Management Response

: Regional Office for East and Southern Africa (Kenya)
: 2014 - 2017 , Regional Office for East and Southern Africa (Kenya) (RO)
: Regional Evaluation on Capacity Development initiatives during 2014-17
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Regional Office for East and Southern Africa (Kenya)

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Overall the evaluation findings, conclusions and recommendations are considered very useful and will inform the forthcoming Regional Office (RO) Strategic Note 2018-21 in terms of how to more effectively support the design, implementation and follow-up of Capacity Development (CD) initiatives both internally and at the level of ESA region. Partners involved in the Evaluation Reference Group (ERG) have also expressed their appreciation for the insight and learning gained from this evaluation. The RO wishes to raise a concern regarding the selection of case studies in 2016 for this evaluation. It is acknowledged that there was an extensive consultation process with Senior Management based on the principle of inclusiveness which aimed at identifying 1 case study from each thematic area. The selection criteria outlined in the evaluation TOR were the following: CD initiatives that were considered most relevant and with significant human and financial investment; Initiatives with strong learning potential; Initiatives that were well documented; and Initiatives that were on-going or closed. However, the selected 2014 and 2015 Sharefair initiatives were not designed under a CD perspective. The evaluation conclusions and recommendations should therefore not necessarily be applied to them. Another important qualification as highlighted in the evaluation report is related to the fact that the 6 selected initiatives are very diverse in terms of maturity, vision and scope. While the evaluation looked at the 6 different initiatives at the same time it was not possible to undertake a stand-alone evaluation of each initiative. It is therefore challenging for the evaluation to make detailed recommendations for each initiative, or recommendations that equally apply for the 6 initiatives altogether. The added value of the evaluation must be seen in the analytical framework and Theory of Change for the design, implementation and follow-up of CD initiatives overall while taking into account the different characteristics of the selected case studies. This is considered most useful for moving forward and the management response to the evaluation recommendations below is based on this forward-looking perspective. Given the different recommendations in the evaluation are interlinked the management response takes a comprehensive approach in addressing the recommendations.

: Approved
Recommendation: RECOMMENDATION 1: ESARO to develop a more systematic approach to do Capacity Development (CD) and to re-engineer the training processes
Management Response: The RO will in 2018 and based on existing resources develop guidance on how to design, implement and follow up on Capacity Development (CD) initiatives in the ESA region. This will include a discussion around the role of the Regional Office versus Country Offices in this area, quality assurance and M&E of CD initiatives and the tracking of RO support and of resulting CD changes in different areas.
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Description:
Management Response Category:
Thematic Area: Not applicable
Operating Principles: Not applicable, Capacity development, Promoting inclusiveness/Leaving no one behind, Knowledge management
Organizational Priorities: UN Coordination, Partnership, Normative Support, Operational activities, Culture of results/RBM
UNEG Criteria: Effectiveness, Efficiency, Relevance, Sustainability, Impact, Human Rights, Gender equality
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Develop strategy on Capacity Development initiatives in ESA region, see details below under follow-up action 1.1; 1.2; 1.3 and 1.4 RO task team. Details on timing and responsibility will be specified in the forthcoming RO Strategic Note for 2018-21 and the 2018 AWP for the RO 2018/12 Completed The RO Capacity Development Strategy was completed in May 2018 and circulated by the Deputy RD. However there was no follow-up action to operationalize the document. Questions around ownership and responsibility remain to be clarified.
Recommendation: RECOMMENDATION 1.1 To develop a more articulated definition of CD as a continuous engagement process and to be more results oriented
Management Response: The RO will in 2018 and based on existing resources develop guidance on how to design, implement and follow up on Capacity Development (CD) initiatives in the ESA region. This will be done through developing an explicit CD Strategy for the ESA region. The CD strategy will distinguish between CD initiatives undertaken by the RO and CD initiatives undertaken by COs which the RO is supporting and provide a common understanding of 'CD as continuous engagement'.
