Evaluation Detail

Lebanese Electoral Assistance Project

Evaluation Plan:: 2017-2022, Lebanon
Evaluation Type:: Project
Planned End Date:: 10/2018
Completion Date:: 12/2018
Status:: Completed
Management Response:: Yes
Evaluation Budget(US $):: 25,000

Document	Type	Language	Size	Status	Downloads
final-TOR for Independent Evaluation of UNDP LEAP revised 16 Aug 18-mm.pdf	tor	English	879.96 KB	Posted	1086
UNDP LEAP Final Report.pdf	report	English	4063.94 KB	Posted	1397

Title

Lebanese Electoral Assistance Project

Atlas Project Number:

00068060

Evaluation Plan:

2017-2022, Lebanon

Evaluation Type:

Project

Status:

Completed

Completion Date:

12/2018

Planned End Date:

10/2018

Management Response:

Yes

Focus Area:

1. Democratic Governance
2. Others

Corporate Outcome and Output (UNDP Strategic Plan 2018-2021)

1. Output 2.1. Parliaments, constitution making bodies and electoral institutions enabled to perform core functions for improved accountability, participation and representation, including for peaceful transitions

SDG Goal

Goal 16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
Goal 5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

SDG Target

16.7 Ensure responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels
5.5 Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life

Evaluation Budget(US $):

25,000

Source of Funding:

Project

Evaluation Expenditure(US $):

20,182

Joint Programme:

Joint Evaluation:

Evaluation Team members:

Name	Title	Email	Nationality

GEF Evaluation:

Key Stakeholders:

Ministry of Interior and EU

Countries:

