Evaluation of UNESCO Priority Africa
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Internal Oversight Service Evaluation Section IOS/EVS/PI/XXX Original: English Evaluation of UNESCO Priority Africa IOS/EVS July 2012 [Draft of full evaluation report under revision, pending integration of comments to be received by the end of August 2012.] 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.................................................................................................... 4 1. Background of the evaluation............................................................................................ 16 2. Evaluation purpose and scope........................................................................................... 16 3. Evaluation methodology.................................................................................................... 18 CHAPTER 2: DEFINITION OF PRIORITY AFRICA ...........................................................................21 1. Mixed Understanding of Priority Africa within UNESCO ................................................... 21 2. Priority Africa: a political commitment.............................................................................. 24 3. Priority Africa: a weak operational blueprint .................................................................... 25 4. Reconstruction of the intervention logic underlying Priority Africa ................................. 30 CHAPTER 3: RELEVANCE OF PRIORITY AFRICA............................................................................34 1. Africa and the IADGs.......................................................................................................... 35 2. Africa: a priority for the international development community ..................................... 37 3. Logic of UNESCO’s regional approach for Africa ............................................................... 41 CHAPTER 4: RESOURCES FOR AFRICA ......................................................................................44 1. Regular Programme resources decentralized to Africa..................................................... 45 2. Human Resources .............................................................................................................. 49 3. Extrabudgetary resources for Africa.................................................................................. 53 CHAPTER 5: UNESCO’S PERFORMANCE AND ACHIEVEMENTS IN AFRICA...........................................58 1. Sectors’ programmatic approach to Priority Africa........................................................... 59 2. Success and some of its explanations................................................................................ 61 3. UNESCO’s “special programmes” for Africa: a challenging landscape.............................. 67 CHAPTER 6: INSTITUTIONAL MECHANISMS FOR STRENGTHENING PRIORITY AFRICA ..............................73 1. Africa Department ............................................................................................................. 74 2. Intersectoral Platform for Priority Africa ....................................................................... 78 3. Liaison Office in Addis Ababa......................................................................................... 81 ANNEX 1: CASE STUDIES [TO BE ADDED] ............................................................................88 SCIENCE TECHOLOGY AND INNOVATION POLICIES.................................................................. 88 UNESCO STRATEGY ON AFRICAN YOUTH ................................................................................. 88 TEACHER TRAINING INITIATIVE IN SUB‐SAHARAN AFRICA (TTISSA) ........................................ 88 PROGRAMME OF EDUCATION IN EMERGENCIES & RECONSTRUCTION (PEER)....................... 88 COMMUNITY MEDIA................................................................................................................. 88 MDG‐FUND CREATIVE INDUSTRIES........................................................................................... 88 ANNEX 2: EVALUATION TERMS OF REFERENCE.........................................................................89 ANNEX 3: LIST OF PEOPLE CONSULTED ..................................................................................94 ANNEX 4: CONSOLIDATED LIST OF DOCUMENTS CONSULTED DURING THE EVALUATION .......................99 ANNEX 4: QUESTIONNAIRES .............................................................................................102 ANNEX 5: LINKAGES BETWEEN RECOMMENDATIONS AND ONGOING REFORMS ..............................108 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY During the past decade, there have been many positive signs of economic recovery and development in the African region.1 At the same time, the region is still lagging behind on the attainment of the Education for All goals and the Millennium Development Goals, and remains the region with the highest number of least developed countries and countries in post‐conflict and post‐disaster situations. This continues to warrant a prioritization of UNESCO’s resources and capacities towards the region. Africa has been a priority of the Organization for more than twenty years, leading to the establishment of a special framework2 for UNESCO’s work in the region with a set of institutional mechanisms3 designed to support the implementation of the priority. During this time UNESCO has generated many important achievements in the areas of its mandate. Successful interventions can be found in all Sectors; for example within the framework of capacity‐building for Education for All, Science Technology and Innovation Policy, the Ocean and Data Information Network for Africa, and on Culture and Development. At the same time, at a more strategic level, under its new leadership the Africa Department has been strengthening its role as a political antenna and building partnerships with key actors in the region which is opening new opportunities. Despite these positive and promising findings, the overall picture is one of concern. A clear and consistent finding throughout the evaluation has been that the mechanisms which are meant to provide impulse and substance to Priority Africa have had very limited success. The framework for Priority Africa has neither triggered a significant increase in decentralisation of human and financial resources to the region, nor has it translated into improved results. Moreover, the evaluation found that UNESCO’s work in the region is adversely affected by a number of systemic issues within the Organization of particular importance to its work in Africa. These include the limited progress in decentralisation of authority and resources to the field, a lack of programmatic focus and burdensome administrative procedures. In view of the current budgetary constraints and in prospect of the field reform in Africa it is crucial that UNESCO renews its approach to working in and for Africa in order to strengthen its relevance, effectiveness and impact in the region. 1 When referring to “Africa” or the “African region” in this report, we use UNESCO’s definition which includes most of Sub‐Saharan Africa, while Mauritania and Northern African countries are considered part of the Arab region. 2 The framework underlying Priority Africa consists of: (i) a specific commitment to align UNESCO’s work with the priorities defined by the African Union and the Regional Economic Communities; (ii) a different programmatic approach with specific expected results, special programmes implemented only in Africa, and a set of intersectoral programmes for the benefit of the region; (iii) a commitment to allocate a higher share of resources to the region. 3 Three specific institutional mechanisms have been put in place specifically to support the implementation of Priority Africa: the Africa Department (created in 1996), the Liaison Office in Addis Ababa (since 2010) and the Intersectoral Platform for Priority Africa (since 2008). 4 Introduction 1. The evaluation of Priority Africa was requested by the Executive Board in the framework of the Independent External Evaluation4 follow‐up with the aim to analyse the progress achieved in the execution of UNESCO’s programmes linked to Priority Africa, as well as the contribution of the different mechanisms dedicated to the coordination, implementation and monitoring of the Priority. It also aims to highlight lessons to be drawn from past achievements and challenges, and to formulate recommendations to inform the ADG of the Africa Department (AFR) in the development of the future operational strategy supporting the implementation of Priority Africa. 2. The evaluation was conducted by the Internal Oversight Service with the assistance of an external evaluator over the period August 2011 to April 2012. It encompassed the reconstruction of the intervention logic of Priority Africa, a financial and human resource analysis, review of key documents, desk review of a selection of programmes from the different sectors, case studies on key regional programmes and initiatives, as well as an analysis to capture the contribution of the institutional mechanisms in place to coordinate and implement the Priority. The methodology included both desk study and data collection in the African region. An important pillar of the evidence base for the evaluation stems from semi‐structured interviews and meetings with representatives from all UNESCO sectors and central services at HQ and in the field, as well as external key stakeholders and partners such as the African Union (AU), Regional Economic