Summary of conclusions from the Programme Committee meeting on 8 September 2016

Transcription

1 Summary of conclusions from the Programme Committee meeting on 8 September 2016 Agenda: 1. Danish Arab Partnership Programme - DAPP (Presented by MENA) 2. Support to Combatting Corruption in Ukraine EU Programme (Presented by EUN) Participants: Nicolaj A. Hejberg (Department for Technical Quality Support - KFU) (Chair); Charlotte Slente (Center for Global Policy and Security); Pernille Mortensen, Jette Samuel Jeppesen, Kurt Mørck Jensen (Department for Middle East and Northern Africa); Uffe Balslev and Marie Pedersen Haug (Department for European Neighbourhood - EUN); Lotte Machon (Department for Development Policy and Financing - UPF); Stephan Schønemann (Department for Humanitarian Action, Migration and Civil Society - HMC); Nina Berg (Department for stabilization and Security Policy - SSP); Marianne Kress (Department for Security and Real Estate - SEK); Henriette Ellermann-Kingombe (Department for Multilateral Cooperation, Climate Change and Gender Equality - MKL); Marie Wibe (Department for Growth and Employment VBE); Lars Christian Oxe (Evaluation Department - EVAL); René Taus Hansen Torben Lindqvist and Silke Mason Westphal (Department for Technical Quality Support - KFU). 1. Danish Arab Partnership Programme - DAPP Prior to the Programme Committee meeting, the draft Concept Note was subject to a public consultation on the Danida transparency website. Comments were received from Danmission; Confederation of Danish Industry (DI); DIGNITY, DIHR, Euromed Rights, Middelhavsfonden for beskyttelse af HRD and Danmission (joint comments); the Danish Youth Council (DUF); EuroMed Rights; Danish Red Cross Youth; the Danish Family Planning Association; and MS/Action Aid Denmark. As an exception, MENA had requested to present a draft programme document to the Programme Committee instead of a concept note, which is usually the base for an earlier, more overall strategic discussion. As a preamble, the Chair explained that it had been agreed that KFU would work with MENA following the Programme Committee meeting to ensure meaningful quality assurance of the tender material, which should, among others, include a definition of expected outcomes. It was noted that there had been consultation with OKO on the tender procedures. 1

2 The Programme Committee appreciated the well written draft programme document and acknowledged the increased focus compared to previous phases, although the scope of the economic development area now included 2 more countries. The continued engagement in the fragile contexts of the region was appreciated. In terms of global and Danish development priorities, the documentation would benefit from showing more clearly how the programme relates to the SDGs (e.g. 5, 8 and 16) and Danish priority areas such as youth, migration and prevention of radicalisation, making more explicit reference to the new Danish strategy. In terms of synergies, the Committee suggested to describe more explicitly how the DAPP complements other types of Danish interventions (e.g. stabilisation, humanitarian, civil society, private sector involvement) and its role in a wider policy context including development, foreign and security policy, as well as between programme partners and thematic areas. Furthermore, the regional perspective should be brought out more clearly. Generalised observations from the Committee concerned the need to elaborate the Theory of Change (ToC) motivating the choice of thematic engagements and intervention areas, to formulate programme objectives in a form that describes the desired end stages of the programme, as well as to define the expected outcomes. The use of evaluations from previous phases was suggested to inform the further work with the ToC. It was pointed out that the description of the programme management and administrative setup needed to be further elaborated, clarifying the responsibilities and security status of the programme advisers and their role vis-à-vis programme partners. Roles and responsibilities of the strategic partners should be clarified, in relation to both funds management and the advisers and programme management structure. Responsibility for security of programme staff need to be spelt out more clearly, and it should be ensured that costs are included in the budget. Early consultation with SEK was suggested. The use of open tenders as chosen mechanism for identifying the strategic partners for programme implementation called for a more thorough discussion of previous experiences and possible constraints, e.g. how can aspects such as building of partnerships and dialogue be ensured in conditions determined by competitive tender processes? Considering the need for more detailed definition of programme outcomes and outputs, it was discussed to what extent adjustments would be possible subsequent to the signing of contracts. And more practically, could there be contractual obstacles related to the subsequent allocation of unallocated /contingency funds? It was pointed out that the timeline set for the tender posed a challenge to quality assurance processes. It was suggested to be more explicit on how the programme would handle the risk of corruption. 2