LEBANON

Lessons
Findings
1.	4.1. RELEVANCE The relevance of the project both at the beginning of the tenure of the project and still today is considered to be very relevant. Given the complexity of the political situation and the lack of a permanent infrastructure to implement elections, the project was well placed to provide support to the electoral process and beyond. The emphasis on women, Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) was very relevant, although more could be done in the future to ensure that an aligned strategic approach is adopted to ensure higher level results. Furthermore, while youth did feature somewhat in the final phases of the project with a targeted youth voter education campaign in 2017, youth was not a predominant focus throughout the entire lifetime of the project. Human Rights should be an integral part of any electoral process and therefore needs to be at the heart of the project. Individual activities while warranted, cannot have an important impact on the entirety of the process, therefore an integrated approach towards these persons is needed. Tag: Relevance Women's Empowerment Election Human rights Disabilities Youth
2.	4.1.1. Gender inclusion, women’s equality and empowerment within the project As will be seen under effectiveness, the project did recognize the importance of gender and made concerted efforts to promote gender by adopting a number of activities centred around advocacy of a female quota as well as promoting female political participation in general under component five. The evaluation concludes that the project has positively contributed to a momentum whereby a number of actors involved in women´s representation are striving towards better political representation as well as the recognition of women´s role in the electoral process. Notwithstanding, while these efforts are genuine and important steps have been made, gender perspectives were not necessarily mainstreamed into the design and implementation of the project and was not an integral part of the project. In order to ensure gender is mainstreamed across the board a number of strategies need to be adopted, some of which will be highlighted further on in the report. Gender should be an integral part of any project in order to reap the optimum benefits, however the design of the project isolated gender under one key component/output and while not all together ignored in the other components, more could have been done to strengthen gender throughout the project. Tag: Gender Equality Gender Mainstreaming Election Programme/Project Design
3.	4.1.2. Sensitiveness of the project to the interests and rights of marginalized and vulnerable groups, particularly women and youth Lebanon is party to a number of key international instruments outlining the interest and rights of both women and youth. These of course include the Convention for the Elimination of All kind of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) (albeit with a number of reservations) and the Convention on the Political Rights of Women. In addition, the United Nations frames a number of their activities under Security Council Resolution (SCR) 1325 and the subsequent resolutions in women, peace and security, which inevitably call for heightened participation and inclusion of women in security, peace and stabilization efforts. Tag: Vulnerable Gender-Based Violence Election Human rights Parliament Communication Stabilization Disabilities Youth Data and Statistics
4.	4.1.4. The project´s contribution to higher-level results UNDAF Outcome 1: By 2014, good governance reforms and practices, with specific focus on national dialogue and inclusive participation, and government effectiveness and accountability, are institutionalized at different levels. The project started its life under the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF), which was established in 2010 and was originally envisaged to end in 2014 however it was extended until 2016. This was replaced by the United Nations Strategic Framework (UNSF) 2017-2020. Under the UNDAF, the premise of the project envisaged the achievement of output outcome 1.1. “By 2014, good governance reforms, with specific focus on national dialogue and inclusive participation, and government effectiveness and accountability are institutionalized at different levels.” Under the original UNDAF output, which was in line with the national priority to achieve “national reconciliation and adequate capacity to implement reforms, including increased participation and accountability”, a number of the sub outputs could also be referenced as being relevant to the project. (these included 1.1.1 and 1.1.4) Under Outcome 1.1., which referred to national reconciliation and peace building promoted through inclusive participation, it was envisaged that the electoral reform would be an inclusive process. However, although some civil society was consulted to look at the electoral reform, their participation in its formulation and approval was minimal and UNDP was unable to afford support due to the electoral reform being closed to the general public. Nonetheless, when the electoral reform was approved, the project was key in providing an overview of the law and trainings to a number of entities so that there would be a full understanding of the law, as well as posting it on the MOIM´s website. Tag: Gender Equality Women's Empowerment Civic Engagement Election Parliament Public administration reform Agenda 2030 SDG Integration
5.	4.2. EFFECTIVENESS The effectiveness of the project is considered to be satisfactory. The project is highly appreciated by the key beneficiaries and both the Project as well as UNDP are seen as a neutral and a relevant implementer of support. The work of the project is highly commendable and only warrants “satisfactory” due to the design of the project and the complexity of the environment it is working in. As will be reiterated below, the project´s original design was to serve as support to the electoral process, and it did not have a mandate to provide medium and longterm capacity. Nonetheless, given the political system and the set up of the “election management body” under the auspices of the MOIM, the project has been able to produce some long-term results and has impacted on the process in a positive and enduring manner. In order to measure effectiveness, the evaluation has examined the indicators established under the monitoring and evaluation framework and has triangulated this information with the data emanating from the key informant interviews, documentation from within the project and perceptions by the European Union Election Observation Mission and that of National Democratic Institute (NDI) as well as those conducted by the domestic observers. Tag: Coherence Effectiveness Election
6.	4.2.1. Challenges faced by the project The lifetime of the original LEAP project was originally set up to cover the parliamentary elections scheduled for the 16th June 2013 and the project was therefore due to close at the end of 2013. The original concept of the project was envisaged as electoral support rather than a capacity building project. The development of the ProDoc was the result of the NAM which had taken place in March 2012 which recommended that the “project period should be implemented from April/May 2012 until 31 December 2013.”34 The ProDoc cited that the project would span from October 2012 to December 2017. Nonetheless the ProDoc was not signed until December 2012 and activities did not really commence until the beginning of 2013. Despite these short delays, the project was up and running quite quickly after the signing of the document, and started working immediately on the task before them. Tag: Challenges Election Parliament Programme/Project Design Technical Support
7.	4.2.2. The project´s performance in the achievement of the intended outputs. In total, the project had five key outputs. Nonetheless, as can be seen with annexes IV and V, the types of activities envisaged differed according to the specific ProDoc. There have been three subsequent revisions of the ProDoc, while the revisions in 2016 and 2018/9 are quite similar with regards to activities the original ProDoc foresaw two scenarios:- Scenario One – envisaged there would be no significant change in the legal framework for elections in Lebanon and Scenario Two which envisaged the adoption of new electoral legislation introducing significant reforms to the electoral framework of Lebanon. The first revision was simply an extension of the original project document. In the Project Documents of 2012 and the subsequent revision, there were a total of 21 activities, in the second revision there were 18 and in the latest update there are 20 activities. All project documents had five components. They all followed more or less the same outline of components, nonetheless the description/name of the outputs varied from one project document to another. The first and second project documents were to cater for the holding of elections and therefore were more about the support to the process rather than strengthening or improving upon the capacity of the MOIM. Nonetheless, in the two subsequent revisions, activities were added, therefore the following descriptions of each output endeavours to conclude how effective each of the outputs were, including the full gamut of activities as described in the most recent project document (and as illustrated in annex IV and V) Annexes IV and V also outlines which outputs/activities have been achieved and what is still on track to be achieved. Tag: Effectiveness Women's Empowerment Election
8.	Outcome 1: Sustainable Capacity for the Management and Administration of Elections Developed The body which administers the elections has an important role to play, and is key in promoting a “genuine electoral process.” “The EMB should work transparently, efficiently and professionally and will be expected to supervise and administer the electoral process so that it is conducted fairly, impartially and in accordance with national laws and international standards for elections.” As can be seen from the table below, the original project document had eight activities under Component One and in 2015 an additional two activities were added to include the conduct of the provincial and parliamentary elections. The table below also illustrates that the majority of the activities in essence remained the same however the wording changed slightly in order to adapt to the context and the extent of the support provided in the particular area thus far, as well as reflecting a longer-term approach to the capacity provided with each subsequent revision. Nonetheless, while some of the activities built upon past efforts, the indicators and/or targets did not tend to change as frequently, and there were no indicators or targets at the level of the actual outcome of the particular component, which by and large remained the same. When examining the overall budget, we can see that 30 per cent of the budget was afforded to output 1,1. This is by far the most costly component, but is only natural as the majority of the technical assistance that was considered would more than likely be required for this component. According to the findings of the evaluation, seventy per cent of the ten activities envisaged under the final Project Document, were deemed achieved and twenty per cent were partially achieved. If we were to look at the overall output, despite 80 per cent of the activities being achieved, the capacity of the management and administration of elections in Lebanon is not yet totally sustainable. This at present is outside of the scope of the project, and has everything to do with the current context under which the project works. To this end the evaluation would deem this entire output only partially achieved. Prior to the 2018 elections, although there wasa commitment by the MoiM to ensure a credible electoral process, the efforts to build an elections team within the directorate and to recruit new civil servants in the respective departments has been made difficult in the face of political and administrative deadlock. At present there are only five persons under the DGAR, which have worked very closely with the project to ensure that activities were carried out, and had sought, the project was still able to provide support in key areas. The project supported the MOIM in a number of areas, and overall the elections were held to be credible by the national and international observers. They were particularly complimentary towards the work of the MOIM. To this end 70 per cent are deemed achieved the outcome desired. During the consultations for this particular evaluation, it would appear that the climate is definitely changing, and both the project informed the evaluation, and the evaluation was able to ascertain that MOIM would like to “continue to collaborate with LEAP in the future in many areas” in order to ensure sustainability. While sustainability is still sought, the project was still able to provide support in key areas. The project supported the MOIM in a number of areas, and overall the elections were held to be credible by the national and international observers. They were particularly complimentary towards the work of the MOIM. To this end 70 per cent are deemed achieved Tag: Efficiency Anti-corruption Election Parliament Data and Statistics
