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Assessment of Development Results: Brazil
Commissioning Unit: Independent Evaluation Office
Evaluation Plan: 2009-2013
Evaluation Type: ICPE/ADR
Completion Date: 08/2011
Unit Responsible for providing Management Response: Brazil
Documents Related to overall Management Response:
 
1. Recommendation: UNDP should improve the quality and format of dialogue with the Brazilian Government. UNDP must review the bases for its dialogue with the Government in three main dimensions. In the first place, by establishing a joint thematic work agenda with its major partners, but one that also involves new partners and former partners that were important in the recent past. The changes that took place in the period assessed restricted the number of partners with which UNDP maintains political dialogue. New dialogue fronts must be created with the Government and other partners on thematic areas that reconcile topics of the UNDP mandate with the Brazilian development agenda. These thematic groups would lead to proposals for an agenda built upon actions that are induced and of interest to all the parties involved, reducing the role of dialogue based on reactive action. Although this type of dialogue is already a part of preparing UNDP programmatic documents like CPDs, which are extensively consulted with the Brazilian partners, it must go beyond defining topics and priorities for programmes. Thematic working groups in selected areas would make it possible to requalify the relationship between UNDP and the Government. The content of said agenda will be detailed in the following recommendation. In second place, but as a consequence of the previous point, UNDP must structure itself technically to show the Brazilian Government that it is capable of contributing to more than project management. Finally, investing in recovering the institutional memory of UNDP, by broadly publicizing a brief of its activities and contributions to Brazilian development, would also facilitate dialogue and help to rebuild the positive image of the organization.
Management Response: [Added: 2011/09/16] [Last Updated: 2012/09/20]

CO partially agrees with recommendation. CO is to engaging with new partners from civil society, private sector and government that are now emerging as relevant actors in policy scene. Rio +20 has been a great opportunity to reinforce the positive image of the organization both within the government and the civil society. The CO enjoys today good and trustful political relations with most of key government institution and in particular with Itamaraty and General Secretariat of the Presidency, and already has a solid partnership based on dialogue. In order to improve the quality and format of dialogue with Brazilian Government, the CO will: i) intensify its activities related to the production of reports/researches and studies (particular through its association with IPC-IG); ii) support technical and operationally the Brazilian Rio+20 commitments, in particular the construction of the Rio+ Center and the implementation of the initiatives such as the promotion of high level dialogue at national and international level; and iii) create opportunities for exchanges on policy advice and advocacy between UNDP and Brazilian high level authorities .

Key Actions:

Key Action Responsible DueDate Status Comments Documents
CO has involved new partners in political dialogue, particulary state owned entreprises like Petrobras, Furnas and private sector, in areas like MDG achievement, Rio +20 and Copa das Confederacoes. UNCT has currently 5 thematic groups: i.SSC, ii. Citizen Security,iii. Sports and Development, vi. Gender and Race and v. HIV-AIDS to requalify the relationship between UNDP and the Government.
[Added: 2013/03/18] [Last Updated: 2013/03/19] 		UNDP Brasil RR and coordinators No due date No deadline established
2. Recommendation: A new thematic agenda should be identified in coordination with the Brazilian Government. As a consequence of the aforementioned recommendation of building thematic working groups, UNDP will need to identify, together with the Brazilian Government, a new thematic agenda that allows the organization to continue contributing to the country?s development strategy. As discussed in Chapter 2, despite the substantive and accelerated evolution of the agenda there are still important elements to achieve in order to advance the human development agenda. One example is social inclusion, for although the degree of social inequality is decreasing it is nevertheless very high and the country has yet to eliminate extreme poverty. Regarding universal access to public policies, important challenges persist in the areas of sanitation and education, particularly regarding early childhood and secondary education and increasing quality overall. The decentralization policy in turn still faces considerable obstacles related to low qualification of the technical staff responsible for executing the various social policies at the municipal level. On the other hand, the national human rights and public security policies are just starting to be structured. As to tax adjustment, despite the progress observed, the agenda is at a standstill due to the incomplete and complex debate on tax reform. In the area of the environment, in addition to the general challenges posed by the global warming agenda, important challenges remain in topics like water pollution, where no progress was made. Finally, South-South cooperation will require greater institutionalization as well as criteria for two-way cooperation. This recommendation aims to reposition UNDP in the country?s development agenda, seeking to foresee, together with the Government, areas of governmental agenda in which UNDP might be able to add knowledge.
Management Response: [Added: 2011/09/16] [Last Updated: 2012/09/20]

