The Sustainable Model Program (SMP) project, supported by DANIDA in partnership with Danish Refugee Council (DRC), supports five organizations from different parts of the country, focusing on strengthening areas on Finance, MEAL, Governance and Resource Mobilization. Through  targeted support the project isempowering  communication focal persons to improve both internal and external communication capacities. For MID-P this support has translated into  improvements in visibility and stakeholder engagement. Before the start of the SMP project, MID-P did not have a dedicated Communication Officer. This responsibility fell on the already overwhelmed Program Manager, limiting visibility and outreach efforts. In May, 2023, after recognizing this gap, MID-P brought onboard an intern to support the Program Manager in communication activities, after a year, in 2024, MID-P received support to onboard a Communication Officer, where they adopted their intern who was already familiar with the organization to take over implementation of communication activities like photo documentation, writing stories, content creation, development of Communication Plan and managing of MID-P social media platforms. “We had not identified Communication as a gap during the beginning of the SMP Project. We are grateful for the support of DRC for making Communication the fourth area.” Molu Tepo Executive Director The SMP project has created a collaborative learning environment among the five…

As part of its ongoing efforts to strengthen Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) under the DRC DANIDA civil society engagement programming supporting the sustainability of equitable and strategic Partner’s project being implemented by Merti Integrated Development Programme (MID-P) has made strides in enhancing its internal systems to support effective communication, collaboration, and data management. With the help of an external consultant, MID-P transitioned to Microsoft 365 Office, which included a shift from web-based email to Outlook, and the introduction of SharePoint for enhanced document management and collaboration. The transformation has streamlined processes across departments and improved reporting and data verification, particularly for the MEAL team. The integration of Microsoft 365 Office has brought about several key improvements in MID-P's operations that includes; the migration from a web-based email system to Microsoft Outlook has simplified communication at MID-P. The Outlook platform offers better organization, faster communication, and seamless integration with other tools in the Microsoft suite. As a result, email management has become efficient, allowing staff to communicate effectively with both internal and external stakeholders. SharePoint has been set up with five specific folders (Program Reports, Proposal, Audit Reports, MID-P Policies, Communications with Photos, and Success Stories). This organizational structure has made it easier for MID-P staff to store, access,…

MID-P, a local organization dedicated to empowering communities through inclusive development, faced critical gaps in its internal systems, particularly in procurement. From the inception, the absence of a dedicated Procurement Officer led to delays in procurement at MID-P. As the organization expanded its footprint, it became clear that a more reliable and transparent system was needed to meet growing operational demands. In 2024, the Sustainability Model Programme (SMP), implemented by MID-P through the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) with funding from DANIDA, initiated a transformative journey to digitalize and strengthen MID-P procurement system. A Syncserv consultancy firm was contracted to support the setup and rollout of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system tailored to the procurement component. At the time, MID-P had no dedicated procurement focal person, which posed a challenge to implementation and coordination. To address this, the organization recruited a procurement intern in January 2025, who was actively involved in supporting the ERP system rollout. Recognizing the intern’s contribution and the importance of having a dedicated procurement lead, MID-P formally absorbed the intern as a staff member in March 2025. Alongside the ERP rollout, two days physical training sessions were held for programme, finance, and procurement staff. The training equipped them to navigate the system, submitting requests, tracking approvals,…