2. Objectives of the Country Review - UNDP

Sudan Country Review United Nations Development Programme
Evaluation Office
Foreword
Learning from what works and does not work is critical to improving
performance. The Sudan country review set out to review UNDP's experience
in Sudan during the recent past with a view to improving the organization's
positioning and role as a development partner to the Sudanese people. As
such, the Sudan country review looks at three areas in depth and provides
lessons and recommendations in each: 1) strategic positioning and
relevance; 2) programme performance; and 3) programme management, insofar
as it affected the first two. The resulting report is a frank assessment
of the recent past of UNDP's development assistance to Sudan. It holds a
number of important lessons for how the country office can reorient itself
to maximize its assistance and leverage progress made to date. It provides
lessons for national stakeholders, partners and beneficiaries in partnering
for results and building ownership. And it serves as a guide for UNDP
corporately in understanding what works, what does not work and why in
countries such as Sudan which face a complex mix of dynamic political,
humanitarian and development challenges. As the report surveys the past
five years with a forward-looking perspective, it is intended to help UNDP
and national stakeholders in Sudan to draft a new country programme for
Sudan that will set the framework for the next five years of assistance. A number of people helped to bring the Sudan review and its report to
fruition. First among these is Rajeev Pillay, General Partner, Abacus
International Management L.L.C., who led the review and is the chief author
of this report. Linda Maguire, of the UNDP Evaluation Office, served as
the task manager of the review as well as provided methodological support
for the earlier outcome evaluation from which this review draws selected
analysis. Two additional UNDP staff members provided invaluable thematic
expertise and organizational insights to this report. Bruno Lemarquis,
Assistant Resident Representative, UNDP Haiti, provided rural development
and programme management expertise, and Wandia Gichuru, Policy Advisor,
UNDP Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery, contributed her knowledge
of conflict prevention and peacebuilding issues. Finally, Hassan A. Abdel
Ati, Director of EDGE for Consultancy and Research in Sudan, served as an
important intermediary with Sudanese interlocutors and helped to ground the
review in the reality of the Sudanese context. This report would also not be possible without the assistance and support
of H.E. Dr. Karam Eldin Abdel Moula, Minister of International Cooperation,
who took a personal interest in the work of the review, organised a
stakeholders brainstorming session and provided valuable, supportive and
constructive comments. Last, but certainly not least, the report owes a debt of gratitude to Roger
Guarda, the UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, Anne-
Marie Cluckers and especially Mohammad Pournik of the UNDP office in Sudan
for their untiring efforts and the time they took to provide substantive
analysis and inputs to the work of the review.
[pic]
Khalid Malik
Director
UNDP Evaluation Office
Abbreviations
ADS/ARS Area Development and Area Rehabilitation Schemes
BCPR Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery (of UNDP)
CAP Consolidated Appeals Process
CCA Common Country Assessment
CBO Community-Based Organisation
CCF Country Cooperation Framework
CR Country Review
DEX Direct Execution
DFID Department for International Development (of the United
Kingdom)
EO Evaluation Office (of UNDP)
EU European Union
FAO Food and Agriculture Organisation
GEF Global Environment Fund
GOS Government of Sudan
IBRD International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (of
the World Bank)
IDA International Development Association (of the World Bank)
IUCN International Union for the Conservation of Nature
ILO International Labour Organisation
JMC Joint Military Commission
MIC Ministry of International Cooperation
MOF Ministry of Finance
NEX National Execution
NEX/MSU Management Support Unit for National Execution
NHDR National Human Development Report
NGO Non-governmental Organisation
RBAS Regional Bureau for Arab States (of UNDP)
TPR Tripartite Review
UNCDF United Nations Capital Development Fund
UNDESA United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs
UNDAF United Nations Development Assistance Framework
UNDAF United Nations Development Assistance Framework
UNDP United Nations Development Programme
UNESCO United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural
Organisation
UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
UNICEF United Nations Children's Fund
UNIDO United Nations Industrial Development Organisation
UNOPS United Nations Office of Project Services
UNSO United Nations Sudano-Sahelian Office (under the authority of the
UNDP Administrator)
USAID United States Agency for International Development
WFP World Food Programme
WHO World Health Organisation
I. Table of Contents
FOREWORD 2
Abbreviations 4
I. Table of Contents 5
II. Executive Summary 5 Programme Relevance and Strategic Positioning 7
Programme Performance 4
Programme Management 5
Coordination 6
Partnerships 9
Resource Mobilisation 9 III. Introduction 10 III.A Rationale for the Review 10
III.B The Methodology 10
Programme Relevance 10
Programme Performance 10 IV. Programme Relevance and Strategic Positioning 11 IV.A A Brief History of the Programme 11
Roots of the Programme 11
The Political Environment 12
Human Development Trends and Their Impact on the Programme 13
IV.B Recent Strategic Context 16
IV.C Thematic Focus and Positioning of the Programme 17
Programme Structure 17
Issues and Lessons Learned 17 V. Results and Programme Performance 18 V.A Programme Structure 18
Analysis of Programme Structure 18
Issues 19
Lessons Learned 20
V. B Participatory Area Development and Rehabilitation 21
Results 22
Issues 23
Lessons Learned 24
V.C Strategic Planning 25
Results 25
Issues 25
Lessons Learned 26
V. D Energy and the Environment 26
Results 26
Issues 27
Lessons Learned 28
V.E Service Areas 29
Results 29
Issues 29
Lessons Learned 29
V. F Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding 30
Results 31
Issues 31
Lessons Learned 33
V. G Coordination 34
The CCA and UNDAF 35 VI. Programme Management 36 VI. A Modalities of Execution and Implementation 36
National Execution 36
Other Execution Modalities 38
VI. B Partnerships 39
Non-Governmental Organisations 39
Bilateral Donors 39
The World Bank 40
VI.C resource mobilisation 39
VI.D Headquarters Support 41 VII. RECOMMENDATIONS 40
Annex I: SUMMARY OF PROJECT ANALYSIS
Annex II: TERMS OF REFERENCE
Annex III: Documents Consulted by the Mission
Annex IV: List of Persons Met II. Executive Summary This report of the Sudan Country Review covers the period from 1997 through
2001, although the geneses of some of the results studied-most notably with
those of the ADS/ARS[1] programme-date to the late 1980s. This executive
summary presents the key findings, lessons learned and recommendations of
the Country Review Mission in the three main areas of programme relevance
and strategic positioning, programme performance and programme management,
while also offering some analysis on the issues of coordination,
partnerships and resource mobilisation. Programme Relevance and Strategic Positioning 1. The structure and design of the First CCF did not reflect or address
issues associated with conflict or the endemic nature of natural
disasters in Sudan. Nevertheless, the ADS/ARS programme very directly
addressed some of the most fundamental issues associated with poverty
alleviation, gender in development and participatory development in
Sudan. 2. UNDP's programme in Sudan has been compartmentalized and its results
dispersed. A rationale exists for UNDP to develop a more coherent and
relevant country programme for the next cycle. Specifically, a window of
opportunity for peace has opened in Sudan's civil war and UNDP is
uniquely placed to bridge the gap from humanitarian assistance to
development. In the past year UNDP's nascent peacebuilding[2] activities
have shown considerable potential in terms of strategic positioning and
relevance. This area has also demonstrated potential in terms of resource
mobilization. 3. That said, UNDP does not yet appear to have