacts ................................................... 18

4.1 the EliMu School programme .................................................... 18

4.1.1 the EliMu programme thematic distribution ............................. 18

4.1.2 General goal achievement ......................................................... 19

4.1.3 Global knowledge ...................................................................... 19

4.1.4 Cross-cultural competence ........................................................ 24

4.1.5 personal development: new skills and empowerment ................ 26

4.1.6 local and global action and change .......................................... 29

4.2 the Community programme ......................................................... 35

4.2.1 Community programme; thematic distribution ........................... 35

4.2.2 General goal achievement ......................................................... 36

4.2.3 Global knowledge ...................................................................... 36

4.2.4 Cross-cultural competence ........................................................ 36

4.2.5 personal development; new skills and empowerment ................ 41

4.2.6 local and global action and change .......................................... 43

4.3 South-South Cooperation ............................................................. 48

* table of Contents

taBlE oF CoNtENtS 3

4.3.1 the Community programme ...................................................... 48

4.3.2 the EliMu School programme ................................................. 49

4.4 Changes on societal level ............................................................. 50

4.4.1 a strengthened civil society ....................................................... 50

4.4.2 internationalization of schools/communities ............................... 50

5. Other findings; a selection of themes ....................................... 52

5.1 participants’ responses to 2011-2013 changes ............................ 52

5.1.1 a risk of draining the energy out of volunteers ............................ 52

5.2 Mutuality in the partnerships ......................................................... 53

5.2.1 paperwork and Finances ........................................................... 53

5.2.2 Exchange content and learning outcome (EliMu) ...................... 54

5.2.3 Host families; a contributing factor to equality in partnerships .... 55

6.2.4 Development projects/transfer of funds “on the side” ................. 55

5.3 Functioning of the organization and FNS network ......................... 56

5.3.1 Members’ understanding of Friendship North/South .................. 56

5.3.2 FNS´ role in the partnerships ...................................................... 57

5.3.3 Competency building ................................................................. 57

5.4 Challenges on programme level .................................................... 57

5.4.1 project ownership and responsibilities within groups .................. 57

5.4.2 project implementation; preparation- and post work .................. 59

5.4.3 limited resources and long-term planning ................................. 59

6. Conclusion ................................................................................... 60

7. Recommendations ...................................................................... 62

7.1 the FNS network and organization ............................................... 62

7.2 practices on programme level ....................................................... 62

7.3 Mutuality related aspects ............................................................. 63

7.4 Future evaluation .......................................................................... 63

Attachments .................................................................................... 64

appendix 1: terms of reference for the school- and local

community review ............................................................................... 64

appendix 2: Seminars and courses by FNS. ....................................... 66

appendix 3: Focus interview guide ..................................................... 67

appendix 4: Evaluation questionnaire ................................................. 68

appendix 5: list of groups included in the qualitative part of the

study (focus groups). ......................................................................... 70

List of literature ............................................................................... 71

Research Team

Maria Sørlie Berntsen

Cynthia Sirintai Olouasa

Mauricio Deliz

FNS Review Report 2014published by Friendship North/SouthMarch 2014Design: Brød&tekstCopies: 250Supported by Norad

www.vennskap.no

executive summary


this report examines Friendship North/South’s programmes; the EliMu School partnership and the Community pro-gramme in the 2011-2013 period as well as the information funds received from NoRaD. Based on qualitative and quantitative studies carried out between June and october 2013, the objectives were to collect, systematize and present results (outcome and impact), as well as identify challenges and program gaps and suggest solutions. Special attention was dedicated to changes made in the last three years. the review covers East and Southern africa, Central america, Norway and palestine regions with 205 questionnaire responses and 47 focus group inter-views in total. Here, we first present the results, followed by a list of key challenges and suggestions.

the study gives attention to a substantial amount of results and a high level of achievement of goals, both at participant and societal levels, summarized as follows;

A. An increase in global knowledge; based on knowledge of partnership country and project theme which which have a local a local and global dimension. Many participants have had stereotypical views confronted and have gained a more global outlook on the world and their own lives, as well as knowledge about the environment, climate change, human rights, resource distribution, development etc. the outcome on this point is highest for Norwegian participants. at the impact level the programmes inspire engaged citizens, increase internationalization of schools and communities and help improve school quality.

B. Cross cultural competence; in that the programmes enable participants to cooperate across geographical borders and within their local communities to better deal with cultural and social differences. Social competency tools, collaboration skills, non-violent methods, language and oral skills are all contributing factors, benefitting participants from all regions. at the impact level the programs help to confront racism and prejudices, and create more tolerant communities, and several places reported that conflict levels were reduced.

C. Personal development, new skills and empowerment; the programmes evidently help to boost most, and especially young participants’ self-confidence and belief in personal abilities and values. Further, providing practical, cultural, organizational and professional skills, these factors together serve as a toolkit that enable participants to take action and create change.

D. Local and global action and change; our material manifest to a large number of “change agents” - individuals and groups who initiate or get involved in local, development related community projects. Examples are environmental and recycling activities, entrepreneurship/ business initiatives, and various forms of information campaigns, political action and leadership. these results are particularly strongly documented in the East and Southern africa and Central american regions. at the impact level we argue that such initiatives contribute to create greener, cleaner, safer and more economically viable communities.

E. Seen as a whole, friendship linking also contributes towards increased levels of collaborations between different groups locally and globally and, thus, enhancing regional and interregional bonds and serving to strengthen civil societies in the South and the North.

participants’ responses to program changes made in 2010-11 are mostly positive, and said to contribute to more clearly defined and directed group projects for both programs, as well as increased equality between North and South partners. the exception is that an increased demand to document results has raised paperwork re-quirement to what many consider unrealistic amounts for projects driven by volunteer forces. this is most pressing for Norwegian participants.

in the following section we present three key areas in which we believe Friendship North/South has potential to take the programs beyond where they are at present. We are confident the staff and wide-spanning network has the knowledge and know-how to solve these, with a degree of realism as to what an already hardworking organization can take on.

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“many participants have had stereotypical views confronted and have gained a more global outlook on the world and their own lives”

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ExECutivE SuMMaRy 5

1. Global knowledge: While questionnaire based statistics show a high level of global knowledge, did also find knowledge about global dimensions of theme, reflections on global connections, development issues etc. as being limited, especially in countries in the global South. Many Norwegians also claim the potential for change lies mainly in the South, which we believe also reflects a limited global understanding. to assure a clearer correlation between the goals and services the organization provides we suggest FNS provide study material and training, especially to teachers in countries where such resources are otherwise limited, and also make discussions/ reflection exercises on local and global aspects of the themes a mandatory part of the partnership.

2. Equality/mutuality between the North and the South partners are highly held ideals for FNS. partnership meetings and the introduction of South-South exchanges have served to strengthen Southern ownership to projects and South networks. However, there are some good reasons to continuously readdress this issue. Revising the distribution of paper work between partners and host family practices, increased insight to financial issues for South partners, and to introduce material (such as video crash courses) that give participants an increased understanding of Friendship North/South as an organization could contribute towards that end.

3. Stereotypes and feelings of inferiority: this was especially evident in the East and Southern africa region where we met young EliMu participants who had less confidence and belief in their cultural background after the exchange because of negative comparison. For many participants Norway stands out as the perfect country, and a culture for them to adapt to. to avoid this we encourage “positive enquiry exercises” that include both things to be proud of and challenges in both North and South and increased sharing between participants on aspects learned and appreciated about one another. We further suggest that mixing fundraising activities in the North with other project activities can have negative impact, potentially also influencing what stories are told and how. Since information work is an important aspect of the projects workshops could be arranged to address this issue to inspire participants to challenge stereotypes both in thinking, writing and visual representations.

We see a future for Friendship North/South that includes a continuation, possibly also expansion of South–South exchanges, a dedication to selected themes and an in-creased use of extra “focus funds” to particularly dedicated groups. to rename the organization could be a timely part of that renewal process.

To enhance global learning is one of the goals of the Friendship North/South programmes. Each partnership work with a theme with local and global dimensions, aimed at increasing their understanding of global connections. (Photo: UK department for International Development).

1 Vennepunkt januar 2012 Vennepunkt januar 2012 1

Dominican Republic

El SalvadorGuatemala

Colombia

Nicaragua

BrazilPeru

Chile

South-Sudan

Ethiopia

EritreaBangladesh

Pakistan

Tajikistan

Namibia

Congo

Madagascar

Mali

Lebanon

Oslo Nes

Elverum

Molde

Volda

ReFørde

Tingvoll

Lærdal

LusterSogndal

Sauda

VindafjordStord

TinnRossland

GjøvikÅl

Tana

Tromsø Kautokeino

Kvæfjord

Risøyhamn

Sortland

Flakstad Hamarøy

Mo i Rana

BodøFauske

Nordre Sørfold

TrondheimStjørdal

Verdal/Levanger

Namsos

RondaneSjodalen

Opphaug

HamarKongsvinger

FredrikstadMarker/Aremark

Moss

Palestine

Mosambique

Malawi

Tanzania

Zambia

Zimbabwe

Kenya

Uganda

South Africa

DrammenKviteseidSiljan

TønsbergSandefjord

Porsgrunn

Arendal

KragerøNissedal Risør

Stavanger

Kvinnherad

Nedstrand

Kristiansand

Connecting the world


Community linking

school partnership (elimu)

exchange program (spoR)

BangladeshChittagong – lierdhaka – drammengalachipa – Flakstad

BrazilRio branco – sagene

Chilemaipú – sagene

Colombiaisla grande – sandøya

Dominican Republicsanto domingo – gjøvik

El Salvadorsanta tecla – nesodden

Eritreaaditekelzan – kragerøkeren – trondheim

Ethiopiakotebe – marker og aremarkwesten synod – nidaros

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Guatemalaaguacatán – mossComalapa – stordguatemala City – Østfoldla lucha – Risøyhamnpanajachel – stjørdalpanajachel – estelípanajachel – leónpatzun – FredrikstadRetalhuleu (Reu) – tinnsan andrés sajcabajá – oslosan lucas tolimán – kvinnheradsan lucas tolimán – managuasan martin – Fredrikstadsololá – Ålguatemala – norway patzún – kautokeinoguatemala – tanzania guatemala – tanzania – norway (amigos peku peku)

Kenyaalara – verdalhoma lime – verdal/levangerkandiege – Fauskemombasa – oppegårdnakuru – voldaoyugis – oslotaveta – melhusthika – stjørdalthika – kampala (uganda)

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•Congompouya – siljan

Lebanonmazraat el chouf – stokketyr – Jessheim

Madagascarantsirabé – stavangerihosy – vindafjord

Malawililongwe – gweru – Fredrikstadlilongwe – vågsbygd

Malitambaga – nissedal

Mosambiquemaputo – Fredrikstad

Namibiaoutjo – moldetsumeb – elverumwindhoek – kvæfjord

Nicaraguaesteli – betlehem (palestine)león – tønsbergmanagua – kristiansandpuerto Cabezas – sortlandsan Juan del sur – sauda

Pakistangujrat – oslo

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the red flags show the countries and cities where our researchers have carried out interview- and questionnaire reviews for the 2013/2014 evaluation.in norway questionnaire reviews have been carried across the country, regardless of whether interviews were carried out

the orange flag in palestine has been included because we carried out a questionnaire study, but had no interviews in the region.

malawi was visited prior to the ”terms of reference” for the review was defined. it has therefore only partially been included, and hence is marked with an orange flag.

1 Vennepunkt januar 2012 Vennepunkt januar 2012 1

Dominican Republic

El SalvadorGuatemala

Colombia

Nicaragua

BrazilPeru

Chile

South-Sudan

Ethiopia

EritreaBangladesh

Pakistan

Tajikistan

Namibia

Congo

Madagascar

Mali

Lebanon

Oslo Nes

Elverum

Molde

Volda

ReFørde

Tingvoll

Lærdal

LusterSogndal

Sauda

VindafjordStord

TinnRossland

GjøvikÅl

Tana

Tromsø Kautokeino

Kvæfjord

Risøyhamn

Sortland

Flakstad Hamarøy

Mo i Rana

BodøFauske

Nordre Sørfold

TrondheimStjørdal

Verdal/Levanger

Namsos

RondaneSjodalen

Opphaug

HamarKongsvinger

FredrikstadMarker/Aremark

Moss

Palestine

Mosambique

Malawi

Tanzania

Zambia

Zimbabwe

Kenya

Uganda

South Africa

DrammenKviteseidSiljan

TønsbergSandefjord

Porsgrunn

Arendal

KragerøNissedal Risør

Stavanger

Kvinnherad

Nedstrand

Kristiansand

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Ugandakampala – bodøkampala – Rjukankampala – thika, Joytown (kenya)kamuli – oslokatwe – Remazindi – Førdemukono – gjøvik

Zambiakabwe – oslolivingstone – luster

Zimbabwegweru – lilongwe – Fredrikstad

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Palestinebetlehem – esteli (nicaragua)betlehem – sarpsborggaza – tromsøJayyous – nesJeriko – lærdalkhan Yunis – hamarnablus – stavangerRamallah – grefsenRamallah – trondheim

Perusalkantay – sjodalen

South-Africaatlantis – hamarøyCape town – mossCape town – osloJohannesburg – nordre sørfoldmpumalanga – sarpsborgpaarl – oslopretoria – namsoseshowe – sogndal

South-Sudandangaji – oslo (lilleborg)

Tajikistandusjanbe – oslo

Tanzaniaguatemala – tanzania – norway (amigos peku peku)arusha – opphaugkilimanjaro – Rondanembulu – levangermbulu – trondheimmorogoro – stangetanga – tønsbergtanzania – norway tanzania – guatemala

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introduction


1.1 Purpose of the evaluationFriendship North/South (FNS) commissioned the evaluation with the closing of the three year financial agreement with the Norwegian agency for Development (NoRaD), 2011 – 2013 as its starting point. it is a self-evaluation, where all three researchers are already involved in the organization. it has, however, been a key goal to critically review the programmes from the onset. the review is part of the fulfilment of the contract which requires Friendship North/South to continually review the projects. the review also responds to the need for more in-depthl research suggested in previous review reports, especially among the Southern partners. the terms of reference is attached (appendix 1).

the last programme reviews were carried out in 2009 and 2010 where FNS organizational performance was assessed as well as its functioning, with a high level of effectiveness relative to funds. However, it was also pointed out that the organization was not well adapted to NoRaD´s result management system (lunden 2009). Since then, FNS has made an effort to adapt to the increased demand for results. in the current period some major changes have also been introduced. Most importantly, the Community programme has replaced the Culture programme. During the same period, this programme’s groups have been working with themes of their own choice, and the infor-mation funds have been integrated in the two programmes. on the EliMu School programme the focus on themes has been solidified (formally known as the EliMu School partnership, but it is referred to as the EliMu School pro-gramme, or the EliMu programme for short in this report). By collecting and systematizing experiences, this study has as its main objectives to;

• identify and measure the outcome and impact of friendship linking in practice. • identify programme gaps and make suggestions for improvement.• Explore how the changes that FNS projects have undergone in the past three years so far have affected the project outcome and participants.

these changes can be summarized as follows; the use of themes; the introduction of mandatory information work; increased focus on competency building, i.e. through seminars; the introduction of partnership meetings and the introduction of the aBCD manual - Friendship North/South´s answer to NoRaD’s result management system.

1.2 Scope of the evaluation the study is based primarily on case studies from the East and Southern africa region (ESa for short), Central america (Ca) and Norway (N). Some palestinian (p) groups

have also been included, although to a limited extent due to practical and financial limitations. together this means that all the highest prioritized geographical areas in the FNS network are covered in the study.

in the african region the study included EliMu and Com-munity programme groups in Kenya, uganda, tanzania, South africa, Madagascar and Ethiopia. in total, 14 schools and 8 community groups were visited.1 in Central america 6 groups from Guatemala and 3 groups from Nicaragua were interviewed. in total 9 groups were included, all from the Community programme. in Norway 6 schools and 7 community groups were visited, all based in trønderlag, Østfold or oslo. in contrast to the other regions question-naires were sent to schools and groups who did not par-ticipate in focus groups. We did not have the opportunity to carry out interviews in palestine. However, we collected questionnaire reviews, where we had 19 responses in total. additionally some reports and reflection letters have been examined. a complete list of groups included in the review is attached at the end of the document (appendix 5).

1.3 Background, Friendship North/SouthFriendship North/South is Norwegian NGo that was established in 1990. the main goal of the organization is to develop and provide service to a network of schools, faith institutions, local governments and grass-root NGos involved in mutual partnership to promote cross-cultural dialogue and sustainable development. the organization operates in Eastern and Southern africa, Central america, palestine and asia and to date it has a network of over 300 twinned institutions and grass-root groups. Each year an average of 1500 people participate in exchange visits and through personal encounters combined with other methods, gain global knowledge, cross-cultural compe-tence and other skills that they share with their communi-ties. it is expected that after they have participated in the projects’ activities they will contribute to achieving the following program’s overall and long-term goals:

• to empower many people in communities in Norway and the South to participate actively in community and global sustainable development including taking care of nature• to empower many people in Norway and in the South with knowledge and the ability for critical reflection on the causes of global resource and power inequalities • to empower the participants to take part in democratic decision making and to use dialogical and non-violent problem and conflict resolution methods• to increase cross-cultural understanding among different people in a globalized and culturally diversified societies.

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1: iNtRoDuCtioN 9

the two programs are partially sponsored by NoRaD under a three year project agreement (2011-2013), where the EliMu programme receives 4 million and the Community programme 3 million Norwegian Kroner (NoK) annually. additionally, FNS has a four year agreement (2011-2014) for its information activities of NoK 1.6 million annually. all the NoRaD funds to FNS are derived from chapter 160 (Civil society and democratization), while both EliMu- and information funds is from budget entry 71.

this report will be submitted to NoRaD at the end of the project period and reflects this combination of funding, which includes responding to the objective for informa-tion funds to increase knowledge and critical reflection within the Norwegian society. this is in line with Friendship North/South’s global approach to development, aiming to create ‘change agents’ and change at home and abroad. thus, the report attempts to emphasize South and North dimensions of change equally.

1.3.1 FNS Partnership Modelunder the FNS partnership model, groups go through three phases in a project year. the first phase is the preparatory phase, the second is the partnership Exchange and the third is the post Exchange phase, also known as the post work period.

During the preparatory phase, groups meet (in the case of new partners) and plan for their project. this meeting is known as the partnership meeting during which the rep-resentatives of each group/school decide on the theme and project to be undertaken, the goals, expected out-comes and the dates of travel. the result of this meeting is the completion of the application form. For groups al-ready in partnership, these decisions are made as in the course of the project year. the preparatory phase includes planning for either travel or hosting. ideally the individual groups should also be working on the project theme at their institution. activities in this phase therefore include the partnership meeting, logistical planning and activities

1) Malawi schools were also visited, but since this was prior to the evaluation period, the same forms were not used in the assessment, and the review not as systematic. they have therefore not been included in the report.

Each year approximately 1500 people participate in FNS exchanges. For most, the experience is life-changing. The students in the picture became friends through the partnership between Outjo Secondary School in Namibia and Molde (Photo: Molde Upper Secondary School).


related to the project theme in preparation for joint dis-cussion sessions and activities in the exchange phase.

the Exchange phase involves the travel of one group to the community/school of their partner. For the EliMu programme, on average six participants plus teachers or coordinators participates on the trip, whereas groups who travel from the Community programme range be-tween 3 – 20 participants. the schedule of this exchange differs, as some groups have exchanges (travel) for both groups in the same year while others opt for a rotational arrangement where each groups travel every other year. the exchanges usually take ten days excluding the days of travel. While in Norway and in some South countries, the guests stay with host families, which is FNS’ preferred form of accommodation because it allows guests to ex-perience their partners’ culture much more. those who don’t use host families stay in local hotels or guest houses. activities during the exchange include attending classes and teaching a lesson or two for the teachers (under the EliMu programme), having joint discussions on the project theme and the activities that have been undertaken by partners in both programs.

the post-exchange phase or post-work takes place after participants come back from their exchange. During this period, participants are expected to carry out activities geared towards passing on the knowledge, ideas and the

exchange experience that they have gained to other stu-dents and community members. this includes mandatory information dissemination and more elaborate local actions such as starting small enterprises, forming clubs in schools, environmental awareness campaigns, planting trees and community clean-ups. the activities are generated, planned and carried out by exchange participants as part of their role as change agents.

For purposes of meeting the goals and objectives of the different programmes, FNS offered several seminars and courses in addition to the funding provided to each part-nership. a summary of all the seminars and workshops carried out over the three year period is attached at the end of this document (appendix 2).

While FNS and we as researchers are uneasy with gener-alized, simplifying and negatively biased terms such as “North”, “South” and “developing countries”, it is hard to

Collaboration, non-violence and participative methods are central to Friendship North/South’s work ethos. The youth in the picture are preparing for the Youth Empowerment Assembly (YEA) in South Africa in 2008 (Photo: FNS).

“the activities are plannedand carried out by exchange participants as part of their role as change agents.”

1: iNtRoDuCtioN 11

escape these altogether. While they are constant reminders of the politically embedded nature of language, we will avoid repeating ourselves endlessly by keeping these words in brackets throughout the report.

1.4 Overview of The ELIMU Programmethe EliMu School partnership, hereby referred to as the EliMu programme, is a thematic based partnership be-tween schools in Norway and schools in “developing” countries. its primary target groups are the students and teachers who participate directly in the partnership activ-ities. in addition, other students, teachers, the school ad-ministration, host families, friendship groups, parents, neighbouring schools, local authorities, businesses and church groups are important stakeholders. EliMu pro-motes global education and cross-cultural learning and education for sustainable development.

1.4.1 Programme and target group objectivesFriendship North/South separates between their main objectives for the programme and the targets. the first defines the overall goals of the programme, and the second the goals for the primary target group who have partici-pated in the program. together the goals form a backdrop for this study.

Programme objectives:• to contribute to education in sustainable development and in the fundamental causes of poverty and inequity in the global distribution of resources and power. • to build friendship, empathy and cross-cultural understanding. • to help give an insight into democratic decisions that use dialogue and non-violent means to solve problems and resolve conflicts.• to help develop the skills to use resources responsibly and protect the environment. • to help youth to become agents of change.

