- Evaluation Plan:
- 2018-2021, Independent Evaluation Office
- Evaluation Type:
- ICPE/ADR
- Planned End Date:
- 12/2020
- Completion Date:
- 12/2020
- Status:
- Completed
- Management Response:
- Yes
- Evaluation Budget(US $):
- 32,100
Independent Country Programme Evaluation: Jamaica
| Document | Type | Language | Size | Status | Downloads |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 TOR_ICPE Jamaica.pdf |
tor | English | 378.92 KB | Posted | 1749 |
| Annexes _ICPE Jamaica.pdf |
related-document | English | 708.92 KB | Posted | 1847 |
| Infographic_ICPE Jamaica.pdf |
related-document | English | 400.01 KB | Posted | 1814 |
| Video_ICPE Jamaica.pdf |
related-document | English | 97.13 KB | Posted | 1759 |
| Report_ ICPE Jamaica.pdf |
report | English | 1319.79 KB | Posted | 1933 |
| Title | Independent Country Programme Evaluation: Jamaica | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlas Project Number: | 106014,88096,99577,59298,110607,98622,72584,87974,76339,84069,76649,100137,67121,104739,89233 | ||||||||||||
| Evaluation Plan: | 2018-2021, Independent Evaluation Office | ||||||||||||
| Evaluation Type: | ICPE/ADR | ||||||||||||
| Status: | Completed | ||||||||||||
| Completion Date: | 12/2020 | ||||||||||||
| Planned End Date: | 12/2020 | ||||||||||||
| Management Response: | Yes | ||||||||||||
| Focus Area: |
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| Corporate Outcome and Output (UNDP Strategic Plan 2018-2021) |
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| SDG Target |
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| Evaluation Budget(US $): | 32,100 | ||||||||||||
| Source of Funding: | |||||||||||||
| Evaluation Expenditure(US $): | 32,100 | ||||||||||||
| Joint Programme: | No | ||||||||||||
| Joint Evaluation: | No | ||||||||||||
| Evaluation Team members: |
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| GEF Evaluation: | No | ||||||||||||
| Key Stakeholders: | |||||||||||||
| Countries: | JAMAICA |
| Lessons | |
|---|---|
| Findings |
| Recommendations | |
|---|---|
| 1 | UNDP should clearly define its multi-country approach and consider designing multi-country interventions to address common challenges faced by the countries covered by the MCO, such as vulnerability to climate change and natural disasters. This should be done with strong support from the Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean and tapping into similar experiences and lessons from other country offices and regions. Besides Jamaica, the MCO has only had minimal engagement in the other countries it covers, mainly due to limited funding and human resources. However, it will still be important for the MCO to define its role in a multi-country context, in order to, at least, avoid ad-hoc actions and bring clarity in terms of the resources needed and potential opportunities. The MCO should join forces with the Regional Bureau and other offices, and tap into the available pool of knowledge and expertise to study similar examples of other offices. This would allow it to see how other offices, especially other MCOs, handle similar challenges, including multi-country coverage and addressing thematic areas such as governance, citizen security and natural disaster vulnerabilities. This should include resource mobilization, project/programme design, seeking vertical trust funds such as the GEF and Green Climate Fund, government cost-sharing, partnership building including with the private sector, innovation and knowledge management, and South-South and triangular cooperation, which are crucial for UNDP country offices in middle-income countries. For instance, social-economic recovery is urgently needed, as is support from the international community for many Caribbean countries, especially small island developing states, due to heavy indebtedness, vulnerability to climate change, and high expenditure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.133 UNDP should consider its role in such recovery efforts together with other international partners. In terms of multi-country coverage, disaster risk management is an area which is critical to all countries in the MCO portfolio. The MCO helped The Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands to develop recovery plans after hurricanes in those countries. However, prevention, disaster preparedness and recovery planning are more effective when done prior to the natural disasters, to build resilience. Therefore, it is important for the MCO to seek ways to engage all the countries in its portfolio to do prevention, disaster preparedness and recovery planning exercises before the onset of natural disasters. Efforts should be made to advocate governments and development partners of these countries on the importance of these exercises, given their high vulnerabilities, and to seek possibilities for government cost-sharing and the establishment of a special recovery fund. |
| 2 | UNDP should re-think its aggregated comparative advantage, strategic role and engagement in Jamaica and other countries it serves in light of the MCO’s actual resource capacity, expertise and value added, particularly in the areas of human rights, gender equality and women’s empowerment, children and youth, and migration, taking into consideration the work of other UN agencies with specific mandates in these areas. Considering the MCO’s limited resources in general and the absence of funds for the other countries covered by the MCO in particular, the MCO needs to identify strategic areas of intervention where it can address key issues in the country context, and better capitalize on collective knowledge and lessons learned. It should also look to other agencies’ strengths and resource capabilities, instead of taking up limited-impact endeavours with limited prospects of up-scaling and buy-in, even if they are financially beneficial. Guided by the MSDF and the strategic priorities of the countries under its coverage, the MCO should forge stronger partnerships with the UN country team, exploring strategic alliances with UN agencies through joint programmes where relevant, and mobilizing global and regional policy networks to offer strategic technical expertise. It should also explore ways to