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Partnership for Improving Prospects for Forcibly Displaced Persons and Host Communities (ILO/PROSPECTS) - Midterm cluster evaluation

eval_number:

3368

eval_url:

https://webapps.ilo.org/ievaldiscovery/eval/3368

lessons_learned:

themes:

theme:

Programme implementation

category:

Organizational issues

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comments:

The targeted users of this lesson learned are ILO, the PROSPECTS partners, the implementing partners as well as the respective governments and constituents.

challenges:

The underlying causes explained above resulted in several challenges such as delays in receiving information or receiving information conflicting, in identifying which institution to collaborate with, delays in the delivery of activities because institutions claimed to have a mandate over the issue, as well as duplication of efforts due to unclear institutional responsibilities. It also hampered the creation of effective and mutually supportive partnerships.

success:

It emerged from the interviews that addressing or mitigating these challenges can be facilitated by leveraging the networks of each PROSPECTS partner, by maintaining open communication with all parties, by remaining flexible, and adapting project activities or components. All these measures can serve as helpful workarounds. In the longer term, however, it may benefit to addressing the underlying causes.

context:

The issue of overlapping mandates among public institutions is a complex problem with multiple underlying causes. One of them is inconsistent government structures and conflicting legislation or interpretations thereof. This issue is also compounded by the fact that some areas are subject to federal prerogatives while in others regional executive and legislative bodies possess autonomy. Additionally, changes to legislation at the federal level often do not trickle down to regional levels, creating further cases of mandate overlap. Another contributing factor is the perceived necessity for federal and regional government structures to mirror each other. The absence of clear regulations and directives to implement No. 1263/2021 reportedly also contributes to overlapping mandates.

description:

Overlap of mandates of different government bodies at the federal and regional level can pose challenges in programme implementation. Partnering, engaging in effective communication, and staying agile in the project implementation can facilitate addressing these challenges. The mid-term evaluation found that in Ethiopia, the Partnership for Improving Prospects for Forcibly Displaced Persons and Host Communities project (ILO/PROSPECTS) faced difficulties due to overlapping mandates between different public institutions. This hindered the proper flow of information and led to delays in decision-making. The inconsistency of governmental structures at the federal and regional levels is a root cause of the problem. The structures, executive organs, and mandates of these bodies are established by the respective federal or regional legislators. Specifically, in the project's context, the Ministry of Labour and Skills is responsible for job creation at the federal level (Proclamation No. 1263/2021), whereas in the Somali region, there are two separate institutions, namely the Bureau of Labour and Social Affairs and the Regional Job Creation Commission. An example of an overlapping mandate is the support provided to job seekers transitioning to new jobs, which all three bodies attend to. Additionally, other institutions such as the Ethiopian Employers’ Federation or TVET agencies, which the ILO/PROSPECTS collaborates with, have similar mandates.

administrative_issues:

The lesson learned requires ILO to stay open to partnerships, engage in effective communication, and be agile in the project implementation. Finding solutions and compromises can require additional resources. Ex-ante legislative or stakeholder mappings may help to identify mandate overlap issues at early stages of the project’s design.

url:

https://webapps.ilo.org/ievaldiscovery/lessons/215868

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location:

country:

Inter-Regional

region:

Inter-Regional

---

eval_title:

Partnership for Improving Prospects for Forcibly Displaced Persons and Host Communities (ILO/PROSPECTS) - Midterm cluster evaluation