The implementation of Voice is led by ten Voice country teams and the decentralised, global coordination team. All teams form part of Oxfam (Novib) and Hivos as the two consortium partners that have been contracted by the Netherlands MoFA to execute the Voice programme. At the global level, there is a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that governs the relationship between both organisations. At the country level, there are Oxfam Project Agreements (OPA) with each Oxfam country office, the Hivos East Africa regional office and the newly constituted Yayasan Hivos in Indonesia.Voice mainly uses Oxfam Novib systems such as Adobe and SAP for its grant administration and Box / Atlas for archiving. We have also developed standard Voice templates for grant agreements and M&E forms inspired by Oxfam Novib, Hivos and MoFA.Each country team comprises a full-time programme officer (designated as programme manager or coordinator in some countries), a full-time finance officer, a full-time linking, learning and amplifier officer, and a part-time administrative officer.The roles and responsibilities of the country team encompasses the following:

• Preparing an annual grants plan based on the country context analysis, developing calls for proposals in consultation with the country management team and regional roving grants officer in the coordination team, coordinating the grant selection process, including due diligence processes, organising contracting of grant agreements, and programme and financial monitoring of grants.
• Selecting a national Linking and Learning Facilitator Organisation and closely monitor their working to ensure implementation of country-level linking and learning processes.
• Co-leading and contributing to collective Voice processes and strategic priorities such as communications, partnership development and strategic positioning.

The global coordination team comprises 10 members including a programme manager, linking & learning coordinator, finance coordinator, two regional roving grants officers, two regional roving monitoring and evaluation officers, two communications officers, and one project officer. All but three team members are based out of the Netherlands.

The roles and responsibilities of the global coordination team are:

• Grant selection and management of multi-country/global grants alongside support to execution of country level grants plans,
• Selection and supervision of a multi-country/global linking and learning officer alongside support to implementation of country level linking and learning plans,
• Financial and programmatic monitoring of multi-country/global grants alongside support to country teams to carrying out financial and programmatic monitoring of country grants,
• Carrying out communications across the centralised Voice communications channels while supporting country teams to carry out communication activities at the national level,
• Facilitation of collective and strategic processes such as strategic positioning of Voice and development of strategic partnerships at the global level, and
• Overall management of contractual obligations and liaison with donors.

A Steering Committee made up of senior managers from Oxfam Novib and Hivos meets regularly with the Programme Manager to ensure that Voice is aligned to the extent possible with the strategies and operations of both organisations and provide overall quality control to the programme. More information on the steering committee, including its current membership is available here.

The Advisory Board acts as a sounding board for the Voice coordination and country teams. It provides advice on key components of Voice, and it endorses the annual plans and budgets. In the Extension Phase, Voice implemented a key recommendation from its Mid Term Review Report of ensuring greater representation of Voice rightsholder groups in its governance structures by constituting a new advisory board made up entirely of civil society actors representing the Voice rightsholder groups and working at the national, regional and international levels on social justice issues. Full composition and the minutes of all the meetings are available here.

KEY PRINCIPLES GUIDING THE WORK OF VOICE

‘Diversity is a fact. Equity is a choice. Inclusion is an action. Belonging is an outcome.’

– Arthur Chan

As rights-based organisations, both Oxfam Novib and Hivos already have strong value statements. All throughout the Voice extension, the consortium seeks to reaffirm the following terms and principles:

Rightsholders

Voice recognises the role society plays in marginalisation and discrimination and supports ownership of the influencing agenda by the people concerned. Voice considers terms such as beneficiaries and target groups do not honour the individuals and organisations as rightsholders that can make legitimate claims. Similarly, states and other actors are duty-bearers that are responsible and can be held accountable for their acts or omissions. Putting the rightsholder groups at the centre of Voice therefore requires a changing transformative narrative. Consciously reminding that we’re all rightsholders, avoiding a new form of othering, and recognising each groups demand for human rights, respect and dignity.

Nothing About Us Without Us

Abbreviated to NOW-Us!, this saying stems from the People with Disabilities (PwD) movement. It emphasises that no policy and/or practices should be decided without the full participation of the rightsholders. For Voice, NOW-Us! is also embodied in the modus operandi or way of working, ensuring we walk the talk. Furthermore it emphasises that the rightsholders own their own narrative at all times.

Knowledge generation and exchange should include the people concerned in all aspects and produce accessible information using various media.

Leave No One Behind

Every person – regardless of ethnicity, geography, disability, gender (identity and expression), sexual orientation, race, age or other status – should live their lives freely and fully. We recognise that people have diverse identities as a result may face overlapping forms of exclusion, and are often left behind. Within Voice, we consciously promote taking an intersectional and transformative approach.

The right voices at the table rather than on the menu

As a key to vital inclusive societies and sustainable development, we recognise the critical role of civil society as a platform for different rightsholders to raise their voices. For Voice, this means inclusion, openness, and embracing diversity lie at the heart of all we do and stand for. It also means that we support locally driven agendas which are flexible and need to adapt to changing contexts.

In everything we do we are committed to transparency and open data, where possible.

Innovativeness

Innovative approaches are sought in all key components of Voice. Being innovative means not only creating new ways of working but also creating space for improvement in every step of the implementation of Voice, which can entail different steps in different contexts. This implies flexibility, to allow for the implementation of new ideas.

Voice is furthermore innovative, because of its explicit focus on the inclusion of informal civil society organisations, as not all rightsholder groups are formally organised. Also, the space for ‘failures’ is innovative: to encourage experimental and innovative projects, taking risks is allowed and failures are framed as lessons to learn from. The linking and learning process provides an environment for different groups to share and learn from the successes and failures of others.

Safety and Security

In all processes and activities of Voice, the safety and security of all grantees shall be ensured. This includes physical, emotional, and digital safety and security. Depending on the current local context, risks shall always be assessed, and proper mitigation strategies shall be developed. Information/data from grantees shall be protected, following Voice and local data privacy policies.