engage the private sector in innovative partnerships, especially in high-income countries it covers, even if this implies foregoing financial contributions initially. UNDP should further cultivate strategic alliances with international financial institutions, such as the World Bank and the Caribbean Development Bank, in the areas of social protection, environment and anti-corruption (Jamaica ranks high among Caribbean countries in the Corruption Perception Index), and explore closer links with regional bodies such as CARICOM. On gender equality and women’s empowerment, UNDP should try to make better use of the expertise and infrastructure of other UN agencies, and partner with the World Bank and other development agencies to fill its own capacity gaps and develop more robust and innovative gender-sensitive policy interventions in areas of gender statistics, gender-based and sexual violence, rights of minorities, migration and political participation. This should be done while working to increase awareness and tackle harmful prevalent perceptions, to contribute to incremental changes towards increased gender equality |
| 3 | Recommendation 3: In the areas of environment, climate change and disaster risk management, where UNDP has managed to establish its positioning, the MCO should continue policy dialogue with government partners to consolidate its achievements. It should enhance collaboration with other UNDP offices in the region to develop regional or joint interventions. The MCO should look into existing resources for its work, and identify possible partnership opportunities. Advocacy and dialogue with government partners is important for UNDP to consolidate results achieved in Jamaica, and to strengthen its positioning and engagement in different sub-themes, such as climate change adaptation mechanisms, especially at the community level, the continued promotion of renewable energy and energy efficiency in public sector buildings, continued support to protected areas’ financial sustainability through the NCTFJ, and the advancement of other development minerals (e.g. marble, rare earth minerals, semi-precious stones). As countries in the region face similar environmental challenges, the MCO should enhance its collaboration with other UNDP offices in the region, considering joint interventions which could possibly bring greater effects, and look into existing resources in this regard. For instance, UNDP Barbados and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States worked in partnership with the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency and the International Federation of the Red Cross to support the integration of early warning systems best practices and tools at the regional level, with a tool kit (including multiple guidance instruments) available. This can be used for the MCO’s work in the same areas, and similar types of collaboration opportunities may be identified. |
| 4 | Given the strong technical capacities and national ownership of the Jamaican Government, and the MCO’s financial and human resource limitations, the MCO should add value by developing efficient and innovative models in localized settings, aiming to inform broader policies and plans. Downstream interventions should be designed with upstream policy work in mind to maximize the possibility of replication at the national level for greater impact. Considering UNDP’s limited funding in some areas (e.g. social protection, governance and poverty), as compared to the World Bank, USAID and the European Union, and the difficulty developing large-scale programmes with wide coverage and impacts, the most efficient way for UNDP to make meaningful contributions to development results in these areas and re-position itself as a strategic player is to model and pilot innovative and strategic solutions that can be taken up, replicated and scaled up by the government and development partners. Instead of being occupied with individual projects, UNDP should also strive to move towards a more integrated and holistic portfolio approach in areas that are aligned with national priorities and the MSDF, and where it has a comparative advantage, and mobilize resources through diverse partnerships. |
| 5 | The MCO needs to significantly improve the quality of strategic monitoring and evaluation and knowledge management. It should also consider carrying out an in-depth analysis of its business model, including structure and capacities, strategic value, feasibility and sustainability. UNDP should strengthen the results framework of the next country programme with measurable indicators that are coherent with the strategic results. The MCO M&E system should provide information that underpins decision-making and political dialogue between UNDP and its partners. Therefore, the MCO needs to strengthen its M&E beyond project/output level and focus more on outcome-level monitoring, as well as planning and conducting evaluations that are strategic in nature. This could include evaluations that address programme priorities, emerging areas and potential scale-up opportunities. In small country offices with scarce human and financial resources, such as the Jamaica MCO, the capacity for analysis, research and knowledge management is particularly valuable. Therefore, UNDP should develop a robust knowledge management strategy and link it with a vigorous communication and outreach strategy to transform successful results and knowledge into strategic learning and advocacy opportunities, increase the coverage and outreach of its work, facilitate more robust and versatile partnerships, and ensure stronger permeation and uptake of lessons, practices and know-how among different segments of society. This will facilitate replicating the models developed, attract funding, strengthen its positioning and yield more transformative results. The restructuring exercise certainly has pros and cons, and it is time to do a detailed assessment to ensure that the office structure can maximize efforts and enable the office to achieve its objectives. As DIM projects occupy the majority of the current country programme, the assessment should take this into account when assessing the financial and human resources required.
