{"id":1236,"date":"2025-10-02T04:04:38","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T04:04:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/the-never-ending-mfs-treadmill\/"},"modified":"2025-10-02T04:04:38","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T04:04:38","slug":"the-never-ending-mfs-treadmill","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/blogs\/the-treehuggers-treadmill\/the-never-ending-mfs-treadmill\/","title":{"rendered":"The Never Ending Mfs Treadmill"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"content column wide left normal content view\" id=\"content\">\n<div class=\"rounded-corner\"><\/div>\n<article class=\"fader\">\n<div class=\"overlay\"><\/div>\n<header class=\"contents\">\n<h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe never-ending MFS treadmill<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n<div class=\"addthis\">\n\t\t<!-- AddThis Button BEGIN --><\/p>\n<div class=\"addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style\" addthis:title=\"The never-ending MFS treadmill\">\n<div class=\"notification\">\n<form method=\"post\" action=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\" style=\"display: inline;\">\n\t<button class=\"follow\" type=\"submit\" name=\"ActionAddToNotification\" title=\"Follow this blog\" id=\"author\"><\/button><br \/>\n\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"ContentNodeID\" value=\"4783\"\/><br \/>\n\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"UserRedirectURI\" value=\"\/Blogs\/The-Treehuggers-Treadmill\"\/><br \/>\n\t<\/form>\n<\/div>\n<p>\t\t<a class=\"addthis_button_facebook_like\" fb:like:layout=\"button_count\"><\/a><br \/>\n\t\t<a class=\"addthis_button_tweet\" tw:via=\"thebrokeronline\"><\/a><br \/>\n\t\t<a class=\"addthis_counter addthis_pill_style\"><\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<p>\t\t<script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/files\/js\/250\/addthis_widget.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n\t\t<!-- AddThis Button END -->\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<h3>\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/authors\/berkhout-remko\/\">Remko Berkhout<\/a>\t\t|<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<strong>28 April 2025<\/strong><br \/>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"body contents\">\n<aside class=\"textblock\">\n<article>\n<h1>About the author<\/h1>\n<div class=\"tleft\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/files\/var\/broker\/storage\/images\/authors\/berkhout-remko\/143936-2-eng-gb\/berkhout-remko_author.jpg\" alt=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"tright\">\n<h3><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/authors\/berkhout-remko\/\">Remko<br class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\"\/>Berkhout<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tRemko Berkhout, knowledge officer, Civil Society Building, Hivos.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/authors\/berkhout-remko\/\">full profile<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<br class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\"\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t<\/article>\n<\/aside>\n<p>\t<!-- body --><\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">A colleague who sits opposite to me leans back and sighs: \u2018What a day\u2026\u2019. Like most of us, she\u2019s spent the past few weeks drafting country context analyses and new programme descriptions for our co-funding application that will be submitted in the coming months.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">The ministry has approved our concept note, some 30 centimetres thick. Now we\u2019re in the process of refining, expanding, focusing, completing the plan. Based on the requirements of the ministry, we\u2019re adding more than 700 new pages, and continuing the extensive process of consultation, brainstorming and political negotiation over every little detail in each consecutive draft.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">One colleague recently estimated that the whole process, which started back in 2008, will absorb some five man-years&#8217; worth of working time. That estimate feels rather conservative. In terms of energy and management attention, the MFS application (More Funding Stress?) sometimes seems to have hijacked the organization. All of us have our \u2018normal work\u2019 to do as well: the partners, programme themes and countries we are working on, admin, our networks. But these have been pushed into the background, here and in most of the other organizations that are going through the same process.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">The ministry is to blame for the impossible formats that we have to work with: 30 country context analyses, detailed outputs and outcomes per programme, SMART indicators, network analyses to avoid overlap and ensure complementarity. Colleagues at the ministry, who know exactly what the practice of our work looks like, privately admit that it\u2019s ridiculous. Who\u2019s going to read all this? Who still believes that core themes in the civilateral channel, such as civil society building, can be captured by quantifiable tangibles? They have no idea, and neither have we. And yet we soldier on.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">Some still believe the effort is worth it. They have a good point: half a billion dollars of core funding for the next five years is a lot of money. But still &#8230; by the end of this year, the whole application process will have kept us busy for at least two years. And that will not be the end of it. 2011 will surely be dominated by the organizational changes emerging from our plan: new partners, phasing in and out of programmes, the closing and opening of offices and the much dreaded monitoring baseline. Thereafter, we will be caught up in whatever replaces the current system.