True and equal partnership
One of the key lessons from First Steps is the importance of working in partnership and allowing equal participation and voices of all partners. Save the Children’s implementing partner Umuhuza was involved in all decisions including on the technical content and participated in reflection and learning meetings to shape the future of the intervention. MoU technical partners such as Help a Child and A Partner in Education were also included in annual “pause, reflect, action” cycles. Quarterly reflection with the government at both national and local levels also allowed the project to respond to feedback and align with changes at policy level. We learned that Partnership is a key ingredient of a good measurement for change system.