Evaluation Of Undp Contribution To Strengthening Local Governance

Strengthening local governance with a view to promoting democratic representation, establishing entitlements, and improving the provision of goods and services, can play a critical role in human development. The evaluation concludes that UNDP has not fully capitalized on its comparative advantage in strengthening local governance, and suggests that, in part, this relates to the absence, within UNDP, of a common understanding of and sufficient corporate guidance on strengthening local governance. While there are numerous examples of support to local governance that have been innovative and effective, other initiatives have had limited impact and some have tended to be ad hoc and isolated, rather than systematic and strategic. For UNDP to play a more effective role in strengthening local governance reforms, the evaluation recommends that it should more explicitly and effectively mainstream local governance into all programmatic focus areas by developing a coherent framework that is firmly grounded in the practice of human development. The evaluation also recommends that UNDP should strengthen its partnerships with its associated funds and programmes in order to enhance the effectiveness of its initiatives in local governance -- Publishers website.

Strengthening local governance with a view to promoting democratic representation, establishing entitlements, and improving the provision of goods and services, can play a critical role in human development. The evaluation concludes that UNDP has not fully capitalized on its comparative advantage in strengthening local governance, and suggests that, in part, this relates to the absence, within UNDP, of a common understanding of and sufficient corporate guidance on strengthening local governance. While there are numerous examples of support to local governance that have been innovative and effective, other initiatives have had limited impact and some have tended to be ad hoc and isolated, rather than systematic and strategic. For UNDP to play a more effective role in strengthening local governance reforms, the evaluation recommends that it should more explicitly and effectively mainstream local governance into all programmatic focus areas by developing a coherent framework that is firmly grounded in the practice of human development. The evaluation also recommends that UNDP should strengthen its partnerships with its associated funds and programmes in order to enhance the effectiveness of its initiatives in local governance -- Publisher's website.

"The evaluation examines contributions and strategic positioning of UNDP's support to the country's development under the current country programme 2007-2011. The evaluation found that UNDP has made important contributions. Most notably, it has been playing a lead role in supporting the Government coordinate aid in the country where approximately 70 percent of public investment comes from external sources. It has also helped the Government integrate poverty reduction into its national development plan, strengthen local governance, enhance the transparency of parliamentary debates, introduce an environmental assessment of foreign investments, put in place a national system for the clearance of unexploded ordinances, develop response capacities to natural disasters, and align its legal system to international treaties and conventions on human rights and the environment. The report points out that further effort would be needed for the benefit of UNDP's work to reach ordinary citizens: for example, the national development plan needs to be implemented in a truly pro-poor manner, the legal system must be strengthened to enforce treaty obligations, and strengthened local government capacity needs to be effectively utilized by channeling development funding through it. UNDP programme activities themselves need to be more pro-poor and gender-mainstreamed in substance"--Publisher's website.

This independent Assessment of Development Results in Lao PDR, conducted by the Evaluation Office of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), is part of a series of country-level evaluations. The evaluation examined the UNDP contribution to Lao PDR’s development from 2007 to 2010 and provides forward-looking recommendations that are useful for the formulation of the new UNDP country programme in Lao PDR.

This report on Honduras’s Assessment of Development Results (ADR) focuses on the following three thematic areas: fostering democratic governance; achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and reducing poverty under a human development perspective; and ensuring environmental sustainability. Reflecting on the characteristics of Honduras’s economic history, its current juncture and prospects, the ADR examined the past with a forward-looking perspective.

As countries take ownership of the development agenda, enhancing sustained abilities for countries to do things for themselves takes centre stage as a critical element of development effectiveness. UNDP's support to this nationally-driven process plays a critical role in enhancing its leadership role in capacity development. For UNDP, capacity development is the "how" of what it does and UNDP has put in extraordinary resources in its conceptualization and activities. UNDP has received international recognition for its lead role in the area. The model applied by UNDP is, however, largely a supply-driven model which is not bolstered by adequate organizational learning and incentive systems. The evaluation recommends that UNDP continue to enhance its lead role at the international level while developing and applying a model which is nationally driven, and seek to develop increased conceptual and managerial integration within the organization consistent with the objectives of the strategic plan. Of particular importance is rigor in engaging governments in all contexts in addressing the longer term requirements of capacity development -- Publisher's website.

"The evaluation examines the strategic relevance and positioning of UNDP support and its contributions to development results in Papua New Guinea from 2003 to 2011. The evaluation found that UNDP contributions have been important in terms of responding to national priorities and government needs. During the period covered by the evaluation, UNDP technical support to the government strengthened institutional development and enhanced policy formulation. Although some of the areas were not key government priorities, UNDP interventions in the areas of MDG planning and monitoring, governance, HIV and AIDS, conflict prevention and recovery, energy and environment and disaster risk management responded to key national needs and priorities. The evaluation also identified a number of areas in which UNDP needs to address specific challenges. These areas include ensuring national ownership and capacity development of all UNDP interventions, following a more systematic approach to programming and enhancing synergies among interventions. The Assessment recommends that UNDP should have a more holistic approach on macro development issues, such as furthering achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, gender equality, and environment"--Publisher's website.

This report presents the findings of the country-level evaluation, Assessment of Development Results (ADR), undertaken by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Evaluation Office in 2006. The ADR is an independent evaluation of UNDP's relevance and contribution to a country's development over a given period of time. The goal of the ADR is to generate lessons for strengthening country-level programming and to contribute to the organization's effectiveness.