Targets - The ELIMU Programme participantsshould have;• acquired the knowledge and ability to reflect critically on global issues• acquired the ability to reflect on how one’s actions/ decisions affect other people’s lives, and vice versa• Become more open to others’ values and opinions• acquired and shown the ability to use skills in cross-cultural communication • acquired skills in, and shown the ability to use, alternative ways to create positive change

1.5 Overview of The CommunityProgrammeFriendship North/South supports local community-based friendship cooperation between Norway and countries in the global South. through the exchange of knowledge and practical collaboration, the program seeks to create local “agents for change”, and contribute to a development that promotes human rights, solidarity, democracy, sus-tainability and mutual cultural understanding. the local network includes a broad variety of groups and individuals

in the civil society, including municipalities and schools. Since 2010 each group has used a selected theme as a starting point for a mutual learning processes and collab-orative project.

1.5.1 Programme and target group objectivesthe objectives of the Community programme follow the same structure as EliMu, distinguishing between pro-gramme objectives and target objectives. the goals are listed as follows;

Programme objectives: • to help more people in local communities in Norway and in the South to participate more actively in community development, locally and globally, and to become change agents for their communities. • to help more people in Norway and in the South to gain the knowledge and capacity to reflect critically on the causes of the distorted global distribution of resources and power. • to ensure that those involved in local partner communities participate in democratic decision- making and use dialogic and non-violent methods for problem solving and conflict resolution. • to contribute to better understanding between different people in a diverse communities and between the North and the South. • to help people take better care of the environment and natural resources. • to help build and strengthen local networks that work towards positive community development.

Targets - The Community Programme participantsshould have;• acquired the knowledge and tools to influence their local communities in the South and the North. • acquired cross-cultural understanding and competence in cross-cultural communication. • acquired knowledge and understanding of North/ South relations and global development questions. • acquired a greater belief in their own strengths, identity and values, which is fundamental in bringing about development locally on their own terms.

1.6 Integration of information fundsthought not explicitly formulated in the terms of Refer-ence (attachment 1), the findings also document the ef-fects of the information funds that FNS receives from NoRaD. these funds have the following objectives:• to change attitudes, actions and politics in the North that contribute to a more just world• promote dialogue for change and the idea of global citizenship in the North and the South • Strengthen the knowledge, reflection and critical debate regarding global challenges and Norwegian development policies.

Since 2011 information funds have been integrated to EliMu and the local Community programme. the distribution to member schools and friendship groups specifically aims at enhancing the information activities carried out by groups as mandatory post-work. Several of the capacity building activities outlined in appendix 2 derive from the information funds.


this section gives a description of the research method-ology used in the evaluation process.

2.1 Methods of data collectionin regards to the methods used for data collection, we relied mainly on two ways and supported by other meth-ods. the methods were (the main ones marked with bold letters):

1. Evaluation questionnairesthe questionnaires were designed prior to the evaluation exercise (appendix 4), based on input from the managers of the two programmes. it was decided that the same questionnaire could be used on both programs. in africa and Central america questionnaires were filled by the same exchange participants who were involved in the FGDs, whereas the use of digitalized forms allowed for a broader response group in Norway as well as palestine. participants were asked to rate effects of the program based on the following 1-5 rating system (table 1 below), which will be referred to in the findings section. in instances where 5 and 4 together exceed 75 %, we have included only these in illustrative graphs and analysis. if they are below 75 %, we have included respondents who answered 3.

2. Focus group discussions (FGD) the focus group discussions targeted exchange partici-pants and had an average of five to nine participants. the researchers relied loosely on a focus group guide (ap-pendix 3), adapted to each group setting. in Norway some focus groups were supplied with coordinators’ meetings of 1-3 participants. at a few places this was the only in-terview carried out. the purpose of the group discussions was to provide more substantial data material on partici-pants’ experiences and the impact of the programs on them and their schools or communities; information that could not be captured in the questionnaires but which makes the data more substantial. the discussions were mostly recorded with the permission of the participants for transcription later. the findings provide the narrative

after the analysis of data from the questionnaires. in some places we experienced these data to be unrealistically high, whereas data collected through focus groups was used effectively to problematize such findings.

3. Observation in addition, observation was used as a tool of data col-lection, mostly by taking photographs of the changes that have occurred or the initiatives in progress. this was mainly for groups who have carried out action after the exchanges with visual traces at the time of the research-ers’ visit.

4. Document readingFinally, review reports from the last project period were revised to give an idea of the starting point (baseline) for the period 2011-2013. these are referred to when rele-vant, and listed at the end of the report. Strategy docu-ments and applications were also reviewed.

2.2 Selection of groupsthe groups under assessment were all the active EliMu and Community programme groups. in East and Southern africa and Central america the FNS office made the se-lection. in Norway the researcher asked program coordi-nators to indicate two well working groups and two that face challenges the organisation could learn from. the remaining selection, approximately 40%, was made based on geographical proximity and groups’ availability. From the list, 69% of the groups studied in Norway overlap with those studied in the two other regions, slightly higher on the Community programme (71 % and 67 % respectively).

2.3 Type and number of participantsthe participants were drawn from the school and com-munity groups in the FNS network. the indication given in advance was that respondents should have taken part in the exchange within the last three year period (2011-2013), and those who are closely linked to partnership

Research methodology and sources

table 1: RATING SySTEM REFERRED TO IN STATISTICS PRESENTED

1lowest

2low

3fair

4high

5highest

2

60 %

70 %

East & Southern Africa

Norway

Palestine

Central America

50 %

40 %

30 %

20 %

10 %

0 %

49 %51 % 51 %

62 %

54 %

44 %

5 %

38 %

46 %

Female Male Missing

2: RESEaRCH MEtHoDoloGy aND SouRCES 13

Research methodology and sources

60 %


Norway

Palestine

50 %

40 %

30 %

20 %

10 %

0 %

50 % 50 %

57 %

5 %

30 %

40 %

30 %

Female Male Missing

COUNTRy GENDER DISTRIBUTION - ELIMU

COUNTRy GENDER DISTRIBUTION - COMMUNITy

activities within the different groups. a variation among participants’ type of involvement was encouraged.

2.3.1 Focus group participantsFrom East and Southern africa 68 school groups’ partic-ipants and 59 community groups’ participants were in-volved in the study, divided into 22 interviews. the focus group participants were drawn from students/community group members who had taken part in the FNS exchange program both directly and indirectly. Direct participants should have travelled as FNS exchange team, while indi-rect participants are part of FNS clubs in schools or members of the community group, irrespective of having travelled or not.

in Central america, 8 focus group interviews were carried out, with the total of 24 participants. all participants had participated directly in exchanges with FNS. Efforts were not made to reach indirectly affected people.

in Norway 40 school group participants and 35 community group participants were included in the study. in total 17 interviews were carried out. For the EliMu program four interviews were with coordinators and teachers only, two consisted only of pupils and three with a mix of coordina-tors/teachers and students. For the Community pro-gramme most groups consisted of a mix of coordinators/teachers and students, with the exception of one where only coordinators were present. Despite of instructions given in advance, indirect involvement is hardly covered in the Norwegian selection.

2.3.2 Questionnaire participantsthe material collected from questionnaires consists of 73 responses from the East and Southern africa region, 24 responses from Central america, 92 responses from Norway and 18 responses from palestine. in the East and Southern africa selection a broad majority (73%) of respondents were from the EliMu programme. in Norway, the distribution was almost even with 51% of respondents being from EliMu programme. in palestine the selection was fairly even with 56% being from EliMu programme and 44% from the Community programme. in Central america 100 % were community groups.

Due to a technical shortcoming, the last page of the questionnaire was not included in the form when sent to the Norwegians and palestinian participants. the additional page was sent on a later stage, and received 18 responses in total; 9 from Norway and 9 from palestine. out of the Norwegian responses, 44% and 56% were from the EliMu and Community programmes respectively. From palestine, 67% were from EliMu programme while the remaining 33% were from the Community programme. While this is a limited number of respondents, it gives some indication from the Norwegian and palestinian per-spective on these last questions (the focus group ques-tions and questionnaires are included as attachment 3 and 4). a review of the findings highlights the respondents’ gender distribution in the two programmes (Figure 1). as can be read from Figure 1 above, the gender distribution among the questionnaire respondents was fairly even for all the regions in both programs, except palestine, where

FiguRe 1:


there was a clear overweight of female respondents, parricularly in the Community programme. For the whole selection there is a slight overweight of female respond-ents. the difference in age among the participants was much higher. Figure 2 below illustrates that for the EliMu programme, 85% of the respondents from the East and Southern africa region were below 19 years; to be ex-pected for a school program with the young as its´main target group. the age distribution among Norwegian re-spondents shows that the majority (73%) are above 31 years old while for the palestinian respondents, the ma-jority (76%) falls in this same age bracket. this is despite all respondents being informed that the principal target group was the students. although the difference is less dramatic for the Community programme, South respond-ents to the questionnaire study are still evidently younger, as Figure 2 shows. While the main bulk of participants from the East and Southern africa region span over the categories ‘below 17’ and ‘20 – 30’, in palestine all respondents range from ‘20 – 30’ to ‘51 – 65’. in Norway and Central america regions however, the whole range is

covered, with a slight overweight of senior respondents. it should be mentioned that the data is not fully repre-sentative, as many younger individuals took part in the exchanges also in the Community programme, but they were not reached in the questionnaire part of the study.

our data also assures that the whole evaluation period (2011-2013) is covered. the largest bulk of respondents from all four regions participated in the exchange in 2012, the second largest in 2011, and the smallest share of the respondent group was from 2013.

2.4 Methodological theory and practicethe evaluation is guided by NoRaD’s result management theory and the FNS aBCD manual. in the result chain (Figure 3) we focus mainly on products and services (out-puts) and outcomes, and where possible also on impact; long term change on societal level.

60 %70 %80 %

50 %40 %30 %20 %10 %0 %


Below 17 years

17-19 years 20-30 years 31-50 years 51-65 years Above66 years

13 %

25 %

0 %

0 %

0 %

0 %

0 %

28 %

0 %

25 %

38 %

38 %

45 %

26 %

2 %

72 %

9 % 6 %

Norway Palestine

60 %

50 %

40 %

30 %

20 %

10 %

0 %


Below 17 years


15 %18 %

0 %

0 %

0 %

0 %0 %

0 %

11 %

13 %50 %

37 %

13 %

16 %

27 %

16 %

30 %

35 %

8 %

25 %

46 %

21 %

10 %

10 %

Norway Palestine Central America

ELIMU: AGE DISTRIBUTION

60 %70 %80 %

50 %40 %30 %20 %10 %0 %


Below 17 years


13 %

25 %

0 %

0 %

0 %

0 %

0 %

28 %

0 %

25 %

38 %

38 %

45 %

26 %

2 %

72 %

9 % 6 %

Norway Palestine

60 %

50 %

40 %

30 %

20 %

10 %

0 %


Below 17 years


15 %18 %

0 %

0 %

0 %

0 %0 %

0 %

11 %

13 %50 %

37 %

13 %

16 %

27 %

16 %

30 %

35 %

8 %

25 %

46 %

21 %

10 %

10 %Norway Palestine Central America

COMMUNITy PROGRAMME: AGE DISTRIBUTION

FiguRe 2:

“our data assures that all age groups are represented and that there is an even gender distribution among participants”

2: RESEaRCH MEtHoDoloGy aND SouRCES 15

From the Figure 3 above, • Inputs include: funds, seminars/workshops/training provided by FNS, volunteer work forces• Activities include: 1). preparatory phase activities: project relevant teaching, watching documentaries, research on host country, preparing country/theme presentations. 2). Exchange phase activities: attending classes at the host schools, joint discussions on project theme, workshops (i.e. on permaculture, entrepreneurship), excursions, filming, community clean-up, planting trees 3). post-exchange phase activities: arranging awareness campaigns, writing newspaper articles, film screenings, social media interaction, environmental initiatives etc.• Key outputs include: video, blog, newspaper articles, website, festival (i.e. Fair-trade), school/ community centre presentations, environmental awareness day, international evening, photo/painting exhibition, concert, theatre, FNS clubs, business enterprises• Key outcomes include: improvement in global and development knowledge, environmental awareness, strengthened school motivation (EliMu), participants having learned tools/methods for cross-cultural communication, dialogue and conflict resolution, personal development, such as strengthened self- confidence, organizational and presentation skills, created change agents etc. • Impact: improved school quality and global learning; strengthened civil society, i.e. increased collaboration different groups in society; increased internationalization among schools and local communities; greener, more peaceful communities; increased political participation among youth.

2.5 Methodological implicationsWe faced several challenges in the process of data col-lection and analysis, the most prominent were;

a. the absence of a clearly defined baseline at the onset. as expressed in NoRaD’s manual for results management it is difficult to determine where you have arrived without knowing where you were at the beginning of a project. While some groups indicate their baseline, systematic efforts to collect baseline data on user level have not been made.

b. While the result chain (Figure 3) indicates a linear relationship between cause and effect, the reality is more complex. in FNS’ case, it is hard to see projects in isolation from other activities and actions in the schools and communities and to estimate effects related to change in attitude and engagement, with many contributing factors. Many groups also receive funds from several organizations, which further complicate the cause-effect relationship. While this represents an uncertainty factor, our findings clearly show that FNS exchanges result in life changes on a number of levels including societal ones. c. in the quantities part of the study, based on questionnaires respondent’s rating of various forms of personal and societal change can be influenced by their wish to show FNS good results, also to assure future funds. Respondents’ anonymity has been assured as an attempt to reduce this pressure. additionally, findings from focus groups are used throughout the report to analyse and problematize questionnaire results. the exception is for palestinian respondents, who had particularly high scores (often a full 100 % of “5s”, which was the highest option), where we do not have supplementary information provided through interviews. d. language represented a challenge for the study. using English questionnaires and group interview questions in african countries where English is not the main language, participants often struggled to answer the questions. to solve this, a teacher or group leader was used to translate each question in the form and conversations between participants and moderator in focus groups. e. the large age difference between participants (South participants being substantially younger) makes a somewhat askew basis for regional comparison. Readers are advised to bear this difference in mind, and it is pointed out in places where age is considered of particular relevance. it is further a challenge that younger participants are not fully represented in the study because they have been harder to reach, particularly in the Norwegian context.

FiguRe 3: RESULT ChAIN

Inputs Outputs Outcome ImpactActivities


Here we define the starting point of the project period, starting with FNS as a whole, followed by the baseline situation for EliMu and the Community programme respectively. operating in the same environment these are naturally overlapping, although structured under different headings.

3.1 Baseline Friendship North/SouthA) Friendship North/South’s contribution to the Norwegian development cooperationFriendship North/South development cooperation is part of Norway’s over all development cooperation for the strengthening of civil society in the South and inspire to-wards active global citizenship, also in Norway. in their principles for support of civil society in the South, NoRaD points out some negative tendencies in the development cooperation between Norwegian NGos and civil society organizations in the south (2009). these serve as a base-line for FNS’s effort to strengthen local ownership in the South, involve people in voluntary active development co-operation and base development cooperation on reciprocal partnerships. as stated in NoRaD’s 2009 principles;

Many NGOs are moving away from voluntarism and grass root contact towards increased individualisation, com-mercialisation and more emphasis on branding NGOs have generally become very professional and well-run. Their contribution to strengthening civil society in the South through local actors is more difficult to establish. Local partners have often underlined the difficulty of distinguishing between Norwegian NGOs’ respective roles as donors, partners and development actors with their own agendas. NORAD points out as a preoccupying trend that interna-tional organizations, including Norwegian ones, tend to dominate Southern CSOs and their agendas. NORAD aims to encourage South-based organizations (CSOs and CBOs) to direct their attention towards the interests of their local target groups. In order to reach core Norwegian development goals, such as strengthening local ownership, increasing development actors’ accountability to their target groups and reaching farther out and deeper down to new recipi-ents, it will remain crucial to achieve reciprocal partner-ships while simultaneously exploring and implementing alternative support forms to Southern civil society. NORAD comments that in many cases, South-based NGOs have lost their local roots, and have often «buoyed» upwards to the point of becoming an integral part of the state appa-ratus, leaving weak local change agents (CBOs) behind.

In conflict areas and peace building activities, NORAD stresses the importance of, though difficult and time con-suming, promoting peace culture and non-violent conflict management.

B) Organizational level: Friendship North/South development cooperationas a starting point for the 2011-2013 contract period, 2011 involved a number of changes from the previous contract period. the local Community programme re-placed the Culture programme and the funds from NoRaD declined. this adjustment reflected a change of priorities in the MFa strategy for cultural cooperation. the estab-lishment of the local Community programme was also based on member groups’ desire and request to FNS to offer funding and follow-up activities for a broader range of development issues, rather than mere cultural activities. a large amount of the groups already worked with issues such as environment (energy, consumption, ecology, and water); democracy, trade, food security etcetera. the local Community programme was designed to embrace these different development initiatives within the local contexts the partnerships are based in. the information funds were also intergrated in the programmes.

along with these changes, NoRaD, as part of the general public bureaucracy intensified the Result Based Manage-ment and the requirements to document results. Based on internal and external evaluations, both organized and continuous evaluating measurements, Friendship North/South initiated the contract period by identifying the fol-lowing resources and challenges to base the work upon:

• an emerging South network of dedicated resource persons in the main regions, who had important knowledge and ownership to the organizational development of Friendship North/South. • Many youth involved in the programmes expressed an interest to contribute to both the organization and to community development as a result of their participation.• Generally less ownership and power on the South side of the partnerships compared to the Norwegian side, in defining objectives and activities, budgeting and reporting. • Generally low knowledge about Friendship North/ South values and requirements among the South partners, and also to some extent among Norwegian partners.

• the cooperation and exchange projects were to a certain extent limited to mere exchange visits without a concrete joint development project, or with loosely defined objectives and activities. • Many of the Norwegian participants saw their role as change agents more in a South context, than in their own communities.

on a general level, 2011 marked a change in FNS “from exchange to development”; from seeing our programmes as an arena for exploring and exchanging cultural experiences towards a more participative approach to development.

baseline situation prior to 2011-2013

3

3: BaSEliNE SituatioN pRioR to 2011-2013 17

3.2 Baseline for The ELIMUSchool Programmeaccording to the united Nations (uN), access to education is a fundamental human right, formulated in article 262. Education represents tool for participation in society, which contributes to understanding, tolerance and friendship between nations and all groups of people. the period 2005 – 2014 is defined as the decade for sustainable develop-ment, which should be implemented as part of the normal activities at schools. through the school programme FNS wishes to contribute to the achievement of this goal.

a teacher workshop FNS held in 2009 concluded that while global learning and education for sustainable devel-opment is an explicit goal in schools in East and Southern africa, Central america and Norway, in practice the global focus in school curriculum is limited. in Norway it has been pointed out that there is more focus on how people live in ”the South”, than there is on wider, global connec-tions (tore linné Eriksen). Students are to a small extent exposed to the society outside the classrooms, especially in the South. practically oriented teaching is limited. it is part of the school program’s ambition to develop and im-prove the platform for global learning, as well as to give students practical experience.

Further, schools today are diverse meeting places, re-flecting multicultural local societies and a globalized world. in 2008-2009 the Norwegian Declaration of parliament emphasised internationalisation as a tool to improve the quality of education and provide youth with knowledge and competence to deal with cultural differences. the school programme prepares students, teachers and school staff to meet these challenges in constructive, peaceful and positive ways and forms a fundamental part of the inter-national school platform.

3.3 Baseline The Community Programmethis programme also has a thematic focus in the partner-ships that was introduced in 2011. prior to this, most community groups’ network had partnerships based on cultural understanding. in the period 2011-2013 an average of 30% of the projects focused on environmental chal-lenges and food security. they all state that there is lack of knowledge and education on environmental protection in the communities they work, and problems such as lit-tering and pollution of local water resources with a need to be addressed. there was also a need for ecological farming both to protect the environment, and also because pesticides are expensive for poor farmers (in Guatemala, for example). in many south communities there is a low level of recycling, whereas in the Norwegian communities there is an urgent need to reduce the amount of goods people buy and throw away. the level of production needed to keep up with our consumption is not sustainable.

Further, negative stereotyping takes place both in the North and in the South. there is a lack of cross-cultural competence and collaboration in many communities, and there is a lack of tolerance between groups and ethnic conflicts in many of the South communities where FNS groups are active. youth employment and participation in local decision making is also too low in the South coun-tries. about 20% had projects with empowerment themes responding to the need to empower youth, 4% of these focused on the empowerment of girls. the absence of jobs and the high levels of poverty in some regions in the South has also made entrepreneurship a valuable theme for 8% of the partnerships, responding to the needs of local populations.

The school exchange programme ELIMU serves to increase the internationalization of schools and and improve school quality. Here, friends from the schools St.Olav and Sidlamafa.


Findings; Results and impacts

Human rights/inclusion

of minorities12 %

Environment and climate change

23 %

Culture, cultural understanding,

31 %

Youth empowerment/ youth leadership

10 %

Entrepeneurship and fair trade

16 %

Migration2 %

Other6 %


of minorities12 %


14 %


33 %


8 %


19 %

Migration/immigration

1 %

Other13 %

this section presents the findings from the analysis of the data collected from questionnaires and narratives that are supported with evidence from the focus group discussions.

Below (Figure 4) is a graphical representation of the themes covered in the 2011-2013 period by both pro-grammes in all four regions studied, among the partici-pants in the questionnaire study. the figure shows that culture and cultural understanding, climate change and environment and entrepreneurship and fair trade are the most pursued project themes.

in the following sub-sections, results for the EliMu and Community programmes are presented respectively. after an assessment of theme distribution and general goal achievement of each programme, findings are discussed under the headlines (1) Global knowledge, (2) Cross-sec-tional competence, (3) personal development; new skills and empowerment and (4) local and global action. Each category is discussed on individual participant target level and where possible on a broader, societal impact level. South – South exchanges are included in a third section at the end of the chapter, although discussed in less detail since they are in their early stages.

