Terminal Evaluation of the Project on Access to Justice for Marginalized People December 2012 Contents 1 Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................... 4 2 Background ................................................................................................................................ 13 1.1 Evaluation of the Project on Access to Justice for Marginalized People ...................................... 14 1.2 Objectives of the Evaluation ................................................................................................. 14 3 Introduction to the Access to Justice project ................................................................................ 15 3.1 Shaping of Access to Justice Project through Design Mission Report ......................................... 15 3.2 Management Structure of Access to Justice Project ................................................................ 17 3.3 Funds Flow Arrangements and Financial Management ............................................................. 19 4 Findings of the Terminal Evaluation of the project on Access to Justice for Marginalized People........ 22 4.1 Relevance .......................................................................................................................... 22 4.1.1 Design ........................................................................................................................... 23 4.1.2 Strategy ........................................................................................................................ 25 4.2 Effectiveness ...................................................................................................................... 26 4.2.1 Management .................................................................................................................. 26 4.2.2 Implementation ............................................................................................................... 27 4.2.3 Monitoring ..................................................................................................................... 49 4.3 Efficiency ........................................................................................................................... 50 4.4 Innovation.......................................................................................................................... 56 4.5 Summary of findings ........................................................................................................... 58 5 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................. 61 6 Recommendations ....................................................................................................................... 64 7 Strategies for next phase ............................................................................................................. 65 Annexure .......................................................................................................................................... 66 Terminal Evaluation of The Project on Access to Justice For Marginalized People 2 List of Abbreviations AID Alternative for India Development AISECT All India Society for Electronics and Computer Technology AWP Annual Work Plan BCI The Bar Council of India CAAA Controller Aid, Accounts and Audit CBOs Community Based Organizations CJWs Community Justice Workers CLAP Committee for Legal Aid to Poor CPSC Centre for Promotion of Social Concerns CSJ Centre for Social Justice CSOs Civil Society Organizations DAA Dalit Adhikar Abhiyan DEA Department of Economic Affairs DLSA District Legal Service Authorities DoJ Department of Justice DRC Dalit Resource Centre ELDF (JIF) Environmental Law and Developmental Foundation ELDF (YLFP) Environmental Law Defense Firm FACE Fund Authorization and Certificate of Expenditures FRA The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 IEC Information, Education and Communication IPs Implementing Partners ISS Implementation Support Services JIF Justice Innovation Fund JJK Jan Jagriti Kendra K4D Knowledge for Development Foundation KDS Kerala Development Society LSAs Legal Service Authorities LSCs Legal Service Clinics MARG Multiple Action Research Group MDGs Millennium Development Goals MoHRD Ministry of Human Resource Development NALSA National Legal Service Authority NPD National Project Director NGOs Non-Governmental Organizations NLU National Law University NMEW National Mission for Empowerment of Women PESA Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 PMB Project Management Board PMT Project Management Team PRI Panchayati Raj Institution PSC Project Steering Committee RLEK Rural Litigation & Entitlement Kendra SAJI Strengthening Access to Justice SCs Scheduled Castes SHGs Self Help Groups SJA State Judicial Academy SLSAs State Legal Service Authorities STs Scheduled Tribes SVSS Swami Vivekanand Shiksha Samiti TAAL Towards Action and Learning TLSC Taluka Legal Service Committee UNDAF United Nations Development Assistance Framework UNDP United Nations Development Program YLFP The Young Lawyers’ for Justice Fellowship Program Terminal Evaluation of The Project on Access to Justice For Marginalized People 3 1 Executive Summary UNDP’s Access to Justice for Marginalized People Project was launched in 2009 in partnership with the Department of Justice, Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India. It succeeded a preparatory phase, Strengthened Access to Justice in India (SAJI) that carried out a justice sector diagnosis, identified entry points and supported small innovative pilots to identify good initiatives for replication. The Access to Justice Project was designed based on lessons and results of SAJI and an extensive design mission. Drawing on the recommendations of the Design Mission Report, the Project focuses on creating an enabling environment for ensuring access to justice for marginalized and disadvantaged people, particularly women, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and minorities. On the one hand, the Access to Justice Project aims to directly empower the poor and disadvantaged men and women to seek and demand justice services while on the other, it seeks to improve the institutional capacities of key justice service providers to enable them to effectively serve the poor and disadvantaged. The Project is being implemented in the seven UNDAF focus states, viz. Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Odisha. UNDP India commissioned a Terminal Evaluation of the Access to Justice for Marginalized People Project with a view to seek better results in the future and develop an improved Project design for the next phase (2013 - 2017). Ernst and Young Private Ltd, was engaged to carry out the Terminal Evaluation of the project towards this goal. Evaluation of Access to Justice for Marginalized Project The objectives of the Terminal evaluation of Access to Justice Project were as follows: u Assess the appropriateness of the project’s concept and design in realizing the project’s aim to ensure Access to Justice for marginalized communities in 7 target states; u Gauge the effectiveness of the institutional arrangement between the Government and UNDP in attaining the objectives of the project; u Critically assess the relevance of the project in addressing the development priorities of Government of India as well as UNDAF’s goal of achieving MGDs; u Review the efficiency and adequacy in implementation and management of the project as well as the results of the project and its impact on the marginalized communities; u Document success stories and lessons learnt; u Identify challenges in the implementation and the project design and submit recommendations to streamline and enhance effectiveness in the next phase of the Access to Justice Project ; The scope of the evaluation and documentation is closely related to the following objectives: i. Appropriateness of the project’s concept and design. ii. Review efficiency and adequacy in implementation and management of the project iii. Review the results of the project The evaluation used qualitative data analysis of the available literature and primary data collected during the evaluation. A random sampling method was used for unbiased selection of districts across the seven project states. A purposive method was also applied to ensure that all Project Partners of the Justice Innovation Fund (JIF) & Young Lawyers Justice Fellowship Program (YLFP) were covered. A pilot study was conducted at the project site of Terminal Evaluation of The Project on Access to Justice For Marginalized People 4 the National Law University and tools modified accordingly. The study was carried out in 17 districts in the seven project states covering 30percent of the total districts. The documentation of success stories was conducted in Phase II so as to insulate the evaluation processes from any unconscious bias. The best processes and practices were identified from the evaluation findings and highlighted in the Documentation Report Access to Justice Project Design and Goals The Project design has organized activities around four broad goals: i. Support national and local justice delivery institutions improve justice services to the marginalized, ii. Develop legal and representational capacity of civil society organizations and networks providing