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Bringing Back Jobs Safely under the COVID-19 Crisis in the Philippines - Final evaluation

eval_number:

2289249

eval_url:

https://webapps.ilo.org/ievaldiscovery/eval/2289249

lessons_learned:

themes:

theme:

COVID-19

category:

COVID-19

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comments:

Many would be benefited by the adaptive management of the project. The PMU would have more opportunity to correct any of the shortcomings of the target outcomes and outputs in the design and re-direction of the project through working with partners with demonstrated capacity to deliver ToEs. This approach has been initially done on the SIYB and eventually adopted also for Financial Education and SCORE. WISE may have a different dynamics but throughout the four training programmes, the key was the continuous adaptive management in order to deliver the impact at the MSME beneficiary level, both quantiatively and qualitatively. Ultimately, end beneficiaries such as the target sector would feel more supported and prioritized if certain flexibilities on the procedural requirements are considered.

challenges:

Flexibility in the project management can sometimes be abused and mistaken to be inefficiency and inadequacy of relevance. Sometimes, when program direction changes regularly, confusion sets in as to its targets, goals and objectives which in turn sends a different messaging to the donor with regard to frugality and fiscal accountability. Some of the specific challenges met by the project were 1) lack of root cause analysis on the slow implementation and weak drive to problem solving during the course of 2022; 2) lack of experience in managing the market system development or ecosystem approach projects among the project staff; and 3) the challenge of managing training center construction in the context of stringent government scrutiny on foreign-donor donation.

success:

Flexibility in project management inspires more ownership of the process and of the results. It allows recalibration to align with the current circumstances and make interventions more responsive to the needs.

context:

Adaptive management is a key factor for successful project implementation, especially in dynamic and uncertain environments. Pandemic is a good example of uncertainty. Most often, projects that allow flexibility in management processes are usually successful. It is necessary that the goals and objectives of the project is not detached from the realities of the problems it intends to resolve.

description:

Following the nature of the pandemic, there is rapid change in the context and the volatility of the situation must be factored in on all aspects of the project. Exercising adaptive management in terms of finding more relevance during the implementation as well as in the procedural requirements is highly encouraged. Moreover, the flexibility to adopt a new design for the innovation hubs as prompted by the partner agency is a wise decision. The PMU has been supportive on how the trainers approached the roll out of the ToEs and ToBs – whether they utilize their own personal networks or do formal communication campaigns – is another manifestation of adaptive management. By mid-2023, the ToEs under SIYB did not move until there was a strategic shift to work with the regional/local partners with demonstrated capacity to replicate ToEs and reinforce the digitalization content of the training. Equally important is the need for flexibility to accommodate and support the informal sector in complying with the administrative and financial guidelines on reporting.

administrative_issues:

The rigidity of ILO guidelines and time-consuming internal approval process could run counter to the concept of flexibility in project management. There must be a good balance between being tied up in those guidelines as well as the donor preferences and the need or level of flexibility that can be exercised in a certain project. There must be an effort to find pragmatic ways to speed up the internal procedure and early identification and resolution of internal stagnation when it happens.

url:

https://webapps.ilo.org/ievaldiscovery/lessons/2289997

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location:

country:

Philippines

region:

Asia and the Pacific

---

eval_title:

Bringing Back Jobs Safely under the COVID-19 Crisis in the Philippines - Final evaluation