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Description:
Management Response Category:
Thematic Area: Not applicable
Operating Principles: Not applicable, Capacity development, Promoting inclusiveness/Leaving no one behind, Knowledge management
Organizational Priorities: UN Coordination, Partnership, Normative Support, Culture of results/RBM, Not applicable
UNEG Criteria: Effectiveness, Efficiency, Relevance, Sustainability, Impact, Human Rights, Gender equality
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Develop strategy on Capacity Development initiatives in ESA region, including budget allocation for development & implementation of the CD strategy RO task team 2018/12 Completed The strategy on Capacity Development initiatives was completed in May 2018, but no specific budget was allocated to operationalize the same
Recommendation: RECOMMENDATION 1.2 To develop guidance and quality criteria for the design and implementation of CD (especially training), so as to enable quality assurance, and monitoring and evaluation of all its CD initiatives
Management Response: The RO will in 2018 and based on existing resources develop guidance on how to design, implement and follow up on Capacity Development (CD) initiatives in the ESA region. The guidance will cover questions related to quality assurance and effective Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) of CD initiatives. It will also specify the role of the RO vis a vis COs in the area of quality assurance and M&E.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category:
Thematic Area: Not applicable
Operating Principles: Not applicable, Capacity development, Promoting inclusiveness/Leaving no one behind, Knowledge management
Organizational Priorities: UN Coordination, Partnership, Normative Support, Culture of results/RBM, Not applicable
UNEG Criteria: Effectiveness, Efficiency, Relevance, Sustainability, Impact, Human Rights, Gender equality
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Clarify questions on quality assurance and M&E for CD initiatives in forthcoming strategy on Capacity Development initiatives RO task team. 2018/12 Completed The strategy on Capacity Development initiatives was completed in May 2018, it includes a section covering M&E of capacity development.
Recommendation: RECOMMENDATION 1.3 To find new and innovative ways to measure capacity development and training initiatives
Management Response: The RO will in 2018 and based on existing resources develop guidance on how to design, implement and follow up on Capacity Development (CD) initiatives in the ESA region. This will include looking into ways for more innovative systematic tracking and documentation of the support and trainings provided by the RO and of the resulting CD changes in various areas. Examples include: 1) Improvement of donor reports / Improvement of communication activities / Improvement of documentation on financial/ HR activities resulting from RO support and trainings. In order to improve the documentation and communication of CD results it will be key to engage RO Communications, Knowledge Management etc. colleagues in this initiative. The details of the tracking system will be discussed in 2018 when developing the strategy on CD initiatives and take into account e.g. the following: tracking format and timing, human and financial resources incl. issues of staff turnover, risk of ‘over-monitoring’ etc.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category:
Thematic Area: Not applicable
Operating Principles: Not applicable, Capacity development, Promoting inclusiveness/Leaving no one behind, Knowledge management
Organizational Priorities: UN Coordination, Partnership, Normative Support, Culture of results/RBM, Not applicable
UNEG Criteria: Effectiveness, Efficiency, Relevance, Sustainability, Impact, Human Rights, Gender equality
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Explore possibilities for more innovative and systematic tracking and documentation of RO support/ trainings and of resulting CD changes. This will be part of the forthcoming strategy on Capacity Development initiatives RO task team 2018/12 Completed The strategy on Capacity Development initiatives was completed in May 2018, it includes a section covering M&E of capacity development.
Recommendation: RECOMMENDATION 1.4 To develop a strategic approach around CD programs and develop a more articulated Strategic Note
Management Response: The RO will in 2018 and based on existing resources develop guidance on how to design, implement and follow up on Capacity Development (CD) initiatives in the ESA region. The forthcoming 2018-21 RO Strategic Note will cover the full spectrum of the RO portfolio and where applicable take into account recommendations from the evaluation related to capacity development.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category:
Thematic Area: Not applicable
Operating Principles: Not applicable, Capacity development, Promoting inclusiveness/Leaving no one behind, Knowledge management
Organizational Priorities: UN Coordination, Partnership, Normative Support, Culture of results/RBM, Not applicable
UNEG Criteria: Effectiveness, Efficiency, Relevance, Sustainability, Impact, Human Rights, Gender equality
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Reflect conclusions and recommendations from the CD evaluation in 2018-21 RO Strategic Note RO staff. 2017/12 Completed P. 9 of the 2018-21 RO Strategic Note states "The RO will develop a capacity development strategy to guide CD initiatives at regional and country levels to further improve their effectiveness and sustainability." The capacity development strategy was completed however not operationalized.
