Handover process relates both to:

• The sustainable usage and maintenance of physical program outputs and assets over time
• Maintaining and building on the gains and beneficial changes emerging from the program process and outputs, and continuing the development momentum without external interventions and assistance Different outputs have their own handover process built into the project design and implementation. The modalities for handover of completed water supply structures for instance are incorporated into a contract agreed with the community before construction work starts. Sustainability of physical inputs, and development gains and processes, involves varying degrees of stakeholder input including:
• Community institutions, such as water user groups, water and sanitation committees, cooperatives……
• Government bureaus, responsible for instance for staffing and maintenance of completed health facilities, technical maintenance of equipment such as water pumps, follow up technical advice, training….
• Private sector/market forces, developing market infrastructure, increasing the range and availability of services and inputs, stimulating demand and innovation…. Exit strategies encompass:

 

Withdrawal from support for specific households /other target groups

This happens when households ‘graduate ‘ from poverty, and are no longer nominated from within the communities as needing external assistance to survive. Households identified as the most vulnerable and poorest are included in productive safety net program. As these households develop a stronger livelihood basis, they are expected to become eligible for participation in the credit based household food security packages, so developing more secure

and profitable livelihood strategies and outcomes, graduating from the extreme poverty category within 3 to 4 years.

 

Withdrawal of intervention in specific types of activity

REST ceases to implement certain activities or provide certain inputs when:

• the previous gap is now being filled by the private sector, government or other providers better, more effective technologies have been introduced
• experience shows costs and/or associated drawbacks outweigh benefits

 

REST continues to work within the priority, most drought prone weredas of Tigray, and given the level of need and the long term nature of necessary interventions and solutions, full withdrawal from these weredas is not envisaged within the near future. Within these areas however, the type, scale, range and specific location of interventions shifts in accordance with achievement of specific targets, and handover and phase out strategies are incorporated into all program planning and design.