Evaluation in Natural and Human-made Crisis Situations

1
Evaluation of UNDP Assistance to
Conflict-affected Countries
UNDP Executive Board Informal Session 4 January
2007
2
Rationale for evaluation

• Crisis Prevention and Recovery is one of the five
  practice areas of UNDP
• Nearly 40 of the UNDP global expenditure is in
  countries receiving BCPR assistance (2005 data)
• Requested by the UNDP Executive Board

3
Objectives

• To evaluate UNDPs assistance to
  conflict-affected countries
• To assess UNDPs contribution to human security
  and human development.
• To look at UNDPs role in coordination and
  partnership as part of UN System
• To make forward-looking recommendations

4
Scope and Approach

• UNDP assistance to conflict-affected countries
  since 2000
• All efforts by UNDP, not only BCPR activities, in
  conflict-affected countries
• Case studies in Afghanistan, DR Congo, Guatemala,
  Haiti, Sierra Leone, Tajikistan (countries with
  Security Council Mandates)
• 24 countries receiving BCPR assistance surveyed
• Analysis of human security trends (battle deaths,
  human rights violations, refugees and displaced
  persons and victims of natural and technological
  disasters)

5
Criteria

• Relevance and positioning
• Results and effectiveness
• Efficiency
• Management
• Coordination
• Substantive leadership and credibility

6
Key findings context of international community

• International community helped stabilise
  conflicts and peace agreements
• Less successful in addressing structural
  conditions conducive to violent conflict
• Weak states and weak civil society
• Availability of small arms and unemployed young
  men
• Large informal or illegal economy
• Conflicts in neighboring states

7
Key findings UNDP

• Supports wide range of activities with most
  effort on
• recovery and reintegration
• the restoration of state authority
• justice and security sector reform
• Strategic leadership limited as rarely part of
  negotiations
• Emerging substantive expertise in governance and
  capacity-building but overextended
• Gap-filling and administrative functions useful
  but detracts UNDP from core development mandate

8
Key findings UNDP

• Insufficient attention to gender and civil
  society
• Dependency on non-core funding
• Staff with specialized skills needed not only
  surge capacity
• Limited analytical capacity to identify
  indicators or monitor trends
• Demonstrated nimbleness and flexibility but
  perceived as opaque and bureaucratic
• PIUs do not promote long-term sustainability

9
Recommendations

• Formulate a strategic vision together with other
  UN agencies, especially DPA for human security
  based on the following principles
• Human rights, emphasizing rule of law, political
  participation and livelihoods
• Legitimate political authority, building trust
  and engaging civil society
• Coherence, integrating poverty reduction and
  human development
• Bottom-up approach, involving women and civil
  society groups
• Regional focus as conflicts spill across borders

10
Recommendations (Contd.)

• 2. Integrate development concerns within UN
  strategies for security.
• The Administrator brief the Security Council
• Include development assistance in assessed
  contributions to missions with Security Council
  mandate
• Involve UNDP in negotiations of peace agreements
  and involve civil society and womens groups
• Give development concerns a stronger voice in
  integrated offices
• Prioritize development concerns in the new
  Peace-Building Commission

11
Recommendations (Contd.)

• 3. Build substantive capacity in core-areas of
  peace building
• Instead of adhoc gap-filling activities, build
  substantive capacity in UNDP in the following
  core areas
• Recovery and reintegration
• Governance and capacity building
• Justice and security sector reform
• Poverty reduction and sustainable livelihoods

12
Recommendations (Contd.)

• 4. Improve the effectiveness of Implementation
• Develop analytical capacity to understand
  specific conflicts
• Improve outreach beyond capital cities
• Strengthen internal UNDP decision-making
  mechanisms
• Enhance specialization and management of human
  resources
• Review financial and administrative procedures
• Emphasize full transparency
• Strengthen monitoring and evaluation

13
Recommendations (Contd.)

• 5. Enhance Coordination and Partnerships
• Streamline and reduce coordination mechanisms
• Develop strategic framework for addressing
  structural conditions conducive to conflict
  rather than the management of funds.
• Develop key strategic partnerships with
• DPA and DPKO
• Bretton Woods institutions to advocate scaling up
  UNDPs innovative practices in countries
• Civil society to guide formulation of UNDPs
  strategies

14
Thank you!