FiguRe 4: GENERAL ThEME DISTRIBUTION, AMONG EvALUATION PARTICIPANTS

FiguRe 5: ELIMU ThEMES, ALL REGIONS

4.1 The ELIMU School ProgrammeFrom the EliMu programme a total of 20 schools were visited. this consisted of 14 schools in the East and Southern africa region (ESa), covering Kenya, tanzania, uganda and South africa. the remaining 6 schools were in Norway, based in trønderlag, oslo and Østfold. No schools from Central america are included in the EliMu evaluation. though we did not have focus interviews in the region, some reflection letters from palestine and lebanon have been examined.

4.1.1 The ELIMU Programme thematic distributionFigure 5 shows the different partnership themes pursued by the school groups in both regions combined. it should be mentioned that culture and cultural understanding is almost always a dimension of the exchange, and this category has often been ticked in addition to the main theme. the most common themes apart from this category are entrepreneurship and fair trade (19%), environment and climate change (14%) and human rights/inclusion of minorities (12%) in that order.

4

4: FiNDiNGS; RESultS aND iMpaCtS 19

4.1.2 General goal achievement a total of 68% of respondents from the african region, 28% from Norway and 90% from palestine rated their achievement of the program objectives at the highest (5) level, based on self-evaluation. if we include those who rate it as high, 4, the percentage is 96% for ESa, and 96% for Norway and 100% for palestine region. For all

regions combined 59% rate their reaching of their own objectives to 5, 90% for East and Southern africa region, 91% for Norway and 100% for palestine if we include the rating of 4. the personal objectives are based on the motivations in Figure 6, which illustrates that global knowledge and exchange of ideas and experiences are the most common ones.

100 %80 %60 %40 %20 %0 %


To increase my global knowledge

Exchange of ideas/

experiences

To get skills and

competence

Get motivated for

further engagement

Make new contacts & possibilities

23 %64 %

100 %25 %

0 %62 %

0 %

0 %

0 %

19 %

21 %

28 %

42 %

100 %

6 % 0 %

13 %

Norway Palestine

FiguRe 7: GLOBAL KNOwLEDGEstatitics based on the highest (5) and high (4) rates

FiguRe 6: ELIMU - MOTIvATIONS TO jOIN PROGRAMME

these numbers show that there is a very high satisfaction with the EliMu programme. as researchers we to some extent question the indicators of program goals, because we often experienced that few members had a clear idea of what these objectives were. Even so, our findings show clear correlation to the project and target goals of the program. in the following section, we give our assessment of the achievement of EliMu target and program goals, under the headings global knowledge, cross-cultural competence, personal development and local and global action.

4.1.3 Global knowledgean average of 88% of North and South respondents rates their improvement in global and development knowledge from their involvement in the project as the highest 5 or 4 (Figure 7). as Figure 6 illustrates, 62% mention the ambition to increase their global knowledge as one of their main motivations for joining the program. the partic-ipants’ ability to reflect on global questions such as distri-bution of resources, human rights, development, aid and environmental issues is demonstrated in most of the focus group discussions at Norwegian schools. the data clearly show that the objectives that (1) participants shall acquire the knowledge and ability to reflect critically on global issues and (2) reflect on how one’s actions/decisions affect other people’s lives, and vice versa are fulfilled by the programme.


Global and development knowledge

Increased knowledge about the

theme

Knowledge about

partner country

85 %100 %

0 %87 %

100 %96 %

91 %87 %

100 %

88 %

Norway Palestine

However, despite of high ratings of global knowledge in questionnaires, among the South participants mainly from the East and Southern africa region for the EliMu programme, the knowledge on this point was mixed. our researcher found knowledge on the theme and about the friendship country to be substantially higher than the global and development knowledge, which is expected to include an understanding of wider global dimensions.

“many participants have developed their abilities to reflect on global issues and how their actions affect other people.”


Below we discuss the following issues; increased interest and knowledge about global questions, local and social studies knowledge, challenging stereotypes and aware-ness about environmental questions, before we return to discuss the limited outcome on this point at South EliMu schools.

Increased interest and/or knowledge about global questionsFor most of the participants, and especially to the young, participation in the exchange opened their eyes to a more global outlook of the world and their own lives. to get to know youth from the host country closely, regardless of the country and region, made lasting impression on all participants including teachers. through cooperation, dialogue and observation during the exchange, as well as pre- and post-work, students and teachers alike gained more nuanced pictures of countries both in the North, and in the global South. Many of the Norwegian participants question their own consumption after participating in the exchanges. Each of the friendship groups work with a theme with both a local and global dimension, decided upon through collaboration. all (100%) of the respondents in palestine and 87% in Norway answered 4 or 5 when asked to rate their benefit of increased knowledge of their specific theme. this is a very positive outcome.

a suitable example of a global theme is the triangular ex-change between several primary schools in Fredrikstad in Norway and schools in Gweru and lilongwe (Zimbabwe and Malawi). they work with the theme water. Children learn about the unequal global distribution of water, as well as the importance of water as a fundamental human right. For children in Norway the project has served as an eye-opener to the fact that water is not an unlimited re-source and to the global injustice in the access to water. at Begby School, students have made a rap about the topic, with the help of a local rap musician. the rap served both to make them more engaged in the theme, and to memorize their newly acquired knowledge. the twelve-year olds that our researcher in Norway met had been part of the project one year earlier, but there were some facts they all remembered clearly. one of them was the fact that we in Norway use approximately 300 litres water per person per day, whereas 15 litres are used in Malawi. the children and teachers at the schools in Norway had worked out methods for how they can use less water. Most importantly; a global theme such as water provides the school with a clear example of an injustice that opens up for discussions on other North/South themes.

another example is the partnership between St. lucy’s Raruowa and Fauske Skole whose theme was on renew-able sources of energy. the school and community in Kenya have a problem with energy since they have to rely

on generator for lighting and firewood for cooking. in Norway the situation is very different, because the school and community have few challenges with regards to energy. the project, thus, was focused on setting up a biogas project in St. lucy’s Raruowa as a source of renewable energy and demonstrating how it could be done to the whole school. the participants from Fauske focused on sensitizing the students on the importance of responsibly using their available energy and critically reflecting on the energy question in the world. they also carried out a pre and post project survey on students’ knowledge on global energy questions.

at almost at all the schools in Norway where our re-searcher had the chance to sit down with students she met some who had changed their plan for further studies, through experiences they gained from taking part in the exchange. Some had been inspired to study international law from the trip to palestine; some have become critical of traditional aid and more concerned about justice, equality and dignity than before. additionally, experiences gained through the project have been positive for the careers for many, and several teachers say former students have been offered jobs as a direct result. an example of this impact was reported in Robinvale High School and West Coast College, both in South africa. this indicates that the program impacts the students also on the longer term.

Environmental awarenessa total of 23% of the partnerships in Friendship North/South as a whole work with themes related to climate change and the environment. For the EliMu programme the proportion is 14%, which makes environmentally related themes the third largest category after culture and cultural understanding and entrepreneurship and fair trade (Figure 5). in addition, many participants mention environmental and climate related knowledge, as well as reflections on how they can reduce their ecological footprint, regardless of theme. Knowledge related to the environment thus forms an important part of students’ global knowledge, which inspires youth to make sound, environmentally friendly choices.

Kalinabiri Secondary School in uganda is an example of a school that has a theme on the environment. the exchange participants demonstrated that they are more environ-mentally aware due to the program. this is what one of them had to say;‘I did not really care about the environment or I never thought about the dangers of poor waste disposal. Now I am more informed about this and I have started being more careful in how I handle garbage and I try to also tell my friends about it.’

in addition to this student, many South schools and par-ticipants have been inspired by the recycling system in Norway, while Norwegians are inspired to buy less, reuse more and make creative use of old things and waste. Common projects include activities such as awareness campaigns, garbage collection and recycling initiatives, planting of trees and permaculture projects, which we will return to under local and global action. While many

“For children in norway the project has served as an eye-opener to the fact that water is not an unlimited resource”


‘Keep schools green’ was one of the slogans on the 22nd June 2013 environmental day arranged by five primary schools in Malawi. These schools are part of a triangular partnership with Norway and Zimbabwe with projects related to water and climate change (Photo: Mohammed Komeja).

Norwegians wish to change their shopping habits, how-ever, it is also common among Norwegian students to think that the choices an individual makes cannot really make a difference, which is part of the challenge a grass-roots based organization like FNS face.

Local- and social studies knowledge and motivation for education

‘I begun to see that I have something else that someone can learn from me and that I can become a teacher. In so doing, I have become a very good student.’

the Kenyan student realized she has something to teach others and that she wants to become a teacher after teaching Norwegian exchange students Kiswahili and about her country. in addition to thematic knowledge, partici-pants learn a lot about their exchange country. a total of 88 % of respondents from the african region, 96% from Norway and 100% from palestine rate their knowledge about partner country as either 4 or 5. these very high numbers are, to a large extent backed up by the findings from focus groups. the type of knowledge varies greatly between the countries and regions, but teachers and stu-dents agree that the knowledge gained through the kind of study trips EliMu provides for, cannot be matched by any classroom activity. it does, however, serve as inspira-

tion also for teachers when they return to the classrooms. For example, a teacher in history at levanger upper Sec-ondary often uses tanzania as a case study on imperialism, colonialism, independence and newer history. He is grate-ful to have an example he knows so well, which he argues make the history class more insightful and inspiring for all students and not just those who have travelled to tanzania. also a teacher in social sciences at Kuben upper Secondary, which has an exchange with Kamuli in uganda, sees it as a great inspiration to be able to give the students “real examples” in class, which he says is what always engage students the strongest. this benefit is mentioned also by some school teachers in the south.

the same teacher described as his best memory to see how the ugandan students asked all kinds of questions about Norway and the Norwegian society, and how enthusiastic his own students were about responding them. they came to the teachers and asked every time they were not able to answer, or had doubts, and the teacher claimed they had never learned as much social sciences as on the trip. this goes to show that participant students gain knowledge not only of the host country, but also their own, and also that the exchanges increase students enthusiasm and interest in learning in general. the two schools have in common that they are vocational school, and they struggle with a low motivation for education. one of their goals is to change this.


the same teacher described as his best memory to see how the ugandan students asked all kinds of questions about Norway and the Norwegian society, and how enthusiastic his own students were about responding them. they came to the teachers and asked every time they were not able to answer, or had doubts, and the teacher claimed they had never learned as much social sciences as on the trip. this goes to show that participant students gain knowledge not only of the host country, but also their own, and also that the exchanges increase students enthusiasm and interest in learning in general. the two schools have in common that they are vocational school, and they struggle with a low motivation for education. one of their goals is to change this.

a teacher from the school Shohoor in lebanon introduces the term classroom without walls learning; ‘Our students benefit a lot from the direct personal and cultural exchange between our school and Jessheim, such as accepting other values and lifestyles. Cultural exchange, human values, globalization, integration, brotherhood, tolerance, sharing and caring is not thought through books, but from the experience our students acquire through interaction with the Norwegian students. Thus, we have achieved classroom without walls learning’.

a good example of living experience or classroom without walls learning is also the collaboration between lambert-seter and Ramallah (palestine), who work with themes related to democracy and different sides of the occupation, such as the system of justice, ownership of land and

building of the wall. Norwegians learned about political prisoners, religion and palestinian culture, but it was the everyday challenges the palestinians meet; such as check-point barriers, destruction of olive trees and electricity cuts that made the strongest impression. all students learned about democracy in both countries, including school democracy, and palestinians were introduced to a dem-ocratic country. Many students report they have become a lot more interested in reading newspapers and more engaged in both international issues and their own soci-eties. Several teachers enthusiastically confirmed this fact.

on the one hand, knowledge can be a powerful tool. on the flipside, however, new knowledge and the act of comparison can be demotivating to some participants. in the Ramallah – lambertseter case, for example, the pal-estinian students were most impressed by the amount of freedom Norwegians have in all aspects of their lives. Some expressed that the Norwegians could not under-stand what they were going through, living under occu-pation, and did not feel the knowledge about democracy as relevant or achievable in their situation. in the following section we have some similar examples from the african region.

Confronting; or reinforcing stereotypical views?‘Even if I have seen poverty and desperation on the trip, I do not think of ‘the poor children in Africa’, but see Africa and Namibia in a much more nuanced light. I

As part of the collaboration between Mengo Senior Secondary School and Rjukan Upper Secondary, students are equipped with First Aid skills. “Their goal is to improve the health and dignity in their communities (Photo: Ayub Kalema Golooba).


have experienced that although they have much less [material wealth] than us, they live happy lives with the same value as ours’.Student from Molde Upper Secondary School, Norway

the student is one of many, particularly Norwegians, who have their perceptions of people and countries altered during FNS exchange. also teachers who are part of the program admit they had views that were distorted by negative stereotyping prior to the exchange. to see how wealth and poverty exist side by side is mentioned as a truly educational experience by many. Rjukan and Mengo Senior School in Kampala (uganda) worked with the theme human dignity in poverty, which gave space for reflections regarding equality, respect and dignity and altered perceptions of ‘the other’ on both sides. a female ugandan student expresses it this way in a video interview; ‘Earlier today a girl told me she had thought Africans were poor and uneducated. So this program challenges stereotypes. It has completely changed my attitude too. I thought the Norwegian students would be mean, but in fact they are very friendly and open-minded’

Students from lambertseter also got their prejudices confronted. through the exchange they got to know pal-estine beyond the image of a mere conflict zone. they were inspired by the friendships and solidarity they saw among people across religious and cultural barriers, and learned, among other things that the use of hijab for a lot of women is an individual choice, not simply female op-pression. thus, the potential of FNS exchanges’ to take teachers and students beyond simplified views of people and places is widely documented, in particular among Norwegian participants. However, we did also see some alarming examples where stereotypical views were rather reinforced. our material indicates that while stereotypical images of “the South” are confronted, a romanticised im-age of Norway often remains intact, or can even be strengthened on the journey and through meetings with the Norwegians. our researcher in East and Southern africa met many who thought of Norway as “the perfect place”, whereas they saw themselves and their culture in a completely negative light.

While the key goal and the main outcome “trend” is a strengthening in identity and abilities among participants, there is simultaneously a risk of the southern partner and participants feeling inferior and the Northern participants feeling, or being experienced by South participants as superior. While many participants express a nuanced view about Norway that includes problematic aspects, some also show a great deal of self-content and romanticized visions. it was the young EliMu participants from East and Southern africa who were left with an idealized, un-critical image of Norway after the exchange which made students “act more like Norwegians and less like them-selves”, an issue raised in some of the focus groups. the idea that “developing” countries are meant to learn from Norway and adapt to Norwegian cultural values also exist at some schools in the region. this is a challenge FNS needs to take seriously, where our research team sees potential for improvement. However, there were some students in the same region who reflected that though their culture is different from that of Norwegians, they do

not have to adopt it. that it is ok to be different and but also important to understand each other’s differences.

Some Norwegian teachers raised the concern that their students have a ‘limited understanding about the chal-lenges of our own society’, including social disparities between themselves and their neighbours. it is further common for Norwegians, both senior and young, to think there are few problems to be solved in the North. For example, when one of our researchers met Norwegian students during their exchange to South africa, they had just visited a home for H.i.v-positive children; some of them with aiDS. the students were clearly touched, and expressed a wish to collect money to the children’s home. their reaction is expressed in solidarity, and understand-able, but they also said that there are no vulnerable people in their own society, and little or no opportunity to change anything at home. We see this view, expressed both by young and senior participants, as problematic, because it works against the idea to “think globally, act locally”, which again serves to reinforce stereotypes. that activities take the form of fundraising initiatives are quite common among friendship groups on both programs, which will be dis-cussed separately in section 6.2.4. this could contribute towards a one-dimensional understanding of “develop-ment” and North/South relations, which for some include a “saving the south mentality” and hierarchical sentiments. We believe this can influence the quality of global education as a whole negatively.

Limited global learning- outcome in the Southon an impact level the EliMu programme contributes to improve school quality, by inspiring teachers through sharing knowledge and methods, and improving global learning. it can seem, however, that the level of global and development knowledge is improved above all in Norway. if global knowledge is to include “understanding the fun-damental causes of poverty and inequity in the global distribution of resources and power”, which one of the FNS goals reads, the benefit is in fact limited for South participants. it was particularly challenging for participants to place their country and theme knowledge in a wider global context. this was particularly true for groups in the south from both programs. However, while the global knowledge among Norwegian participants was generally higher, the same challenge was revealed also in Norwegian focus group discussions. although Norwegian schools are said to have an “open curriculum” with a global orientation in many subjects, it was raised as a challenge by most teachers that the FNS project did not fit naturally any-where in the curriculum. this made the practical imple-mentation of pre- and post-work challenging, which naturally affects the potential for a maximized outcome, also in Norway.

a lack of an orientation towards global issues was also identified as one of the challenges in the 2009 EliMu report. this indicates that the coherence between FNS goals and what it provides could be improved, especially in south contexts where access to relevant material is limited.


4.1.4 Cross-cultural competenceone of the major strengths of the North-South exchanges by FNS is that it gives the participants competency and skills that enable them to cooperate across geographical borders and better deal with cultural and social differences, also within their own societies. as Figure 8 below shows, on average 95% and 96 % respond 5 or 4 to the ques-tions “i understand another culture better now” and “i have a more open attitude to people different from me” respectively.

High (4) Highest (5) High (4) Highest (5)

59 %

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59 %

64 %

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FiguRe 8: CROSS-CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING 1:“I understand another culture better now”

CROSS-CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING 2:“I have a more open attitude to people different from me”

these high numbers clearly show that the objectives that participants should (1) become more open to others’ values and opinions and (2) acquire and show the ability to use skills in cross-cultural communication are met. increased openness for other people, as well as contributing factors, such as social competency tools and methods for coop-eration and language skills are elaborated below.

Increased openness for other people and cultures‘After I came back from Palestine I try to understand things better. Not to think that what conflicts with my own views is wrong, or to categorize things at once, but rather get involved in others’ point of view, and try to understand why they believe what they do. Before, I thought hijab is oppression of women, but when I was in Palestine I wanted to cover myself’Female student from Lambertseter Upper Secondary

Several of the students from lambertseter openly explained that they had strong prejudices before they participated in the exchange, and that have become a lot more open and including. Some of the students also thought that the visit from Ramallah, where the palestinians stayed in their homes influenced their whole families on their views about Muslims. Differences related to religious views are considered a particularly relevant difference in the Norwe-gian context. this is also the case in schools in East and Southern africa. it is mentioned that there has been a significant increase in religious tolerance. one example is usagara Secondary school in tanzania, friendship school with Greveskogen upper Secondary School. they report that role plays have provided a means of talking about and tackling cultural and religious issues in school. While in the past there had been conflicts between Christians and Muslims, teachers have experienced that students have an increased tolerance of each other’s viewpoints and collaborate better than before.

at many schools teachers and students express that they see the diversity in their local communities in a much more positive light after the exchange. as a teacher from St. alfred alara Secondary School in Kenya stated, ‘Traveling to Norway challenged my view of diversity in the society. Norwegians are as different from us (Ken-yans) as can be yet we interacted very well. Here in Kenya we identify ourselves based on tribes but we are more similar than a Kenyan and a Norwegian. Travelling made me see how limited our view in Kenya is and now I don’t feel the need to identify others based on their tribes. I am now more open to interaction with people different from me’.

Knowledge is one of the best tools to challenge racism and prejudices, not only towards people from different cultures and material living conditions, but also with others different from themselves at a personal level. Students and teachers at ole vig upper Secondary have through their exchange got to know youth with physical handicaps from Kenya, which have made them more respectful and open-minded about differences in general. one of the male students says; “i think everybody at the school saw clearly that we were more open when we returned. and it affected the others to become more curious and interested


High (4)Fair (3) Highest (5)

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FiguRe 9: COLLABORATION SKILLStoo”. it is clear then, that a lot more people than those who are directly involved in the exchanges are influenced, and inspired to be more open. this has a tremendous impact on the local communities that participate in the exchanges, in terms of how they deal with differences. the ole vig group argues that when their municipality Stjørdal has received honourable mentions in the area of integration of asylum seekers3, it to some extent attributes to FNS exchanges, not least through the large number of host families who have been engaged in the projects over the years.

Social competency tools and methods for cooperationthis section focuses particularly on the skills and tools that participants have gained, which help them to collab-orate cross-culturally. a total of 70% of respondents from East and Southern africa, 79% from Norway and 100% from palestine answer 4 or 5 to the question “i learned to collaborate with others” (Figure 9). if we include those who rated their collaboration skills to 3, the percentage passes 90 % in all regions.

3) http://stjordalsnytt.no/index.php/stjordal/sentrum/item/4022-best-i-landet-p%C3%a5-integrering

“i am now more open to interaction with people different from me”

Personal encounters, dialogue and cross-cultural knowledge are the best ways to challenge racism and prejudices. This engaged discussion took place during the Youth Empowerment Assembly in South Africa in 2008 (Photo: Ragnhild Olaussen).

Teacher from St. Alfred Alara Secondary School in Kenya


an example of practical, collaborative work is the Kuben – Kamuli group (uganda), who use young enterprise as a method to develop model houses together. Regardless of the specific activities carried out students learn to think creatively together, share their skills and ideas with each other and solve problems together. one of FNS’ goals for the EliMu programme is to help give insight into demo-cratic decisions that use dialogue and non-violent means to solve problems and resolve conflicts. it is commonly stated by participants that their communication and problem solving skills have increased substantially through participation in the programme.

