- Evaluation Plan:
- 2018-2021, RBLAC
- Evaluation Type:
- Outcome
- Planned End Date:
- 04/2021
- Completion Date:
- 06/2021
- Status:
- Completed
- Management Response:
- No
- Evaluation Budget(US $):
- 50,000
Final Evaluation RP 2018-2021
| Document | Type | Language | Size | Status | Downloads |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 ToRs Evaluation RPD 2018-2021_FV.docx |
tor | English | 81.87 KB | Posted | 643 |
 Final_Report CEES_28Jun21.pdf |
report | English | 2165.30 KB | Posted | 720 |
| Title | Final Evaluation RP 2018-2021 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlas Project Number: | |||||||
| Evaluation Plan: | 2018-2021, RBLAC | ||||||
| Evaluation Type: | Outcome | ||||||
| Status: | Completed | ||||||
| Completion Date: | 06/2021 | ||||||
| Planned End Date: | 04/2021 | ||||||
| Management Response: | No | ||||||
| Focus Area: |
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| Corporate Outcome and Output (UNDP Strategic Plan 2018-2021) |
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| Evaluation Budget(US $): | 50,000 | ||||||
| Source of Funding: | UNDP sources to be determined | ||||||
| Evaluation Expenditure(US $): | 45,000 | ||||||
| Joint Programme: | No | ||||||
| Joint Evaluation: | No | ||||||
| Evaluation Team members: |
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| GEF Evaluation: | No | ||||||
| Key Stakeholders: | Donors, Country Offices, UN Agencies, National Governments, Civil Society, Academia, IGOs |
| Lessons | |
|---|---|
| 1. | The main lessons learned identified are the following:
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| Findings | |
| 1. | In general, we find the Regional Programme 2018-2021 (RP) allowed the articulation of projects, regional interventions, activities, and service plans, as well as joint efforts of COs around three outcomes that remain relevant for the region. This, enhanced by the new lines of action of the directorate (Productivity, Inclusion, and Resilience), promoted the reestablishment of the strategic position of UNDP in the region. However, the scope and potential of the RP can be further strengthened in terms of regional development and integrative solutions. This evaluation exercise had to consider the COVID-19 pandemic context, because some actions and programs related to the RP had to be adapted in 2020. In this regard, the RP was flexible enough in adapting and responding to country offices’ needs, especially with technical support and readjustments in the programs’ operation. As mentioned before, there is a strong perception that UNDP is reinstalling its position in the region over the last two years. The majority of external stakeholders agree about UNDP promoting the generation of data and evidence-based policies; and the technical capacity related to the Regional Programme activities is also highlighted. Most stakeholders reported a very good coordination with their UNDP counterpart (Regional Hub or projects personnel); but also, internal actors report moments of disconnection between NY Office and the Regional Hub. In terms of the RP rationale, the Theory of Change is clearly defined, identifying all the required elements (development challenges, problem pathways, solution pathways, RP Outputs, Desired change, Strategic Plan Outcomes, and related SDGs). Nevertheless, the vertical logic needs to be strengthened because there is a missing level between Outputs and Outcomes. Institutionally, the RP must be aligned to the Strategic Plan’s Outcomes, but the Outputs that are the RP responsibility do not necessarily contribute to those Outcomes; thus, an intermediate level of expected results is needed. In addition, current indicators do not allow measuring the real achievement in terms of results. However, this document highlights relevant actions and results that are in line with the outcomes and SDG achievement. Also, 71% of Output measurements reached their target, and there is a recognition of strong knowledge products and public goods that contribute to public policy in the region. A very high percentage of stakeholders (91.7%) consider that the knowledge and innovations generated informed policy making in their countries. Among this innovation some case studies were identified to highlight issues that can be further investigated across the Regional Programmes: SIGOB, DATACTION (InfoSegura), EWS partnerships, and the Gender cluster transversal work. In terms of the knowledge products, at least those related to the evaluation sample of projects are highly recognized by stakeholders as useful and/or innovative. In terms of sustainability of the results- perceived as partially sustainable- the main challenge is the changes in governments priorities, but stakeholders agree upon initiatives must be built with the national counterpart, and preferably since the planning and design stages. Moreover, the RP has contributed to leverage existing CO portfolios in the achievement of planned development results by offering complementary resources and tools, and by highly valued technical assistance. However, the alignment between RP’s actions and national plans is not completely clear; thus, with the information available we cannot confirm that the RP create synergies more than complementarities. Derived from the pandemic, for the next RP there are two stages to be considered: (1) COVID Shock recovery, and (2) Growth in Post-COVID era. In this context, the support that UNDP must bring to countries and the LAC region is knowledge, research, technical assistance, and interventions with focus on productivity. |
| Recommendations | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 1 |
In addition, related actions that could help achieve this narrative are the following:
One of the features of social protection systems by the beginning of this decade, was that they were originally conceived and designed to address structural poverty, justified by the need to level the playfield by enabling vulnerable groups for engaging in the medium and long term into the benefits of the increasingly prosperous environment that was prevailing across the region. However, the COVID-19 pandemic brought this process to a halt, and abruptly challenged both, the operation, and the design of social protection efforts across LAC. On the one hand, the crisis made it evident that it was not enough to aim at covering the structurally poor as before in a context where large sectors of the population that had advanced into the middle classes, suddenly returned to the ranks of the vulnerable and of those with incomes under what is needed to cover their basic needs. [1] These groups require temporary support through a short term protection network that cushions the immediate effects of the crisis, while simultaneously offering opportunities through ways out so that they can reincorporate into the productive activities that had improved their standard of living to pre-pandemic levels -that is, a platform that allows them to exit the social protection network and support system. This implies that the concept of social protection needs to be updated to become dynamic so that it can service the structurally poor while at the same time being able to address the needs of the transitory vulnerable that fall below the poverty line temporarily. In this context, some examples of discussion topics that the RP can promote are the following:
In this context, the PR can function as a broker of talent and knowledge- like a virtual Hub, in addition to the physical hub- that can help different countries. Some specific required activities are the following:
Coordination mechanisms are a complex challenge that, in general, can be promoted by the establishment of rules or coordination norms, or by means of incentives. In this case, the proposal is to explore the creation of joint indicators, considering the narrative and the lines of action described in Recommendation 1. The ideal is to align the incentives so that, on the one hand, the PR contributes to achieving the institutional goals of the RBLAC; and, on the other hand, that the actions of the RBLAC enrich the efforts of the PR.
Proposal of Matrix for Recommendation 16
[1] The economic contraction in LAC implied drastic declines in household incomes as well as a massive exit from the labor market for millions of workers in 2020. According to Acevedo et al. (2020), the number of poor in the region surged by an additional estimated 44 million, and even though part of the increase is expected to be transitory and fade away when the environment improves, the shock certainly modifies the dynamics observed in the past two decades. |
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| 2 |
In addition, related actions that could help achieve this narrative are the following:
One of the features of social protection systems by the beginning of this decade, was that they were originally conceived and designed to address structural poverty, justified by the need to level the playfield by enabling vulnerable groups for engaging in the medium and long term into the benefits of the increasingly prosperous environment that was prevailing across the region. However, the COVID-19 pandemic brought this process to a halt, and abruptly challenged both, the operation, and the design of social protection efforts across LAC. On the one hand, the crisis made it evident that it was not enough to aim at covering the structurally poor as before in a context where large sectors of the population that had advanced into the middle classes, suddenly returned to the ranks of the vulnerable and of those with incomes under what is needed to cover their basic needs. [1] These groups require temporary support through a short term protection network that cushions the immediate effects of the crisis, while simultaneously offering opportunities through ways out so that they can reincorporate into the productive activities that had improved their standard of living to pre-pandemic levels -that is, a platform that allows them to exit the social protection network and support system. This implies that the concept of social protection needs to be updated to become dynamic so that it can service the structurally poor while at the same time being able to address the needs of the transitory vulnerable that fall below the poverty line temporarily. In this context, some examples of discussion topics that the RP can promote are the following:
In this context, the PR can function as a broker of talent and knowledge- like a virtual Hub, in addition to the physical hub- that can help different countries. Some specific required activities are the following:
Coordination mechanisms are a complex challenge that, in general, can be promoted by the establishment of rules or coordination norms, or by means of incentives. In this case, the proposal is to explore the creation of joint indicators, considering the narrative and the lines of action described in Recommendation 1. The ideal is to align the incentives so that, on the one hand, the PR contributes to achieving the institutional goals of the RBLAC; and, on the other hand, that the actions of the RBLAC enrich the efforts of the PR.
Proposal of Matrix for Recommendation 16
[1] The economic contraction in LAC implied drastic declines in household incomes as well as a massive exit from the labor market for millions of workers in 2020. According to Acevedo et al. (2020), the number of poor in the region surged by an additional estimated 44 million, and even though part of the increase is expected to be transitory and fade away when the environment improves, the shock certainly modifies the dynamics observed in the past two decades. |
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