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">This morning, I picked up the latest <i>Vice-versa<\/i>, in which Rene Grotenhuis and Jack van der Ham, directors of the two largest MFOs, once again set out their objections to the current system. Their points concur with the opinions of their peers, but why, then, do we keep on running? During the last 10-15 years, each funding cycle has seen more cumbersome procedures, with more distraction and less crucial flexibility as a result. Why haven\u2019t we, as a sector, been able to challenge the ministry more effectively? Why do we still think the effort is worth it? Who\u2019s putting a price on the loss of quality time and relationships with Southern partners? I raised these points with a colleague who told me not to worry: \u2018We\u2019re almost done and then we can go back to normal\u2019. Good to hear that there is still some optimism around, and yet I wonder: who\u2019s kidding who here? Are we almost done, or are we caught in the never-ending MFS treadmill?<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">\n\t\t<i>Personal reflections, with many thanks to Marlieke Kieboom and Maaike van Adrichem.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>\t\t<!-- body -->\n\t<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"commentform content column wide left\">\n<div class=\"topright\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"bottomleft\"><\/div>\n<h1>Comments<\/h1>\n<div class=\"form\">\n\t<a id=\"formstart\"><\/a><\/p>\n<form enctype=\"multipart\/form-data\" method=\"post\" action=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\">\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">Your comment will not be automatically posted but first reviewed by the editor. If the editor has questions with respect to the content of your comment, you will be contacted.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"input-row\">\n\t\t\t\t<label for=\"reaction-name\">Name:<\/label><\/p>\n<div class=\"input\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<input id=\"reaction-name\" class=\"halfbox\" type=\"text\" name=\"Name\" value=\"\"\/>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"input-row\">\n\t\t\t\t<label for=\"reaction-subject\">Subject:<\/label><\/p>\n<div class=\"input\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<input id=\"reaction-subject\" class=\"halfbox\" type=\"text\" maxlength=\"40\" name=\"Subject\" value=\"\"\/>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"input-row\">\n\t\t\t\t<label for=\"reaction-comment\">Message:<\/label><\/p>\n<div class=\"input\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<textarea id=\"reaction-comment\" class=\"halfbox\" name=\"Comment\"><\/textarea>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"submit-row\">\n\t\t\t\t<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n\t\t\t\tvar RecaptchaTheme='white';\n\t\t\t\tvar RecaptchaLang='';\n\t\t\t\tvar RecaptchaOptions = {\n\t\t\t\ttheme: RecaptchaTheme,\n\t\t\t\tlang: RecaptchaLang\n\t\t\t\t};\n\t\t\t\t<\/script><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/files\/challenge-k-6lfb9quaaaaaaepvwx5fiki25xfnxbh85tkko1-d.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n\t<noscript><br \/>\n  \t\t<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/noscript_k-6lfb9quaaaaaaepvwx5fiki25xfnxbh85tkko1-d_ext_iframe\/\" height=\"300\" width=\"500\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><br class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\"\/><br \/>\n  \t\t<textarea name=\"recaptcha_challenge_field\" rows=\"3\" cols=\"40\"><\/textarea><br \/>\n  \t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"recaptcha_response_field\" value=\"manual_challenge\"\/><br \/>\n\t<\/noscript>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"submit-row\">\n\t\t\t\t<button class=\"grey\" type=\"submit\"><span class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">Submit<\/span><\/button>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" value=\"5061\" name=\"NodeID\"\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" value=\"\/Blogs\/The-Treehuggers-Treadmill\/The-never-ending-MFS-treadmill\" name=\"RedirectURL\"\/><br \/>\n\t<\/form>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n","protected":false,"raw":""},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The never-ending MFS treadmill Remko Berkhout | 28 April [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template_4.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1236","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The never-ending MFS treadmill \/ The Treehuggers&#039; Treadmill \/ Blogs - The Broker<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A colleague who sits opposite to me leans back and sighs: \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcWhat a day\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u00e2\u20ac\u2122. 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Like most of us, she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s spent the past few weeks drafting country context analyses and new programme descriptions for our co-funding application that will be submitted in the coming months.The ministry has approved our concept note, some 30 centimetres thick. Now we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re in the process of refining, expanding, focusing, completing the plan. 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