American University in Cairo

Project Seminar
Politics 5285
Fall Semester 2016
Waleed C147

Instructor: Dr. Ibrahim Elnur

Office RM 2007, HUSS Building, 2nd Floor

Office hours: By Appointment

Email: ielnur@aucegypt.edu

Purpose of the course:

This course will examine the process by which development programs and projects
are identified, designed and put into implementation. The emphasis of the course will
be at project level. This will involve examining the project cycle, through which
projects are identified, appraised, selected for finance, implemented and evaluated.
Critiques of this process will also be considered. Students will also be exposed to the
basic concepts and methodology of cost-benefit analysis.

By the end of the course students should have mastered the following skills:

- Various methods of doing a need assessment, how to choose the most

appropriate one and apply it to different contexts.
- How to analyze the development problem in terms of causes, manifestations
and consequences.
- Ho to do a project planning.
- How to operationalize project objectives into activities.
- How to draw an implementation/action plan for a project.
- How to design a development project budget.
- How to identify potential donors for different types of projects.
- How to a project proposal according to a select number of donors' formats.

Structure of the Course:

The course will be in the form of a seminar. Readings drawn from academic texts and
program/project documentation will be set from week to week. Active class
discussion of the reading material will constitute the basis for the weekly classes. As
students become more familiar with the skills and procedures involved in producing
project documentation it is expected that meetings will become more and more
student led.

Evaluation
Grades will be determined on the basis of a substantial project design exercise, a mid-
term essay, and student participation. Each student will produce a draft project
proposal, this being the project design exercise. The completed student project will be
defended orally in class. The project will account for 60% of the student’s grade,

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while one midterm essay (1500 words) will be worth 15%, one reaction paper (700
words) will be worth 10%, and participation will constitute the remaining 15% of the
grade.

Policy on Academic integrity

The Code of Academic Integrity at the American University in Cairo intends to

provide legal and ethical guidelines for the whole academic community at AUC
including students, faculty and staff. AUC regulation on academic integrity will be
strictly followed: See AUC regulations:
http://www.aucegypt.edu/academics/resources/acadintegrity/Pages/default.aspx

NB This is a compulsory element of the Professional Development option in your

MA program. Given he centrality of this curse to your program I anticipate and insist
on your full commitment to the course. Prolonged absences are bound to adversely
affect your performance and they will not be tolerated. Similarly, I expect you to be
fully prepared for each meeting and to participate fully in class discussion

Texts
The course readings will be drawn mostly from the following documents and
volumes:
A. Hira & T. Parfitt, Development Projects for a New Millennium, Praeger, 2004.
(Hard copy is available in the copy center)
B. European Union, Project Cycle Management Handbook (Hildastrasse,
Germany: 2002). (Soft copy available)
C. European Union, Aid Delivery Methods: Project Cycle Management
Guidelines, March 2004 (A soft copy is available).
D. EU: A project cycle manual and logical framework toolkit: A practical guide
for equal development partnership (Hard copy is available in the copy center).
E. UNDP, Regional Bureau for Africa and the Pacific, How to Write a Project
Document: A Manual for Designers of UNDP Projects, New York, 1991(Hard
copy is available in the copy center).
F. UNDP Programming Manual, New York, 1999 (Soft copy available).
G. UNEP Project Manual, New York, 2009.
H. ITTO, Manual for Project Formulation, #rd edition, ITTO (International
Tropical Timber Organization), 3rd edition, 2009, (Soft copy available)
I. Little, Mirlees, Project Appraisal and planning, (Basic Books, N.Y, 1974)
(Hard copy is available in the copy center).
J. Supportive reading: UNHCR, Practical Guid on the use of objectives, outputs,
and indicators, Division of Operations Support (A soft copy and a hard copy is
available).
K. Additional readings will be supplied in soft form.
Outline of the Course

Session 1: September 8, 2016

Introduction to the course

Session 2: September 22, 2016

Development projects: Concepts, Critique, Rationale and Objectives.

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 • ITTO: pp.9-32.
• Little, Mirlees, Project Appraisal and planning; Chapter 6 and 7
• Parfitt and Hira: Chapter 2.

Session 3: September 29, 2016

Project Cycle
• European Union Manual for Project Cycle Management Guidelines: Part1
(pp. 9-16).
• UNEP Project Manual: Project Cycle (pp.9-14).
• European Union, Project Cycle Management Handbook (pp.1-.32).