FNS encourages the use of alternative methods for cooperation and conflict resolution. a practical example is the Jans-xaverian school in Kenya, friendship school with porsgrunn upper Secondary. they have Cultural un-derstanding as their main theme, and use peer mediation as a method to promote dialogue and understanding and prevent conflicts, and avoid violent methods such as throwing stones and barricading roads when youth in the community are unhappy with a situation. peer mediation is seen as a means of changing the way young people deal with unpleasant situations. at Jans-xaverian there are five trained peer mediators known and supported by the students, teachers and an active peer mediation club. they report that conflict levels at the school have reduced. it is likely to assume such an initiative can have lasting, long-term impact.

on a more general level, participants express that they have learned to approach difficult questions and themes

These boys became friends by sharing ideas and building model houses together. The Ugandan students had expected the Norwegians to be tall and white, and were impressed by the mixed visiting group (Photo: Kuben Upper Secondary).

where there are disparities in point of views in sensitive ways, where they are not as quick to draw conclusions as they were prior to the exchange. additionally, it is often mentioned by teachers and students alike that they have become more polite hospitable, respectful and empathic towards their guests, in line with FNS’ goal to build friend-ship, empathy and cross-cultural understanding. For Kirkeparken upper Secondary in Moss and West Coast College in South africa the “courage to care” principles are used as a toolkit to talk about and tolerate differences.

on an impact level these skills are likely to impact the future positively by making basis for peaceful relationships across differences and contributing to more peaceful societies.

Language and oral skillslanguage is a concrete tool to reach one of FNS’ key goals, namely cross-cultural competence. among gains often mentioned is also the strengthening of language skills, and above all English. the programme works on several levels on this point. First, it serves as a motivation for students to improve their English skills, because it in-creases their chances of being selected to participate in the exchange. this is particularly emphasised by the South partners. Further, those who participate or are actively in contact with visitors get to practice their English speaking skills through socializing, discussions, developing projects together and holding presentations in English, often for large audiences. For example, teachers in Sidlamafa School in South africa and the tanga schools in tanzania noted that FNS exchange participants have improved their communication and presentation skills, i.e. by holding presentations on their country, schools and themes during and after exchange. in addition to English, Spanish skills are often mentioned, as well as Norwegian and Swahili. Even if the words learned in these languages are not necessarily many, it serves to awaken an enthusiasm for learning other languages in the future.

4.1.5 Personal development: new skills and empowermentin this section we explore the personal, as well as practical and cultural skills, that we believe serve to empower indi-viduals and groups to believe in their abilities to make a difference, and in turn create the change that they aspire.

Self-confidence, belief in personal abilities and valuesa female student from Kirkeparken upper Secondary in Moss tells us that she after the trip to West Coast College in Ntabenkonyane (South africa) was asked to hold a presentation for the first year students at her school about the Mot / Courage to care – principles. She says;‘The idea frightened me at first, but then I thought that if I have had the courage to hold a presentation for the whole school in South Africa in English, then I will certainly manage this too’

this quote serves as a continuation of the language section, but above all it shows the potential to strengthen participants’ self-confidence and belief in their own capa-bilities – a fundamental factor in enabling students to create change. the success of FNS work on this point is widely documented, particularly influential for young par-


St. Lucy’s Raruowa Secondary School in Kenya collaborates with their partner Fauske Upper Secondary School as part of setting up a biogas demonstration plant in their project on renewable sources of energy.

ticipants. another student from the same school tells a touching story in this regard; ‘When we were walking the Cape of the Good Hope I cried the whole way because I am terrified of snakes, but it makes me proud to know that I did it regardless of my fear’. the Mot principles4, which this particular collaboration is founded upon is well suited for this form of personal development. they encourage strong personalities, with belief in the potential of individual actions and the cour-age in those young people to stand up for themselves, as well as against injustice towards others. FNS work also carries the potential to increase participants’ pride in their cultural and personal values, mentioned by many as one of the programme’s strengths. at West Coast College in South africa students and teachers have been inspired to talk about their history including apartheid more than before, and the ways various forms of discrimination are manifested in the community today. the partnership has made them proud of their achievements and inspired to visit world-famous places such as Robben island.

4) ThE MOT-PRINCIPLES

• Mot is a postural change motivated organization that works for and with youth with the principal goal to encourage confident youth and safe youth environments

• Mot empowers youth to make conscious choices and to show courage based on principles; - courage to live - courage to care - courage to say no

• Established under the World Ski Championship in trondheim in 1997, and initiated by the Norwegian skaters Johann olav Koss and atle vårvik three years earlier.

• introduced to South africa in 2006

• Webpage Norway: http://www.mot.no/ South africa: http://www.mot.org.za/

“when we were walking the Cape of the good hope i cried the whole way because i am terrified of snakes, but it makes me proud to know that i did it regardless of my fear”


at Jan’s academy in Kenya, the teachers tell of the trans-formation of one of the most active participants in the FNS club after her exchange. the student in question was a trouble student who used to have major disciplinary issues and even used to run away from school. However, in her own words, she says that being part of the program has shown her the endless opportunities available to her and she plans to pursue her college education abroad. She is now the leader of the FNS club and her grades have improved immensely.

While the most dominant trend is, as described above, that individuals’ have their self-confidence strengthened, we did also see examples of the opposite. When our

researcher interviewed young students in focus-groups, in several countries in East and Southern africa she found that they could not think of anything about their own cul-ture and society that they were proud of. While group discussions as well as reflection letters from Norway are full of examples of values and other elements the partici-pants have learned from their friends in the South, these “low self-esteem groups” had a hard time to come up with of a single thing that the North partners might have learned from them. this indicates that these ideas are not openly expressed or shared between the participants. this form of negative comparison and feelings of inferiority towards the Northern partner (already touched on under stereotyping; 4.1.3.) was experienced in up to every third

One approach to build bridges between people, communities and nations is through dance. In the picture, Martine Melleby from Sarpsborg learns traditional Swazi dance in Sidlamfa, South Africa (Photo: Laila von Hafenbrãd).


group, which shows that it is something Friendship North/South and EliMu schools needs to confront. However, relatively easy measures can lead to improvements here, presented under recommendations at the end.

Cultural and organizational skillsFrom the EliMu programme 93% from East and Southern africa, 45% from Norway and 100% from palestine answer 4 or 5 to the statement “i have acquired new practical skills”. the skills gained through the program are many and varied. Skills often mentioned in focus groups and reports range from cultural skills such as dance, music, singing, rapping and theatre to organizational and leader-ship-skills. Further, students get practical training with information tools such as video, photography, design and writing as well as knowledge about how to reach various forms of media with one’s message. School-related skills and abilities such as critical thinking, presentation skills,

problem solving skills, collecting and systematizing data can also be mentioned, as it is by teachers and students. Computer skills are emphasized as valuable outcome by many South participants.

a total of 16% of the groups evaluated, and 19% from the EliMu programme work with themes related to entrepre-neurship. this makes it the largest theme category after culture and cultural understanding. in the ESa region the percent is as high as 23 %, and the entrepreneurship projects had some of the most tangible results on required skills, such as business proposal and plan writing, business idea generation and starting small businesses. Key in this regard are also skills such as art and craft, building, devel-oping, marketing and selling products; competences that are well valued by many of the participants. although more relevant for the groups that are part of the Community programme, practical grassroots development skills such as organic farming, gardening and permaculture can be added to the list.

an interesting example of problem solving skills is the two tanga Schools in tanzania (Mkwakwani and usagara Secondary Schools) and Greveskogen upper Secondary School partnership that uses a tool called Theatre for change. the method involves the participants coming up with various solutions for a problem and ‘testing’ how viable a solution to a problem is, through theatrical demonstra-tions. this goes on until the solution given by the audience (and) hence participants are shown to practically work in the face of problems. these skills allow students to go through a systematic problem solving process that can be applied in almost any challenging life situation.

of course, there is no clear distinction between cultural skills and activities and friendship works’ ability to strengthen of identities and belief in personal abilities and values. Cultural

activities and performances can certainly be a means to that end, as well as reinforcement to mutuality and equality in partnerships. this topic will be explored in full under the Community programme.

together this set of skills serves as a toolkit that enables students and teachers to carry out action to create change, which will be discussed in detail in the next section. it further responds to the FNS goal to help give insight into democratic decisions that use dialogue and non-violent means to solve problems and resolve conflicts.

4.1.6 Local and global action and changeone of the wonderful aspects about Friendship North/South projects is the way it inspires and enables people to create changes in their own lives, as well as in their local com-munities. in total 94% from East and Southern africa, 66% in Norway and 100% in palestine rate their motivation

to take local action after the exchange to 4 or 5. this is as shown in Figure 10 below. the Figure further shows that 80% of respondents in the ESa region rated the highest opinion when asked “Some people have started positive local initiatives after the exchange” in the school programme. However, 6% did not either know or think that any participant

had started a local initiative after the exchange. this might point to lack of collaboration beyond the exchange experience among the participants. For Norway, 50% of respondents and 83% of respondents from palestine rat-ed this question as highest (5). if we include the high (4), the statistics show that all palestinian respondents and 75% of Norwegian respondents fall into this category.


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FiguRe 10: MOTIvATION TO TAKE LOCAL ACTION

“together these skills serve as a toolkit that enables students and teachers to carry out action and create change”


Figure 11 below shows a list of actions taken by EliMu participants which include; to carry out environmental activities such as recycling, tree-planting or increasing the number of bins in schools (20%, particularly high in the ESa region), make activities for kids/youth (24%) and to meet with local authorities 19%, (highest among partici-pants from palestine). the option “to form a club or organization” were not included in the Norway and palestine questionnaires, and hence the data on this is unknown. the figure reveals that 7% of the respondents in ESa re-gion have begun businesses, which include bead making, selling of fruits and art work. these respondents are mostly from uganda and Kenya.

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FiguRe 11: ELIMU PROGRAM - LOCAL ACTION

the presented statistics show that FNS’ target goals (1) to help youth become agents of change of change is met by the School Programme, and (2) acquired skills in (as showed in the last section), and shown the ability to use alternative ways to create positive change. Entrepreneur-ship and permaculture are examples of alternative ways, to be explored below. in this section we focus on the headlines active participation in community projects or action, personal life changes, entrepreneurship, informa-tion work and finally political action and participation in democratic decision-making.

Active participation in community projects‘I saw the bins labelled ‘FNS Club’ and after asking around, I was told what FNS club is all about and I decided that I would want to join such a club so that I can also make a positive change in school’.

- 15 year old new FNS Club member, Jan’s Academy (Kenya)

the school club was set up to coordinate FNS related activities in the school, and is an example of how com-munity projects are organized in schools. the club is made up of former exchange participants and other students interested in the activities, which includes topics such as school discipline, peer counselling and mediation, and a hand washing campaign where Jan’s academy make their own soap. Environmental initiatives are also common, ranging from initiatives for a cleaner school environment to more recycling and planting of trees. Schools in Malawi, part of the triangular partnership with schools in Norway and Zimbabwe, have started school gardens based on permaculture principles as part of their project on water and climate change. under the supervision of teachers students have also made a small man-made forest. through the project the urban school environment has become greener and students have learned to grow vegetables, grain and fruit.

“one of the wonderful aspects about Fns is the way it inspires and enables people to create change in their own lives and in their local communities”


Left; Students from Kalinabiri School, Uganda show us young trees they have planted in the school as part of FNS project on environment. Right; an area set aside for planting at Katwe Secondary, Uganda to be based on permaculture principles and skills learned at a Youth Empowerment Assembly held in Kampala in 2012 (Photo: Cynthia Sirintai Olouasa )

after their visit to a local recycling plant in Norway, students at Sidlamfa Secondary in South africa collect garbage from their school once a week and encourage other students to take care of the environment. through their environ-mental club they have been able to raise funds by selling items made from recycled waste, as a way to show other students and people in the community that waste can be turned to income. Such initiatives are common and will be discussed under entrepreneurship below.

in Norway, students from the media class at ole vig upper Secondary have held film courses with young asylum seekers in their hometown; an initiative they say can be attributed to the programme. at lambertseter upper Secondary School in oslo, all the students who participated in the exchange to Ramallah last year were active in various school and community projects after the trip. two former participants were active in the palestine Committee of Norway (palestinakomiteen); several were active in operation Day’s Work (operasjon Dagsverk) and the school council, as well as in mak-ing the school yearbook and also in various money-collecting activities. in Norway, it is common that initiatives take the form of collecting money, which is the case for both programmes. While a high num-ber of participants ticked “making activities for kids”, no such activities were mentioned in focus group discus-sions in Norway. an example from the ESa region is a former male student from Mengo Senior School who has made a human rights group, so far consisting of 20 youth. together they discuss what these youths know of their

rights, what their feelings are on these same rights and how best to ensure that their rights are upheld and not abused.

While global knowledge appeared to have a higher priority in Norway than in South and East africa, when it comes to local action, and especially participation in local com-munity projects, south participants hold a clear, leading position. Norwegian partners were often truly impressed with the achievements of south schools and communities.

Personal life changesaction on community level and personal life changes are by no means clearly distinguishable, but action on a per-sonal level does take a slightly different form. Based on the idea that the life choices of individuals can and do really make a difference, they should not be underestimated.

there are also clearer traces of this form of change for the EliMu programme in the Norwegian context, than more organized community level initiatives. one of the most common comments is that youth and teachers intend to, or have already taken action to change their shopping habits, and become better at reusing clothes and other goods. Several say they have become more conscious about using less water and electricity, and not to waste food. Sidlamafa Secondary, friendship school with St. olav

“when it comes to participation in local community projects, south participants hold a clear, leading position”


upper Secondary, has Climate change and environmental work as their theme. South african participants report that they are now more reflective in regards to environmental issues and have made personal changes such as using their backpacks while shopping instead of the available plastic bags, which they consider a more sustainable option. these are examples where global awareness does bring about change, and thus, reach its potential.

When it comes to gender structures, several south par-ticipants mention they have been inspired by Norwegian gender roles. For example, whilst hosted in a Norwegian family a head teacher from Mkwakwani Secondary School in tanzania saw the man in the house cook and assist with daily chores. after the exchange he helps out in the house and even cleans clothes once in a while, which was never the case before since this is considered a woman’s work in african countries.

on a more social level, actions such as being friendlier towards neighbours and visit grandparents and other rel-atives more often are common in the Norwegian context. Many also mention a wish to be less demanding in life, and to be more positive and grateful. these kinds of changes are among the ones inspired by south partici-pants, which they themselves seem to have little aware-ness of.

although the dominant trend is as described above; a wish and often also willingness to change, it is also quite common to think that there is little to be done on a local level to directly influence their own communities among the Norwegian participants. this can be seen as one of the challenges we face, and will return to discuss in depth.

Entrepreneurshipa total of 19% of all the EliMu projects are related to entrepreneurship. For some, this is the main theme for group activities, whereas such initiatives for others arise either as part of, or on the side of the partnership, inspired and/or initiated by the exchanges. one example of the first kind is ole vig upper Secondary in Stjørdal and Joytown Secondary School in thika (Kenya), who have entrepre-neurship and information production as their theme. the Kenyan participants design and make products such as wooden bracelets, instruments and other handcrafts, while Norwegians media students are responsible for designing product packing and advertising the business. the Kenyan school is for youth with special needs, and the idea is that they fulfil each other’s competency in the partnership. they are also in the start-up-phase of a micro credit initi-ative, with the goal to make the project more sustainable by enabling youth to establish their own businesses after their graduation.

Products made by Kenyan students with packing designed by Norwegians, part of a collaborative entrepeneurship project (Photo: Maria Sørlie Berntsen).

Two years ago Linda Musiimenta was on exchange in Norway. Today she is a busy fashion designer and has held several excibitions (Photo: Ingrid Kjelsnes).

“several south participantsmention they have been inspired by norwegian gender roles.”


as an example of entrepreneurship activities inspired by the FNS project, a former exchange student from Mengo Senior School in Kampala (uganda) started a waste man-agement business, where he turns waste into artistic or-naments like belts and bags. He mobilizes young women and youth in the Walukuba village in uganda, and sells products for 20,000 ugandan shillings each (approx. 50 NoK) in uganda. Recently he has also started selling products to Norwegian markets. His long-term goal is to train others in this craft at schools in his community. Some former exchange students from another school in Kampala, Kololo Secondary, have started a small fruit selling business with the goal of saving for life after school. they were equipped with the necessary ideas and skills as part of the EliMu programme through their FNS project on ‘taking responsibility for my future’. they save funds through their established ‘taREFu’ savings scheme that is open for all students and mostly run by former participants and youth Empowerment assembly (yEa) 2012 committee members.

these are just a few of many entrepreneurship related initiatives, that on an impact level works in accordance with FNS’ overall objective to empower many people in communities in Norway and the South to participate actively in community and global sustainable development including taking care of nature. although on a small scale, the initiatives generate jobs, stimulate the economy and contribute to self-sufficiency. it also helps to prepare young people for the future by providing them with pro-fessional skills, where many face a high unemployment rate, particularly in the South. as expressed by the principal at West Coast College in South africa;‘The program opens up opportunities for the partici-pants and gives them an edge over the others especially after school as there is massive youth unemployment (over 70%) in the area. One of the past participants got a job as a direct result of having been part of the programme’.

this was also reported of two former participants from Robinvale High School also in South africa. Entrepre-neurship initiatives form part of a trend the research team shares a strong belief in and wish to encourage further development of, on both programmes.

Carried out information work From year 2010 post-exchange work has been a manda-tory part of the EliMu programme. our data analysis indicates that all of the East and Southern africa and palestinian participants and 94% of the Norwegian par-ticipants have spread information in their local communities after the exchange, which indicates that the obligation serves its purpose.

100 %80 %60 %40 %

20 %0 %


Presentationin school

Presentation at community

house orsimilar

Project in the newspaper

Talked to family/friens

58 %

87 %

100 %25 %

0 %

0 %

19 %

49 %

0 %

89 %

10 %

21 % 10 %

Norway Palestine

FiguRe 12: ELIMU - wAyS OF SPREADING INFORMATION

the figure above shows that the most common way of spreading information is through holding school pres-entations, a number particularly high for Norwegian and palestinian participants. in all regions however it was raised as a challenge to find the time in a hectic school programme for post work production. the Figure 12 above shows that for all categories the numbers in Norway are substantially higher than for the african region, which is also the impression we got from the focus group discus-sions. in palestine all of the respondents only used school presentations as the only method to spread the information. We return to the challenge of carrying out post work in practice under 5.4.2 and under recommendations. Despite some challenges, however, the figure shows that students show a large degree of engagement in passing on what they have experienced and learned to larger audiences, most well documented in Norway.

the already mentioned ole vig has a weekly column in the local newspaper, where they write about exchanges with the Kenya exchanges and their business on a regular basis. they have also had several film screenings at the school. the rap children at Begby secondary school made about water was made into a music video filmed under water, shown on several of the schools’ open days, including the international day. they also visited national television and appeared in several newspaper articles with their message about global disparities in access to water, and that if you want to make a difference you have to begin with yourself. paarl Gymnasium in South africa has worked with Human rights and inclusion of minorities as their themes. after the exchange the student participants decided to expand an online girl-empowerment website to Norway5. With a few exceptions of groups, that are covered in the media, as the above, it is harder to find examples among the african partnerships. this is in par-tially due to the fact that most students are in rural boarding schools with little access to media houses concentrated in urban areas. low capacity, both in terms of skills and resources, are also a hindrance for EliMu schools to get coverage in the media, including social media. the rea-sons for a lower percentage of presentations in schools, community houses and similar are harder to justify, and represents an area with potential for improvement we will return to.

5) the project is known as the Stiletto project, and the website is www.konfytofficial.jimdo.com.

“98% of the participants on average have spread information in their local communities after the exchange”


To carry out post-work is a mandatory part of the Friendship North/South programmes. To build capacities in media skills has had a high priority in recent years, and hence, post-work often takes the shape of information work. Here, students from Molde Upper Secondary are interviewing students from Outjo Secondary School in Namibia (Photo: Molde Upper Secondary).

large amounts of information work, particularly in the North put aside, the type and quality of information varies. in some cases it is unclear where fundraising initiatives begin and end, and how information material feed into that purpose. on a recent visit from Kenya to one of the Nor-wegian schools there were some critical reactions to a video that media students had made, that has been shown to large Norwegian audiences since 2007. the visitors did not find the portrayal of disabled students in their school as dignified or representative, and they objected that there have been many changes since the film was made in 2005. this shows that while friendship work has a unique po-tential to challenge stereotypical perceptions, as was expressed in words during the focus interview also in the above case, this is not necessarily reflected in information material. FNS, as well as individual groups have a respon-sibility to work towards fully bringing out the friendship projects’ potential as in which stories are told and how.

the critique also symbolizes the shift that has taken place in the power-relation between north and south participants, discussed in section 5.1.

on an impact level, it is likely to assume that students who have been involved in media-related exchange work are encouraged to be active media contributors in the future.

Political action, leadership and participation in democratic decision makingFinally, we see many examples where participants become active in student politics when they return, where the ex-changes have made them more engaged in politics and democratic decision making. For example, a former par-ticipant from Jan’s academy in Kenya was selected to be the assistant school prefect in the students’ council. the student’s leadership potential was identified during the exchange. other former participants have also been elected

“the visitors from kenya did not find the portrayal of disabled students in their school as dignified or representative”


Friendship North/South´s network consists of 300 twinned institutions and grass-root groups. Here from the partnership between Lilleborg and Dangaji in South-Sudan.

The Moss – Aguacatan group work with environmental themes. Here at an organic farm in Moss (Photo: Liss Fjeld).

to school leadership in the african region, among them male student who was previously considered a “problem student”. on some occasions student politics has also been mentioned in Norwegian discussion groups, although seemingly to a lesser extent.

an example of local change happening as a result of stu-dent participation in politics and inspired by the exchanges is the decree that made corporal punishment illegal in 2013 at Jan’s academy in Kenya. the change was initiated as a result of discussions organized by the FNS club members with the students, teachers and school administration on student discipline and punishment. at usagara and Mkwakwani Secondary Schools in tanga (tanzania) it has also been expressed that teachers are using alternative disci-pline methods more than before. additionally, student discipline and the relationship between students and teachers is said to have improved and loosened up in several places.

4.2 The Community Programme a total of 22 groups were visited from the Community programme. the number consists of 8 groups in the East and Southern africa region, 7 from Norway and 7 groups from Central america (in this study Guatemala and Nica-ragua). in this Community programme section there will be a third graph covering the Central american (Ca) region. From palestine four community groups were included in the questionnaire study, but no interviews were carried out. Below the results from the Community programme are presented.

