- Evaluation Plan:
- 2017-2021, Bangladesh
- Evaluation Type:
- Final Project
- Planned End Date:
- 05/2020
- Completion Date:
- 05/2020
- Status:
- Completed
- Management Response:
- Yes
- Evaluation Budget(US $):
- 30,000
Final Evaluation of Community Recovery and Resilience Programme (C2RP)
| Document | Type | Language | Size | Status | Downloads |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 ToR_C2RP_Final Evaluation_International Consultant.pdf |
tor | English | 295.75 KB | Posted | 1101 |
| ToR_C2RP_Final Evaluation_National Consultant.pdf |
tor | English | 295.12 KB | Posted | 1075 |
| Evaluation Report_C2RP_Final Evaluation.pdf |
report | English | 827.08 KB | Posted | 1274 |
| Title | Final Evaluation of Community Recovery and Resilience Programme (C2RP) | ||||||||||||
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| Atlas Project Number: | 00113842 | ||||||||||||
| Evaluation Plan: | 2017-2021, Bangladesh | ||||||||||||
| Evaluation Type: | Final Project | ||||||||||||
| Status: | Completed | ||||||||||||
| Completion Date: | 05/2020 | ||||||||||||
| Planned End Date: | 05/2020 | ||||||||||||
| Management Response: | Yes | ||||||||||||
| Focus Area: |
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| Corporate Outcome and Output (UNDP Strategic Plan 2018-2021) |
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| SDG Goal |
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| SDG Target |
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| Evaluation Budget(US $): | 30,000 | ||||||||||||
| Source of Funding: | Project budget | ||||||||||||
| Evaluation Expenditure(US $): | 21,024 | ||||||||||||
| Joint Programme: | Yes | ||||||||||||
| Joint Evaluation: | No | ||||||||||||
| Evaluation Team members: |
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| GEF Evaluation: | No | ||||||||||||
| Key Stakeholders: | |||||||||||||
| Countries: | BANGLADESH |
| Lessons | |
|---|---|
| 1. | The complexity of economic and social context in Cox’s Bazar along requires innovative approaches and robust planning by UNDP in order to enable national and local governance structures to deliver quality and accessible services to all citizens enhancing social cohesion, access to justice, and peaceful resolution of conflict. Indeed, the strategy applied by UNDP was particularly successful in terms of effectiveness when it was able to adopt a holistic and systematic approach to raise awareness and capacities among key and relevant institutions and non-state actors. |
| 2. | C2RP was able to enhance dialogue between different social actors (e.g. the police and the community, local governments and citizens). This was also possible thanks to UNDP’s privileged role as historical partner of key local institutions. Indeed, UNDP played a privileged role in engaging with a broad range of actors, ranging from police officials to civil society organizations (CSOs). Its added value has been recognized by all interviewees, particularly, in its capacity to accelerate and facilitate the development of institutions such as CPFs and MFs. |
| 3. | Not all the technical assistance and capacity building activities were able to transfer knowledge to the supported institutions in a sustainable way. The evaluation identified as one of the main constraints the length of the program itself. |
| 4. | The recent developments in the region in terms of the spread of drug trafficking and the increased number of extra-judicial murders curtailed the effectiveness and sustainability of some of the implemented activities, particularly CPs. Given its position and its credibility in Cox’s Bazar, UNDP is in a position to mitigate some of the risks associated with CPs and their role in fighting drug crimes. |
| Findings | |
| 1. | C2RP was well designed and the proposed strategy adopted a holistic approach by addressing different actions related to increasing stability, social cohesion and well-being for the most vulnerable, including women. This allowed the program to structure a very comprehensive approach addressing multiple problems affecting the Cox’s Bazar region. |
| 2. | At the time of this evaluation report, the evaluation consultants assess that all the outputs have been achieved effectively. At the outcome level, the evaluation shows that the actions and strategies put in place have started the process to enhance social cohesion in Cox's Bazar. As an example, the participatory planning actions were valued as crucial to reducing tensions related to the inadequacy of service delivery and making local governments more responsive to local needs. |
| 3. | The evaluation has shown that a high recognition of the importance of CPFs in establishing a dialogue between the police and the community in Ukhia and Teknaf. An improved relationship between the police and the community is perceived as crucial by interviewees to improve security and reduce feelings of fear. |
| Recommendations | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Integrated approach for handling insecurity and lack of social cohesion: Given the emergency context of Cox's Bazar, the evaluation recommends adopting an inclusive strategy targeting both state and non-state actors in fostering social cohesion and increase security. Indeed, the integrated approach promoted by UNDP within the C2RP program was successful in addressing the multi causality and the complexity of the current situation in Cox's Bazar which is the result of a mix of preexisting conditions, the refugee crisis, and narcotics trafficking. |