9.	Output1.1. – Support to official initiatives on electoral reform (2012- 2014) / analytical capacity for policy engagement on electoral issues. Under the original project document this output envisaged “the need to support official initiatives by the MOIM and other Lebanese actors to promote electoral reform, in particular through measures to support the passage of electoral legislation through Parliament. This particular activity is deemed as partially achieved under the original project document, as there was very little progress on the discussion of reforms, due to the postponement of the elections, and therefore discussions did not really commence until November 2014. The project did prepare a number of papers on electoral reform. This particular analysis was prepared as a “non-Paper” for sharing and had limited distribution. The fourth quarter of 2015 did see a breakthrough within the political deadlock and a parliamentary commission was established to discuss electoral reform, unfortunately the work of the committee was not shared with the public and therefore it was difficult to make an impact. Tag: Election Public administration reform Rule of law
10.	Output 1.2. Candidate Registration and Results Management System. This activity is deemed to be achieved. By 2015 the project had finalised the development of Results Management software in order to modernise the candidate registration and results management of the parliamentary elections. In 2015, subsequent to a holding a simulation workshop, the system was preliminary adopted by the DGPS. In 2016 a pilot project on a results system was held in the Province of Akkar; the system that was piloted was held to be successful and very efficient in producing results in a minimum amount of time. Nonetheless this was only used during the 2016 process and not the parliamentary elections in 2018. Tag: Capacity Building Technology
11.	1.3. Voter Information and External Relations OUTPUT 1.3.: This activity will result in reinforced capacity within the MOIM to engage with stakeholders (citizens, voters, media, civil society, observer groups, and political parties) on its electoral management responsibilities. Currently, the MOIM has limited capacities and has ad hoc structures for engaging with stakeholders through voter information, public awareness campaigns, social media, websites, civil society liaison, observer accreditation and outreach to political parties and media on electoral management duties. Project Document 2018/9 The project has undertaken a number of activities under this particular output, including the promotion of women´s participation in the electoral process. A number of successful voter education campaigns were launched in 2013 and 2014, although of course in the elections did not take place as scheduled. In 2015, in partnership with the National Commission for Lebanese Women (NCLW) a number of sessions were undertaken to support them to spread messages on awareness of empowering women. The project also supported women in Parliament to holding a national conference on the “temporary special measures to promote the political representation of women through electoral laws. In 2016, a number of activities included a number of campaigns to promote awareness of the elections including a specific target on women and persons with disabilities. In 2016, the project supported a campaign to encourage citizens to obtain an identification document. A number of other video spots as well as a number of brochures were also produced. Tag: Women's Empowerment Civic Engagement Parliament Communication
12.	1.4. Promoting and implementing Improvements to the electoral framework OUTPUT 1.4. This activity will result in strengthened capacity within MOIM to prepare, develop and deliver improvements to the electoral framework. Project Document 2018/9 Perhaps one of most important support to the integrity of the electoral process, came in the guise of the request by MoIM to produce a technical paper on the adoption of standardised ballots. The project developed a number of prototypes of standardised single ballots. This work was followed up in 2018 on a feasibility study on the production of pre-printed ballots and the associated technical specifications. 2017 saw the first even election to be held in Lebanon with pre-printed ballots. The use of pre-printed ballots is deemed to have contributed and improved upon the transparency of the process and the voter´s right to secrecy of the vote. To this end this output is deemed achieved. Tag: Anti-corruption Technical Support
13.	1.5. Electoral Officials Professional knowledge and awareness OUTPUT 1.5. This activity will result in enhanced knowledge and awareness by electoral officials of professional electoral management responsibilities through the development and delivery of appropriate targeted training programmes. Project Document 2018/9. The project undertook a number of activities to enhance the knowledge and awareness of electoral officials. This included a number of exchange visits, BRIDGE training (see under sustainability for more details), a number of manuals were produced for both elections, including training tools such as the polling manual and related elections law as well as training on the CRS/RMS system for the 2016 municipal elections. The very few interlocutors spoken to, commented that the training was useful and essential however for the 2018 elections given the complexity of the new system, they would have liked to have had more training. In general observers “positively assessed the administration of polling and noted that although counting was transparent, established procedures were not always followed.” 41 Furthermore, while the project supported the training of the key staff, MOIM was responsible for the cascade training. There were some reports that not everybody was trained. Notwithstanding, the evaluation concludes that this is achieved, although mechanisms to ensure a better follow through on the cascade training could be adapted for future processes. Tag: Communication Capacity Building
14.	1.6. Strengthen capacity for election operations OUTPUT 1.6. This activity will result in enhanced capacities for elections operations within the MOIM and affiliated agencies for all stages of the electoral cycle. Project Document 2018/9. The project supported a number of processes whereby they procured equipment for the operation room and also prepared an assessment of the main operational needs, estimated budgets and drafted timelines of implementation. The electoral calendar was established with the support of the project, and hangs proudly on the walls of the MOIM staff. In 2014 the project prepared technical specifications for the procurement of equipment such as ballot boxes and indelible ink. In 2018 elections the project supported the procurement and delivery of 1500 new ballot boxes as well as the 15,000 light carton polling booths and 15,000 polling official uniforms. While the quality of the items procured was good, there were some critiques of the sturdiness of the polling booths as well as the capacity of the ballot boxes. The inconsistency of the quality 42 of the booths was raised with the PSU and as there was no threat to the integrity of the process, the incident was recorded as a lessons learned for the PSU to ensure better quality control in the future. This particular objective is therefore considered achieved. Tag: Operational Efficiency Data and Statistics
15.	1.7. Access for persons with disabilities OUTPUT 1.7. This activity will result in increased access by persons with disabilities to access the electoral process through measures taken by MOIM. Project Document 2018/9. The project prepared a number of activities to improve the access of persons with disabilities to access the electoral process. This included a draft assessment of PWDs political rights and accessibility. In 2016 the project also produced a video on behalf of the MOIM that illustrated a proposal for a new voting procedure for the PWDs. In 2017 the project also produced a guide on political participation of PWDs in collaboration with the Lebanese Physical Handicapped Union (LPHU). The project also awarded a grant to LPHU to organise and conduct an assessment on the accessibility of ten pilot polling stations. Unfortunately during the 2018 elections, despite a number of promises by the MOIM to facilitate access, the requests made by the PWDs were largely ignored and the overall target of ensuring 50% of the polling stations being admissible to PWDs was not achieved. Tag: Communication Disabilities
16.	1.8. Lessons Learned OUTPUT 1.8. This activity will result in strengthened capacity of MOIM to undertake ongoing review of the role it plays in election management. Project Document 2018/9. After any election, a lessons-learned exercise is paramount to understanding the challenges and weaknesses of holding an election as well as highlighting what worked well. After the 2016 municipal elections a report on main achievement, challenges, and recommendations was drafted. A lessons learned report for the other outputs as well as the 2018 parliamentary elections are still to be finalised. To this end, this output is deemed to be partially achieved. Tag: Challenges Knowledge management
17.	1.9. Support to the Municipal Elections and to the Qaemaqams and Muhafaz OUTPUT 1.9. This activity will result in enhanced distribution of electoral materials in the electoral process. Project Document 2018/9. In 2016, the project afforded support to the municipal elections including the procurement of a number of items including laser jet printers, accreditation badges and well as a number of activities to ensure that preparedness and readiness of the governmental and local stakeholder to conduct the respective activities. In 2018, support was afforded to the Qaemagams and their staff on the electoral process specifically on the deployment of polling officials, dispatching and distribution of electoral materials. This output is deemed achieved. Tag: Election Local Governance Procurement
18.	1.10. Strengthened capacity to prepare for parliamentary elections OUTPUT 1.10 This activity will result in strengthened capacity of MOIM to undertake preparations for the parliamentary elections. Project Document 2018/9. While this output is a standalone output, many of the activities held under output one also contributed to an election, which was deemed to be credible and transparent by the international community, albeit with a relative low voter turnout of 49.68 per cent. This output is deemed achieved. Tag: Election Parliament
19.	Outcome 2: Capacity for the Supervision of Election Campaigns increased The Supervisory Commission for Elections (SCE) is established under the new electoral law and is mandated to monitor and be a regulatory body mandated to supervise the elections independently while remaining in coordination with the MoIM. Its main tasks are to supervise campaign finance and that of ensuring that the media comply with campaign regulations. Despite the independence of the commission being cited in the law, the commission remains “financially dependent on the government and has no powers to investigate, adjudicate or sanction breaches”. In almost all the observer reports, these weaknesses were highlighted and in some instances the SCE was not considered to have completely fulfilled its mandate. To this end the evaluation concludes that the overall outcome is only partially achieved. This component was awarded five per cent of the budget and under the 2012 and 2013/2014 project document, the output had five activities, but in 2015 only two and the latest project document it had three, the last one being a lessons learned exercise. When examining the latest project document, and its outputs, only one of the outputs is deemed to be achieved, the other two are considered only partially achieved. Tag: Election Oversight
20.	2.1. Capacity of the SCE for the monitoring of Elections increased OUTPUT 2.1. This activity will result in an increased institutional capacity for the establishment of a supervisory commission with responsibility for campaign supervision. Project Document 2018/9. LEAP lent support to establishing the SCE in late 2017 and early 2018, without which, it would have been impossible to set up “shop” and it would have not been able to have completed simple tasks. Due to the limited support 45 afforded to the SCE by the MOIM and the government in financial terms, the project ended up refurbishing and adapting a hired space from scratch in order to allow the SCE to function. Many, including the commission believed that technical assistance should have been afforded, although in the previous process in 2018, it might have been difficult to find the space. To this end, the overall conclusion for this particular component is that it was partially achieved. The SCE still need technical support, and the on-going electoral cycle should be taken advantage of in order to build this capacity. The project also afforded technical assistance in the guise of the electoral advisor as well as the CTA and in 2013 prepared a draft operational plan for the establishment of the SCEC. In 2017, the project provided a briefing toolkit for the 11 SCE members. The project also supported the training of the media monitors through the Maharat Foundation, although the morale of the staff was not optimal as many were not paid on time due to the lack of finances. Despite the training and the support of equipment, the MOIM also provided equipment but subsequent to the elections. This output is considered to be achieved. Tag: Communication Project and Programme management