4.2.1 Community Programme; thematic distributionDifferent community groups were, as on the EliMu programme pursuing different themes. Figure 13 shows the distribution of partnership themes for 2011–2013, among those who took part in the questionnaire study.

the Figure 13 shows that the Environment and Climate change portion is particularly large for the Community programme at 33%, more than double the percentage for EliMu (14%). in the South regions it was as high as 45% for the Community programme, but only 20% in the Norwegian groups. Since there is a 69% overlap between North – and South groups included in the study, this ma-jor difference is somewhat surprising. it could indicate that there is still a long way to go in solidifying working with common partnership themes on the programme. Culture themes represent the second largest category (29 %), followed by Human rights/inclusion of minorities and Entrepreneurship and fair trade at a shared third place (each with 12 %). in palestine, no groups worked with environment and climate change themes, but rather culture- and democracy related themes.


of minorities11 %


33 %


29 %


12 %


12 %

Migration3 %

FiguRe 13: COMMUNITy PROGRAMME – ThEMATIC DISTRIBUTION


4.2.2 General goal achievement When asked to rate their achievement of the Community programme’s objectives, 74% of questionnaire respond-ents from East and Southern africa, 82% from Norway, 88% from palestine and 91% from Central america answer 5 or 4 (based on the grading system illustrated in Figure 1, page 7). the Central america region has the largest share of 5, at 58%. When asked about their achievement of personal objectives, more than 50% from each region reply 5. if we include those who answered 4 the numbers are 74% for ESa, 87% for Norway, 63% from palestine and 79 % for Ca, based on the following motivations.

100 %80 %60 %40 %20 %

0 %


To increase my global knowledge

Exchange of ideas /

experiences

To get skills and

competence

Get motivated for

further engagement

Make new contacts & possibilities

Other things

25 %47 %

63 % 56 %


24 %60 %

100 %66 % 50 %

18 %50 %46 % 27 %

0 %

36 %50 % 36 % 30 %

38 %75 %

0 %

33 % 20 % 13 %

FiguRe 14: COMMUNITy PROGRAMME - MOTIvATIONS FOR jOINING ThE PROGRAMME

the high numbers show that there is a large degree of satisfaction with the programme among participants. our data also show there is a clear positive correlation be-tween programme and target goals and outcome, to be discussed in details in the following. the parameters used are the same as for EliMu. to avoid unnecessary repeti-tions this section will be referred back to, and it will be pointed out where there are similarities and differences. only additional changes on societal level are dealt with here, although by no means less important than for the Community programme.

4.2.3 Global knowledgean average of 76% North and South participants rate their improvement in global and development knowledge to either 4 or 5. this indicates that most of the respondents feel they have learned more about global issues. as we can read from the Figure 14 above it is commonly mentioned as a key motivation for joining the programme. While we found a high level of global knowledge among Norwegian participants, our researcher often experienced the larger global framework as missing in the East and Sothern af-rica and Central american context. the target goal that participants have acquired knowledge and understanding of North/South relations and global development questions is, thus, only partially met. as was also the case for the EliMu south participants, the knowledge related to the

project theme and exchange country was a lot higher than the understanding of wider global connections, and topics such as global development, geopolitics etc., al-though the average age of community programme par-ticipants is substantially higher.

in what follows we discuss the themes; increased interest and/or knowledge about global questions, including envi-ronmental questions, local and social studies knowledge and the potential to challenge stereotypical views.

Increased interest / knowledge about global questions; including the environmentthe exchanges contribute, for many participants to an increasingly global outlook on the world, as well as their own lives. Working with themes serves as a mean to this end. on average 78% rate their increased knowledge about the theme to 4 or 5, which is fairly evenly distributed among the regions. For 2011 and 2012 the group Sagene (oslo) – Rio Branco in the Brazilian amazonas worked on themes related to the environment. Despite of young age (most group members being below 20), they had gained insight to global environment themes such as pollution, rain forest logging, distribution of access to resources and renewable energy, as well as Brazilian politics and state-indigenous power relations. For many members these themes overlap with their area of interests, for some

“our data show there is a clear positive correlation between programme and target goals and outcome.”


FiguRe 15: COMMUNITy PROGRAMME - GLOBAL KNOwLEDGE

100 %

80 %

60 %

40 %

20 %

0 %


Global and development knowledge

Increased knowledge about the

theme

Knowledge about

partner country

78 %84 %

88 % 76 %


83 % 73 % 63 %91 %

59 %80 %

88 % 75 %

nections to large audiences. Global development themes were not discussed between our researcher and the group in San-andres.

these are just a few examples where participants clearly respond to the goals that they should (1) acquire knowl-edge and understanding of North-South relations and global development questions, and be able to (2) reflect critically on the causes of the distorted global distribution of resources and power. this makes participants, espe-cially Norwegian participants reflect on their consumption patterns, and thus also contributes to (3) help people take better care of the environment and natural resources.

Local and social studies knowledgeMost participants, on both sides of the partnerships gain a large amount of knowledge about their friendship country and regional context. on average of 76% rate their new knowledge about the partner country as high as 4 or 5. the percentage is substantially lower for the ESa region, where 58% rate this new knowledge of Norwegian society as either 4 or 5. the majority (41%) rated this new knowl-edge as 3 or ‘fair’ (Figure 15). Since country knowledge was lower also for the EliMu programme, the statistics could indicate that the outcome on this point does not achieve its full potential. it is also commonly mentioned

that participants gain new knowledge about their own country and city from ex-cursions, seminars, and oth-er activities, related or un-related to the group theme. the trondheim – Mbulu,

tumaini group (tanzania) have learned a lot about ex-ploitation of mines and corruption through their theme, and on a general level about the society and culture on both sides of the exchange. on the Norwegian side of the Kråkerøy – patzun (Guatemala) partnership, participants have learned about the Guatemalan civil war, ownership to land and resources, the social and political situation and gender roles, among other things.

also studies, but it can to some extent be attributed to the programme. the global learning outcome among the Brazilian participants is unknown. the tumaini Group in tanzania has also been working on sensitizing their com-munity regarding the issue of mining and landowner issues. Corrupt government officials have been selling off local land to mining companies, most of them international ones, and hence displacing local communities. their initiatives have created greater awareness among the group’s members, some of whom are very young. their presentations in form of dances are performed in community halls and cultural events with large audiences. they have also managed to reach local and national media.

Some members of the friendship group aguacatan (Gua-temala) and Moss (Norway) say they have an increased interest in ecology and the environment. in the oslo paulus Congregation - San andrès partnership, also in Guatemala, the Norwegian members had little knowledge about latin america prior to the friendship agreement. through their friendship connection with San andrès in Guatemala they have learned about Maya culture, issues related to wom-en’s’ rights and the war, including the related 1325 con-vention. Further, they have learned about the agricultural Chemicals company Monsanto’s seed patents, and the devastating effects it has on small-scale and subsistence

farmers in Guatemala and latin america. they have also learned about mining-related issues, and its’ connection to Norway through being backed by the Norwegian pension Fund. Recently they have also worked with environmentally related questions, and achieved a deeper understanding of the importance of the global environmental struggle. By bringing such topics into their church the oslo based group has contributed to critical reflection on global con-

“the tumaini group intanzania has created awarness about mining and landowner issues in their local community.”


The potential to challenge stereotypesas for the EliMu programme, we find examples where stereotypical views being confronted and challenged. the Sagene group, friends with Rio Banco in Brazilian amazonas, emphasize the programme’s importance as myth breaker, which they argue is the best way to learn. they admit they had a romanticized image of people who live in nature, as living simple, uncomplicated lives, con-servative towards their traditional culture. in meeting Huni Kuin they got challenged on all fronts. the indigenous group was in fact very interested in renewing themselves and in cooperation. Many took higher education, also on pHD-level. they met people entangled in a complex set

of worries, including the struggle for visibility towards the Brazilian state. Most surprising was the fact that Huni Kuin took more pictures of the Norwegians than the other way around.

For some members of the group Stjørdal - panajachel it served as a lesson that despite of financial difficulties, the visitors from Guatemala had no interest of moving to Norway; they rather communicated an admirable sense of identity and belonging, as well as strong family ties, positivity, happiness and solidarity. in contrast to in EliMu partner-ships, in the community groups, issues of superiority and inferiority complexes were not apparent in the partner-ships. the participants were glad to be part of the pro-gramme but they also had a strong identity and linkage in their home area. a possible explanation for this difference in the programmes could be the age of the participants. those in the community group are older with the majority of respondents being over 20 years, and most often between 31 and 65 years, and hence more experienced and able to see things a bit differently. this could also explain why our researcher in Central america saw few

traces of superiority/inferiority tendencies, since he inter-viewed mainly community groups. However, FNS staff has heard Guatemalans express that their country is “under-developed”, and witnessed a strong admiration towards Norway in conferences and gatherings, so the argument could have some relevancy also in the Central american and other regional contexts.

a story that can serve as inspiration in this regard is the following; when the verdal – Homa lime group visited the local major, the Kenyan guests posed the question “what can we do to become like you?” although it surprised the Norwegians at first, the question opened up for discus-

sions about problems the Norwegian society face; a lost sense of fellowship and belonging, loneliness, psy-chic illness, drug abuse and a high rise in the need for psychic institutions. as such,

it served as an eye-opener to the need to nuance the image of Norway to the visitors, and an opportunity to enrich the partnership. We take this story as inspiration, and return to the opportunity to take partnerships beyond stereotypical imaginations also for the south participants under recommendations.

4.2.4 Cross-cultural competenceFigure 16 shows that for the Community programme 93% on average answer 4 or 5 to the questions “i understand another culture a lot better now” and 91% rate the state-ment “i have a more open attitude to people different from me” to 4 or 5. Both questions are fairly evenly distributed in all the regions though palestine had a perfect score (100%) on the first question. the statistics clearly illustrate that the project goal to contribute to better understanding between different people in a diverse communities and between the North and the South is achieved by the Community programme. increased openness is discussed in detail below, as well as the contributing factors social competency tools and methods for cooperation, and finally language and oral skills.


100 %

24 %59 %

51 %44 %

38 %58 %

28 %65 %


Norway

Palestine

Central America

Average

100 %80 %60 %

40 %20 %

0 %

75 %

12 %71 %

42 %42 %

25 %71 %

26 %65 %


Norway

Palestine

Central America

Average

100 %80 %60 %

40 %20 %

0 %

25 %


100 %

24 %59 %

51 %44 %

38 %58 %

28 %65 %


Norway

Palestine

Central America

Average

100 %80 %60 %

40 %20 %

0 %

75 %

12 %71 %

42 %42 %

25 %71 %

26 %65 %


Norway

Palestine

Central America

Average

100 %80 %60 %

40 %20 %

0 %

25 %

FiguRe 16: CROSS-CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING 1:“I understand another culture better now”

“most surprising was the fact that huni kuin took more pictures of the norwegians than the other way around”

CROSS-CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING 2:“I have a more open attitude to people different from me”


Increased openness for other people and culturesit is commonly mentioned by participants that they have had their perspectives widened, and their interpersonal abilities have been improved. one of the members of the friendship group in verdal states; “To get so close to an-other culture makes you more open and flexible towards others. And when you are more open-minded towards other that is also how you are met”. Some of the members of the friendship group say that they through the partner-ship with Homa-lime they have understood the arguments for polygamy better. Many participants emphasise that they through the participation have become open to a new form of travel, where they really get to know people, learn, and enrich their own lives by opening up for other points of view and ways of living. Religious and cultural tolerance was discussed thoroughly under EliMu, and is also a key outcome for the Com-munity programme, for all regions. Many participants claim to be more tolerant to differences within their societies in general. at Mombasa Secondary (Kenya), a school that is part of Mombasa community which is in partnership with oppegård municipality, students were amazed to see disabled youth perform in a concert arranged as part of the FNS exchange. this experience changed their atti-tudes towards the abilities of the disabled in their society. other disabled youths were motivated to take part in

such initiatives. on a general level the partnership worked to integrate disabled youth into the society. although a slow and demanding process, their efforts can have an impact Kenyan disabled people’s lives in the future.

the experiences and knowledge gained through FNS ex-changes make participants more positive towards diversity in their own communities, and more competent in terms of how to “deal with” differences in their daily interactions – at home and abroad. this clearly also has effects on an impact level, by contributing to more tolerant communi-ties. our findings show that the target goal for ‘partici-pants in the exchanges to have acquired cross-cultural understanding and competence in cross-cultural com-munication’ is met by the Community programme.

“to get so close to another culture makes you more open and flexible towards others. and when you are more open-minded towards other that is also how you are met”

Most organizations have been forced to leave the closed country Eritrea. That makes Trondheim’s friendship link with the second largest city Keren ever more important, claims peace researcher Christine Smith-Simonsen (University of Tromsø). Their collaboration continues, and is made possible by a neutral and sensible approach. Here, the friendship group share a meal of injerra - a local dish similar to a pancake filled with meat and vegetables (Photo: Biniam Abraha).


Social competency tools and methods for cooperation as Figure 17 shows, on average 91% of all participants in the Community programme answer 4 or 5 when asked if they have improved their collaboration skills, a score slightly lower for Norwegians.

High (4) Highest (5)

75 %

13 %84 %

49 %22 %

25 %

25 %

71 %

28 %63 %


Norway

Palestine

Central America

Average

100 %80 %60 %

40 %20 %

0 %

FiguRe 17: COMMUNITy PROGRAMME- COLLABORATION SKILLS

Members of the Green Pilots community group in Madagascar carry out a town cleaning activity in 2012. The poster reads “Network of young Malagasy for the environment. By putting poltical pressure on the local government they have contributed to stop a chinese company from extracting the mineral limonite in environmentally degrading ways (Photo: Tsaroana Mosa).

a good example of teamwork action is the Green pilots in Madagascar, which springs out from the Stavanger – antsirabe partnership. the group is made up of 30 youth who carry out activities related to the environment and conservation, often teamed up with other likeminded youth, organizations and individuals. they also collaborate with a local wildlife organization to stop illegal logging, and together they have been given powers to flag down illegal loggers and even take them to the police. one of the Community programme’s goals is to ensure that those involved in local partner communities participate in democratic decision-making and use dialogic and non-violent methods for problem solving and conflict resolution. this is commonly mentioned as a well valued skill learned through the participation in the programme; in all four regions studied (the democratic participation part of the goal becomes more relevant under political action, 4.2.6). one of the community groups in Norway, Stjørdal - pana-jachel, collaborates closely with schools. Some of the Norwegian members raised the issue that while they saw that the participation in the programme had made them more open towards differences and equipped them with some tools for cross-cultural communication and conflict resolution, they did still experience that there were prob-lems with segregation between “foreign” and Norwegian students in their schools. it is one of the things they were encouraged to change, but did not know how to approach, which we follow up with a recommendation at the end (chapter 7).


Language and oral skillsas among the EliMu participants, improving one’s oral English skills, learning Spanish and other languages through participation in the program is mentioned by a large share of the groups. on the Community programme, many are active for several years, and therefore enabled to learn more than just some words. Some members from the Sagene – Rio Branco (Brazil) group for example have learned portuguese and the local language Hatxa Kui(n) quite well, enough to know some songs and understand each other’s on more than a basic level. although lan-guage barriers and cultural differences still cause some confusion, the group report that it does so much less than it did during the first exchanges. the principal at Kirkeparken upper Secondary (from the EliMu programme) made a point worth quoting; ‘One of the wonderful things that really made a strong impression was that it was an exchange that came with some challenges and resistance. It was not always easy to communicate, and that proved to be the most edu-cational part of the experience’.

She is one of several who mention communication chal-lenges as interesting and educational experiences, which encourage learning more of the local language and cultural codes.

4.2.5 Personal development; new skills and empowerment in this section we cover the personal, practical and cultural skills that serve to empower individuals and groups to create change.

Self-confidence, belief in personal abilities and valuesMany people have been empowered during these years of friendship exchange between groups. an example of this is a member of the San andres (Guatemala) group, friendship community with St paulus in oslo, who says, “i lost the fear and shame. the FNS programme has helped me to get the courage to talk to local authorities”. younger FNS participants mention strengthened self-confidence most frequently. through the exchange young members say they have learned about their own limits, become more comfortable in stepping out of their comfort zones and become clearer about their directions in life.

the previously mentioned tumaini group (tanzania – Norway) is also an excellent example in this regard. in their acrobatics workshops, held across tanzania and Norway involving large amounts of people, they have a unique ability to get everyone engaged and to feel confident about themselves, regardless of physical abilities. When traveling around schools the group made the most fragile and scared students do somersaults and stand in back-bends smiling from one ear to the other. they made the overweight student who usually sits and watches the gymnastics class from the side-line join in and do things she never thought was possible, to her teachers’ amazement. the group contributes to strengthen children and youth’s confidence at a very early age in both countries. Many Guatemalan participants say they have strengthened their identity and beliefs in personal abilities and values through the programme. thus, our material gives evidence to the FNS goal that through the friendship cooperation the par-ticipants will have a greater belief in their own strengths, identity and values, which is fundamental in bringing about development locally on their own terms. We strongly believe this enable individuals and groups to create the change they aspire on a personal as well as communal level.

A human pyramid, created during one of the exceptional Tumaini group’s acrobatics rehearsals in 2010. (Photo: Audun Eriksen)

“the Fns programme has helped me to get the courage to talk to local authorities”



50 %

24 %59 %

36 %22 %

11

42 %

25 %

42 %

East &

Southern A

frica

Norw

ay

Palestine

Central A

merica

100 %

80 %

60 %

40 %

20 %

0 %

25 %

Cultural and organizational skillsin total 83 % from East- and Southern africa, 33% from Norway, 50% from palestine and 84 % from Central america rate the practical skills they have gained through the program to 4 or 5; a substantially lower number for Norwegians. Keep in mind here that practical skills was also much lower rated as a motivation by Norwegians (18%) less than half compared with the responses from the other three regions. a possible explanation for this could be that South participants to a larger extent are exposed to entirely new skills and experiences through the programme, which the Norwegian schools system, as well as available technology and equipment, already allow for.

FiguRe 18: COMMUNITy PROGRAMME - NEw PRACTICAL SKILLS

as in the EliMu programme, the skills gained here through participation in the exchanges are many and varied. they range from cultural skills such as dance, theatre, acrobatics, acting, playing drums and theatre techniques, to organi-zational skills including tools for political influence, to organize seminars, talk in front of large audiences, dem-ocratic decision-making and problem-solving. Many par-ticipants in the programme also gain experience in carrying out information work and reaching the media, as well as information tools such as filming, photography, writing and social media. Cooking and “survival skills”, adaptation, eating unfamiliar food, making tortillas and cracking coconuts are also mentioned, as well as empathy, hospi-tality and communication skills. For many South participants, adapting to Norwegian time frames is the most challenging tasks, whereas Norwegians often mention South partici-pants’ more relaxed approach to time as causing frustration during the exchanges.

a large percentage of the groups work with themes related to the environment, for the Central american groups as high as 71 %. organic farming, permaculture and gardening are therefore often mentioned as skills gained through participating in the programme. For example, the agua-catan (Guatemala) – Moss group, have learned to practice organic waste management through composting with worms, through training in the field of sustainability. often, environmental initiatives are combined with entrepreneur-ship initiatives, working towards sustainability, also in economic terms. the same group has set up a small medical centre in the area of the foundation and will start commercial production of tomatoes this year (2013). the South participants often mention recycling, whereas Norwegian participants have been inspired have been inspired to reuse old things in creative ways and creating art and crafts out of scrap material.

“south participants are often inspired to recycle more, whereas norwegian participants have learned to reuse old things creatively. ”

A Guatemalan girl demonstrates a dress made from scrap material during a Friendship North/South seminar in Panajachel in 2011 (Photo: Ragnhild Olaussen).


together, this complex set of skills enables groups and individuals to act strategically to create the change they aspire in their local communities, explored in the next section. there is no doubt that the goal that ‘the partici-pants [should] have acquired the knowledge and tools to influence their local communities in the South and the North’ is met by the Community programme. our mate-rial also shows that the programme goal ‘to ensure that those involved in local partner communities participate in democratic decision-making and use dialogic and non- violent methods for problem solving and conflict resolu-tion’ is reached by the programme.

FiguRe 19: COMMUNITy PROGRAMME - MOTIvATION TO TAKE LOCAL ACTION


63 %

11 %79 %

22 %24 %

40 %

17 %79 %

East &

Southern A

frica

Norw

ay

Palestine

Central A

merica

100 %

80 %

60 %

40 %

20 %

0 %

37 %

4.2.6 Local and global action and changeas figure 19 shows, there is a high motivation among participants on the Community programme to take local action; 90% from East and Southern africa, 64% from Norway, 100% from palestine and 96% from Central america are highly motivated to create change locally, rating it as either 4 or 5. this makes it one of the major outcomes of the programme.

the Norwegian motivation scores are however substan-tially lower than the rest. While all (100%) of the palestin-ian respondents rate their motivation to 4 or 5, consisting of 63% highest (5) and 37% high (4), the Norwegian scores are at 64% 4 and 5 in total, or as low as 24% highest (5) and 40 % high (4). this difference could per-haps be explained by the amount of paperwork that falls on the north partner, which some argue come at the ex-pense of participants’ idealism, enthusiasm and wish to create change (discussed under other findings; 5.1.1 and 5.2.1). or, it supports the idea that some Norwegian par-ticipants see the potential for change lies first and fore-most in the south, which follows the logic of the Russian writer leo tolstoy’s saying that “Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing him-self”, despite of Friendship North/South’s efforts to counter this way of thinking. an alternative explanation could be that northern respondents answered the questions with less concern about impressing FNS and/or NoRaD, or that they have interpreted the response options differently than South participants. Some participants, especially from the south, handed in questionnaires with top ranking for most of the questions, although this could also mean they are just very satisfied to be part of the FNS exchanges, in this case, part of the Community programme.

Partnerships on The Local Community Programme often have cultural elements. Here, a picture from a musical collaboration between Lebanon and Norway in 2011 (Photo: Ragnhild Olaussen).