CO agrees with recommendation.CO identified the thematic agenda in coordination with the Brazilian Government during the conception of the new CPD 2012-2015. The agenda has four themes: MDGs for All, Sustainable Development and Inclusive Production, Citizen Security and South-South Cooperation. Despite the fact that the CO had already been working some of these issues before, new challenges are now posed to the CO in order to deepen and enhance its knowledge as well as to bring to the discussion new approaches and aspects that had not been covered or fully covered before. Examples of these are the construction of innovative mechanisms for individual and voluntary carbon compensation, support to the National Truth Commission and the national plan on disaster prevention and recovery

Key Actions:

Key Action Responsible DueDate Status Comments Documents
New CPD 2012-2015 indentified a thematic agenda based on MDG, Sustaineble Development, Security and South South Cooperation.Regarding the decentralization policy, UNDP is working on a strategy to propose kits of local development,opening decentralized offices in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro in addition to the one in Bahia, and setting new partnerships to work at municipal level with BNDES and 3 Municipal associations (CNM, ANP, FNP).
[Added: 2013/03/18] [Last Updated: 2013/03/19] 		Brasil CO RR, DRR and Coordinators. 2015/01 Overdue-Initiated
3. Recommendation: Together with the Brazilian Government, UNDP should explore new forms of funding for its cooperation programme in Brazil. The Brazilian Government?s expectations for more substantive action by UNDP, manifested in the last CPD and in the interviews, are hindered by the per-project remuneration model that tends to overload the technical team and requires a relatively bulky project portfolio. In order for UNDP to upscale its knowledge contribution and substantive activities, it must seek, together with the Brazilian Government, new funding alternatives capable of releasing it from its current model, strongly focused on per project remuneration. New forms of funding like governmental budget grants are in the pipeline and expected to increase.
Management Response: [Added: 2011/09/16] [Last Updated: 2012/09/20]

CO agrees with recommendation.UNDP has set up a working group composed of program, procurement, finance, coordinators to find alternative forms of funding its cooperation. Some of the sources are private sector, private banks, state government enterprises. In 2012, Rio +20 was a very successful experience that counted with private funding from Vale, Banco do Brasil, Petrobrás, Banco do Nordeste. The great events like the World Cup and the Olympic Games are potential opportunities for UNDP to cooperate with Brazilian government both in organization of cities? logistics, social inclusion and the events? legacy. Further, the CO continues its efforts and dialogue with GoB to i) change national legislation in order to allow ISS changes to the national projects and ii) to build up a regular mechanism of financing the CO

Key Actions:

Key Action Responsible DueDate Status Comments Documents
CO has already explored new sources of funding from private sector, private banks and state government enterprises. In 2012, Rio +20 was a very successful experience that counted with private funding from Vale, Banco do Brasil, Petrobrás, Banco do Nordeste. The same is happening with Copa das Confederacoes with TERRACAP, a SOE from DF government. For 2014 World Cup, UNDP expects new forms of funding. In addition, tje International Poverty Center (IPC) is joining the CO as think tank. Finally, a new HDR Team was built to fullfil Brazilian Governments expectations for more substantive action by UNDP.
[Added: 2013/03/18] [Last Updated: 2013/03/19] 		RR, DRR, UNDP Coordinators 2015/01 Overdue-Initiated
4. Recommendation: The profile of the UNDP technical team should be gradually changed. Requalifying dialogue with the Government based on thematic groups and identifying new demands in the development agenda will require boosting the team?s technical capacity and investing in better strategic planning. Once new topics are identified UNDP must reinforce its team with consultants that are able to begin building a thematic portfolio based on the discussions with the Government. As progress is made in the thematic areas these consultants should be replaced by permanent staff members. The appointment of an adviser for strategic matters that can support the management team, currently overburdened by routine demands, is also recommended. Making better use of the consultants? database that already exists in UNDP may be helpful to this extent.
Management Response: [Added: 2011/09/16] [Last Updated: 2012/09/20]

CO does not fully agree with this recommendation. Efforts to change the profile of UNDP technical people have twice failed in the CO. Salaries and working conditions in many other institutions often play an unfair competition with UNDP. Further the CO believes that many of its staff - particular those that hold doctorate and master degrees - are well prepared and already make a substantive contribution. Yet, the CO understand that efforts must be done to enlarge their opportunities to learn and deliver. On the other hand, the CO can benefit from bringing experts in the new thematic areas, as well as on those areas where UNDP should deepen and expand its knowledge.