| 2 | Have a Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) plan in place right from the planning stage: M&E activities should be designed from the planning phase, to ensure that M&E activities are included in program work plans, appropriate baseline is provided, and data collected during the whole program cycle. An appropriate M&E system would contribute to (i) track progresses during the implementation phases, (ii) increase awareness among partners on achievements and weaknesses, (iii) provide UNDP program managers with the opportunity to timely plan appropriate solutions to unforeseen problems and difficulties. |
| 3 | Increase and continue monitoring of CPs and MFs: There is the need to continue and strengthen the monitoring of CPs and MFs to avoid distortion from original aims and infiltration of vetted interests. Oversight mechanisms can be implemented, in the long term, by local institutions, authorities and civil society organizations, but, given the complexity of the Cox's Bazar region, the presence of a third party, such as UNDP, will maximize the effectiveness and impartiality of the monitoring system in the medium and short term. |
| 4 | Continue the capacity building activities in favor of MFs and CPs: MFs and CPs are new organizations and their maturity level is far from being achieved. This requires continuous support to enforce their capacities, clarify their mandate and ensure full internalization of inputs, guidelines and capacity building activities. Continuous capacity building activities in favor of MFs can be realized also in collaboration with other local institutions (i.e. ensuring frequent meetings with the advisory committee of the Upazilla). |
| 5 | Continue the capacity building activities of policewomen deployed to Women and Children Desks: Given the high turnover of policewomen deployed to refugee camps, there is the need to ensure that capacity building activities continue over time and that all the deployed policewomen are capacitated. |
| 6 | Financial sustainability of participatory planning has to be guaranteed: Financial sustainability is not reached for participatory planning activities; indeed, funds are not secured for financing additional projects as proposed by community members. To continue program benefits beyond the end of the C2RP, it is necessary to secure funds for these activities so to avoid increasing tensions between local governments and their communities. |
| 7 | Rethink about the role of CPs in light of the drug crisis in the region: CPs are valued institutions to enhance the relations between communities and the police, reduce crime, and increase the accountability of the police toward communities. However, the recent developments in the region in terms of the spread of drug trafficking and the increased number of extra-judicial murders require to rethink the role of CPs in terms of their engagement in the fight against narcotics trafficking. While having CPs committed to the fight against drug crimes represents an important added value to conduct investigations, there is the concrete risk that CPs members can be directly or indirectly linked with drug trafficking. In light of this risk, it is recommendable to conduct a risk assessment about the implications of this hypothesis, verify potential mitigation actions and, based on this, rethink the role of CPs in the fight against drug crimes. |
1. Recommendation:
Integrated approach for handling insecurity and lack of social cohesion: Given the emergency context of Cox's Bazar, the evaluation recommends adopting an inclusive strategy targeting both state and non-state actors in fostering social cohesion and increase security. Indeed, the integrated approach promoted by UNDP within the C2RP program was successful in addressing the multi causality and the complexity of the current situation in Cox's Bazar which is the result of a mix of preexisting conditions, the refugee crisis, and narcotics trafficking.
Management Response: [Added: 2020/05/05] [Last Updated: 2020/05/05]
UNDP C2RP project was designed to support the host community for attaining a peaceful coexistence and social cohesion in the community and the approach of the programme was partly integrated. Given the success of the project, the management may consider the recommendation for future programming to ensure social cohesion.
Key Actions:
| Key Action | Responsible | DueDate | Status | Comments | Documents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ensure integrated programme approach for future intervention
[Added: 2020/05/05] [Last Updated: 2021/12/27] |
Governance cluster and CXB Crisis Response Office | 2022/12 | Initiated | The new multi-year project document is dratted keeping the approach which has the plan to implement over the period from 2022-25 provided resource is mobilised. History |
2. Recommendation:
Have a Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) plan in place right from the planning stage: M&E activities should be designed from the planning phase, to ensure that M&E activities are included in program work plans, appropriate baseline is provided, and data collected during the whole program cycle. An appropriate M&E system would contribute to (i) track progresses during the implementation phases, (ii) increase awareness among partners on achievements and weaknesses, (iii) provide UNDP program managers with the opportunity to timely plan appropriate solutions to unforeseen problems and difficulties.
