Guidance for bilateral projects
August 2018

Outline for a Project Document
Cover page (note: not to be presented on a consulting company cover)	•	Competent Authorities (MFA and Partner Country Ministry)
•	Title of Project
•	Type of a document (Draft / Final Draft / Final Programme Document)
•	Duration of the Project / Programme
•	Date 	
Table of contents		
Abbreviations		
Project fact sheet		
Summary	•	Short summary (max. 2 pages) explains the results of the project and how they will be achieved; its relevance to the country policies and Finnish Development cooperation policy, scope, budget and implementation and funding arrangements 	
1. Background 
	•	Country context (please refer to the Identification report, if available) 
•	Policy framework: highlights of the main national policies which directly relate or guide the project (Please refer to the Identification Report, if available. Relevant legislation, strategies and policy documents can be elaborated in a separate annex)
•	Development needs/challenges to be addressed by the Project 
•	Rationale vis-à-vis Finnish policies, strategies, value-added and complementarity.
•	Project’s previous phases and lessons learnt
•	Short description of the project formulation process (Max. one paragraph on how and by whom the project has been planned) 	
2. Context and stakeholder analysis	•	Description of context/sector(s) based on identification report
•	Summary of key sector policies, sector budget and financing (including other donors and interventions), achievements, and development needs
•	Other projects and donor coordination arrangements, etc. which affect the project
•	Overview of the gender and human rights in the sector. Refer to the Human Rights Assessment and integrate gender and human rights issues throughout the document into relevant sections
•	Detailed stakeholder analysis, identifying their roles as duty bearers, rights holders and their capacity gaps related to the Project sector or results areas 	
3. Project Description	3.1. Overview of the Project
•	Rationale for launching the project
•	Description of the internal project logic, Results Chain/ Theory of Change
•	Scope of the project (e.g. duration, geographical scope etc.)
3.2. Results and key strategies
•	Description of results (outputs, outcome and impacts) expected to be achieved (based on the result chain or theory of change, including cross-cutting objectives relevant to the project)
•	Description of the key strategies to achieve the project results, main types of activities 
•	Key milestones for project implementation 
•	Defined outputs and main activities for the Inception Phase, including assumptions and preconditions for efficient start-up
3.3. Risk assessment and risk response
•	Summary of risks and risk responses (with reference to Risk Matrix to be annexed)
•	Plan for the monitoring and reporting of risks, including risk owners	
4. Implementation arrangements 
	•	Implementing agencies and arrangements; including analysis of institutional capacity to justify use/non-use of country systems and related capacity development needs
•	Project’s management and decision-making (e.g. composition of Supervisory Board, Steering Committee, Project Management)
•	Budgeting, financial management, procurement, monitoring and audits and their linkage to respective country systems 
•	Coordination and cooperation with other actors and interventions
•	Communication and information dissemination plan, including internal and external exchange of information on plans, results, experiences and lessons learned	
5. Work Plan and Main activities	•	Work plan, key activities and achievements of the Inception Phase (including possible baseline studies)
•	Indicative work plan for the project, including key activities for each output  	
6. Resources 	•	Human and material resources and partnerships needed for achieving the results 
•	Roles/contributions of each partner in providing the resources 
•	Budget summary (detailed budget and financing plan indicating different financing sources in annexes) 	
7. Monitoring and reporting	•	Description of Monitoring and Reporting, including key indicators and procedures for data collection, analysis and reporting and related measures promoting ownership, rights, interests, opportunities and participation of the key beneficiary groups	
8. Sustainability 	•	Analysis of measures to ensure sustainability 
•	Phasing-out plan 	
9. Reviews, Evaluations and Audits	•	Plan for reviews (e.g. thematic, mid-term), evaluations and audits	
Annexes	•	Results framework*
•	Risk Matrix*
•	Human Rights Assessment (please refer to Identification)*
•	Indicative work plan for the Project*
•	Work Plan for the Inception Phase
•	Project/ Programme Budget*
•	Stakeholder Analysis* and capacity gap analysis
•	Terms of Reference (SB, SC, PMT)*
•	Job Descriptions for Long Term Experts
•	Relevant background documentation, e.g.: 
o	Capacity Assessment
o	Assessments on environmental impact and climate sustainability

*MFA has specific guidance on these issues.