3 Several comments related to the quality of the public hearing responses, and MENA was encouraged to consider the received suggestions in the finalisation of the programme documentation. In response to the questions raised by the Programme Committee regarding synergies and complementarities, MENA/GPS put forward that an overall Danish Middle East policy would be a useful framework to provide orientation and coherence to the different types of intervention in the region. In the absence of this, trying to capture the entire spectrum in each individual case could bear the risk of compromising on focus. Concerning the programme management responsibility it was clarified that MENA has the overall responsibility for the programme, while the contracted partners are responsible for implementation of engagements. It was acknowledged that the ToC was currently described at the meta-level only, but that it would be elaborated more in detail once the partners were identified. Regarding the comment on absence of outcomes in the draft document, it was explained that these were usually defined together with the partners. In the case of an international tender, however, who would be the partners could only be known at the end of the tender process. However, it was also acknowledged that defined outcomes were required for the tender material. Following a discussion on the way forward and KFUs possibilities to assist MENA at this stage, it was agreed to continue the dialogue on the best way forward for programme formulation. The Chair informed that more detailed comments from KFU would be forwarded to MENA after the PC meeting and encouraged other departments to forward possible written comments. The following key conclusions will be included in the standard one-page briefing paper to the minister: The increased focus of the programme compared to previous phases was appreciated. The documentation should more explicitly show how the programme relates to the SDGs and Danish priority areas such as youth, migration and prevention of radicalisation, as well as to Danish humanitarian interventions and wider foreign and security policies towards the region. The description of programme management and administrative set-up should be strengthened, including the responsibilities and security status of the programme advisers and their role vis-à-vis programme partners. The Theory of Change of the programme, objectives and results at outcome level should be further developed before launching the tender. KFU will assist MENA in order to ensure adequate quality assurance of the tender material. 3

4 2. Support to Combatting Corruption in Ukraine EU Programme Prior to the Programme Committee meeting, the draft Concept Note was subject to a public consultation on the Danida transparency website. Comments were received from: Danish Institute for Human Rights. The Programme Committee commended EUN on achieving the lead role on the anticorruption programme with EU finance. The programme was considered of high political interest, which probably would imply that much attention would be paid to its performance. This should be seen as a positive challenge, one should, however, also be aware of the high reputational risk involved. The Concept Note was found to be well written. The Programme Committee commented on the complexity of the programme with many actors involved, but also positively noted that the programme seemed to be well connected with civil society in the country. It was suggested that working with youth and youth organisations on anti-corruption could be a relevant angle seen in the perspective of the new Danish priorities. It was remarked that the programme was ambitious considering the difficult national context for working with anti-corruption. As a capacity building programme it could contribute to solve technical constraints, whereas the binding constraints in Ukraine in reality may go beyond that. It therefore had to be recognised that a time horizon of 3-4 years is relatively short to address the entire sequence of changes required to achieve the desired impact. The results framework was generally found good. However, experience from evaluations shows that the impact of capacity building can be difficult to document. Therefore it is important to be very clear on what kind of changes are envisaged from the outset. It was suggested to think of qualitative indicators in addition to the quantitative ones. Establishment of a baseline would greatly help evaluability of the programme 4 years down the line. Comments regarding programme M&E included that monitoring should be clearly included in the TOR for programme management. Moreover, the lines between responsibility for implementation and for evaluation needed to be very clear, which was confirmed by EUN. A question concerning the cooperation with the EU concerned the extent to which the programme could be influenced by Denmark, considering that it had been designed by the EU before Denmark was chosen as implementing partner. This would be possible through the implementation approach, for instance, by working with a long-term perspective and the strategic focus on working with youth. More detailed comments from KFU would be forwarded to EUN after the PC meeting. The Chair summarised the following key conclusions that will be included in the standard onepage briefing paper to the minister: 4

5 The anti-corruption programme in Ukraine addresses an important issue and the approach to working with civil society in the national context is well conceived. Denmark has possibilities to influence the programme within the framework agreed with the EU, e.g. by focusing particularly on youth and a long-term perspective. The high risk context in terms of corruption, and the considerable reputational risk involved, should be made explicit. Experiences and recommendations regarding the results framework and ensuring evaluability should be considered in finalising the programme documentation. Finally, it was informed that KFU will take part in the upcoming formulation mission in preparation for the subsequent desk appraisal of the programme. 5