Management Response: [Added: 2020/05/05] [Last Updated: 2020/05/05]
This is a general practice of UNDP of setting up a M&E plan in the programme to track the progress against indicators and baselines. Even though C2RP had an M&E plan, the plan was not implemented due to lack of M&E capacity at the initial stage. While progress monitoring was regularly conducted by project staff during implementation, it was inadequate, and UNDP successfully recruited an M&E Specialist to strengthen its capacity to ensure quality of monitoring of UNDP interventions in Cox’s Bazar.
Key Actions:
| Key Action | Responsible | DueDate | Status | Comments | Documents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ensure proper M&E plan with M&E dedicated capacity in place for new programme
[Added: 2020/05/05] [Last Updated: 2021/07/27] |
Project and M&E specialist | 2021/07 | Completed | The CXB Crisis Response Office has hired the M&E Specialist and he has been developing a proper M&E Plan to ensure quality monitoring for the community safety programme. History |
3. Recommendation:
Increase and continue monitoring of CPs and MFs: There is the need to continue and strengthen the monitoring of CPs and MFs to avoid distortion from original aims and infiltration of vetted interests. Oversight mechanisms can be implemented, in the long term, by local institutions, authorities and civil society organizations, but, given the complexity of the Cox's Bazar region, the presence of a third party, such as UNDP, will maximize the effectiveness and impartiality of the monitoring system in the medium and short term.
Management Response: [Added: 2020/05/05] [Last Updated: 2020/05/05]
The Community Policing Programme is designed by the Bangladesh Police and a strategy is also developed to implement the programme at district, Upazila, Union and Ward level. The purpose of the programme is to reduce crime for efficient community security in building a partnership between community members and the police. The CPF mechanism is established at all levels and actions are taken by the Bangladesh Police while UNDP supported this initiative. The C2RP project has assisted in activating the Community Policing Forums and ensured appropriate community participation in the mechanism for overall community security. Project level M&E activities existed but effective oversight mechanisms could not be established, which requires more time and resource. Under this short term programme, it was not possible, but UNDP will take appropriate steps to develop a comprehensive M&E mechanism for strengthening the capacity of the District Police to monitor the CPF mechanism. Similarly, the Mediators Forum has been established to resolve community-based petty crimes to enhance overall social cohesion, which also needs an oversight mechanism to ensure and strengthen the programme. UNDP will take action on it during the new program.
Key Actions:
| Key Action | Responsible | DueDate | Status | Comments | Documents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Develop a M&E mechanism for the Community Policing Programme
[Added: 2020/05/05] [Last Updated: 2021/12/27] |
Project and M&E specialist | 2022/12 | Not Initiated | Due to COVID-19, the development of a new project document is delayed. However, the new deadline for development of M&E mechanism is July 2022. History | |
| Develop an oversight mechanism for the Mediators Forum Programme
[Added: 2020/05/05] [Last Updated: 2021/12/27] |
Project and M&E specialist | 2022/12 | Not Initiated | The new multi-year programme is drafted which will consider this mechanism in CXB office. History |
4. Recommendation:
Continue the capacity building activities in favor of MFs and CPs: MFs and CPs are new organizations and their maturity level is far from being achieved. This requires continuous support to enforce their capacities, clarify their mandate and ensure full internalization of inputs, guidelines and capacity building activities. Continuous capacity building activities in favor of MFs can be realized also in collaboration with other local institutions (i.e. ensuring frequent meetings with the advisory committee of the Upazilla).
Management Response: [Added: 2020/05/05] [Last Updated: 2020/05/05]
The Bangladesh Police did not take any steps after formation of the Community Policing Forums and the forums was not formed under the guidelines and agreed strategy. The UNDP C2RP project has started to support this initiative since October 2018 and was able to cover only 6 Unions with the allocated resources. The project successfully activated the CPF’s and updated the forum incorporating new members. Many of the old forum members were dormant or not in the community any longer. The project contributed significantly to enhancing the capacity of the Forum Members through training and dissemination of all guidelines and strategies. It is true that more support is required to enforce the capacity of the CPF members and police to understand the mandate of the programme. It is a timely process to ensure full understanding of different roles and responsibilities to effectively ensure better community security and peaceful co-existence in the communities. Regarding Mediators Forums, which is also newly established, lots of support are needed to ensure that the mechanism is well understood and forum members can apply this for peaceful resolution of community conflict. However, UNDP will seriously consider these aspects when supporting both CPF and MF mechanism to contribute to social cohesion.