Key Actions:

Key Action Responsible DueDate Status Comments Documents
CO is hiring staff with good technical capacity to engage in dialogue, for themes like Human Development, Sustainable Development. However, salaries and working conditions are still an issue.
[Added: 2013/03/18] 		Brazil CO RR, DRR and coordinators 2015/01 Overdue-Initiated
5. Recommendation: Dialogue should be established with the national oversight institutions. UNDP must initiate dialogue, especially with the Brazilian Federal Court of Audit (TCU). One idea would be for the ABC to propose a joint study to TCU, the Office of the Federal Comptroller General (CGU) and the Government (Ministry of Planning) to identify the main legal and administrative obstacles for UNDP and examine possible solutions. Particularly important would be identifying legal alternatives to reconcile the provisions of Brazilian law with those of the UN conventions to which Brazil is signatory. Discussing with TCU and CGU, supported by the ABC, the possibility of reviewing its rulings (See Chapter 3) based on the experience accumulated after their enactment is also recomrecommended. Despite the decreased legal uncertainty brought on by standardization, gray areas and at times conflicting interpretations persist. It is particularly important to take into account the positioning of the audit institutions with regard to the transfer of funds to NGOs. One possibility would be sharing experience with oversight institutions in other countries with which UNDP is developing projects that might be relevant to Brazil, like Colombia and Chile. This recommendation aims to forestall new legal and administrative problems and improve project management.
Management Response: [Added: 2011/09/16] [Last Updated: 2013/03/18]

CO agrees with this recommendation.CGU held a workshop for projects at the end of 2011 to clarify the grey areas and present good practices for implementation of cooperation projects. It was an excellent opportunity also to hear from project the difficulties caused by legislation. Beginning in 2012, CO has approached ?Casa Civil? (has a coordinating role in the government) so that they could sponsor a discussion on the improvement of technical cooperation legislation.

Key Actions:

Key Action Responsible DueDate Status Comments Documents
Advocacy is being performed to forestall new legal and administrative problems.The CO is continuously working with TCU and CGU promoting joint training courses, political dialogue and projects. NIM audits were undertaken by CGU.
[Added: 2013/03/18] [Last Updated: 2013/03/19] 		Brazil CO RR, DRR and program coordinator 2014/01 Overdue-Initiated
6. Recommendation: UNDP should offer operational support more selectively, directing it to areas with less institutional capacity, and resume the function of contributing technically to selected projects. UNDP must make an effort to start contributing to substantive matters again, albeit in specific areas and topics, as well as to policies executed by governmental bodies with low institutionalism and reduced bureaucratic professionalization. This can be done by increasing the UNDP staff and its level of specialization. The main partners of the state modernization thematic area, for instance, must in the near future cease to be considered UNDP priorities, since their managerial and institutional capacity has already increased. Other segments of the Brazilian Government (in the environmental and social policy areas) and of the states and municipalities, where public policies are less institutionalized and not as well organized, will still be able to take advantage of the lessons learned in the state modernization area. UNDP support remains important in projects geared to federal public agencies with a lower degree of institutionalization and whose technical teams have yet to gain access to the professionalized civil service. As a result, returning to these ministries in the near future is recommended.
Management Response: [Added: 2011/09/16] [Last Updated: 2012/09/20]

CO partially agrees with the recommendation. UNDP is already selective in the operational support. Only when it is requested by the high level government officials ? Ministers or Vice Ministers logistical support is provided like in the case of Rio+20, with recognized success. Another example is the demand from the Secretary of Aviation to support urgent improvement of airport services for upcoming sports events. Main activity in NEX projects is the hiring of consultants. The approach to state and municipalities has been carefully implemented in the context of an MDG acceleration project in cooperation with the Presidency of the Republic. Lessons learned from recent past recommends a very gradual approach to local activities and that they should be held under the aegis of an sponsoring project.

Key Actions:

Key Action Responsible DueDate Status Comments Documents
UNDP is already selective in the operational support. It supports segments like social policy and environment that are less institucionalized.
[Added: 2013/03/18] [Last Updated: 2013/03/19] 		Brazil RR, DRR and coordinators 2015/01 Overdue-Initiated
7. Recommendation: Advocacy, dialogue and knowledge generation should be strengthened. Advocacy, one of the strong points of UNDP?s action in Brazil, can be strengthened by appointing a full-time advocacy professional to disseminate the UN human development values. The possibility of preparing the short-term Municipal Human Development Index may also give rise to new ways of using the index. The periodicity of the NHDRs should be reviewed to better align its topics to governmental interests. In addition, the Institute of Applied Economic Research, the main federal think tank, should be involved in preparing the NHDR as it did in 1998. Finally, advocacy can be used to make Brazilian society more aware of the importance of the support offered by Brazil to less developed countries while exercising the principle of solidarity among peoples.
Management Response: [Added: 2011/09/16] [Last Updated: 2012/09/20]

