what and How
The future requires better software and lesser requirements Most Voice teams continued to face considerable delay in grant approvals, exceeding the 16-week timeframe upon closing the Call for Proposal. In some cases, the approval process took six to eight months due to various reasons on both sides (i.e., applicants and Voice teams). Acknowledging that we are locked into administrative systems and work processes for the remain- der of the programme period, we continue to identify proposals that might significantly improve future programme setup; one of which is selecting a backend system for grants management that is both efficient and complementary to the staffing structure, and at the same time having fewer, more streamlined accountability requirements.
While improvements have been noticeable in various ways of work- ing among Voice teams, we have also learned that at the end of the day, our humanity is what affects relationship-building the most. As a programme with multi-cultural teams, we also fully represent diver- sity in terms of thinking, worldviews, personal values, social skills and sensitivity, and many other areas of capacity. For instance, when we as a team reflect deeper on what decolonising aid or decolonising grant-making means, we quickly realise the space we occupy in the system as individuals and the work
Having a programmatic component wholly dedicated to Linking and Learning has meant that Voice from its initiation has prioritised and implemented a learning approach across all areas of its work. In this year’s report, we have purposively sought to document the main lessons we are taking away. Many of these come from experiencing #BeautifulFailures as the teams implementing the Voice programme across different countries, contexts and functions. Building transfor- mative rela- tionships and a culture of trust within grant-making Fostering a trust-based approach in grant-making and partnership management has remained one of the most crucial areas of our work demanding constant improvement, in line with our continued efforts to address recommendations from the Grantee Perception Survey. We deliberated on it thoroughly during the annual reflection meeting 2022 held in Siem Reap and recognised several factors as shaping the way we build our relationships with the grantee partners. These factors include, but are not limited to, high pressure to meet contractual obli- gations and performance indicators both at the level of Voice teams and the grantee partners, differences in
we must do to also decolonise ourselves. While we have our
limitations in engaging extensively in this kind of work, we are happy to have opened such conversation among ourselves. We will continue to explore possibilities where we can support each other transform our capacities and collectively create a work culture that enforces all our core values.
technical and relational capacities between programme and financial staff, the grant making framework of Voice itself, inherent personal or individual characteristics, an individ- ual’s state of well-being, and cultural influences including social norms and practices in different countries, among others. We have tried to identify and imple- ment solutions within the scope of the Voice Process Manual, starting with reviewing various granting processes and requirements, clarifi- cation of roles and responsibilities, and development or improvement of tools and guidance documents, culminating in a writeshop to update the Manual towards the end of the year. This was complemented by one-on-one support to the country teams by members of the Global Coordination Team, several regional workshops with finance officers, and quality audits that incorporated a review of partnership approaches.
learning Weare
Stronger together
On communications, we made deliberate plans to bring together all the Linking, Learning and Amplifier Officers to work together towards one campaign, one agenda framework. This meant that as opposed to all the country teams celebrating one particular inter- nationally recognised day, such as the International Week for the Deaf, countries with rightsholders would take the lead in planning and bringing together other grantee partners around issues on issues of persons with disabilities. The
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