Even if the statistics are lower in Norway, FNS participants have carried out a broad variety of local action inspired by the programme. the forms of action are outlined in Figure 20, which reveals that meeting with local authorities (38%); environmental work (31%) and making activities for kids/youth (34%) are the most common forms of action on average. None of the respondents had begun a business.

10 %

20 %

30 %

40 %

50 %

60 %

70 %

80 %

0 %


Meeting with local authorities

Written article in

newspapers

Made activities for kids/youth

Made a club /

organization

Environmental work

Begun a business

Other

6 %

19 %

Norway Palestine Central America Average

58 %

36 %38 %

38 %

75 %

9 %38 % 32 %

67 %

16 %38 %

34 %

42 %

2 %6 %

16 %

2 %

50 %

29 %

71 %

9 %38 % 31 %

0 %

0 %0 %

7 % 2 %0 %

0 %

2 %

18 %0 %

7 %

FiguRe 20: COMMUNITy PROGRAMME: TyPES OF LOCAL ACTION TAKEN

as pointed out earlier, the ‘begun a business’ option was not provided for in questionnaires filled in by palestinians and Norwegians. an example of an environmental action is by the young Kotebe Congregation participants from Ethiopia (in partnership with Marker) who started a practice

of planting trees on their birthdays as part of the project and has now become an annual event. they ask for tree seedlings from their friends and families as gifts on their birthdays.

Planting trees is a common activity in the partnerships, that also carry symbolical significance. The friendship group Marker-Kotebe (Etiopia) has made treeplanting an annual event.


31 % of our participants on average and as many as 71 % in Latin America carry out environmental work as part of their project. Here, young neighbors at Sagene in Oslo engaged in making the park colorful together with the visiting Huni-Kuin shaman (Photo: Linn Meieran).

Here, we discuss local action under the headings partici-pation in community projects, personal life changes, entrepreneurship, information work and political action. this section responds to the programme goals (1) to help more people in local communities in Norway and in the South to participate more actively in community development, locally and globally, and to become change agents for their communities and (2) to help people take better care of the environment and natural resources.

Active participation in community projectsas an average for both programmes 91% answer that their community benefits from the project, evenly distributed among the regions (rated to 4 or 5). When asked “my school/community take more environmental responsibility; recycle, reuse, plant trees etc.” 76 % on average answer 4 or 5, this time Norway holds the highest share and Central america the lowest. the congregation San paulus, for example, have taken various actions to achieve the title “Green parish”, which involves a number of requirements for environmentally viable operations of the church. the Sagene – Rio Branco group created a beautiful, colourful park together at Sagene, where neighbours from countries around the world contributed with painting and planting. the park serves as a local meeting point, and according to local politicians the degree of criminality in the area has been reduced. the majority of young participants in the group have become engaged in local, grassroots devel-opment after the exchange.

another example is the work carried out by the tumaini group in tanzania. through an after-school care initiative, some of the members take care of citizens considered of low status, which potentially could prevent them from becoming criminals or start taking drugs. the initiative has a large impact on the youngsters, as well as the local community as a whole. Personal life changes; and continuityagain, as on the EliMu programme it is commonly stated by Norwegian participants that they wish to reduce their

level of consumption and live in more environmentally friendly ways. For example, a 17 year old boy from the Sagene – Rio Branco group says he has become better at recycling, is conscious about using less electricity and producing less waste, as well as to buy organic food. again, for south participants the exchanges are particularly inspiring on the issue of recycling and waste handling. one ugandan girl, for example has started to keep her litter in her bag until she finds a bin, and inspires others to do the same. Change in attitude to environmental issues on an individual level can be the first step towards initiating changes on a larger scale.

the group in verdal emphasizes the value of the ex-changes serving as a mirror, where they see themselves with critical eyes. When visiting a home for elderly with their guests from Homa-lime they were asked questions such as “where are the families?” and “where are the neighbours?” according to them, a good day in Kenya is one where you handshake with 50 people. to see one’s life in perspective also makes many less demanding and more appreciative of their surroundings. one of the participants from oslo paulus – San andres summarizes the most important changes on a personal level in the group as follows; the exchanges with Guatemala have inspired us to make more ecologically viable choices, live more engaged lives, and inspire others by sharing our experiences.

“the exchanges with guatemala have inspired us to make more ecologically viable choices, live more engaged lives, and inspire others by sharing our experiences.”


though there are many such examples, there are also counter currents, as there were on the EliMu programme – both among senior and younger participants. one Norwegian man, probably in his fifties told our researcher that if he were to make any changes in his life at this point he would have to be “hit by lightning”. in Norway we are

too fortunate and comfortable to change, he concluded. again, this illustrates the tendency to think that development and potential for change lies mainly in the South, and does not in the same way concern financially privileged people in the North. this reminds us that the goal that ‘participants [should] have acquired knowledge and understanding of North-South relations and global devel-opment questions’ is not fully realized, as indicated previ-ously. While global knowledge and close encounters can inspire many to think differently about north – south relations, however, it is perhaps also unrealistic to think that all participants aspire to be ‘change agents’. at the same time, it is common that the same members travel on

numerous occasions, particularly on the Community programme. on the one hand, this assures continuity to the partnerships, which is appreciated by many. Some Norwegian members argue it is first after 10-20 years of collaboration that they really understand their partners’ culture, social realities and perspectives, and have reached a point where the communication runs openly and smoothly. on the other hand, it is not primarily those who travel year after year who are most “affected” by the exchange experience, and that same continuity can also hinder new ideas and people from entering, take part in the shaping, and experience belonging and ownership to those groups; especially younger generations. Several groups find it challenging to engage young people in the partnerships to begin with, and keep those who travel active in the network after their return. this is also reflect-ed in the Norwegian evaluation response group, with a higher average age than expected; both in focus groups and questionnaires for both programmes. it might be necessary for Friendship North/South and member groups need to find ways for those groups, as well as more indirectly affected groups to be reached and engaged in better ways than at present. in some cases, it could be worth asking if Friendship North/South should continue to finance the exchange trip for the same individuals year after year.

EntrepreneurshipFemale entrepreneurs from the partnership between opphaug and arusha (tanzania) produce organic, fair-trade clothing by hand. With this initiative they have taken development in their own hands, aiming at international markets.

For the Community programme, 12% on average pursued entrepreneurship themes, compared to 19% on EliMu. the percentage varied greatly between the respondents in each region, with 10% “ticks” from ESa, 11% from Norway, none at all from palestine and 5% from Central america. one group that can be highlighted is the work by the group Østfold – Guatemala City who work on the topic fair trade. this year (2013) they held a Fair trade

Festival in Guatemala that was a great success, with many participants and a good sale of products. the festival had coverage on tv and the news-papers and the group received an award for its work in Guatemala. Dur-ing the festival they established con-tact with women’s collectives, produc-ing hand-woven products of organic

cotton they believe can be suitable for Norwegian markets. the agucatan – Moss group have started work towards economic sustainability. they have implemented a small medical centre, and this year they begin commercial production of tomatoes.

the Homa-lime group in Kenya has a table banking initi-ative where members save money as a group to help meet daily needs like paying school fees. on an impact level, members express that this has led to a reduction in household conflicts which used to result from scarce financial resources. Women in particular are able to pur-chase household goods. others are starting small busi-

Female entrepreneurs from the partnership between Opphaug and Arusha (Tanzania) produce organic, fair-trade clothing by hand.

“there is a tendency to think that development and potential for change lies mainly in the south, and not in the same way concern financially privileged people in the north. ”


nesses, and youth are putting their savings into farming initiatives. More generally entrepreneurship initiatives pro-vide professional experience and a certain level of income in countries where unemployment rates are high. as such these initiatives contribute to an economically viable future.

Carried out information workDissemination of work in the local community is an impor-tant part of the friendship work. Since 2011 information work has been a mandatory part of the programme. the groups work, in various ways to inform and influence the rest of the local community.

all the respondents (100%) from East and Southern africa and palestine, 84% from Norway and 92% from Central america or 94 % on average, answer that they have spread information in their schools or local communities. these are very high scores. the Figure 21 below shows the most common ways in which information is spread. it should be mentioned here that while respondents in Norway, palestine and Central america ticked as many as they found relevant, in the East and South africa region respondents understood the question differently, and ticked one category only. this makes their scores lower on this question, which does not necessarily indicate actual differences. the graph indicates that on average the most common ways of sharing information is (1) talking to family and friends, (2) sharing project information in so-cial media and (3) holding presentations in school. School presentations and social media are both used substan-tially less for the ESa region.

the Østfold – Guatemala City group has done an incredible job making the fair trade cause visible, among other things by being present during local festivals, raising the issue on Facebook, where they have their own group, holding presentations and being actively contributing to local newspapers. they have also held competitions with Fair trade prices to make the Østfold Fairtrade group more visible.

although there are many good examples of information dissemination in all regions, not all groups were fully aware that it is a mandatory part of the programme, or

100 %80 %60 %40 %20 %

0 %


Presentation in school

Presentation at community

house or similar

Project in the newspaper

Talked to family/friends

Norway Palestine Central America Average

13 %31 %

50 %75 %

42 %

38 %36 %

63 %17 %

39 %

13 %27 %

63 %17 %

30 %

31 %71 %

100 %42 %

61 %

18 %

FiguRe 21: COMMUNITy PROGRAMME - wAyS OF SPREADING INFORMATION

have made adjustments to this change in requirements. Further, not all felt they were competent enough to write articles to the newspaper, and hence did not, even though they had the motivation to do so. Some of the groups, who have been active since FNS beginning, did not feel they could keep up with the development of current times, for examples the new importance of social media, and found it hard to renew their group and project suffi-ciently, to adapt to the new media environment. this point will be followed up by a recommendation in section 6.1.3; gaps in competency building.

The Østfold - Guatemata City group is highly dedicated to make the fair trade cause visible in their local communities. Here at an information and sales stand at Månefestivalen in Fredrikstad, 2011 (Photo: Østfold Fairtrade).


Many participants have gained a better understanding of democratic processes through taking part in the programme. 38 % state they have met with local authorities. The mayors from Trondheim and Keren in Eritrea share cake, but they avoid talking politics (Photo: Biniam Abraha).

Political action, leadership and participation in democratic decision makingthe effect of the programme goes beyond the exchange period and makes those who participate of the exchange, take concrete actions to influence the welfare of their community. as Figure 20 (p. 53) showed, 38% on average and as many as 58% from Central america state they have met with local authorities during or after the exchange. the finding responds to the goal to ensure that those involved in local partner communities participate in dem-ocratic decision-making […]. Many participants express they feel more engaged in their local communities and have gained a better understanding of political and dem-ocratic processes through taking part in the programme. input from FNS such as youth participation and empow-erment workshops could have contributed towards this outcome.

one example of political action and democratic participation is the Green pilot youth in antisirabe (Madagascar), who together with other organizations put pressure on the government and consequently stopped a Chinese com-pany from mining the mineral limonite in environmentally degrading ways. they continue to confront politicians on issues of rainforest logging. the Fair trade Østfold group tirelessly lobbies to influence the local and regional mu-nicipality to become fair trade certified. in September 2013 a political resolution was made that commits the county governor to make Østfold a fair trade county. in many groups, the mayor from both local communities have been invited and engaged in the exchanges, or the groups have made a visit to the mayor’s office. it should be men-tioned that the political action category was the hardest to find good examples of in the material for both the EliMu- and the Community programme.

4.3 South-South Cooperation as a trend we strongly wish to encourage, we look forward to the day when South – South cooperation will become a natural part of the Friendship North/South network as a whole. in its early days, however, we see it as best dealt with on its own, rather than integrated in the outcome- and impact section. Establishing South – South collaboration was listed as one of the policy recommendations in the EliMu 2009 report. in 2013 we can proudly report on some of the first results, followed by some recommendations.

on a general level, South – South collaboration allow for a larger group of participants to travel at a much lower cost, financially as well as in environmental terms. the evaluation of South - South exchanges has so far been very positive. the participants express a strong desire to continue with South-South exchanges, and many Norwe-gian groups sympathize with this development of FNS.

4.3.1 The Community Programme For the Community programme, South – South cooper-ation has been established mainly in the Central american region, and also between Nicaragua and palestine. the cooperation between Estelí (Nicaragua) and Bethlehem (palestine) had its first cultural exchange in 2011, when palestinian youth travelled to Nicaragua to share creative skills and methodology with local kids.

the Central american network established a resource group called Giranoal at a meeting in panajachel (Guatemala) in 2012, called Grupo de impulso para la red de Amisdad entre Noruega y America Latìna (the impulse group for the friendship network between Norway and latin america). this group has developed into a network that coordi-nates South-South exchanges within the region, the first


Youth expressing themselves on issues related to children’s rights through wall paintings in Estelí, Nicaraguay (2011). They are part of a South-South partnership with Bethlehem, Palestine (Photo: Ragnhild Olaussen).

two exchanges between Nicaragua and Guatemala took place in 2013. the Giranoal network has been running independently after its establishment; they suggest can-didates, administrate and execute the south-south inter-changes and carry out the report- and accounting work. it is required that those who travel share their skills to the local group after they return from the trip. the Giranoal participants emphasize the proximity in levels of develop-ment and a common, regional ground as particularly useful to carry out local community work. 4.3.2 The ELIMU School Programmethree school groups that are involved in South-South cooperation through FNS. these are Joytown Secondary School, Kenya and Mengo Senior School, uganda; paarl Gymnasium, South africa and lumumba Secondary School, Zanzibar and; Jans academy in Kenya, Katwe Secondary in uganda, Mkwakwani and usagara Secondar Schools in tanzania.

However, there are structures and systems already in place and the first exchange visits have taken place for the Jans-Katwe-tanga partnership, paar Gymnasium and lumumba Secondary. the first output is that the number

of students involved in the exchange is triple that which takes place between the North/South partnership, which was a set objective of the FNS South/South partnership. the Jan’s,- Katwe- usagara-Mkwakwani partnership has produced a peer mediation and couselling booklet that will be used in not only these schools but in other schools in the network.

on an impact level the South - South exchanges on both programmes can serve to further strengthen civil societies in the South, by building regional and inter-regional bonds between so-called “developing” countries, and strength-ening local, community developing work towards sus-tainability. in both programme contexts groups show a strong sense of community ownership and will to kick off on their own, with a small push. We believe South – South exchanges carry large potential in the future devel-opment of Friendship North/South as an organization.

When it comes to challenges related to the South – South partnership start-up, one of the Norwegian EliMu schools raised the concern that the new form of partnership would involve less predictability for the schools, in particular the Norwegian schools (predictability is already a sore issue, included in section 4.4.3) the North partner felt they had carried out most of the application work and served as the key contact point for their South partnership group, and thus were disappointed when it was decided all activities in 2014 would take place in the South – even though they supported the development to an increased focus on South – South exchanges. thus, there is a need for FNS to clarify roles and assure that the “new” ex-changes do not involve even less predictability for older groups, in particular schools.

“we believe south – south exchanges carry large potential in the future development of Friendship north/south as an organization”


4.4 Changes on societal levelimpact changes on societal level have been included above where of relevance. However, not all forms of impact naturally fall under any of the discussed the headlines. Here, we add a few points where we see the two pro-grammes combined in a zoomed out perspective, namely friendship work as a contributor to a strengthened civil society and internationalization of schools and com-munities.

4.4.1 A strengthened civil society‘Many NGOs like USAID have been in the region for a long time giving funds for development but once they leave, all the development initiatives also stall. What I like about the FNS programme is that they invest in people and that is something that can never be taken away from us even if the program ends today’

- The coordinator of the Homa Lime group in Kenya (partnership with Verdal Municipality)

in addition to the societal changes already mentioned, friendship work serves to strengthen civil society and in particular civil society outside the capitals where most friendship schools and communities are based. the village Homa lime is one example, based by the victoria lake West in Kenya, one day’s drive away from the capital Nairobi. the quote highlights the strength and sustain-ability in capacity building and people to people contact. on average 77% of the questionnaire respondents from both programs and all regions answer the highest 5 or 4 when asked if they think their civil society strengthened locally after the exchange. the percentage is 91% if we include those who answered 3 as shown in Figure 22 below.

High (4)Fair (3)I don´t know Highest (5)

56 %

28 %28 %

32 %

56 %11 %

33 %

33 %17

11 % 17 %11

33 %

East &

Southern A

frica

Norw

ay

Palestine

Central A

merica

Average all regions

100 %

120 %

80 %

60 %

40 %

20 %

0 %

33 %

10 %14

38 %39 %

FiguRe 22: FRIENDShIP wORK EFFECT ON CIvIL SOCIETy - BOTh PROGRAMMES

indicators of a strengthened society can be more contact between different groups in the local community, that information is spread and received by many people, that the groups are visible, heard and taken seriously on a local

High (4)Fair (3)I don´t know Highest (5)

56 %

27 %63 %

1122 %

44 %22 25 %

2138 %

East &

Southern A

frica

Norw

ay

Palestine

Central A

merica

Average all regions

100 %

80 %

60 %

40 %

20 %

0 %

44 %

6 %8

30 %50 %

FiguRe 23: INTERNATIONALIZATION OF SChOOL/COMMUNITy - FOR CONSISTENCy BOTh PROGRAMMES

“what i like about the Fns programme is that they invest inpeople, and that is something that can never be taken away from us”

level. it should be mentioned that most respondents were not informed about what FNS means in terms of civil society or relevant indicators of a strengthened civil society. We have reasons to believe that many, particularly among the youngest respondents, found it challenging to answer the question correctly. the numbers still give a fair indication that participants believe projects have positive influence on their local communities. the data is strengthened when we look at the numbers of positive respondents when the questionnaire asks directly if different institutions and groups in the community collaborate because of the project. a broad majority 69% on average rate the question to the highest 5 or 4. For example, the association Stavanger – Nablus (Nablusforeningen) collaborates with the munici-pality, schools, universities, museums and art institutions. this network ensures a rich result in that the knowledge, interest, engagement and responsibility are shared widely, one member tells us.

our material illustrates that Friendship North/South’s goal to help build and strengthen local networks that work towards positive community development is fulfilled by the programmes and best documented in the Com-munity programme.

4.4.2 Internationalization of schools/communitiesWhen questionnaire respondents were asked if they think they are a more international school and/or community through the friendship project, 80% on average answer 5 or 4 as shown in Figure 23 below.


For Norwegian schools, internationalization is aspired as a tool to improve the quality of education and provide youth with knowledge and competence to deal with cultural dif-ferences in their local communities. Many of the Norwegian schools said that before they became part of the EliMu School programme they only had European and North american exchange agreements, which made the North-South exchanges an important supplement to their inter-national profile. Several respondents also said that the outcome from these exchanges had proved far more ed-

ucational than other international exchanges the schools provide. Kirkeparken upper Secondary in Moss had their first year of student exchange through FNS in 2012. the friendship collaboration with West Coast College in South africa has inspired the school towards an international profile on school materials, with the message that at Kirkeparken all students, regardless of background are welcome. this change can be seen at the front page of their student brochure for 2013 – 2014, with a picture taken during the last years visit from South africans at the school.

Kirkeparken 2013-2014 student brochure, inspired by their partnership with West Coast College in South Africa.

other findings; a selection of themes


in this chapter the findings that are not directly related to outcome and impact are discussed. one of the goals of the study was to identify the challenges the two programmes and FNS as a whole face. the discussion below focuses above all on the key challenges identified by respondents or experienced during the evaluation process, and only to a limited extent on the general working of the organization and improvements identified. the section includes FNS participants’ responses to changes made prior to the eval-uation period, a dedication to the discussion of mutuality aspects in the partnerships, and challenges on organisa-tion- and programme level presented separately. the key challenges presented in the report are followed up by consequent recommendations at the end.

5.1 Participants’ responses to 2011-2013 changesthis section summarizes the effects of the programme changes carried out prior to the evaluation period, based on conversations with partnership members from both programmes. the changes made are summarised as (1)

the use of themes, (2) the introduction of mandatory post work, (3) increased focus on competency building, i.e. through seminars, and; (4) the introduction of partnership meetings and the introduction of the aBCD manual. all these changes above are considered positive in all four regions. in the Community programme, where the theme focus is new, most express it gives a clearer focus to projects. although some longed back to the Culture pro-gramme, only one group had experienced this change as negative. they saw culture as a more equal and dignified starting point for a partnership than their chosen theme water. the aBCD manual does require some work and dedication in the initial stages, but most agreed that it had helped give direction to projects. However, some did express that they struggle with the transition, which can also be seen in some of the applications (i.e. undefined baseline situation, the use of several themes, theme not always being clearly grounded in the local context; particu-larly not in the North, lack of coherence between project application and activities, etc). this indicates that there is a prolonged need for capacitation in project development and report writing under “the new system”, not least to partner countries in the South to make the partnerships more even.

5.1.1 A risk of draining the energy out of volunteers the biggest drawback regarding the 2011-2013 changes is the amount of paperwork it involves, which runs the risk of draining the energy out of the volunteer forces on which Friendship North/South’s activities depend on. this has been raised as a challenge in several previous reports, and has become even more demanding with the recent changes, including an increased focus on documenting results and the introduction of the aBCD manual. Mutuality in partnerships is a high-held value for FNS and individual groups, which require attention on its own as discussed in detail below. For the purpose here, our research shows that there have been improvements in the mutuality be-tween partners in planning and decision making compared to previous evaluation periods, and that the introduction of partnership meetings in 2011 has served as a means to that end. in East africa and Central america locally based Resource groups also contribute to strengthen South networks. With representatives from each country and region, these groups keep closer contact with the groups and keep track of what is happening on the ground, for

which they receive a facilitation fee. additionally such groups help to solve the isolation some South based groups face (5.4.2). However, the larg-est share of paper work still tends to fall on the Norwegian partner, despite the ideal that the South partner writes a separate report. in practice this is

not carried out, which adds another edit job to the Nor-wegian project coordinators. in Norway, all groups except one mentioned the application, report, budget- and accounts-work as overwhelming, and hampering creativity, idealism and enthusiasm for those in charge. this was the case for both programmes.