Key Actions:
| Key Action | Responsible | DueDate | Status | Comments | Documents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Develop a new programme to continue support for both CPFs and MFs
[Added: 2020/05/05] [Last Updated: 2021/07/27] |
Governance cluster and CXB Crisis Response Office | 2021/07 | Completed | The joint community safety programme and the peaceful district project have been supporting to continue support for the host CPF and the MFs through other projects in the CXB office. History |
5. Recommendation:
Continue the capacity building activities of policewomen deployed to Women and Children Desks: Given the high turnover of policewomen deployed to refugee camps, there is the need to ensure that capacity building activities continue over time and that all the deployed policewomen are capacitated.
Management Response: [Added: 2020/05/05] [Last Updated: 2020/05/05]
The C2RP project has supported the district police to enhance the capacity of the women police and established the women and children desk along with other logistics support for functionality of the desk. The project has regularly advocated with the responsible administration of the police to increase the number of women police at the camps. As a result, they have increased the women police who received several capacity building supports. UNDP will continue its support to enhance the capacity of women police deployed in the camps as well as Women and Children Desk. UNDP will also advocate for a system of overlapping in the replacement of women police in key positions, including a mentoring and shadowing program to be adopted by the Bangladesh police.
Key Actions:
| Key Action | Responsible | DueDate | Status | Comments | Documents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Develop need-based training module to enhance capacity of the women police deployed for the camps. Advocate for a policy change in the deployment of women police officers – linked with a pre-deployment training program.
[Added: 2020/05/05] [Last Updated: 2021/12/27] |
Project | 2022/12 | Initiated | The project has developed the module and provided training to the women armed police battalion forces who are now deployed in camps to address the women community security issues. History |
6. Recommendation:
Financial sustainability of participatory planning has to be guaranteed: Financial sustainability is not reached for participatory planning activities; indeed, funds are not secured for financing additional projects as proposed by community members. To continue program benefits beyond the end of the C2RP, it is necessary to secure funds for these activities so to avoid increasing tensions between local governments and their communities.
Management Response: [Added: 2020/05/05] [Last Updated: 2020/05/05]
UNDP agrees that financial sustainability of participatory planning needs to be guaranteed. It will be difficult at this stage as the communities need support for a certain period. This approach rather needs a funding security to run such programme which is also a strong demand from the communities. The evaluator has rightly mentioned that the programme should continue its benefits beyond the end of C2RP programme, as the programme has created a partnership with the communities and local government institutions to work together for overall social cohesion. However, UNDP would seriously consider this and design a new programme to support the initiatives.
Key Actions:
| Key Action | Responsible | DueDate | Status | Comments | Documents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Develop a new programme
[Added: 2020/05/05] [Last Updated: 2021/12/27] |
CXB Crisis Response Office | 2022/12 | Initiated | The new programme is designed on “Peaceful District Programme for CXB” and UNDP mobilised a seed fund of USD 300,000 and the multi-year new programme is drafted to implement over the next 3 years. History |
7. Recommendation:
Rethink about the role of CPs in light of the drug crisis in the region: CPs are valued institutions to enhance the relations between communities and the police, reduce crime, and increase the accountability of the police toward communities. However, the recent developments in the region in terms of the spread of drug trafficking and the increased number of extra-judicial murders require to rethink the role of CPs in terms of their engagement in the fight against narcotics trafficking. While having CPs committed to the fight against drug crimes represents an important added value to conduct investigations, there is the concrete risk that CPs members can be directly or indirectly linked with drug trafficking. In light of this risk, it is recommendable to conduct a risk assessment about the implications of this hypothesis, verify potential mitigation actions and, based on this, rethink the role of CPs in the fight against drug crimes.
Management Response: [Added: 2020/05/05] [Last Updated: 2020/05/05]
There is always the possibility that Community Policing Forum members (as individuals) are or becomes involved in crime. UNDP has ensured during the program that there is specific screening and selection criteria developed which is supported by the police and the forums. The ongoing risk management is a joint Community and Police responsibility which has been emphasized during all phases of implementation and training. If a follow up program is developed, UNDP will ensure that the specific issue of drug trafficking and the potential “high jacking” of Community Policing Forums by criminals is emphasized.
Key Actions:
| Key Action | Responsible | DueDate | Status | Comments | Documents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Develop specific criteria and action steps to ensure “clean from drug trafficker” community policing forums in high risk areas during the implementation of a new follow up Community Policing program
[Added: 2020/05/05] [Last Updated: 2021/12/27] |
CXB Crisis Response Office and Project | 2022/12 | Initiated | The district police administration has taken steps to revise the Community Policing Forum developing criteria to incorporate the potential community members. CXB office has also developed a ToR to support for the development of a mechanism for the camp communities to tackle the drug issues in camps. History |