The CPR practice also received favourable results in the survey: a majority of those offices responding expressed ‘satisfied’ or very ‘satisfied’ with the support received. A number of advisory services and regional projects were acknowledged as particularly useful in the survey. References were made to the highprofile policy advice provided in the areas of Climate Change Strategy, establishment of the Regional Climate Change Centre, and Rio+20 preparations; to community of practice (CoP) work by the CRM project providing opportunities for knowledge sharing with peers from the region; identification of interventions in the area of climate change, energy efficiency and renewable energy.97 Support in the development of GEF proposals (including GEF REDD+98) and other project proposal for the EU (Clima East Fund) was reported as being provided in an efficient manner, and technically and financially useful.99 Interviewees at the country level, including beneficiaries in government, country office staff and project managers, particularly commented on the CRM project as having demonstrated flexibility in the drafting of documents and during the inception phase (which included a revision of the project documents at the country level). This has allowed each participating country to reflect its own local project priorities aligned with national priorities. This has not only enhanced project efficiency, but also set the base for sustainability. A competent and experienced project manager at the regional component level combined with a relatively high degree of decentralized management at the country level (with fairly independent implementation) was an important factor. Finally, working with the existing UNDP communities’ realistic policies for programme development based on the grass-roots level experiences is an exemplary approach, e.g. as demonstrated in
the community-based interventions in Tajikistan under the CRM project. Sustainability The activities under outcome 1 show elements promising sustainability of efforts, such as the robust project design and practical approaches, and capacity development and knowledge exchange in some countries. The institutional platform for climate change, however, has not yet been well established. There are some factors that have been identified as fostering sustainability prospects of regional projects in the outcome 1 portfolio, backed by interviews at the country level, design of project documents and information provided in reporting and monitoring tools: (1) setting up regional projects with a regional component and country-level implementation; (2) the decentralization of funds, i.e. resourcing each of the country-level projects with a budget and a dedicated project manager enhances the interest and commitment at the country level of country office and stakeholders; (3) specific demand orientation, i.e. involvement of the national stakeholders and counterparts, in particular the Government, in the process of fine-tuning the project design and definition of particular priority areas for in country implementation; and (4) involvement of institutional strengthening and capacity-building, as some climate change adaptation and climate risk management are relative recent topics, and results achieved need an institutional ‘home’. Among the anticipated outputs related to outcome 1 are: “Integrated climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies at the national and subnational levels supported”; “Governments in the region have improved capacity to participate in the international climate change negotiations”;
This feedback relates to both outcome 1 and outcome 2.
97
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, Sustainable Management of Forests and Enhancement of Forest Carbon Stocks in Developing Countries.
98
This feedback relates to both outcome 1 and outcome 2.
99
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CHAPTER 3. CONTRIBUTION OF THE UNDP REGIONAL PROGRAMME TO DEVELOPMENT RESULTS