|
1. Recommendation:
UNDP should clearly define its multi-country approach and consider designing multi-country interventions to address common challenges faced by the countries covered by the MCO, such as vulnerability to climate change and natural disasters. This should be done with strong support from the Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean and tapping into similar experiences and lessons from other country offices and regions.
Besides Jamaica, the MCO has only had minimal engagement in the other countries it covers, mainly due to limited funding and human resources. However, it will still be important for the MCO to define its role in a multi-country context, in order to, at least, avoid ad-hoc actions and bring clarity in terms of the resources needed and potential opportunities.
The MCO should join forces with the Regional Bureau and other offices, and tap into the available pool of knowledge and expertise to study similar examples of other offices. This would allow it to see how other offices, especially other MCOs, handle similar challenges, including multi-country coverage and addressing thematic areas such as governance, citizen security and natural disaster vulnerabilities. This should include resource mobilization, project/programme design, seeking vertical trust funds such as the GEF and Green Climate Fund, government cost-sharing, partnership building including with the private sector, innovation and knowledge management, and South-South and triangular cooperation, which are crucial for UNDP country offices in middle-income countries. For instance, social-economic recovery is urgently needed, as is support from the international community for many Caribbean countries, especially small island developing states, due to heavy indebtedness, vulnerability to climate change, and high expenditure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.133 UNDP should consider its role in such recovery efforts together with other international partners. In terms of multi-country coverage, disaster risk management is an area which is critical to all countries in the MCO portfolio. The MCO helped The Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands to develop recovery plans after hurricanes in those countries. However, prevention, disaster preparedness and recovery planning are more effective when done prior to the natural disasters, to build resilience. Therefore, it is important for the MCO to seek ways to engage all the countries in its portfolio to do prevention, disaster preparedness and recovery planning exercises before the onset of natural disasters. Efforts should be made to advocate governments and development partners of these countries on the importance of these exercises, given their high vulnerabilities, and to seek possibilities for government cost-sharing and the establishment of a special recovery fund.
Management Response: [Added: 2021/07/13] [Last Updated: 2022/01/27]
Agree
Key Actions:
| Key Action | Responsible | DueDate | Status | Comments | Documents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Explore opportunities to mobilize funding for multi-country interventions
[Added: 2021/11/01] [Last Updated: 2022/11/02] |
Programmes Unit | 2026/06 | Initiated | To date, the MCO has been successful in mobilizing funding for The Bahamas directed at addressing Disaster Response and Mitigation and Social Resilience and Inclusion. Notably, a pipeline project is currently being developed for Bermuda. History | |
| Implement Resource Mobilization Strategy
[Added: 2021/11/01] [Last Updated: 2022/11/02] |
Senior Management CST/Regional Directorate | 2023/12 | Initiated | The MCO has been successful in receiving funding from non-traditional donors including the Government of India. The As outlined in the 2022-2026 CPD, targeted efforts will be directed piloting an Accelerator Lab in Jamaica during the current programme cycle. The Resource Mobilization will be updated in 2023. History | |
| Facilitate discussions with RBLAC to define the multi-country office approach/interventions to address challenges faced by countries covered by the MCO
[Added: 2021/11/01] |
Programmes Unit | 2021/09 | Completed |
2. Recommendation:
UNDP should re-think its aggregated comparative advantage, strategic role and engagement in Jamaica and other countries it serves in light of the MCO’s actual resource capacity, expertise and value added, particularly in the areas of human rights, gender equality and women’s empowerment, children and youth, and migration, taking into consideration the work of other UN agencies with specific mandates in these areas.
Considering the MCO’s limited resources in general and the absence of funds for the other countries covered by the MCO in particular, the MCO needs to identify strategic areas of intervention where it can address key issues in the country context, and better capitalize on collective knowledge and lessons learned. It should also look to other agencies’ strengths and resource capabilities, instead of taking up limited-impact endeavours with limited prospects of up-scaling and buy-in, even if they are financially beneficial. Guided by the MSDF and the strategic priorities of the countries under its coverage, the MCO should forge stronger partnerships with the UN country team, exploring strategic alliances with UN agencies through joint programmes where relevant, and mobilizing global and regional policy networks to offer strategic technical expertise. It should also explore ways to engage the private sector in innovative partnerships, especially in high-income countries it covers, even if this implies foregoing financial contributions initially. UNDP should further cultivate strategic alliances with international financial institutions, such as the World Bank and the Caribbean Development Bank, in the areas of social protection, environment and anti-corruption (Jamaica ranks high among Caribbean countries in the Corruption Perception Index), and explore closer links with regional bodies such as CARICOM.
