“Elimination of obsolete pesticide stockpiles and addressing POPs contaminated sites within a Sound Chemicals Management Framework in Armenia” Mid-Term Review Report GEF Agency: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Ministry of Nature Protection (MNP) & Ministry of Emergency Implementing Partner: Situations (MES) Funding: GEF and Government of Armenia GEF Project ID: 4737 UNDP PIMS: 4905 UNDP Atlas Project ID: 00081909 Project Timeline: May 2015 – April 2019 Submitted by: Jean-Joseph Bellamy Submitted on: May 15, 2018 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................................................................. II LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS .......................................................................................................... III ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................................................................. IV 1. MAIN CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS........................................................................... 1 1.1. BACKGROUND - INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................... 1 1.2. CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................................................................ 2 1.3. RECOMMENDATIONS ...................................................................................................................................... 5 1.4. MTR RATINGS AND ACHIEVEMENT SUMMARY TABLE .................................................................................. 8 2. CONTEXT AND OVERVIEW OF THE PROJECT .................................................................................. 9 3. REVIEW FRAMEWORK ......................................................................................................................... 11 3.1. OBJECTIVES ................................................................................................................................................. 11 3.2. SCOPE .......................................................................................................................................................... 11 3.3. METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................................................................... 12 3.3.1. Overall Approach ...................................................................................................................... 12 3.3.2. Review Instruments .................................................................................................................. 14 3.4. LIMITATIONS AND CONSTRAINTS ................................................................................................................. 14 4. EVALUATION FINDINGS...................................................................................................................... 16 4.1. PROJECT STRATEGY ..................................................................................................................................... 16 4.1.1. Project Design ........................................................................................................................... 16 4.1.2. Results Framework / Log-frame ............................................................................................. 20 4.2. PROGRESS TOWARDS RESULTS .................................................................................................................... 25 4.2.1. Progress Towards Outcomes Analysis .................................................................................. 25 4.2.2. Remaining Barriers to Achieve the Project Objective .......................................................... 39 4.3. PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION AND ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT ........................................................................ 40 4.3.1. Management Arrangements .................................................................................................... 40 4.3.2. Stakeholder Engagement ........................................................................................................ 43 4.3.3. Work Planning ........................................................................................................................... 45 4.3.4. Finance and Co-finance ........................................................................................................... 46 4.3.5. Project-level Monitoring and Evaluation Systems ................................................................ 49 4.3.6. Reporting .................................................................................................................................... 55 4.3.7. Communications – Knowledge Sharing ................................................................................ 55 4.4. SUSTAINABILITY .......................................................................................................................................... 55 4.4.1. Financial risk to Sustainability ................................................................................................. 58 4.4.2. Socio-economic risk to Sustainability .................................................................................... 59 4.4.3. Institutional framework and governance risk to Sustainability ........................................... 59 4.4.4. Environmental risk to Sustainability ....................................................................................... 59 ANNEX 1: PROJECT EXPECTED RESULTS AND PLANNED ACTIVITIES .......................................................... 61 ANNEX 2: MTR TERMS OF REFERENCE.................................................................................................................. 63 ANNEX 3: CODE OF CONDUCT FOR EVALUATORS AND AGREEMENT FORM .............................................. 72 ANNEX 4: REVIEW MATRIX ...................................................................................................................................... 73 ANNEX 5: LIST OF DOCUMENTS REVIEWED ........................................................................................................ 80 ANNEX 6: INTERVIEW GUIDE ................................................................................................................................... 83 ANNEX 7: REVIEW MISSION AGENDA .................................................................................................................... 85 ANNEX 8: LIST OF PEOPLE INTERVIEWED ............................................................................................................ 90 ANNEX 9: PROJECT DESIGN AND COST ESTIMATES BY ACTIVITY ................................................................ 92 ANNEX 10: MTR RATING SCALES ............................................................................................................................. 96 ANNEX 11: AUDIT TRAIL ..........................................................................ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED. ANNEX 12: EVALUATION REPORT CLEARANCE FORM ....................ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED. Mid-term Review of the UNDP-GEF-Government of Armenia Project “Elimination of obsolete pesticide stockpiles and addressing POPs contaminated sites within a Sound Chemicals Management Framework in Armenia” (PIMS 4905) i List of Tables Table 1: Project Information Table ................................................................................................................... 2 Table 2: MTR Ratings and Achievement Summary Table ............................................................................... 8 Table 3: Steps Used to Conduct the Evaluation ............................................................................................. 13 Table 4: Project Logic Model .......................................................................................................................... 21 Table 5: List of Delivered Results ................................................................................................................... 26 Table 6: Initial Stakeholders Involvement Plan .............................................................................................. 43 Table 7: Annual Work Plans versus Actual Expenditures (GEF grant) .......................................................... 45 Table 8: UNDP-GEF Project Funds Disbursement Status (in USD) .............................................................. 46 Table 9: Co-financing Commitments .............................................................................................................. 47 Table 10: Project Financing Details ................................................................................................................ 48 Table 11: List of Performance Indicators ........................................................................................................ 50 Table 12: List of Risks and Mitigation Measures Identified at the Formulation and Inception Phase ............. 56 Mid-term Review of the UNDP-GEF-Government of Armenia Project “Elimination of obsolete pesticide stockpiles and addressing POPs contaminated sites within a Sound Chemicals Management Framework in Armenia” (PIMS 4905) ii List of Abbreviations and Acronyms AHHE Armenian Women for Health and a Healthy Environment