21.	2.2. Strengthen capacity of SCE to perform its attributions OUTPUT 2.2. This activity will result in an improved regulatory and procedural framework for the supervision and monitoring of the election campaign, including campaign finance and media coverage, and the methodology for the undertaking of monitoring compliance with the regulatory framework. Project Document 2018/9. As reiterated above, the SCE was considered to be a weak institution, and all interlocutors agreed that the weakest part of the electoral process was the SCE. It is unclear as to the extent of the commitment of the MOIM in ensuring the smooth and efficient running of the SCE, and currently its future sustainability is in question as it is unclear who will be the new members and when they will be selected. The project did provide support in the guise of a number of workshops and drafting the weekly media monitoring reports. Nonetheless the support was not sufficient and the SCE was in dire need of technical support in almost all areas. The project was unable to provide such support due to the very tight timeframe the government had to set up the SCE and the fact that many of the LEAPs resources were taken up establishing the SCE physical infrastructure. To this end, this particular output is deemed to be partially achieved. Once the SCE is firmly established, the project should provide operational and legal assistance to ensure that the knowledge and procedures are built to ensure that it is an effective and sustainable institution for the future electoral process. Tag: Monitoring and Evaluation Oversight
22.	2.3. Support to the post-electoral SCE institutional capacity and lessons learned on elections monitoring and supervision. OUTPUT 2.3. This activity will result in a strengthened capacity to identify opportunities for improving the sustainable and effective supervision of election campaigns, and a continuous support of the SCE institutional capacity. Project Document 2018/9. Subsequent to the elections the project continued to provide advisory support and is at present (at the time of writing the report) is supporting the lessons learned process, which is still not finalised. This output is also deemed partially achieved. Tag: Monitoring and Evaluation Sustainability
23.	Outcome 3: Capacity for Voter Education and Public Participation Initiatives in Electoral Processes Built. This component accounted for seven per cent of the budget and there were two outputs under the 2015-2017 project document and three under 2018-2019. The evaluation deems 3.2 not achieved and the other two out puts to be achieved. Tag: Election Education
24.	3.1. Facilitate opportunities for voter education and information sharing OUTPUT 3.1. This activity will result in increased awareness of Lebanese stakeholders of electoral issues.Project Document 2018/9. The project afforded support to voter education throughout the duration of the project, this included the establishment of a number of technical groups in 2013 and 2014. In 2015 a number of sessions took place, which highlighted women´s political participation, electoral systems and temporary special measures. For the municipal elections, the project developed and produced a number of different radio, cinema and TV spots as well as billboards and the distribution of fliers. In 2017, it launched the voter registration update awareness campaign and designed a number of voter education campaigns in 2018:- these included the following:- • Voter Registration Public Awareness Campaign – developed on behalf of MoIM • Voter Education “Get out the Vote” Awareness Media Campaign – developed by UNDP • Voter Information Campaign – complementing the overall Voter Education Campaign developed by MoIM. All these campaigns were procured following the UNDP rules and regulations, in a competitive and open procurement process. From this perspective the selected contractors/firms were the best valuefor- money and in the last two cases, the procurement was processed by the UNDP CO Procurement Unit. While some of these campaigns commenced quite late in the process due to the electoral environment, they were deemed as successful and to this end 3.1 is achieved. Tag: Election Communication Procurement
25.	3.2. Provide inclusive and informed processes on changes to the electoral framework OUTPUT 3.2. This activity will result in an informed, inclusive and participatory process on the new reforms included in the new PR Law (44/2017) Project Document 2018/9. On the other hand, 3.2 which endeavored to ensure an inclusive and informed process on changes to the electoral framework are in place was not achieved. The project had made preparations to support civil society and other groups through a series of activities in the reform process, but this did not come to fruition as the process was closed and very little consultation was provided. Notwithstanding, the project did support a number of activities including a conference with the participation of the MoIM, parliamentary commission, all relevant CSOs and NGOs and donors on the electoral law/reforms. The project also developed and printed a compilation of the main 7 draft laws in English and Arabic. In 2017, the project supported the new electoral law 44/2017 being uploaded on the MOM website as well as its translation into English. A number of info sessions with students on the new law also took place as well as the development and printing of a guide on the provisions of the new law with a focus on women participation. For the elections the project developed and printed posters with instructions on how to vote, which were posted in all 6900 polling stations. Tag: Public administration reform Communication Civil Societies and NGOs
26.	3.3. Support Civic Education Initiatives to Improve Citizen Knowledge and Understanding OUTPUT 3.3. This activity will result in increased awareness on core civic education knowledge related to civic participation and democratic consolidation. Project Document 2018/9. This particular output enabled young and first time voters to receive relevant information on how to vote. This included a number of jingles and materials including videos, as well as 2 TV ads and 3 animation clips on social media on how to vote. While this output it deemed to be achieved, its actual impact is not yet ascertained, as it is unclear as to what impact this had on the youth and first time voting. Tag: Youth Communication Capacity Building
27.	Output 4: Capacity for the Resolution of Election Disputes Improved The fourth component accounts for approximately 3 per cent of the budget and envisioned the strengthened capacity for the resolution of electoral disputes for the elections. It originally based its vision on the “identified needs to build and support the capacity of the institutions with the mandate for resolving electoral disputes in Lebanon to perform their responsibilities in an effective, transparent and credible manner so as to build public confidence in the electoral process.”46 The original project document had three outputs, the second revision only had two and the latest project document had three outputs. The three project documents envisioned almost the same activities, with the final document adding another output on providing assistance to the CC during the post electoral period. All three outputs are considered as achieved, although the capacity of the CC may well need to be reviewed when the final results of the process come out (estimated to be January 2019) and a new CC is established. This particular output was deemed entirely successful and all activities were successfully carried out resulting in an evaluation stating that all of them had been achieved. The support afforded to the Constitutional Council not only enabled the Council to be more transparent, but allowed important historical decisions to be archived and become accessible to persons outside of the country by posting them online and ensuring translations into English and French. Tag: Efficiency Anti-corruption
28.	4.1. Support a transparent and accessible election dispute resolution mechanism OUPUT 4.1. This activity will result in increased transparency and accessibility for stakeholders to election dispute mechanisms. Project Document 2018/9. The project carried out a number of activities to increase the transparency of the EDR, including a report on its overview and needs as well as two publications on its role in the parliamentary elections. Furthermore it produced a number of guidebooks as well as a toolkit including a guide entitled “Complaints and challenges related to parliamentary elections 2018.” In total, 17 complaints were submitted to the CC, as opposed to 19in 2009. The adjudication of these complaints (2018) was still on-going at the writing of this report. Tag: Anti-corruption Parliament Communication
29.	4.2. Strengthen capacity for election dispute resolution OUTPUT 4.2. This activity will result in increased capacity of national judicial bodies to address election disputes in a professional, independent and transparent manner. Project Document 2018/9. While the CC claimed they did not require technical support in the traditional sense, the project supported the CC in a number of ways. This included the provision of essential IT and archiving equipment, and the development of a standardized management system as well as the official CC website with a decisions search engine and online resources. These efforts ensured a greater transparency of the process as well as efficiency of the recording of results, as well as supporting the translation of decisions into French and English and the transition of all the council’s decisions from 1994-2016 in two volumes which assured institutional memory and is line with international best practice. “The adjudication process can be undermined where there is a lack of public confidence in the independence and impartiality of the judiciary,”47 however this is not the case in Lebanon. Nonetheless, the expediency of the results from the ensuing complaints is still not in line with best practice, 48 which recommends that courts “have short deadlines for resolution of electoral complaints so candidates will not be disadvantaged by delays” and “Challenges to the election results are adjudicated before the final results are certified.”49 Tag: Anti-corruption Communication Technology
30.	4.3. Provide technical assistance and support to the CC during the postelectoral period. OUTPUT 4.3. This activity will address the expected need to support a comprehensive review of EDR processes, as well as identifying where reforms may be needed on the legal and regulatory framework for EDR in future elections. Project Document 2018/9. A Lessons learned workshop is yet to take place, and will not do so until after the issuing of the results of the complaints which are still being adjudicated. Tag: Rule of law Technical Support
31.	Outcome 5: Capacity for the Women´s participation and Representation in Elections Built. This particular component accounts for 5 per cent of the budget and is intended to strengthen capacity of national actors to improve the participation of women in elections. One of the key ambitions for the project was to promote and implement the use of a gender quota. “An increasing number of countries are currently introducing various types of quota, in fact half of the countries of the world today use some type of electoral quota for their parliament.” Despite the key efforts of the project, a quota for females was not established. Unfortunately the introduction of a quota system met some resistance, and despite the projects efforts to support the introduction of a quota, the new election law did not include a provision for a quota. As a result, during the 2018 parliamentary elections, only 6 women won an electoral seat (4.7%). Nonetheless, despite the low representation of seats, many more women did run for candidacy and therefore this particular output is considered partially achieved by the evaluation. Tag: Gender transformation Women's Empowerment Election Parliament