On gender equality and women’s empowerment, UNDP should try to make better use of the expertise and infrastructure of other UN agencies, and partner with the World Bank and other development agencies to fill its own capacity gaps and develop more robust and innovative gender-sensitive policy interventions in areas of gender statistics, gender-based and sexual violence, rights of minorities, migration and political participation. This should be done while working to increase awareness and tackle harmful prevalent perceptions, to contribute to incremental changes towards increased gender equality
Management Response: [Added: 2021/07/13] [Last Updated: 2022/01/27]
Agree
Key Actions:
| Key Action | Responsible | DueDate | Status | Comments | Documents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Streamline programme offerings to ensure increased focus on the MCOs comparative advantage in line with capacity/expertise of the office
[Added: 2021/11/01] |
Programmes Unit | 2026/12 | Initiated | ||
| Alignment of priority areas of the 2022-2026 CPD with the MCOs comparative advantage
[Added: 2021/11/01] |
Programmes Unit | 2021/06 | Completed | ||
| In alignment with the Common Chapter and the new MSDF the MCO will explore opportunities for joint programming with other UN agencies in the areas of human rights, gender equality and women’s empowerment, youth development
[Added: 2021/11/01] |
Programmes Unit & Senior Management | 2021/06 | Completed |
3. Recommendation:
Recommendation 3: In the areas of environment, climate change and disaster risk management, where UNDP has managed to establish its positioning, the MCO should continue policy dialogue with government partners to consolidate its achievements. It should enhance collaboration with other UNDP offices in the region to develop regional or joint interventions. The MCO should look into existing resources for its work, and identify possible partnership opportunities.
Advocacy and dialogue with government partners is important for UNDP to consolidate results achieved in Jamaica, and to strengthen its positioning and engagement in different sub-themes, such as climate change adaptation mechanisms, especially at the community level, the continued promotion of renewable energy and energy efficiency in public sector buildings, continued support to protected areas’ financial sustainability through the NCTFJ, and the advancement of other development minerals (e.g. marble, rare earth minerals, semi-precious stones). As countries in the region face similar environmental challenges, the MCO should enhance its collaboration with other UNDP offices in the region, considering joint interventions which could possibly bring greater effects, and look into existing resources in this regard. For instance, UNDP Barbados and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States worked in partnership with the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency and the International Federation of the Red Cross to support the integration of early warning systems best practices and tools at the regional level, with a tool kit (including multiple guidance instruments) available. This can be used for the MCO’s work in the same areas, and similar types of collaboration opportunities may be identified.
Management Response: [Added: 2021/07/13] [Last Updated: 2022/01/27]
Agree
Key Actions:
| Key Action | Responsible | DueDate | Status | Comments | Documents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Continue dialogue with government and other partners to build on achievements
[Added: 2021/11/01] [Last Updated: 2022/11/02] |
Programmes Unit and Senior Management | 2026/01 | Initiated | Stakeholder engagement at the design and implementation stages of the project cycle is a key strategy utilized by the MCO for ensuring the alignment of the development assistance with the national development priorities. Notably, annually the MCO participates in at least two meetings with the government interlocutor Planning Institute of Jamaica to discuss implementation projects, address the implementation bottlenecks and to identify emerging areas of focus for the MCO. History | |
| Explore opportunities for non-traditional sources of funding
[Added: 2021/11/01] [Last Updated: 2022/01/26] |
Programmes Unit and Senior Management | 2022/12 | Initiated | The MCO has identified new potential sources of funding including the Government of India. History |
4. Recommendation:
Given the strong technical capacities and national ownership of the Jamaican Government, and the MCO’s financial and human resource limitations, the MCO should add value by developing efficient and innovative models in localized settings, aiming to inform broader policies and plans. Downstream interventions should be designed with upstream policy work in mind to maximize the possibility of replication at the national level for greater impact.
