In 2016, João Saavedra, who is in charge of evaluations, and also a project manager in our Department, conducted a survey with our partners to discern their perceptions of our work. In line with our commitment to operate in a transparent manner, we are publishing the findings of this survey. We are pleased to see that our partners appreciate our programming, acknowledge that our funding is having impact, and recognise our expertise in the relevant fields. However, they also did point out certain processes that we ought to improve. More specifically,

• We ought to be more pro-active and interact with our partners more frequently.
• We ought to be taking decisions more quickly and communicating them to project applicants in a shorter period of time; this entails an improved grant application process.

  Over the next several months, we will be instituting some changes in the way we process grants to take into account the above points, as well as some of the other suggestions made, as reflected in the attached survey findings. We will also continue our path in supporting bigger projects that are directly in line with our core priorities. Unfortunately, due to the volume of applications we get, we have to say “no” more often than we can say “yes,” but we are pleased to see that what we say “yes” to is having the desired impact.

I hope you will take a moment to read the “Feedback from our Partners” survey summary. Of course, we always appreciate your feedback.

Razmik Panossian
Director