32.	5.1. Strengthen capacity for women´s participation in the electoral processes OUTPUT 5.1. This activity will result in strengthened capacity of national actors to improve the participation of women in elections .Project Document 2018/9. The project made a number of concerted efforts to promote and increase awareness of the participation of women in the electoral process. This included a number of trainings, infosessions and advocacy events, as well as the training of 23 candidates who ran for election in 2018.51 The project also produced a number of thematic guides informing women on how to vote and register as candidates as well as a number of brochures explaining the “Women´s quota in the Lebanese elections system”, and the “Participation of Lebanese Women in Political Life/Quota and TSEs).” While these efforts did not result in the approval of a quota, it did help contribute towards a new momentum whereby women are regrouping and rethinking their strategy on how to further promote women´s participation in the electoral process as well as examining ways of ensuring women´s effective participation in political life. A lessons learned workshop 52 took place in September 2018 with the key objectives of: Evaluating the parliamentary elections from a gender perspective and identify challenges, best practices and lessons learned; Exchanging views and visions on the electoral reforms among main stakeholders; and Provision of short term and long term recommendations to form part of the gender strategy for the next cycle Tag: Gender transformation Women's Empowerment Election Parliament Capacity Building
33.	4.2.3. Political or cultural context ´impact on the project As was reiterated above, the political context has obviously had a profound effect on delivery and the extended timeline of the project. Furthermore, while the project did its best to ensure that different scenarios were planned for, and the time in between elections was used to ensure better quality and more informed assistance, the short deadlines that the project had to work to, despite the long interval between the postponement of the elections and the actual election taking place, has meant that the overall timeliness and effectiveness of the electoral assistance provided was sometimes influenced by tight deadlines and stakeholders capacity and/or willingness to deliver on time. Furthermore, given the difficult political context, the cultural element and the complex electoral system, “parachuting in” of key consultants was not practical, and over the course of the yearsthe project tended to rely on the national expertise that has been built up over the course of the project. The experience, expertise and commitment by the national staff is a key point of its success, although there maybe a need to enhance some technical knowledge in more advanced technical electoral know-how for the future elections in order to keep up with technical progress and the latest innovative tools for election assistance. The cultural context, as reiterated above, also played a key role in the success of some of the outputs. Many of the outputs that are deemed only partially achieved, such as the participation of PWDs and women, are largely influenced by behaviour, which in turn can be connected to culture. This rings especially true when one considers the cultural barriers to promote and introduce a gender female quota. While many people supported the adoption of the quota; a number of key political figures/parties did not support the quota. This was due to cultural beliefs that are overwhelmingly influenced by the patriarchal set up of Lebanon. Tag: Impact Operational Efficiency Technical Support
34.	4.2.4. Mechanism of coordination with main stakeholders and donors The reputation of the project and the relationship it enjoys with the MoIM is at its strongest yet. In the first couple of years of the project, the relationship between the project and the MoIM was weaker and the project did not enjoy an exceptionally collaborative relationship. This was due in part to personalities, but also the actual political context of the time was even more uncertain, and this played a important role in the overall effectiveness of the project. While support was requested, there was very little interest in the project and its results during the period when there was no clear timeline for the elections. To this end, it was sometimes very difficult to plan ahead, due to the main counterparts reluctance to engage in such an´ uncertain environment. Notwithstanding, as the timelines became clearer and indications for an election to go ahead existed as well as a change in management of the project, the relationships between the key stakeholders and the project as well as the donors went from strength to strength. The ProDoc did establish a number of official mechanisms to coordinate between the main stakeholders, however as will be indicated under efficiency, a more informal approach to communication, identification of priorities and decisionmaking was carried out. The project met and continues to meet the MoIM on a daily basis who is satisfied “with the performance of the project and considers that they always carried out what was agreed upon.” Tag: Country Government Donor
35.	4.2.5. Establishment and maintenance of sustainable and efficient partnerships and cooperation The project enjoys a good reputation and is seen to be collaborative and flexible in their approach. The type of relationships enjoyed by the project can be categorized by those who the project directly affords technical assistance to, ie the MOIM, the Constitutional Council, the SCE and to a lesser extent some civil society organizations and other partners who have either benefitted from the project or a close collaboration has been set up in order to achieve common outcomes. When looking towards the latter, the United Nations places a “strong emphasis on joint assessments and collaborative programming and support by UN agencies with a view to catalysing joint efforts and maximizing the results and impact of UN support.” Such collaboration took place between the project and the parliamentary project that enjoyed “an excellent collaborative relationship” and undertook a number of events together including in the promotion of the participation of women. In the latter half of the project, the project established a collaborative relationship with the UNDO Social Stability project, as a number of synergies existed between the two projects. Nonetheless despite these synergies, the collaboration came too late to have any genuine impact on the process, and while some useful information was collated, the project was unable to use the information as envisaged and an opportunity between the two projects were not entirely galvanized upon. In 2017-2018 UNDP and UN Women signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to work together in the development and implementation of a women empowerment road-map for the 2018 parliamentary elections, it is hoped that this will open up room for future collaboration and ensuring that the expertise from both agencies is utilized to its fullest. Collaboration with otheUN agencies has been less evident but still very pertinent. Tag: Women's Empowerment Parliament Partnership Programme Synergy UN Agencies Technical Support
36.	4.3. EFFICIENCY The projects rating for efficiency is deemed highly satisfactory. The project has ensured a high level of technical assistance and support using the minimum of resources, and has tended to rely on national experts, which has contributed to its success and effectiveness. Despite the project not necessarily following the established framework in the ProDoc with respects to sharing of information, the project is highly regarded and many of the interlocutors consulted highly appreciate the projects efforts to keep them informed not only of the projects performance but updated on the situation in relation to the elections. Tag: Efficiency Technical Support
37.	4.3.1. Efficiency of terms of technical assistance and advisory support As reiterated above, the original project document envisaged electoral support rather than a capacity building programme. As the project was extended, the project was revised a number of times, however with an ever changing timetable and uncertainties in the political context as well as the current set up of the MoIM which currently implements the elections, long term assistance in the guise of sustainable capacity building has been difficult. The relationship with the MoIM has improved enormously, however the relationship has been strained in the past, particularly at the beginning of the project, whereby the project did not enjoy a particularly fluid relationship with its key interlocutors and therefore the projects ability to transfer knowledge and advice was particularly weak. Tag: Efficiency Human and Financial resources Partnership Programme Synergy Technical Support
38.	4.3.2. Project Expenses The project was originally funded by UNDP, USAID, the UK and the EU with a total of USD$ 5,343,340.53. Notwithstanding, the subsequent delays led to a number of no cost extensions both by USAID and the EU. The agreement for the UK was signed from 1 October 2012 and was finalized in December 2015. The USAID agreement extended from 1 September 2012 to the 31st March 2014. There were two no cost extensions, the first one signed on 29 August 2013 and the second one on 29 December 2013. With regards to the EU, who is evidently the largest donor, provided a number of payments under three different agreements. The first one illustrated was for USD 3,886,700.00, which underwent three no cost extensions signed on the 15 November, 2013, 22 December 2014 and on 13 December 2016 respectively in order to cover the costs of the elections being delayed. The EU contributed a second tranche of funds for USD2,455,902.31 with the agreement extending from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2017. Two no cost extensions were signed, the first one on 22 December 2014 and the second one on 13 December 2016. With the extension of the project beyond the municipal elections, both the EU and the USAID contributed more funds. The EU afforded a further US$3,382,775.00 under an agreement form 1st January 2018 to 31st December 2019 (The agreement was signed on 29th March 2019) and USAID a further USD$ 1,000,000.0 in an agreement signed on 2nd January 2018 which extends till 31 December 2019. The agreement was signed on the 23rd March 2018. In 2017 an agreement was also signed with UN Women. The initial agreement was signed on 5th October for USD100,000 and addendum to this amount was later agreed on 22 April 2018, resulting in USD$69,498.00. Tag: Efficiency Resource mobilization Partnership Bilateral partners UN Agencies Data and Statistics
39.	4.3.3. Project management The project document foresees a four pronged set up to oversee the management of the project. The first of these is the project Board/Basket Fund Steering Committee, which essentially has the “responsibility for providing oversight of the project management through consensus approval of project plans and revisions and offering guidance on management decisions when sought by the CTA.” The members of the Board include representatives of the UNDP Country Office, the primary project beneficiary (MOIM) and the CTA on behalf of the project. The original project document cites that the Board will be “held at regular intervals of at least every two months or as frequently as necessary.” The subsequent revisions of 2015-2017 and the present project document cited that regular meetings will follow “as frequent as considered by the board or when convened by the CTA.” In total, over a five year life span, there were only two project board meetings held. The last one was held in December 2017 which resulted in the board taking the decision to award a no cost extension to the EU funded projects in order to maintain the assistance to the MOIM for the organization of the elections. While such infrequent meetings are not normally best practice in UNDP projects, “large extensive meetings” according to one interlocutor would have been inefficient, and preference was given to having “regular, quick and “straight to the point meetings.” This type of a more informal setup was considered as far more effective by all the interlocutors consulted as the situation “changed often and abruptly (particularly between 2013-2015) and a formal board meeting would have been unable to capture the quick changes and decisions required in the complex political environment in which the project had to work”. Furthermore, in view of the sensitivities and volatility of the electoral context, a closed dialogue between all the key actors was considered more effective and efficient and allowed the project to aptly address the needs and the changing priorities of the electoral process. Tag: Monitoring and Evaluation Oversight Project and Programme management Coordination