However, in schools it seems more common that the paper work responsibility is passed around, whereas community groups often have the same leaders/coordinators for a long time. this makes it more pressing on the Community programme, but at the same time, the schools have this task on top of an, for many, extremely hectic time-schedule. the only group who didn’t mention this as a challenge consists mainly of students below 20 year, while the majority of members have fulltime jobs and family respon-sibilities that make that same dedication difficult. Conse-quently, several active groups consider not applying for funding for coming years. the same issue was never raised among South partners, and our researchers in Central america and East- and Southern africa shared the impres-sion that the main bulk of paper work was carried out of the Northern partner.

“the amount of paperwork friendship linking involves runs the risk of draining the energy out of the volunteer forces”

5

other findings; a selection of themes

5: otHER FiNDiNGS; a SElECtioN oF tHEMES 53

in addition to the work-division and demand for results, many Norwegian members argued that the paperwork should be made more consistent in structure and user- friendly from FNS’ side. the financial reporting was con-sidered particularly detailed and cumbersome by many. Some members complained about forms that were not up to date with the most recent resolutions for costs that are covered and not, and also that the structure changed al-most annually. these groups longed for a clearer coherence, also between various stages of the application, reporting and accounts- job.6 there were also other partnerships that vary from the norm, such as the trosvik schools, that do not fit into the existing forms. Such groups should be offered alternative forms to avoid frustration. one Norwe-gian group also expressed frustration with what they ex-perienced as an unclear roles and responsibilities in relation to locally based SpoR participants, which at times had added yet another concern to their workload. they also saw the consequent expected support from the organization, financial and otherwise, as unpredictable. a reoccurring argument that was raised by both North and South partners is that the changes/results FNS asks for, formulated as the goals, are experienced as too ambitious for volunteer grassroots-based groups to live up to in practice with the funds (and for some also time) they have at hand. this shows that there is a need for FNS and NoRaD to find a sound realism in the demand to document results. the uneven distribution of tasks also leads us to the next topic; mutuality in the partnerships.

5.2 Mutuality in the partnershipsone key value for Friendship North-South is equality be-tween North- and South partners. We prefer the word mutuality before equality, because the goal is not that

participants shall learn or experience the same things. as we have seen the outcome and impact varies among par-ticipants in different countries and regions, and according to individual interests and preferences. However, it is an ideal that there is mutuality between South and North partners in planning- and decision making, and that the learning outcome is considered valuable and relevant by all those involved. While there have been improvements, discussed above, there is still a way to go. the themes in this section all relate to the ideal of mutuality between North and South partners.

5.2.1 Paperwork and Finances one dimension of paperwork and finances is who carries the heaviest paper workload, and as discussed above it is normally the North partner. a related aspect is participation in project development; in other words who makes deci-sions and have insight to project related information. above, we discussed that there has been an improvement in South partners’ participation in project planning, important steps

towards achieving mutuality in these processes. in the Central america region most groups say they are usually or always consulted by the northern partner, and that they in contrast to previous periods always get to see the ap-plication and reports. However, two groups out of nine community groups studied in the region (22.7%) said

6) For the EliMu programme it was considered helpful that budgeting could go through the municipality. this did, however, add another system and form once again.

“Regarding the mutuality between south and north partners our material shows improvements, but also that there is still a way to go”

“BYE BYE BABA”. Bernabe is hugging his host father one last time before leaving Tanzania and returning to Guatemala. He is one of this year’s participants on the youth exchange programme SPOR (Photo: Mbaraka Matitu).


they have little influence on the project development, and limited insight to information outside of the exchange period. Similarly, some groups in the East and Southern africa region mentioned that they do not like to ask for changes and that some still fear to lose the partnership if they do. this represented no more than five groups of the total of 22 studied in the region, and, thus, approximately the same percentage or below (we do not have exact numbers, but a maximum 22.7 %). among these groups, it was insinuated that this is how Norwegians are – they “like having things done their way”. it is worth noting that

most of the cases where such issues were raised in the ESa region, it was among local community groups, rather than schools, despite the fact that 14 schools were visited in total, and only 7 community groups. in the Central american all groups studied were from the Community programme. this means that from our findings, it is mainly on the Community programme we can conclude that inequality in decision processes and access to information remains a challenge. one explanation for the difference can be that the majority of EliMu schools have a strong working committee that facilitates their participation in the FNS programme and all related tasks, which were introduced in response to an earlier recommendation. in 2011 it was evaluated as a success factor, even when groups consisted only of students, i.e. by relieving the programme administration from stress and making participants more involved. Such committees were rarely apparent in community groups, where one point person usually dealt with all program matters. it is an arrangement that could be considered for the programme in the future.

With regards to finances, many south partners have stated that they are left with question marks when it comes to the funds provided by FNS. it is common that the final amount allocation is changed without informing the south partner. it is also expressed as demoralizing for south partners that the money is paid to the northern partner, which implies that they have to ask Norwegians for mon-ey. at worst, some have said this makes them feel “treated like chil-dren”. this hampers the equality ide-al and is expressed as uncomforta-ble for both parties. With some exceptions this was voiced mainly by EliMu schools and otherwise in cases where the partnership is funded by a combination of sources. although rarely verbalized by community groups, it is likely to assume issues regarding partnership funds exist on both programmes, considering that the challenge regarding mutuality were particularly pressing on the Community programme. to solve this challenge FNS should aim towards an increased inclusion of south partners and transparency in decisions and infor-mation regarding finances, including revised budgets.

5.2.2 Exchange content and learning outcome (ELIMU)Some teachers and students in Norway say that they struggle to make south participants’ trips to Norway as educational and interesting as their own trips abroad. this indicates that there is room for improvement in the mutuality of exchange content and learning on the EliMu programme. Some teachers expressed they had a hard time finding relevant activities, and/or that the program for these trips were not as well planned. the planning phase is fundamental to the success and learning outcome of the

exchanges, recognized by most schools. FNS should be able to expect that plan-ning the return visit is considered of equal importance. Further, a few groups had an overweight of activities such as going to the fun-fair, and venturing around to look at the fancy things Nor-way has to be proud of; the tube, for

instance. in one school, students felt frustrated during the visit because they were left so much to themselves with the visitors, and could not come up with enough in-teresting things to do. With little project related content they feared the trip was more like a vacation to the visiting students. this specific group was from palestine, which means we only have the south-participants’ experienc-es in reflection letters. as these are not very detailed we do recommend that focus groups are carried out also in the Middle East and the asian region to ensure the quali-ty of outcome on participants in the region. Students from another Norwegian school described the south-trip as the reverse of the above; they felt the programme took up most of the time, and missed spending time with the students alone and really getting to know one anoth-er. this shows the importance of a thought-through bal-ance between planned and unplanned activities during the exchanges. We did not hear the same issue being raised on the Community programme.

the mutuality aspect in exchange content and learning also relates to how well the chosen activities are suited for collaboration and socializing between south and north participants. For example, some students carried out quite complex data collection, which involved a lot of work in front of computers. Because the south students had less

experience with computers, the Norwegians ended up having to do most of the work. the south participants, in this case from tanzania, might have learned some valuable computer skills, but the activity was not well suited for the students to get to know one another, and did not contribute towards a mutual ground for the collaborative task. on the positive side, they used the evaluation phase to reflect on mistakes and potential for improvements, and the pre-vious years’ project proved a valuable experience for the school when planning for better suited projects in the future. Friendship groups with such a dynamic approach

“some groups insinuated that norwegians like having things done their way.”

“Fns should aim towards an increased inclusion of south partners in decisions and information regarding finances.”


are, regardless of programme, the ones showing the best results and most content participants. Finally, on the EliMu programme it is expected that visiting students and teachers take part in the teaching and learning at the school they are visiting. Many Norwegian schools express that they find this challenging, because the teaching is normally in Norwegian and because ordinary classes may not be considered as relevant to the visitors. Class partic-ipation should still be aimed for, because it serves to enrich learning outcome and ensure mutuality between south and north participants.

5.2.3 host families; a contributing factor to equality in partnershipsMany mention staying in host families as the most valuable, enjoyable and educational part of the exchange pro-gramme. Groups that stay in families for one night almost consequently mention it as the best memory from the whole trip. We believe homestays contribute to cross-cultural understanding, as well as mutuality in partnerships. We did not systematically collect information on the groups that stay in host families and alternative forms of lodging, but our data indicate that while most participants stay in host families in Norway, almost all groups from both pro-grammes use other forms of accommodation for most of their stay when abroad. it has been pointed out also in previous reports that this is questioned by south partici-pants, which our material shows still is the case. While we understand that there are sometimes justifiable reasons to choose alternative lodging, we support FNS efforts to strongly encourage homestays. a financial limitation among

the local households is the most commonly mentioned explanation why host families are not used. in these cases the money spent on hotels or guest houses could be used to compensate families, as suggested in previous reports. it should not be taken for granted this is never the case in Norway. We visited at least one school in Norway where homestays were not possible for financial reasons.

We also see this issue as related to the sentiment of infe-riority, in that the southern partner feel that what they have to offer is not “good enough” for the visitors. Some Nor-wegians have expressed that they are “treated as kings and queens” during visits. it is encouraging to hear young students who object when receiving special treatment, such as food, drinks and snacks reserved to the visitors.

5.2.4 Development projects/transfer of funds “on the side”Most groups in the south receive personal funds from their northern partners even though this is discouraged by FNS. in the 2009 EliMu report, it is stated that this situation has improved since 2000, with fewer cases of “pure material transfer” from the Norwegian partner. our impression is that it still forms part of most partnerships, despite one of the key principles being that partnership relations are built on equality and not combined with donor – recipient relations. Examples of gifts are computers or solar panels, and money collected by the North partner could be used to cover the expenses of renovating school facilities, such as toilets, library and walls. Most such pro-jects are explained as being “on the side”, and hence not

-It is enriching for our students to collaborate with Norwegian students. They gain knowledge about a developed country and experience cultural similarities and differences, says assisting principal Lenis Almanza at the school Doris Maria in Managua, Nicaragua. Their friendship with Kristiansand Katedralskole Gimle was established in 1996 (Photo: David Sundell).


considered part of the FNS exchange. in practice this division appears fuzzy. Some groups have floundered as a consequence of funds that are not under any contract. the key point is to avoid contradictory, as well as “under the table” practices to the best extent possible. part of the idea of avoiding such practices is also that others are ex-perts within this arena, and it can otherwise get messy.

this point represents a dilemma for both FNS as an organization, individual groups and members in the net-work, with no easy answers. the partnership involves partner schools and communities often largely unequal in economic terms, which makes it hard to resist both offering and asking for financial assistance. on the one hand such transfers can be rewarding at both sides. on the other hand, that assistance can have a high price outside of the actual transfer, which includes hampering FNS’ wish to represent an alternative to traditional aid, potentially neg-atively influence the sense of equality to partnerships, the risk of reinforcing stereotypes; also through the stories told to Norwegian audiences, and serves to strengthen the idea that solutions and change potential lie mainly in the South –thus also risk simplifying north/south relations and knowledge.

5.3 Functioning of the organization and FNS networkHere, we discuss themes related to the general working of the organization and network under the headings members’ understanding of Friendship North/South, the organization’s role in the partnerships and competency building. programme related challenges are discussed separately (5.4).

5.3.1 Members’ understanding of Friendship North/SouthWe experienced a generally low understanding of Friend-ship North South’s goals and values among many partici-pants. this was particularly true for youth in East and Southern africa, especially in schools. there seemed to be a broader understanding among Central american groups. Even among Norwegian participants, however, the idea of FNS as an organization was vague in several groups. We believe that a general understanding of goals and values is a fundamental factor in FNS goal achievement, particu-larly in relation to the global knowledge among participants. With an increased effort to provide member groups with relevant information material they can utilize in partnership activities, knowledge about values of the organization and global education could go hand in hand. at the same time such an effort responds to the feelings of inferiority expe-rienced by some EliMu participants (discussed in 4.1.5), and could contribute towards a greater sense of equality and dignity for South members. it could also serve as in-spiration to rethink North – South relations; perhaps also reduce the amount of traditional development aid projects in the network.

Friendship North South provides a large amount of competency and knowledge building workshops. The Youth Empowerment Assembly is arranged every fourth year, here in Uganda in 2012. The assembly had nearly 100 young participants (Photo: Camilla Hellern).

“most transfers of material funds are explained as being “on the side”, and hence not part of the Fns exchange. in practice this division appears fuzzy.”


5.3.2 FNS´ role in the partnerships While many impressing results of projects are evident when making visits in the network, it is also our impression that some groups need to be kept a closer eye on to assure projects´ quality. this represents a practical challenge, because the FNS network is widespread, and the organ-ization´s capacity limited. However, there are some meas-ures that could be taken, presented under recommenda-tions at the end. at the same time, some Norwegian groups expressed that they feel that FNS´ role has be-come too dominating; beyond the service function they meant it had in the past, which they argued was at the expense of local friendship groups/partnerships´ autonomy. thus, there is a need to find a sound middle course when defining the organization’s role towards the partnerships.

5.3.3 Competency building FNS provides a large amount of competency- and knowl-edge building workshops, seminars and courses through key resource persons, well appreciated in the network. Some groups have benefitted greatly and have been em-powered by such resources. one example is the partner-ship between Moss and aguacatan (Guatemala), who have had workshops on organic farming and sustainability, who are today in their early stages of becoming financially inde-pendent from FNS. While most seminars and courses are offered to all groups within a country or region, we did get some indications that there is a risk that those with the right contacts and/or competency, possibly also more resource-ful to begin with are more likely to benefit from such servic-es. a more systematic and official offer of courses, seminars and workshops could be valuable, and contribute towards a just distribution of services to members in the network. Experience from the ESa region also shows that there is a need for FNS to follow up after providing courses, to maxi-mize the benefit for member groups of these services. this could include the implementation of peer mediation initia-tives in schools which do not require any additional funding.

in addition to courses provided at present (fully listed in ap-pendix 2), we have identified some gaps in competency building, as well as services that should be better communi-cated. For example, both South- and Norwegian based groups require support in reaching out through written and spoken media, including how to respond to harsh media

critique directed at the friendship cooperation or theme. Such workshops have been held, but could benefit from reaching a larger and wider selection of members, also to solve the problem where some groups’ carry out limited scope of post work (section 5.4.2). Further, several Norwe-

gian groups in the network who have been active through many years struggle to renew themselves and adapt to a changing media environment that increasingly include social media tools. FNS could assist members by providing a con-tinuous service in helping to solve social media challenges, as well as proofreading and giving advice on articles and chronicles. the fact that local and national media are often not reached in southern partnership countries also repre-sents untapped potential, provided that courses or seminars are adapted to the limitations in different local contexts.

in addition to the above, we believe a dedication with increased concentration on a selection of themes where FNS offers capacitation could benefit the organizational network. Media represents an obvious choice, and entrepreneurship; possibly what is termed as social entrepreneurship another. 7 in Norway, many members express that they have become inspired to confront local challenges related to diversity by the exchange, such as segregation tendencies in schools, but feel that they do not have the necessary tools. this rep-resents a potential area for future dedication in Norway.

5.4 Challenges on Programme level the challenges discussed in this section relate more closely to the practical performance in the two programmes, namely project ownership and responsibilities within groups, project implementation; preparation and post work and finally, limited resources and long-term planning. the two programmes are combined, but differences pointed out.

5.4.1 Project ownership and responsibilities within groups in addition to the distribution of power and tasks between the North and South side of the partnership, the distribution of responsibilities, power and ownership to projects within groups can benefit from a revision. We got the impression that exchange participants, on both programmes, were to varying degrees actively involved in forming the projects from their beginning. Some groups seem to have a certain degree of “top down” leadership. For example, in the Central- and latin american context it is quite common that the local group is centred on one “charismatic” per-son in charge. in Norway it was hard to reach and include exchange participants from previous years in the evalua-tion study. We believe this gives some indications to how these groups are structured, and also how engaged those members are after the fulfilment of the project period. participatory methods are prevalent and well suited to spread the ownership more evenly within the group, and avoid the tendency to centre on one or a few driving forces.

Participative methods and dialogue are strongly encour-aged by the organization. Here practiced at a resource meeting in Guatemala (Photo: FNS).

“some groups seem to have a certain degree of “top down” leadership ”

7) Social entrepreneurship utilizes business related methods to solve societal challenges, where their value is estimated according to social gains rather than financial profit.


Many creative ideas are born through friendship linking. These kids are take part in an environmental parade, arranged in Guatemala in 2012 to celebrate 25 years of friendship between Patzún and Kråkerøy (Foto: Borgny Knudsen).


We encourage using such methods even more on all stages of the partnership projects. Especially EliMu could benefit from more active student participation from the onset.

in Norway, former exchange participants play a role in preparing next year/term’s exchange students, but gen-erally not in East and Southern africa, except in the case of Jan’s academy in Kenya. the arrangement could be expanded to regions where it is not utilized, perhaps as a formal part of students’ commitment to post project-phase work. this would enhance younger participants’ and other at present more peripheral members’ excitement and dedication to projects, deepen the knowledge and skills learned, and make involvement in projects even more appealing to young participants – also on the Community programme. Such a redesign in structure could at the same time inspire renewal to long-established groups. Senior members could also learn from younger generations in areas where youth are experts, such as using social media tools, and that way their resources are better utilized.

5.4.2 Project implementation; preparation- and post workWith regards to the practical implementation of projects, and the various stages the FNS model lined out in the introduction (1.3.1), it is still a challenge that efforts are not always sufficiently dedicated to pre- and post-work, especially in the EliMu partnerships. Many teachers struggle to find the time to carry out post work within a hectic school schedule, and to build up students’ enthu-siasm to fulfil this obligation. the fact that teachers are sometimes transferred without thorough orientation about the programme serves as a negatively contributing factor in the ESa region. South participants were often said not to be prepared, in terms of general FNS understanding, theme or knowledge about Norway on arrival. From East and South africa it was also reported that a good amount of groups did not have set agendas for the post-work, and if they did they were often not implemented. the exchanges are most valuable where there is dedication to the project for larger periods of the year, ideally the full year, and our findings show the need for a more concise plan for pre- and post-work. as a continuation of the arguments under the last headline, this could be made by students themselves as a group. to engage former ex-change students in arranging discussion sessions on the theme, global issues and designing a post work plan could further relieve teachers from some responsibilities and make students more engaged. this point could perhaps also serve as inspiration for some community groups. FNS, together with the schools, should assure that all teachers and coordinators new to the programme are thoroughly informed prior to project start-up. this system of using students more in the programme has shown good results, for example at Jan’s academy in Kenya.

our researcher in East and Southern africa also found that the geographical isolation of some groups, combined with a limited contact with Friendship North/South, con-tributed to their performance in the programme being less successful. one such school is the Dongobesh Sec-ondary School North in tanzania, where the teachers voiced a need for more regional integration. to link geo-graphically isolated groups increasingly with other South groups in the country and/or region, and strengthen locally based resource groups could help to motivate suchc groups, and contribute to their increased outcome of the exchange project in the future. FNS should also support and strengthen isolated groups by making sure they are invited to workshops and seminars nearby.

5.4.3 Limited resources and long-term planninga commonly raised concern at both programmes is related to the funding. While expectations in terms of outcome and impact have steadily increased, the amounts of funds FNS has to offer have remained the same. Some argue there is a mismatch between the objectives, the amount of work and the funds provided, and all groups in Norway, including schools pay a large share of the costs them-selves (some argue as high as 50 %, but this group was aware that they did not keep their expenses at a minimal level). Hampering to the planning process and project outcome is also the fact that funds have sometimes not been assured until the last minute of travel. this is espe-cially pressing for the schools, because they are reliant on full year planning based on the school year (august-June). the FNS application process is not well adapted to this fact, which affects how much time and resources schools themselves are willing to invest in the exchange pro-gramme and projects before the moment funds are as-sured. this challenge has been raised also in previous report, and should to the extent it is possible be ad-dressed by Friendship North/South.

“our findings show that a more concise plan for pre- and post-work could benefit some groups.”

“to engage former exchange students in arranging discussion sessions on the theme, global issues and designing a post work plan could relieve teachers from some responsibilities and make students more engaged.”

Conclusion


this report set out to investigate the effects of Friendship North/South’s activities on participants and local com-munities in Norway and partner countries, as well as to identify and critically reflect on programme gaps and in-spire the way forward from a set of goals that have been achieved.through a combination of qualitative and quan-titative methods, our research team has demonstrated a clear correlation between the organization’s objectives and findings both on outcome (participant) and impact (societal) level. these include goals for EliMu, the Community programme and the information fund’s objectives.

Results include the empowerment of individuals and groups to initiate local community development projects, to take part in democratic decision making and use non- violent methods for problem- and conflict resolution, as well as a strong sense of cross-cultural understanding. on impact level these initiatives contribute to more tolerant, greener and even safer local communities. our research also shows that friendships work bridges, not only com-

munities in the North and South, but also create and serve to reinforce local and global network ties, and as such strengthen civil societies. participants increase their global knowledge, including knowledge on each group’s partnership country and project theme, as well as their abilities to critically reflect on the causes of global resource and power inequalities. the latter is one of FNS’ principal goals, and one of the key areas where we argue the pro-grammes do not reach their full potential; particularly in “South” partnership countries. it is one of the main chal-lenges identified that is followed up by consequent suggestions after the conclusion.