Considering UNDP’s limited funding in some areas (e.g. social protection, governance and poverty), as compared to the World Bank, USAID and the European Union, and the difficulty developing large-scale programmes with wide coverage and impacts, the most efficient way for UNDP to make meaningful contributions to development results in these areas and re-position itself as a strategic player is to model and pilot innovative and strategic solutions that can be taken up, replicated and scaled up by the government and development partners. Instead of being occupied with individual projects, UNDP should also strive to move towards a more integrated and holistic portfolio approach in areas that are aligned with national priorities and the MSDF, and where it has a comparative advantage, and mobilize resources through diverse partnerships.
Management Response: [Added: 2021/07/13] [Last Updated: 2022/01/27]
Agree
Key Actions:
| Key Action | Responsible | DueDate | Status | Comments | Documents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Work closely with local stakeholders (Community Based Organizations, Non-Governmental Organizations, Local authorities etc) to ensure the localization of national policy actions
[Added: 2021/11/01] [Last Updated: 2022/11/02] |
Programmes Unit | 2026/01 | Initiated | The MCO has directed attention at ensuring that projects are implemented at the community level. Notably, the Amplifying Youth Voices Project targeting safety and security issues at the community level has been successfully completed in 2022. Efforts are also ongoing to strengthen community groups and local leadership in disaster preparedness and response and sustainable environmental management practices. Additional efforts will be developed and tested throughout the new programme cycle History | |
| Continue to strengthen the policy and legislative framework of the government as required
[Added: 2021/11/01] [Last Updated: 2022/11/02] |
Programmes Unit | 2026/01 | Initiated | The MCO continues to work with the respective governments to strengthen the policy and legislative frameworks. Currently, the MCO providing technical assistance to the Government of Jamaica to facilitate the development of the National Transport Policy. History |
5. Recommendation:
The MCO needs to significantly improve the quality of strategic monitoring and evaluation and knowledge management. It should also consider carrying out an in-depth analysis of its business model, including structure and capacities, strategic value, feasibility and sustainability.
UNDP should strengthen the results framework of the next country programme with measurable indicators that are coherent with the strategic results. The MCO M&E system should provide information that underpins decision-making and political dialogue between UNDP and its partners. Therefore, the MCO needs to strengthen its M&E beyond project/output level and focus more on outcome-level monitoring, as well as planning and conducting evaluations that are strategic in nature. This could include evaluations that address programme priorities, emerging areas and potential scale-up opportunities. In small country offices with scarce human and financial resources, such as the Jamaica MCO, the capacity for analysis, research and knowledge management is particularly valuable. Therefore, UNDP should develop a robust knowledge management strategy and link it with a vigorous communication and outreach strategy to transform successful results and knowledge into strategic learning and advocacy opportunities, increase the coverage and outreach of its work, facilitate more robust and versatile partnerships, and ensure stronger permeation and uptake of lessons, practices and know-how among different segments of society. This will facilitate replicating the models developed, attract funding, strengthen its positioning and yield more transformative results.
The restructuring exercise certainly has pros and cons, and it is time to do a detailed assessment to ensure that the office structure can maximize efforts and enable the office to achieve its objectives. As DIM projects occupy the majority of the current country programme, the assessment should take this into account when assessing the financial and human resources required.
Management Response: [Added: 2021/07/13] [Last Updated: 2022/01/27]
Agree
Key Actions:
| Key Action | Responsible | DueDate | Status | Comments | Documents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Develop a knowledge management and communication strategy and action plan
[Added: 2021/11/01] [Last Updated: 2022/11/02] |
Monitoring & Evaluation and Communications Units | 2023/12 | Initiated | In order to improve its knowledge management, the MCO has embarked on digitalization project. This project has sought to sort records and publications to be donated, retained and disposed of in keeping with UNDP’s Record’s Management Policy. This process has provided an opportunity for the MCO to share publications highlighting the work of UNDP with the Jamaica National Library services and other key stakeholders. The MCO is in the process of reviewing UNDP's recently circulated knowledge management strategy to ensure the adoption of key tenets to the work of the MCO. History | |
| Conduct a business model analysis/functional review to determine the efficacy of the 2014 restructuring
[Added: 2021/11/01] [Last Updated: 2022/11/02] |
Senior Management | 2023/06 | Initiated | The MCO has made significant strides in capacitating both the Programmes and Operations teams. Notably, in 2021 a Programmes Specialist and Assistant Resident Representative were appointed. Additionally, the number of technical staff in both departments has increased, including the addition of a portfolio manager to provide oversight for social resilience and inclusion programmatic priority area which was identified as a gap in the previous programmatic cycle. History | |
| Conduct outcome level evaluations of priority areas of the 2022-2026 CPD
[Added: 2021/11/01] |
Monitoring & Evaluation Unit | 2024/12 | Not Initiated |