40.	Project Coordination As well as the overall oversight of the project, a number of other coordination mechanisms were established in order to ensure the dissemination of the progress of results and to avoid duplication. In the original project document and the two subsequent revisions, a Technical Working Group (TWG) was envisaged to ensure that “coordination efforts brought all key actors in electoral assistance with the aim of sharing information and joint management of external risks that may impact on the effectiveness of the electoral assistance”. Such a forum provided the opportunity for the providers of electoral assistance, including donors and implementers to meet on a regular basis and to ensure effective coordination of their work. The TWG took place in 2013 and 2014. Subsequent to 2015, the format of the formal Electoral Forum changed and was not held until March 2018, which was led by the MOIM with the participation of the Ambassadors, UNSCOL and UNDP. Under the last revision of the project document, the project was cited as participating in a number of different coordination mechanisms with once again the same goal of sharing information and joint management of external risks that may impact on the effectiveness of the electoral assistance. This was achieved through a number of informal briefings and many of the international partners stated that they were well informed by the project of both the status of the progress of the project as well as the electoral cycle and any imminent obstacles to the holding of transparent and inclusive elections. Tag: Anti-corruption Election Communication Donor relations Oversight Partnership UN Agencies Coordination
41.	4.3.3. Project Monitoring System The project updated the monitoring and evaluation framework periodically and kept track of the progress of each of the outputs. The M & E framework was inherited from the original Prodoc and very little changes could be made to the original document, especially with regards to the indicators. The project did find innovative ways of tracking the project and endeavored to change some of the indicators in the last revision of the ProDoc. Notwithstanding, the M&E framework still suffers from a number of weaknesses, whereby only the outputs and activities are monitored for progress, and no qualitative or quantitative indicators have been established at the outcome level. As a result, although the majority of the indicators and their respective targets are achieved, these do not denote change or impact as a result of the intervention. Some of the assumptions of the log frame do not take into account a theory of change approach, 57 and do not promote the realisation of some of the interventions having an impact on the electoral process as well as the institutions targeted by the project. Tag: Impact Monitoring and Evaluation Theory of Change Capacity Building
42.	4.3.4. Management of Risks and development of alternatives options and contingency plans The project managed risks very effectively and due to the complexity of the political situation were always flexible and apt at managing changes to the timetable and prioritising key activities in line with the electoral calendar. As a result of the postponement of the elections, the project utilised the time effectively to develop new procedures and research into possible scenarios should they occur. The project produced a number of key papers and guidelines on important aspects of the process; one of the most important of these being the feasibility study on pre-printed ballots. The complexity of the political situation and the relative short timelines that the project had to produce quality and essential material to enable the electoral process to be as transparent and credible as possible, placed pressure on the day to day running of the project. Notwithstanding, the project had the ability to react quickly to urgent requests and was able to produce quality materials in the shortest time possible, including the development of a “get-out-the-vote” awareness campaign in less than one week. While this of course put pressure on the project and subjected them to work untimely hours, the impact on the overall process was minimal and the efficiency of the team to manage risks is rated as very high. Tag: Challenges Risk Management
43.	4.4. SUSTAINABILITY 4.4.1. SUSTAINABILITY OF THE BENEFITS REAPED TO DATE The issue of sustainability is a difficult one to gauge. Principally, the objective of the project established in 2012/2013 was to only offer short-term support to the electoral process, with the possibility of supporting more medium and long-term capacity for the future. The political impasse contributed to the project going from a short-term project to one, which has already spanned five years. To this end, the project was able to harness this opportunity and plan for a number of scenarios and attempting to transfer knowledge to the MOIM. This has been in the main part successful when examining the numbers of procedures that have been established and are now owned by the MOIM. There are still some difficulties with regards to the MOIM´s capacity in terms of permanent human resources and the former commitment to establishing a permanent EMB. This appears to be changing, and it is hoped for the next cycle of elections, the MOIM will be looking towards establishing a unit and would like to rely on the LEAP project to build the capacity within the institution. On the other hand, while 30 per cent of the project´s resources were dedicated to the development of the MOIM and lending them support, the SCE, which is still deemed to be very weak, still needs a lot of technical support in establishing procedures and standard operating procedures. Nonetheless, while the project can offer this support in the future, a commitment by the government to also support the institution needs to be there in order for the support to be sustainable. To this end, the evaluation considers that sustainability is moderately likely. Tag: Sustainability Human and Financial resources Policies & Procedures Technical Support
44.	Ownership and Transfer of Knowledge The ownership of the results most definitely lies with the MOIM. Despite the original raison d´ etre of the project being the support to the election management body, the postponement and the subsequent long delay has allowed the project to lend longer term support and has allowed the transfer of knowledge to a certain extent. This includes items such as developing the official elections calendar, which stands proudly behind the head of the DGPARs desk. A number of forms such as the candidate and list registration forms were developed as well as how to stamp Out of Country Votes (OCV) envelopes by wax seal. The project has also contributed to subsidiary legislation including directives, procedures and forms and templates during the 2018 elections. Tag: Parliament Communication Ownership Policies & Procedures Capacity Building
45.	Continuation of project At present the project is foreseen to end on 31st December 2019, funding is also deemed to finish then as well. The project has now undergone three major revisions, and while the majority of outputs capture the needs of the project, the projects focus does not entirely reflect a capacity building programme. As reiterated under relevance, the project is very pertinent, and this still holds true today, perhaps even more so, with a possible commitment by the MOIM to invest much needed resources for the future. While the start up of this particular project was pretty swift, there is always the risk with any new project that the initial phase takes a number of months to ensure that it is adequately staffed and project documents are duly signed. This, in practice, if a NAM is not requested in the next 12 months, could mean that the project could formally close down and would therefore be in danger of losing essential staff, which have been paramount in the success of the project, as well as missing an invaluable opportunity. There have already been discussions on electoral reform, and the women´s movement as well as NGOs representing PwDs have laid important foundations, which need continuation of support and renewed strategies. Nonetheless, they need to strike while the iron is hot. The evaluation was only able to speak to a selected number of international development partners, so the following remarks do not necessarily reflect a general overview of the opinion of the development partners. The majority of the DPs that were interviewed expressed an avid interest in the electoral process, but stated they were unsure how their capitals would contribute to the upcoming electoral cycle. Many of the implementing partners did not refer to an electoral cycle when looking at planning, and expressed the opinion that up until the next elections, the majority of the DPs would not be contributing to the process. Furthermore, the overall support would be lent to women and persons with disabilities (which are “an easier sale” to their capitals rather than building the capacity of the MOIM who have not yet got an established department for elections). Nonetheless, the EU, which has contributed the most to the project has expressed an interest in continuing to support the electoral process. The EU is an avid follower of the Electoral cycle approach (ECA). The ECA originally emanated from an approach adopted in the mid 1990’s, which saw many observation groups adopt what is known as “integral observation”; this was further developed by electoral specialists with extensive field experience from the European Commission (EC) and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA). 59 (See Annex III) In April 2006,60 the Electoral Cycle Approach was officially adopted by the European Commission and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) under the EC-UNDP Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of an Electoral Assistance Project. The shift from purely focusing on the electoral event to the electoral process has become an integral part of the approach of many donors supporting elections (both through technical assistance and observation) throughout the world. Tag: Women's Empowerment Election Parliament Partnership Civil Societies and NGOs Capacity Building
46.	Project document As reiterated above, in order to design a new project document, a NAM will need to be requested. The MOIM is very keen to continue support, so it is assumed that a request will come some time in 2019. Nonetheless, it is vital that the NAM is conducted as early as possible, to enable the project document to be written promptly so that there is not a gap between the two projects. It is worth repeating that the commitment and passion of the current staff has contributed to the success of the present project, therefore to loose essential staff while waiting on the design and the ultimate signing of a project document would indeed be unfortunate. Of course, in the worst of scenarios a no cost extension could be requested, but this should be the last resort and it is not highly recommended in this evaluation. Tag: Communication Programme/Project Design
47.	Staff training UNDP places importance on staff training, and project staff should be no less an exception. As has already been aforementioned, the commitment, expertise and passion of the staff has contributed to the positive results of the project. The fact that the majority of staff and experts were locals not only made the project more efficient but also equally as effective. Nonetheless, elections require technical know-how, and developments especially with regards to IT and new technology, is fast moving in the election world. To this end, in order to ensure that the project keeps up to speed with the latest developments, they too should be incorporated into different learning scenarios which will not only expand the staff´s capacity but will ensure even better effectiveness of the project and the electoral process generally. (This is particularly pertinent as presently the number of staff dedicated to the electoral process under the auspices of the MOIM are very few). Participation in seminars, workshops on specific themes are important, as well as possible exchanges with other UNDP election projects and observation of elections around the world. Possible workshops on voter education, to explore the latest techniques especially social media would be useful. Procurement, which is important in any electoral process, could also be useful whereby an exchange visit or training workshop on procurement could take place. Such a training or exchange could take place with the UNDP Procurement Support Office (PSO) based in Copenhagen. Other trainings could also include financial management on electoral projects, gender equality and a comparative study of other countries which have looked at passing gender quotas and/or women´s caucuses or have facilitated other measures to promote female participation in the electoral process. These are all issues, which are at the heart of the project, and learning new tools can only be beneficial to the project and ultimately the entity implementing the elections and the electoral process itself. Furthermore, as the MOIM leans more and more towards establishing a specialized unit on elections, some members of the project staff may well be the Election Management Body (EMB) of the future. Tag: Women's Empowerment Communication Human and Financial resources Capacity Building Technology Technical Support