CO agrees with this recommendation.CO is currently preparing an NHDR in partnership with IPEA, the National Research Institute of Applied Economics, in order position itself as a knowledge organization and strengthens its position at the center of government. It also is partnering with Brazil Strategic Affairs Ministry on a very innovative initiative ?Vozes da Classe Média? to better understand the multiple nuances of the new middle class that was increased by 33 million people in the last couple of years. In addition the CO will be promoting, together with Brazilian General Secretary, a series of advocacy and technical assistance activities to promote de MDGs at the state and municipal levels. Knowledge kits are also being prepared for the areas of public security and for local human development with emphasizes on capacity development. Packaging SIGOB as a knowledge product is already being tried out in Brazil based on an umbrella project design prepared by the CO.

Key Actions:

Key Action Responsible DueDate Status Comments Documents
The new NHDR in partnership with IPEA, the National Research Institute of Applied Economics,will be published in 2013, so UNDP will be able to position itself as a knowledge organization and strengthens its position at the center of government.
[Added: 2013/03/18] [Last Updated: 2013/03/19] 		DRR, Program coordinator and NHDR coordinator 2013/12 Overdue-Initiated
8. Recommendation: UNDP should optimize its functional mix (advocacy, technical assistance, knowledge generation, policy dialogue and operational support) by taking advantage of the expertise that exists within. Several initiatives could be considered in this area. Two of them are described below. To begin with, it would be particularly important for UNDP Brazil, other UNDP offices in the countries with which Brazil keeps horizontal cooperation ties, and the ABC itself, to make use of the technical knowledge of UNDP in the different thematic areas that involve South- South cooperation. Through its partners network UNDP Brazil might be able to add knowledge to South-South projects, going beyond operational project management. Second, UNDP should encourage interagency partnerships, considering the specific areas of action of each UN system agency. In the areas of public security and human rights, for instance, these partnerships could be very significant, since other UN agencies like UN Women and UN Office on Drugs and Crime also work in similar areas.
Management Response: [Added: 2011/09/16] [Last Updated: 2013/03/18]

CO agrees with recommendation. CO has been doing horizontal cooperation with other UN offices, like in the case of Colombia with the Interagency program on Gender, Race and Ethnicity. Currently, UNDP participates in three interagency programs: Gender, Race and Ethnicity; Citizen Security and Food Security. Other examples of optimizing in house resources are in the areas of democratic governance, security, HIV/Aids environment where the CO have counted with the support and exchange of information with BDP, the Regional Service Center and other UN agencies.

Key Actions:

Key Action Responsible DueDate Status Comments Documents
UNDP has been doing horizontal cooperation with other agencies, for instance the post 2015 consultations has been coordinated with UNCT and each agency is taking responsibility for its area of action.Presently, there are 5 UNCT thematic groups: i.SSC, ii. Citizen Security,iii. Sports and Development, vi. Gender and Race and v. HIV-AIDS to requalify the relationship between UNDP and the Government.
[Added: 2013/03/18] [Last Updated: 2013/03/19] 		CO Brasil RR, DRR, Coordinatores and Officials. 2015/01 Overdue-Initiated
9. Recommendation: UNDP should adjust the operational rules. As a result of the above-discussed dialogue with governmental agencies, the organization needs to adjust its operational rules to optimize administrative processes and reduce the degree of uncertainty associated with certain types of contracting procedures. This review is expected to allow the partners to feel more secure in using the management instruments provided by UNDP and reduce the organization?s response time. In the context of this process and in compliance with the corporate rules, UNDP must promote the development of detailed manuals (for project management and procedures) prepared in coordination with all the other spheres involved to achieve a minimum consensus as to good management practices for this type of projects.
Management Response: [Added: 2011/09/16] [Last Updated: 2012/09/20]

CO partially agrees with this recommendation. The CO has made great effort to migrate to Atlas and adjust the operational rules since 2008. The few adaption to the norms and rule, that still remains, have been subject of dialogue with HQ in order to create the conditions for compliance or seek especial authorization to accommodate peculiarities of the country. The CO will continue its efforts to achieve to good management practices.

