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Building national floors of social protection in Southern Africa - Final Evaluation
- eval_number:
- 2173
- eval_url:
- https://webapps.ilo.org/ievaldiscovery/eval/2173
- lessons_learned:
- themes:
- theme:
- Planning and programme design
- category:
- Organizational issues
- comments:
- Project staff, relevant stakeholders and donors
- challenges:
- Interviews with Irish Aid offices in the three concerned countries suggested that there had – in the past – been deficiencies in consultation either during the design process or during the course of early implementation. All three offices indicated that such problems had been substantially overcome during the course of the programme, and all agreed that they had been better consulted during the design process for the next phase – although some expressed anxiety that the concerns and issues they had raised might not be fully taken into account.
- success:
- It was the responsiveness, tact and proactivity of the two CTAs that had resulted in the improved communications. All three country offices, and Irish Aid in Limerick, were appreciative of the efforts taken by the CTAs to update them on progress and to involve them in key decisions. This was very positive, and resulted in strong informal personal relationships. The downside was that official systems were then sometimes lacking to substantiate the outcomes of these informal discussions. One example is the logical framework, where substantive changes were agreed after the mid-term evaluation, but were not reflected in a changed version of the logframe.
- context:
- While communication with national partners and stakeholders was good during the project design and implementation, issues did arise from the undocumented communications with Irish Aid, for example changes to the log frame.
- description:
- In terms of project design and project management, a lesson is that more formal mechanisms should be put in place to encourage structured (and documented) communication on a regular basis between national Irish Aid offices and regional projects (whilst this should in no way prejudice the current informal exchanges); and that there should be an explicit definition of the roles and responsibilities of the Irish Aid country office vis-à-vis any co-located regional project, and of the separate ILO departments involved in management.
- administrative_issues:
- Establish formal channels of communication between regional projects and all concerned national and head offices of the respective donor(s) to ensure coherence and avoid misapprehensions. At the same time, encourage project staff to maintain good personal relationships and appropriately regular communication with key individuals within these offices.
- url:
- https://webapps.ilo.org/ievaldiscovery/lessons/203403
- location:
- country:
- Malawi
- region:
- Africa
- country:
- Mozambique
- region:
- Africa
- country:
- Zambia
- region:
- Africa
- country:
- Africa - regional
- region:
- Africa
- eval_title:
- Building national floors of social protection in Southern Africa - Final Evaluation
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