Recommendations
1	Ensure the continuation of the project (under a guise of a new formulated project document) to consolidate the gains already achieved and to assist in medium and long term planning. Where possible a new Project Document should be designed instead of ensuring a no cost extension.
2	Staff as well as key persons from the key beneficiaries should receive specific trainings in the field of elections in order to be up to date with progress in technical capacities and training. These may include specific trainings in thematic areas, or exchange visits and/or conferences. The project would especially benefit from examining other countries and gender representation, the use of social media in communication and field visits to the Procurement Support Office (PSO) in Copenhagen
3	Youth which was largely absent from this particular project, should be integrated into a new project and ensure that it is mainstreamed across the components. Gender equality should be integral part of the next phase, and ensure that gender is mainstreamed across the whole of the project, ensuring adequate gender indicators are added for each of the components. The gains already achieved under gender and PwDs should be galvanized and a comprehensive strategy in line with other UN agencies and CSOs should be explored. Work should be divided amongst the different partners according to their expertise and to ensure added value and duplication avoided. In the formulation of a new document, sufficient focus and funds should support the building and sustaining of quality for both the SCE as well as civil society. The project document should be clear and precise with regards to the work and should separate the work between the entities ie MOIM, the SCE and civil society into different pillars, ensuring a streamlined approach which integrates them under one project, but also ensures enough separation in order to avoid confusion by each key beneficiary.
4	The M & E framework should be revitalized ensuring an independent expert in conjunction with the project designs a comprehensive framework with accompanying tools, relevant indicators and ensures gender sensitivity to each of the indicators. Indicators should be placed at all levels of the framework, output, outcome and impact. The last year of the project should ensure that all baseline data is collected so that it is fed into a new and revitalized M & E Framework. The project should consider using info graphics to depict the achievement of indicators and targets, and monthly meetings should be held in order to ensure that M & E is an integrated part of the project. Project should consider uploading all relevant data of the project to a portal which can be accessed easily by the MoIM, (the ACE project could be an example). Time allowing and interest apparent, the project should present an overview of the data available and its possible use for the future.