Key Actions:

Key Action Responsible DueDate Status Comments Documents
The CO has made great effort to migrate to Atlas and adjust the operational rules since 2008. The few adaption to the norms and rule, that still remains, have been subject of dialogue with HQ in order to create the conditions for compliance or seek especial authorization to accommodate peculiarities of the country.Two MCTs were undertaken in the past 2 years to improve business processes and adjust operation rules, both whithin the Office and in relation with SSC. The CO full scope audit in 2012 resulted with a Satisfactory qualification on operations.
[Added: 2013/03/18] [Last Updated: 2013/03/19] 		Finance, Procurement and CO Lawyer. No due date No deadline established
10. Recommendation: UNDP should acquire more knowledge and confer greater visibility on the network associated to the UNDP system. To enhance the usefulness of the organizational network linked to UNDP internationally, both UNDP Brazil and the Brazilian Government need to identify more precisely what knowledge might be added by these agents. International dialogue on different agendas needs to be intensified in Brazil by promoting visits by experts and organizing events on specific topics, among others. In the area of South-Couth cooperation, UNDP could provide more substantive support to the horizontal cooperation promoted by the Brazilian Government. Some changes need to be introduced in current procedures at headquarters level to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and experiences, reorienting the use of the extensive network of UNDP country offices.
Management Response: [Added: 2011/09/16] [Last Updated: 2012/09/20]

CO agrees with this recommendation. Brazil is internationally recognized as a success case in social inclusion and redemocratization and the CO receives demands to organize missions for different countries in the world, such as Egypt and Vietnam. A meeting of Social Development Ministers was held in May, 2012 and an international conference on Security Citizenship will be held in October. In 2013 there is already programmed UNDPs evaluation conference.

Key Actions:

Key Action Responsible DueDate Status Comments Documents
Brazil is internationally recognized as a success case in social inclusion and redemocratization and the CO receives demands to organize missions for different countries, such as Egypt (2012), Afghanistan and Senegal(2013).
[Added: 2013/03/18] [Last Updated: 2013/03/19] 		RR, DRR, Coordinators, Officials 2015/01 Overdue-Initiated
11. Recommendation: UNDP should improve operational processes. UNDP can also help to improve capacity among cooperation project managers. First, UNDP must contribute to the formal establishment of a network of cooperation project managers. This would allow them to be used in different projects through time and accumulate experience and technical capacity. Second, UNDP should insist on capacity building for cooperation project managers, among other things by offering specialized and detailed courses. Although the organization has offered distance courses in cooperation with CGU in the past, this topic probably remains a bottleneck for good project management. Third, UNDP might contribute to disseminating good management practices for ITC projects and offer awards for organizations and managers, in partnership with the ABC and the CGU. Reviewing the uses given to the planning instruments currently in place, particularly project documents, will be an important way of requalifying the operational and substantive contribution given by UNDP. Strictly speaking, it is highly desirable for both UNDP and the executing agency to give clearer detail of the targets and results pursued by the proposed projects. This does not mean that UNDP should invest in conducting outcome evaluations for all projects in which it plays an operational role, but it should help to ensure that evaluations are a routine part of project activities. Funding for these evaluations should either be included in the project budget or an effort should be made to count on the active contribution of other agencies participating in the project that conduct evaluation processes regularly (e.g., World Bank). A better preparation and follow-up of project documents could also help to reduce the often great longevity of projects. To conclude, UNDP must improve data organization and storage and update the information on its website constantly, as this is the port of entry for those who are interested in learning about UNDP activities in Brazil and its contribution to the country?s development. UNDP has made important contributions towards the attainment of development results in Brazil, which are presented in the following chapters. As Brazil works towards consolidating and reinforcing the results achieved, it shall also face new challenges. The recommendations made in this ADR point to the path to be followed by UNDP Brazil together with the Brazilian Government, so that the country may grow more equally, eliminate extreme poverty, and promote sustainable human development.
Management Response: [Added: 2011/09/16] [Last Updated: 2012/09/20]

CO agrees with this recommendation.UNDP set up CASPI (Internal Processes Simplification Committee) to streamline internal processes. Based on the survey results with staff, CASPI selected six priority processes to be simplified, namely: Project Monitoring (contracts monitoring, dealing with contractual problems), cost recovery, procurement (between $2,501 - $100,000), direct payment (non-PO payment), contracting national consultants (Individual Contracts), and recruitment under service contract. These processes were reengineered, saving time, costs and improving quality of services.

Key Actions:

Key Action Responsible DueDate Status Comments Documents
UNDP will continue streamlining processes in order to improve operational processes.
[Added: 2013/03/18] 		Finance, Procurement and Human Resources Coordinators. 2015/01 Overdue-Initiated

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