Session 4: Makeup class date to be announced

Initial discussion/identification of student’s Project Formulation Framework topic.

Sessions 5 and 6: October 13 and October 20, 2016

Logical Framework Approach (LFA)
• European Union Manual for Project Cycle Management Guidelines: Parts
2 & 3 (pp. 18-60).
• ITTO: pp. 32-42.
• The EU project cycle manual and logical framework: Section 5, UNDP
Programming Manual: Chapter 4.
• European Union, Project Cycle Management Handbook (pp.33-62).
• Additional material on proposed case study will be made available.

Session 7: October 27, 2016

Budgets, Risks, Cross cutting themes
• ITTO: p. 45-67.
• UNDP Programming Manual: Chapter 5.
• UNEP Project Manual: formulation, approval, monitoring and evaluation
(Key elements in Project formulation) (pp.15-.23).

Session 8: November 3, 2016

How to write a project Document
• European Union: Project Proposal Format.
• UNDP: Project Proposal Format.
• All projects should follow either UNDP or EU recommended project
proposal format, but in all cases they shall use a logical framework.
• Additional readings: How to write a project Document: A manual for
UNDP Project , 1993

Session 9: November 10, 2016

Adjusting project design to donors' proposal format
(List of references are provided below).

Sessions 11 and 12: November 17 and December 1, 2016

Projects Targeting Poverty alleviation and Empowerment: On Microcredit and
Microfinance

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 • Khandakar, Elahi and (2004): Danopoulos, Constatine Microcredit and the
Third World: Perspectives from moral and political philosophy, International
Journal of Social Economics, Vol. 31, No. 7, pp. 643-654.
• Molla, Rafiqul Isalm et al (2008): Questioning Bangladesh’s Microcredit,
Challenge Vol. 51, pp. 113-121.
• Mahmud, Simeen (2003): Actually how Empowering is Microcredit?,
Development and Change, 34 (4), pp. 577-605.
• UNDP (2006): Review of UNDP Microfinance Portfolio, Revised January
2006.
• Rosenberg, Richard (2009): Measuring Results of Microfinance Institutions:
Minimum Indicators That Donors and Investors should track, A Technical
Guide, CGAP, June 2009.
• Guidelines for Designing Poverty-Focused Projects with Microfinance
Components, The World Bank, Social Protection Team, June 2002.

Session 13: December 8, 2016

Faith-Based Development Projects: Project-Development Synergies; Typologies,
and Performance

• Tomalin, E. (2010): Religion and right-based approach to development,

Progress in Development Studies, 6-2, pp. 93-108.
• Sider and Unruh (2004): Typology of Religious Characteristics of Social
Service and Educational Organizations and Programs, Nonprofit and
Voluntary Quarterly, vol.33, no. 1, March 2004, pp. 109-134.
• Amirkhanyan et al (2010): Faith-Based Assumptions about Performance,
Nonprofit and Voluntary Quarterly, vol.38, no. 3, June 2006, pp. 490-521.
• Reese, L. A. (2004): A Matter of Faith: Urban Congregations and
Economic Development, Economic Development Quarterly, Vol. 18, No.
1, February 2004, pp. 50-66.
• Wiktorowics and Farouki (2000): Islamic NGOs and Muslim Politics: a
case from Jordan, Third World Quarterly, Vol. 21, No. 4, pp. 685-699.

Session 14: December 15, 2016

Student Presentations.

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 Adjusting project design to donors' proposal format
E.U Australi USAID Danish Japan Norway Sweden Arab OPEC U.K GTZ
an Fund
Instructor

1. Australian Government Overseas Aid Program,

www.ausaid.gov.au/
2. United State Agency for International Development:
www.usaid.gov/
3. Danish Development Policy:
www.um.dk/en/menu/DevelopmentPolicy/
4. Japan’s ODA (Official Development Aid):
www.mofa.go.jp/policy/oda/index.htm.
5. Norwegian Development Cooperation:
www.norway.org/policy/humanitarian/development/ .
6. Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency,
http://web.mit.edu/urbanupgrading/upgrading/resources/
organizations/Sida.html
7. Arab Fund for Australian Government Overseas Aid Program
Economic and Social Development (AFESD),
http://www.arabfund.org/.
8. OPEC Fund for International Development,
www.opecfund.org/.
9. UK DFID, the Department for International Development,
www.dfid.gov.uk/.
10. GTZ, http://www.gtz.de/en/