1. Recommendation:

Ensure the continuation of the project (under a guise of a new formulated project document) to consolidate the gains already achieved and to assist in medium and long term planning. Where possible a new Project Document should be designed instead of ensuring a no cost extension.

Management Response: [Added: 2018/12/21] [Last Updated: 2020/12/04]

Developing a new ProDoc to cover the next electoral cycle based on the areas of work highlighted during the evaluation

Key Actions:

Key Action	Responsible	DueDate	Status	Comments	Documents
1.1. Discussions launched with EAD/DPA about possibilities to go ahead, with potential NAM in 2019 1.2 Holding a Project Board to review achievements and agree on broad directions of new phase 1.3 Develop a new ProDoc in consultation with all stakeholders 1.4 Discussions launched with donors and stakeholders [Added: 2019/05/20] [Last Updated: 2020/12/20]	Project team and UNDP CO	2020/07	Completed	Based on NAM recommendations and extensive consultations with national and international stakeholders and a gender analysis, the ProDoc for the next electoral cycle 2020-2023, was developed and approved in Q3 of 2019

2. Recommendation:

Staff as well as key persons from the key beneficiaries should receive specific trainings in the field of elections in order to be up to date with progress in technical capacities and training. These may include specific trainings in thematic areas, or exchange visits and/or conferences. The project would especially benefit from examining other countries and gender representation, the use of social media in communication and field visits to the Procurement Support Office (PSO) in Copenhagen

Management Response: [Added: 2018/12/21] [Last Updated: 2020/12/04]

New PD will include specific actions to address the above recommendation. Part of the new project phase to cover the cost of those tranings

Key Actions:

Key Action	Responsible	DueDate	Status	Comments	Documents
2.1 Supporting the MOIM in identifying required institutional needs 2.2 Supporting the MOIM in drafting the TORs for identified functions [Added: 2019/05/20] [Last Updated: 2019/11/01]	Project Team	2019/11	Completed	Key actions are completed by the project team, as communicated by the Governance Programme Officer

3. Recommendation:

Youth which was largely absent from this particular project, should be integrated into a new project and ensure that it is mainstreamed across the components.
Gender equality should be integral part of the next phase, and ensure that gender is mainstreamed across the whole of the project, ensuring adequate gender indicators are added for each of the components.
The gains already achieved under gender and PwDs should be galvanized and a comprehensive strategy in line with other UN agencies and CSOs should be explored. Work should be divided amongst the different partners according to their expertise and to ensure added value and duplication avoided.
In the formulation of a new document, sufficient focus and funds should support the building and sustaining of quality for both the SCE as well as civil society. The project document should be clear and precise with regards to the work and should separate the work between the entities ie MOIM, the SCE and civil society into different pillars, ensuring a streamlined approach which integrates them under one project, but also ensures enough separation in order to avoid confusion by each key beneficiary.

Management Response: [Added: 2018/12/21] [Last Updated: 2020/12/04]

The new PD will take all the recomendations into account and propose actions to address them in the lifetime of the project

Key Actions:

Key Action	Responsible	DueDate	Status	Comments	Documents
5.1 Drafting the new Prodoc with Youth, Gender, and PWDs component and mainstreaming in all components a youth perspective [Added: 2019/05/20] [Last Updated: 2020/12/20]	Project team and UNDP CO	2020/07	Completed	The Prodoc for LEAP phase II includes four main components as follow: 1. Enhanced efficiency, transparency and inclusiveness of the electoral management and administration through improved institutional capacity and legislative reforms 2. Strengthened institutional capacity of the SCE to perform its mandate and attributions in a sustainable and independent manner 3. Effectiveness and transparency of the EDR mechanism enhanced through technical assistance to the Constitutional Council 4. Inclusiveness and participation of vulnerable and marginalized groups in the electoral processes enhanced Regarding gender, a gender analysis was conducted prior to developing the ProDoc

4. Recommendation:

The M & E framework should be revitalized ensuring an independent expert in conjunction with the project designs a comprehensive framework with accompanying tools, relevant indicators and ensures gender sensitivity to each of the indicators. Indicators should be placed at all levels of the framework, output, outcome and impact. The last year of the project should ensure that all baseline data is collected so that it is fed into a new and revitalized M & E Framework. The project should consider using info graphics to depict the achievement of indicators and targets, and monthly meetings should be held in order to ensure that M & E is an integrated part of the project. Project should consider uploading all relevant data of the project to a portal which can be accessed easily by the MoIM, (the ACE project could be an example). Time allowing and interest apparent, the project should present an overview of the data available and its possible use for the future.

Management Response: [Added: 2018/12/21] [Last Updated: 2020/12/04]

Resources will be dedicated to develop and implement a strong M&E framework

Key Actions:

Key Action	Responsible	DueDate	Status	Comments	Documents
8.1 Commission an external consultant (M&E Expert) to review and develop a new M&E framework and will integrate all evaluation recommendations [Added: 2019/05/20] [Last Updated: 2021/04/23]	Project and UNDP CO	2022/09	Initiated

Lebanese Electoral Assistance Project

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Management Response: [Added: 2018/12/21] [Last Updated: 2020/12/04]

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Management Response: [Added: 2018/12/21] [Last Updated: 2020/12/04]

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