South participants play a clear leading role when it comes to participation in community initiatives, especially envi-ronmental and entrepreneurship activities; often to their Northern partners’ admiration and inspiration. Further, exchanges have particularly strong impact on young par-ticipants’ self-confidence and belief in personal capacities. at the same time, those participants are likely to carry out negative forms of comparison, which can at worst result in the opposite, as we saw among some EliMu partici-pants in East and Southern africa. We have found that while stereotypes of “Southern” partnership countries are replaced by new forms of imagery among most Norwegian exchange participants, for South participants’ idealized representations of Norway often remain intact. Further,

we believe the persistent idea that solutions to global challenges lies mainly in “the South”, identified also within the FNS network, can contribute to such negative side effects. the report concludes that participants would benefit from a deepened knowledge about the ideas and values shaping FNS; including the notion that each and every one of us represents part of the solution to global challenges. Several measures have been made by FNS regarding the high-held ideal of mutuality between North and South partners, including introducing annual partner-ship meetings. these have proved to be beneficial, and the mutuality between partners has steadily improved. “South - South partnerships” form part of the new land-scape, and already show some promising results. We strongly encourage further dedication within this field in the future. in East and Southern africa and Central america, grassroots-based resource groups have effectively strength-ened local and regional networks. Nevertheless, we argue for the continued need to readdress the mutuality issue and power dynamics in the future, between North and

South partners as well as within local groups. Challenges at present include large amounts of paperwork, which falls especially heavy on the Northern partner, in many instances hampering creativity and enthusiasm among volunteers. in the practical implementation of projects,

some groups, particularly schools, find it challenging to dedicate enough time and attention to pre- and post-ex-change phases. through the study, we have identified a need to follow some groups closer, without compromising each group’s autonomy. We have good reasons to believe that FNS has the knowledge and know-hows to meet the challenges identified constructively.

twenty-four years after its initiation, Friendship North/South and member groups continues to represent a unique form of partnership, anchored in grassroots engagement, building bridges between ordinary people, municipalities, organizations and relevant academic communities and bringing about change through personal encounters. the fact that the results of such friendship linking are evident both in countries in the South and in Norway, emphasize the global approach the organization has to development. it further responds to the combination of goals, reflected also in NoRaD funding, to strengthen civil societies in the South, contribute to information and critical reflection within Norway, and finally inspire to active citizenship globally.

Based on the findings presented in the report, we believe the following recommendations could enhance Friendship North/South’s importance and enrich partnerships in the future. Renaming the organization could be a timely part of that renewal process.

“on impact level these initiatives contribute to more tolerant, greener and even safer local communities. ”

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One of the themes for the Sagene - Rio Branco partnership is language. Here, the Norwegian visitors are thought the local language Hatxa Kui(n) in the Brazilian Amazon (Photo: Liam Alex Shane Meieran).

Recommendations


the following 18 recommendations are based on our findings and aim at improving Friendship North/South’s performance within:

• the FNS network and organization• practices on programme level • Mutuality related aspects• Future evaluation

additionally, we provide a more detailed list of suggestions and ideas for the FNS secretariat.

7.1 The FNS network and organization1. To enhance understanding among participants on Friendship North/South goals and values; FNS should develop information packages (written material, a crash-course video, participatory method exercises etc.) that spell out the basics, and introduce them as a minimum preparation requirement for all participants. this requires a clear identity of the organization to be communicated; i.e. what FNS stands as an alternative against, which could call for a clarification of practices related to transfers of funds “on the side”.

2. To broaden the scope of actualized post-work in all regions; FNS should provide post-work practical skills training, such as media workshops and seminars/training on the use of social media as tools to reach a larger audience, recruit new members etc. FNS should further offer to assist member groups in solving social media challenges, proofreading and giving advice on articles and chronicles. a potential future area of commitment that could enhance the post-work carried out in Norway is building skills in practical inclusion work, such as methods to confront segregation tendencies in schools.

3. FNS should systemize the competency and knowledge building workshops based on the analysis of needs, and assure just accessibility to services in the main regions.

4. To assure a minimum quality in all the projects in the FNS portfolio; the organization should target the limited follow-up capacity towards groups that need to be kept a closer eye on. it should keep an overview of “alerts” on partnerships where problematic aspects requiring the organization’s presence have been identified, while “easing the pressure” on groups/ schools that continuously show satisfactory progress

and results. it could be a necessary measure to prioritize funds for the more dedicated groups, at the expense of those who do not meet the minimum standard.

5. To address the alarming risk of draining out the energy of particularly the Norwegian volunteers due to the increased focus on documenting results; FNS should make the reporting process and in particular financial reporting more user-friendly and less cumbersome. this implies strengthening the coherence between the various stages of the paper-work (the application, the allocation letter and the report) and aim towards a consistent structure. FNS should offer alternative forms to partnerships that do not fit the standard structure, and also consider a re-division of labour between North and South partners. in addition, there is a need to clarify FNS members’ roles in relation to the SpoR programme.

7.2 Practices on programmelevel 6. To strengthen the global learning outcome of the exchanges; FNS should provide relevant material on North/South relations and global development issues, of particular importance where such material is otherwise non-existent. Group discussions on the selected theme seen from local, national, regional and international level could be made compulsory to enhance learning. additionally, seminars or information packs aimed at rethinking the North-South divide and “saving the south” mentality, and maximizing the potential to challenge stereotypical perceptions through friendship linking could prove valuable. Further research on the global learning among participants could also be considered, and FNS could benefit from a clearer definition of expected outcome within the area of global learning.

7. To enhance students’/youth’s involvement- and ownership to projects; their active participation should be encouraged from the onset. For EliMu, FNS school committees where former exchange students are used as facilitators as part of their post work commitment can help to strengthen participants’ dedication and commitment, develop leading skills and ease teachers from some pressure. Such participatory methods can be used on both programmes to solidify themes in the local context, discuss global themes and enable the formulation of post-exchange action plans (preferably also sent to FNS) prior to departure.

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8. To assure the quality of projects and exchanges on The ELIMU Programme; FNS should assure that new teachers with responsibilities related to the exchanges receive a thorough orientation of the programme, if it is not provided by the school. in addition, application dates should be revised to assure schools a larger degree of predictability.

9. To deal with the geographical isolation of some groups, particularly in the South, and improve these groups’ motivation and performance, FNS should link these groups to other local FNS groups. local and regional resource-groups have proved a successful measure that could be strengthened and expanded.

10. FNS should be attentive to South-South groups’ needs (keep in contact, offer to assist, attend meetings), and make a strategy for its role in these partnerships in dialogue with the groups. in these partnerships, paperwork should be fully trusted to South groups and the FNS office and/or locally based resource groups serve as the main contact point. While the most urgent need is to solidify the existing interregional exchanges, we dream about seeing FNS exchanges between africa, latin america and asia in the future.

7.3 Mutuality related aspects11. To even out the paper-workload and strive for equal ownership to projects; capacitation in application and report work should increasingly be provided to South partners, as well as insight to information regarding guidelines (some Norwegian groups could also benefit from such capacitation).

12. To strengthen the equality and transparency to financial matters; FNS should not release funds until the application is signed by both parties. South partners should further be assured insight to financial issues, including final decisions on allocations and revised budgets. “Food money forms” or other relevant measures should be used to avoid South partners having to ask for money.

13. To ensure mutuality in learning outcome for South and North partners; the planning of trip program and content in Norway should be considered of equal importance by all partners, and relevant activities including classroom teaching should be clearly defined. a strengthened anchoring of chosen themes in the North context could benefit towards that end, and also counter the view that solutions lie mainly in the South. FNS should provide assistance and inspiration to those who struggle to find relevant trip content, and follow up groups who do not plan visits sufficiently.

14. To avoid reinforcing stereotypical representations and awaken feelings of inferiority especially among young participants; “positive enquiry” exercises reflecting what participants on both sides learn through the partnership could

contribute to South participants’ awareness of the mutuality in learning as well as cultural and global understanding. Norwegian partners should include problematic aspects about their country/society in presentation, excursions and conversations. an increased use of host families (also combined with other forms of accommodation) in North and South and also Norwegian partners’ restraint from special treatment could contribute to equality between partners.

15. FNS should clarify their standpoint and policies regarding the transfer between North and South partners of funds “on the side”, to avoid contradictory and under the table practices. if these activities are to continue, there could be more sustainable ways to canalize them, such as through social entrepreneurship, and FNS should consider offering groups guidance.

16. Since there are groups that are doing quite well on different aspects, FNS should use this as a resource to deal with some of the challenges identified. Experience sharing platforms should be developed further (either online or physical meetings) so that groups can share ideas and even advice one another, which would at the same time reduce the pressure on the secretariat. For example, Facebook could be further developed to include an arena for members to share their experiences.

7.4 Future evaluation17. Concerning future evaluation exercises, baseline surveys should form the starting-point of each project period, and the first step of developing projects on group level. this requires FNS’ assistance. Fewer goals and a clearer defined concentration within a selection of areas would contribute to make reporting easier. in future surveys fixers/translators should be used to enable participants to respond in their language.

18. It is recommended to run a questionnaire trial in advance, and provide explanatory parameters and/or examples. FNS should invest in a suitable program (SpSS, Questback or similar) to manage large amounts of quantitative data.


attachments

Appendix 1:

TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR ThE SChOOL- AND LOCAL COMMUNITy REvIEw

BackgroundFriendship North/South is an NGo established in Norway in 1990. the main goal of the organization is to develop and provide service to a network of schools, faith institutions, local governments and grass-root NGos involved in mutual partnership to promote cross-cultural dialogue and sustainable development. the organization operates in Eastern and Southern africa, latin america, palestine and asia and to date it has a network of over 300 twinned institutions and grass-root groups. Each year an average of 1500 people participate in exchange visits and gain global knowledge, cross-cultural competence and other skills that they share with their communities. it is expected that after they have participated in the project’s activities they will contribute in achieving the following overall and long-term goals:

• to empower many people in communities in Norway and the South to participate actively in community and global sustainable development including taking care of nature• to empower many people in Norway and in the South with knowledge and the ability for critical reflection on the causes of global resource and power inequalities • to empower the participant to participate in democratic decision making and to use dialogical non-violent problem and conflict resolution • to increase cross-cultural understanding among different people in a globalized and cultural diversified societies.

FNS has a 3 years financial agreement with the Norwegian agency for Development (NoRaD) under which NoRaD partially sponsors the two projects. the current agreement started in 2011 and ends in 2013. this review is part of the fulfillment of the contract that requires FNS to continually monitor and review the projects. the final report from the re-view will be submitted to NoRaD at the end of this contract to fulfill this obligation.

Audience and distributionthe reviews will produce a report that has a common general summary of the findings for both projects and separate chapters with specific findings and recommendation for improvement for each project. a review report will be submitted to FNS for further distribution. apart from Friendship North/South and NoRaD, main audiences for the report include members in the organizational network and others interested in the organization´s development approach.

Purpose of the Project • this project is a review of FNS’s EliMu school partnership and the local community projects financed by NoRaD. • the review will endeavor to identify/understand/measure the outcome and impact of the two projects for the last three years 2011 – 2013.• the results of this review will be used to enhance the effect of the projects to the participants, to identify programmatic gaps, and influence public policy.

• the review report will be submitted to NoRaD as a fulfillment of the 2011-2013 contract obligation

Theorical framework• the review will be guided by the “result management theory” as elaborated in the NoRaD Manual http://www.norad.no/no/resultater/publikasjoner/publikasjon?key=109837, and FNS’s aBCD manual.• the review will take as its staring point the objectives of the specific project (school and community).• the primary respondents of the review will be the participants (those represented their schools or community in the visits) and those who had direct contacts with the participants (host students, host families and colleagues). other respondents can be used as a control group.

*

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Main review questions

1 What activities have been carried out by FNS and members to achieve the stated objectives?

2 What financial and material input has FNS and members used to achieve the stated objectives?

3 What were the main outputs of the activities that were carried out by FNS and members?

4 to what extent have the projects achieved the expected outcomes?

5 to what extent have the projects achieved the expected impact?

6 What could have been done better in order to improve the outcomes and impact of the projects?

Suggested review method

1 Document review and analysis. Here the focus will be on policy documents, grant application forms and narrative and activity reports

2 Quantitative survey based on a questionnaire through the internet, sent to respondent by mail and administered individually

3 Focus group and individual interviews

ManagementFriendship North/South requests the review and therefore the report will be addressed to the organization. FNS will be responsible for financial costs of the review and entering contracts with the evaluators.

The evaluation teamthe evaluation team will be composed of 3 field evaluating consultants to cover Norway, East and Southern africa and latin america.


Event Country PeriodNumber of participants

2011

Course in friendship work, aBCD (palestine, Norway, asia)

Norway February

Course in friendship work, aBCD Guatemala March 50- 3 days

Course in friendship work, aBCD Nicaragua March 15- 2 days

Course in friendship work, aBCD Kenya March

Course in friendship work, aBCD uganda March

Course in friendship work, aBCD tanzania March

Exchange of ideas- course Nessoden Kommune, Norway april 80- 3 days

peace conference Eritrea March

preparation for youth Empowerment assembly

Kampala, uganda august 30- 5 days

2012

Fairtrade Conference Rettferdig handel østfold, Norway May 80

youth’s participation in global questionsoslo Handelsgymnas (“focus” school), Norway

June 23

permaculture Workshop Harare, Zimbabwe June 28

local sustainability Stavanger-antsirabé, Norway august 40

youth Empowerment assembly-2012

Seeta, uganda august 96

Global understanding in schools Kristiansand Katedralskole, Norway November 60

Building networks, palestine Nablus, palestine November 10

palestine network meeting Norway November 12

peer counselling and mediation work-shop

thika, Kenya December 33

Network meeting for Guatemala Guatemala December 40*

2013

peer counselling and mediation workshop

Zanzibar and tanga tanzania June 40

youth participation course Norway January 23

youth participation course Norway March 15

Exchange of ideas-course Norway March* 105

Course in youth participation in global questions; focus on getting ones’ voice heard in media

ole vig upper Secondary, Norway

*Entrepreneurship and Sustainable De-velopment Camp

*Joytown School, thika, Kenya December 40*

Appendix 2

SEMINARS AND COURSES By FNS

attaCHMENtS 67

FOCUS GROUP INTERvIEw GUIDE; FNS EvALUATION 2013)

this guide was used for the group interviews/focus discussions, with slight variations for each regional context. the researchers relied only loosely to the guide dependent on each group context.

Country:South Institutions (s):Northern Partner (s):Type of participants:Number of participants:Date:

NTRODUCTIONWelcome- By moderatoroverview of the session and why the participants were chosenGround rules

OPENING qUESTIONS;1. please tell us your name and something good about yourself

INTRODUCTORy qUESTIONS1. What activities have taken place in this partnership?2. How long have you been involved in the partnership activities?3. How have you been involved in the FNS partnership activities?4. What do you think of the program? (Moderator to probe for the reasons behind the answers given here)

TRANSITION qUESTIONS1. When you first heard of the exchange program and FNS, what was your first thoughts and impression?2. What inspired you to take part in this partnership and its activities?

KEy qUESTIONS REGARDING ThE ExPECTED OUTCOMES OF ExChANGE1. What new knowledge have you gained by being part of the whole process?2. What global issue are you familiar with because of the FNS program? How did you know about it?3. What new skills have you gained since you joined?4. to what extent have your opinions and attitude been changed regarding; (moderator to name specific issues related to the theme and activities)5. are you inspired to take any action related to your partnership theme in the next three months (moderator to name some specific actions related to the theme)6. Has the exchange project inspired you to take any action related to your partnership theme in the next three months (moderator to name some specific actions related to the theme)7. are you a different person by having taken part in this program?8. in what way are you different?9. Has your community or school changed or improved as a whole (on a societal level) because of the partnership with Norway10. Which aspect of your community/school would you like to make a change in with your new experience through the FNS partnership activities? How would you go about doing this?11. What action have you taken since joining the program? (For those who have been in the program for more than one year)12. Do you think that the project achieved its objectives? (Moderator to probe for further information)13. What changes can you attribute to the program in your school or community?14. What is the one thing that you can name as being the best part of the whole experience and why?15. What aspects of the program need improvements?16. What can each one of us do to make the program better?

END qUESTIONS1. of all the things discussed about the program, which, in your opinion is the most important?2. is there anything more you would like to share about your experience?

Appendix 3


qUESTIONNAIRE; FNS ELIMU SChOOL ExChANGE AND COMMUNITy PROGRAMME EvALUATION 1. Sex (please tick where appropriate) Female Male 2. what is your age? Below 17 years 17-19 years 20-30 years 31-50 years 51-65 years 66< years 3. what is your home country? 4. what´s the name of your Norwegian partner school/group/institution? 5. a) what year(s) have you been on exchange? 2011 2012 2013 b) what year(s) have you received Norwegian partner school/group? 2011 2012 2013 6. which were the two most important motives for you to decide to be part of this project? (You can choose more than one option) to increase my own global knowledge Make new contacts and possibilities Exchange of ideas/experiences Get motivated for further engagement to get skills and competence other things: 7. what was the main theme of your partnership project? Climate change and environmental work youth empowerment/youth leadership Migration/immigration Culture project/cultural understanding Human rights/inclusion of minorities Entrepreneurship/local development Culture project/cultural understanding other things: 8. In a range of 1-5 points where 1 is the lowest and 5 is the best to what extent did you reach the objectives of the project and your personal objectives? (Please make a circle around your choice in each line. You can only choose one among 5 ranges)

your own objectives 5 4 3 2 1 the project objectives 5 4 3 2 1 9. In a range of 1-5 points where 1 indicates you benefited least and 5 most, how would you range your benefits in the following? (Make one circle per item) i increased my knowledge on our theme 5 4 3 2 1 i have more knowledge about Norwegian society 5 4 3 2 1 i have more global- and development knowledge 5 4 3 2 1 i acquired new practical skills 5 4 3 2 1 i learned to collaborate with others 5 4 3 2 1

i understand a different culture a lot more now 5 4 3 2 1 i have a more open attitude to people different from me 5 4 3 2 1 i have become more motivated to make positive actions in my local community 5 4 3 2 1

Appendix 4

attaCHMENtS 69

10. Local action a) I have spread information at my school/community yes No if yes, What way: presentation(s) in school presentation at community house or similar project in the newspaper talked to family/friends Social media other? b) I have taken local action after the exchange yes No if yes, what? Meeting with local authorities Done environmental work (tree-planting/recycling..) Written article in the newspaper Made a club/organization Made activities for kids/youth Begun a business other? c) I plan to take action/make an positive activity for my school or community yes No d) If your initiative is unique or you want to share more information to us, please elaborate more about it here (plus on the back if necessary):

* Practical skills can be media competence such as computer, camera, film technical skills, arrange workshop, organizational skills, dance- theatre teqniques, product marketing, media contact, redesign, acricultural skills etc..

11. In a range of 1-5 points where 1 is the lowest and 5 is the best can you range your views about the impact of the exchange/project My school/community benefits from it 5 4 3 2 1 Different institutions and groups collaborate more in my community because of the cooperation 5 4 3 2 1 i see that my peers have gained more knowledge 5 4 3 2 1 My school/community take more environmetal Responsibility. Recycle, reuse, plant trees etc. 5 4 3 2 1 Some has started positive local initiatives after exchange 5 4 3 2 1 the civil society has strengthened locally after exchange 5 4 3 2 1 i feel we are a more international school/community 5 4 3 2 1 12. Please add more information about the results of your school/community projects here. you can also give recommendations to Friendship North/South about the exchange programmes:


ELIMU

Country Name partnership South partner

North partner

Kenya - Norway Jans academy and xaverian SS – porsgrunn upper Secondary School

x

Joytown Secondary School – ole vig upper Secondary School

x x

St. alfred’s alara – verdal upper Secondary School x

St. lucy Raruowa, Secondary’s girl school – Fauske upper Secondary School

x

uganda - Norway Mengo Secondary School – Rjukan upper Secondary School

x

Kololo SS – ovrebyen upper Secondary School x

Kalinabiri Secondary School – Bodo upper Secondary School

x

St. Joseph vocational institute – Kuben/Sogn upper Secondary School

x x

tanzania - Norway usagara and Mkwakwani Secondary Schools – Greveskogen upper Secondary School

x

Dongobesh Secondary School – levanger upper Secondary School

x x

tanzania - Zimbabwe - Norway

Fredrikstad trosvik – Gweru – lilongwe (triangle collaboration)

x

South africa - Norway paarl Gymnasium – oslo Handels Gymnasium x

West Cape College – Kirkeparken upper Secondary School

x x

Robinvalle College – Knut Hamsun upper Secondary School

x

Sidlamafa Senior Secondary School – St. olav upper Secondary School

x

palestine - Norway Ramallah – lambertseter upper Secondary x

Nicaragua - Norway Doris Maria – Kristiansand Katedralskole Gimle x

LOCAL COMMUNITy PROGRAM


North partner

Guatemala - Norway Stjørdal- panajachel x x

Kvinnherad – San lucas tolimán x

Moss – aguacatán x

St. paulus – San andres x x

Fairtrade Østfold – Guatemala City x x

Kråkerøy – patzun x

Brazil - Norway Sagene – Rio Branco x

Nicaragua - Norway tønsberg – adecosta x

Esteli – Bethlehem x

Appendix 5LIST OF GROUPS INCLUDED IN ThE qUALITATIvE PART OF ThE STUDy (FOCUS GROUPS)

attaCHMENtS / litERatuRE 71


North partner

Kenya - Norway Bombolulu Community – oppegård Municipality (four participating schools)

x

Homa lime Community Group – verdal x x

uganda - Norway Katwe Kabatoro – Mezannin x

tanzania - Norway tumaini Dance Group – trondheim x x

Rondane – Kilimanjaro (KiECotE) x

Ethiopia - Norway Kotebe Congregation – Grenseaksjonen for afrika/ Marker x

Western Synod – Nidaros x

Madagascar - Norway antsirabe – Stavanger (the Green pilots ) x

literature lunden, per Kr. 2009. NoRaD; Organisational Performance Riview of Friendship North-South (VNS). assist Consulting a/S.

olouasa, Cynthia. 2011. An evaluation of the Workings of the South Networks of Friendship North/South (FNS).

Norwegian Ministry of Foreign affairs/NoRaD. 2008. Results Management in Norwegian Development Cooperation; A practical guide.

Juma, Said Khamisi; Mageza, Cheryl Nkateko; Rod, anja Meland; Komeja, Mohamed. 2009. ELIMU Review report 2009; The ELIMU School Exchange Programme

Skøelv, Roald; tenga, titus. 2010. Gjennomgang av Vennskap Nord/Sørs kulturprogram. avdeling for lærerutdanning og internasjonale Studier, Høyskolen i oslo.

2009. NoRaD: Principles for NORAD’s Support to Civil Society in the South.

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Storgata 11, 0155 OSLO, Norway, Tel.: +47 982 63 530, E-mail: [email protected]

Review Report: Friendship North South's Results

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