Recommendation: RECOMMENDATION 2: To capitalize on the results of the CD initiatives and to adapt some of their processes
Management Response: This recommendation is directed towards the specific case studies selected for this evaluation and requires individual responses from the following thematic leads: Women Leadership (for ACTIL); Women Economic Empowerment (for 2014 and 2016 Sharefairs and Makutano Junction); Women Peace and Security (for P&S training in Rwanda); RO Operations (for RO training package)
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category:
Thematic Area: Not applicable
Operating Principles: Not applicable, Capacity development, Promoting inclusiveness/Leaving no one behind, Knowledge management
Organizational Priorities: UN Coordination, Partnership, Normative Support, Culture of results/RBM, Not applicable
UNEG Criteria: Effectiveness, Efficiency, Relevance, Sustainability, Impact, Human Rights, Gender equality
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
1. Women Leadership: ACTIL is developing a new Strategic Plan that will look at issues raised by the evaluation e.g. around monitoring, measuring sustainability and the impact of trainings. This includes strategies such as mentoring, peer networks and the knowledge hub. The various ACTIL curricula are also being reviewed. The intention is to come up with curricula that are responsive to the target group of the trainings, and training guides to ensure consistency in delivery of trainings. ACTIL with support from RO Women Leadership team 2017/12 Completed ACTIL Curriculum has since been revised and completed as at Jan 2020
2. Women Economic Empowerment: The WEE Unit will reduce the Sharefairs into smaller strategic and targeted policy dialogues. These policy dialogues will facilitate dissemination of data and knowledge to policymakers and stakeholders to inform gender responsive policies and programs. RO Women Economic Empowerment team 2017/12 Completed The strategy of ‘riding on regional events’ and holding targeted country level policy dialogues replaced the Sharefairs and policy dialogues that were solely organized by UN Women. For example, WEE unit hosted one Policy Dialogue on Mango-Post harvest loss technologies project in 2017, which was a small-scale event targeting government officials and stakeholders within the Mango value chain in Kenya. Country specific policy dialogues were also supported as in the case of Malawi in 2017 to disseminate the cost of the gender gap study report, in Ethiopia to disseminate the impact of gender inequality on economic growth study. These were strategic policy dialogues targeted at key policy makers in the respective countries. In addition to target country level policy dialogue, the WEE team adopted a strategy of dissemination of data and knowledge to policymakers and stakeholders by participating in external global and regional events and organizing targeted side-events to disseminate knowledge and establish partnerships for our work . Examples of such events include side events at CSW62 and CSW64; AU specialized technical committees meetings, AU Summit, Africa Climate Smart Agriculture Summit, Africa Green Revolution Forum, Beijing+25 regional consultative meeting, Global Gender Summit of multilateral development banks among others. This approach has enabled the WEE team to reach the desired target audience and facilitated dissemination of data and knowledge to the stakeholders to inform gender responsive policies and programs.
3. Women Peace and Security: Contrary to the evaluation report (p. 20) a knowledge needs assessment was done prior to the training. There is an established training package for mainstreaming gender into humanitarian action developed by the IASC which is supplemented by specific gender illustrations developed by UNW HQ. The latter was rolled out in Nov 2016 in a training organized by ESARO in Uganda for several countries. Based on the comments of the evaluation ESARO will follow up in 2017/2018 with a baseline and refresher training. In 2018-2021, ESARO will develop a systematic capacity development programme for mainstreaming gender in recovery and humanitarian action. A baseline study will be done in 2017 to establish the level of funds allocated to women’s needs allowing to measure progress after the training. UN Women Rwanda Country Office and RO Peace and Security team 2021/12 Completed ESARO has rolled out training for humanitarian stakeholders. In 2017 Government, UN, INGO, CBOs etc. were trained on mainstreaming gender in post disaster needs assessment. In 2019, UN Women staff and other humanitarian stakeholders were trained as TOT on gender in humanitarian action. In addition, members of humanitarian country teams (HCTs) were trained on key global IASC frameworks including the IASC gender policy, accountability framework and Gender Handbook in Humanitarian Action
4. RO Operations: The RO will devise the selection criteria for training participants to ensure the training meets the requirements of the target group. The RO will also develop a monitoring, tracking and follow up mechanism to assess the outcomes of the training RO Operations team 2018/12 Completed
Recommendation: RECOMMENDATION 3 To further clarify the strategic, knowledge and convening role of ESARO and make it operational
Management Response: The forthcoming 2018-21 RO Strategic Note will outline the role and functions of the RO. The RO will also in 2018 review the existing 2014 UNW guidance "Implementation of the Regional Architecture in ESAR: Regional Support Services". This will include an update on the role and functions of the RO in the areas of 1) Strategic and technical advice, 2) Oversight and quality assurance, 3) UN interagency coordination, 4) Intergovernmental support, 5) Representation and advocacy, 6) Partnerships and resource mobilization and 7) Knowledge management.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category:
Thematic Area: Not applicable
Operating Principles: Not applicable, Capacity development, Promoting inclusiveness/Leaving no one behind, Knowledge management
Organizational Priorities: UN Coordination, Partnership, Normative Support, Culture of results/RBM
UNEG Criteria: Effectiveness, Efficiency, Relevance, Sustainability, Impact, Human Rights, Gender equality
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
1. Review existing 2014 UNW guidance "Implementation of the Regional Architecture in ESAR: Regional Support Services" Regional Office 2018/12 Completed 2018-21 RO Strategic Note is completed and outlines the role and functions of the RO.