The NGO Development Center (NDC) is an innovative Palestinian non-profit organization that empowers Palestinian NGOs to better provide vital services to Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza, especially the poor and marginalized. Conceived in partnership with leading Palestinian NGOs, unions and networks, NDC mobilizes donor funding to deliver a unique combination of direct grants and capacity building programs that enhance the effectiveness, self-reliance and sustainability of Palestinian NGOs.
NDC has been managing the Secretariat for Human Rights and Good Governance (HR/GG Secretariat) since July 2008 on behalf of four European donors; namely: Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands. The Secretariat/NDC administers a separate “Sector Development” budget provided by the donors to facilitate and support institutional capacity development targeting the partner NGOs. And as part of its mandate as the Secretariat for HR/GG organizations, NDC has developed a three-pronged capacity building program for partner organizations. The program focuses on three major areas of intervention: financial issues, advocacy and new media and good governance. Its overall goal was to provide the partner Human Rights and Good Governance NGO’s operating in the oPt the assistance and support for strengthening the skills, competencies, and abilities of their staff and organizations, so they can better deliver their outputs, reach their objectives, and achieve their goals in accordance with their mission. Accordingly, NDC provided partner NGOs with tailored technical assistance based on their identified needs and initial development plans.
With approach of end of the capacity building program, NDC planned to conduct post assessment study which will cover its progress from August 2011 till the expected completion date of the Capacity Building program in December 2012. In accordance with that, NDC contracted GCT to carry out the intended assessment. By the end of April, GCT officially closed its consulting project with NDC concerning providing the post assessment mission for the capacity building programme.
The main objectives of this study were to:

• Assess the progress towards achieving the capacity building program intended outputs and goals, as well as examine the effectiveness of the approach and methodology of the program;
• Be a reflective and forward-looking exercise that will reflect on what results have been achieved through the implementation of the program, analyze lessons learned and document all aspects of the program’s progress;
• Enable NDC and other stakeholders to evaluate the program and sustain a cumulative learning process for the future.