Project Design Principles

GLOSSARY
Activities - the specific tasks to be undeftaken during a project's life in order to obtain results and
produce outputs.
Activity schedule - a workplan in the form of a charl setting out the timing, sequence and
duration of project activities. It can also be used for identifying milestones for monitoring progress,
and to assign responsibility for achievement. The activity schedule provides the basis for the
project budget.
Appraisal - Analysis of a proposed project to determine its merit and acceptability in accordance
with established criteria.
Assumptions (also known as risks or constraints) - external factors or fundamental conditions
under which the project is expected to function, which are necessary for the project to achieve its
objectives, and over which the project has no direct control.
Gollaboration (partnership)- a mutually beneficial relationship between two or more parties who
work toward common goals by sharing responsibility, authority, and accountability for achieving
results.
Effectiveness - the extent to which the results of a project have or are likely to result in the
achievement of the project goal or purpose.
Efficiency - the cost-effectiveness of conver[ing resources (inputs) to outputs. Both direct costs
and overheads (e.9. management time) should be considered.
Evaluation - periodic review of the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability
of a project or programme with respect to its stated objectives and timeline. Evaluation attempts
to determine as systematically and objectively as possible the worth or significance of an
intervention or policy.
Findings - In an evaluation, factual statements that include description and measurement.
Grant (funding, sponsoring, etc.) scheme refers to an external financial assistance
programifund designed to support implementation of projects. Any grant scheme has its own goals,
priorities, themes, indicators, eligibility requirements, selection criteria, etc. thus determining project
types that could be awarded a non-returnable (full or partial)financing to the project budget.
lmpact - achievements in relation to a project's vision with respect to overall objectives or
requirements ofa grant scheme. In the case of a grant schemes, impacts are measured in terms of
development.
lndicators - qualitativeand/or quantitative factors that provide a simple and reliable means to
measure achievement and to reflect change connected to an intervention. When observed
periodically, indicators demonstrate either the difference between the current state of a system
and the desired state of that system; the changes in pressures stressing the system; or the
changes in responses to those pressures and/or to the state of the system.
lntervention - Specific activity or action taken by the project to abate a specific indirect or direct
threat.
lntervention logic - the strategy underlying the project; the narrative description of the hierarchy
of objectives in the logframe.
Logframe - the matrix in which a project's intervention logic, assumptions, objectively verifiable
indicators and sources of verification are presented.
Logical framework approach (LFA) - a methodology for planning, managing, and evaluating
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projects and programmes, involving problem analysis, objectives analysis, strategy analysis,
preparation of the logframe riratrix and associated workplan and budget.
Means - the human, material and financial resources required to undertake the planned activities
and implement and manage the project (personnel, equipment, materials, etc,).
Milestones - a time-based indicator for short-term objectives, which facilitate measurement of
achievements throughout the project.
Monitoring - the continuous collection and analysis of information to measure trends over time in
order to determine whether management interventions are having the desired result, or need
to be changed.
National or regional priorities - key regional, country / sub-regional, and project level issues,
which relate to and flow from the requirements of a grant scheme,
Objective - the aim of a project or programme; in its generic sense it refers to outputs, results,
Specific objectives, Overall objective as well as and the higher-level objectives of the a grant
scheme.
Outcomes - see Results.
Outputs - deliverable products of the project or programme workplan, which together should add
up to achieving the target / objective associated with those outputs.
Overall objective (also called project goal) - the central objective of the project in terms of
sustainable benefits to be delivered. It defines what the project specifically aims to achieve, as a
step towards meeting requirements of a grant scheme. Overall objectives, correspondingly are
anchored to some timescale (usually month-based for several years, not taking into account
preparation and approval time).
Preconditions - any conditions that must be met before the project can begin, and may be
attached to the release of funding.
Problem analysis - a structured investigation of the negative aspects of a situation in order to
establish causes and their effects.
Project - a set of actions under[aken by any group - including managers, researchers,
community members, and any other stakeholders - to achieve defined goals and objectives.
Project cycle - a structure for the life of a project to ensure that stakeholders are consulted, and
that defines key decisions, information requirements and responsibilities at each phase so that
informed decisions can be made at key phases; it draws on evaluation to build the lessons of
experience into the design of future projects and programmes.
Project cycte management - a methodology for the preparation, implementation and evaluation
of projects and programmes based on the integrated approach and logical framework analysis.
Recurrent costs - costs that are incurred for operation and maintenance that will continue to be
incurred after the implementation period of the project.
Requirements of a grant scheme - Objectives, priorities and all other provisions provided by in
the Guidelines for Applicants or other similar documents describing "rules of game" for applicants
for the targeted grants.
Results (or Outcomes) - the tangible products of services delivered by the project; actual
changes in the problem targeted by the project, i.e., what the project will have achieved by its
completion.
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Sources of verification (SoV) - data sources; the means by which indicators or milestones will be
recorded and made available"to project management or to those evaluating project
performance.
Stakeholder - any person, group/ or institution that - positively or negatively - affects or is
affected by a particular issue, goal, undertaking or outcome.
Strategy analysis - critical assessment of the alternative ways of achieving objectives, and
selection of one or more for inclusion in the proposed project.
Sustainability (sometimes referred as durability)- the ability to generate results and deliver
benefits after the external supporL has been discontinued; a key requirement for project success.
Results - specific, sustainable, and manageable objective-oriented achievements, which projects
are expected to achieve within a defined time horizon. The achievement of these results should
outlive the projects and programmes in question. Also, a result should be significant not only for
SIIF, but for the "rest of the world" as well. Results must be SMART: specific, measurable,
ambitious yet achievable, relevant, and timebound.
Workplan - the schedule that sets out the activities and responsibilities necessary to achieve the
project outputs, targets and goal.