Key issues related to proposal development

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Key issues related to proposal development
Yunae Yi Secretary of the Project Approval Group
UNEP, Nairobi
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Results-Based Management

• Why focus on results?
• Shift of focus from delivery of goods and
  services to benefits to the target beneficiaries
• Focus on effectiveness and impact of our work
• What does it mean?
• Flexible and optimal approach to achieve results
• Accountability of the project team
• Continuous monitoring of the progress
• Demonstration of measurable changes

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Project Cycle
Identification Phase 1
Preparation and formulation Phase 2
Evaluation Phase 5
Review and approval Phase 3
Implementation Phase 4
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Phase 1 Project Identification
Identification Phase 1
Preparation and formulation Phase 2
Evaluation Phase 5
Review and approval Phase 3
Implementation Phase 4

• Situation analysis
• Identification test

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Situation analysis

• Assess and analyze an environmental situation
  needs
• Include analyses of needs, interests, strengths
  and weaknesses of key stakeholders and
  beneficiaries (stakeholder analysis)
• Explores likely causes and linkages between
  existing problems and the needed actions
  (Problem and objective analyses)
• Generates key actions and strategies to be applied

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Situation analysis (1) Stakeholder analysis

• 1. Identify the principal stakeholders at various
  levels local, national, regional and
  international
• 2. Investigate their roles, interests, and
  relative powers and capacities to participate
• 3. Identify the extent of cooperation or conflict
  in the relationships among stakeholders
• 4. Interpret the findings of the analysis and
  define how they should be incorporated into
  project design

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Situation analysis (2)Problem analysis

• Define precisely the situation to be analyzed
  (sector, sub sector, area, etc.)
• Define some major problem conditions related to
  the selected situation
• Organize the problem conditions according to
  their causeeffect relationships
• 4. Check the logical order.

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Situation analysis (3)Objectives analysis

• Reformulate the problems as objectives
• Check the logic and plausibility of the
  means-to-ends relationship
• Select the scope and level of project
  intervention
• Link to Logical Framework development

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Identification test

• There is compatibility with COP mandates
• Major options and alternatives have been
  identified and some initial choices made
• The principal institutional and policy issues
  affecting project outcome have been identified
  and deemed amenable to solution
• There is justifiable expectation that the project
  will have adequate support from the relevant
  political authorities, other stakeholders and the
  intended beneficiaries
• The project options selected are expected to be
  justified, given rough estimates of the expected
  costs and benefits.

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Phase II
Identification Phase 1
Preparation formulation Phase 2
Evaluation Phase 5
Review and approval Phase 3
Implementation Phase 4

• Feasibility study
• Project document formulation
• Project implementation planning

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Feasibility study

• The core of the proposal preparation process
• To provide the basis for choosing the most
  desirable options
• Consideration of the following basic questions
• Does it conform to the development and
  environmental priorities, such as PRSP?
• Is it technically and scientifically sound, and
  is the methodology the best among the available
  alternatives?
• Is it administratively manageable?
• Is it financially justifiable and feasible?
• Is it compatible with the culture of the
  beneficiaries?
• Is it likely to be sustained beyond the
  intervention period?

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Project document formulation

• Add logical framework matrix, details on budget,
  implementation plan and modalities to the
  existing concept proposal
• Project and project document formulation are
  simultaneous and iterative processes
• The project document come from each step taken
  through project cycle phases 1 and 2

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Project document formulation (cont)

• The full project document is
• A legal agreement once signed
• A tool for formulating and implementing projects
• A tool for communication among key partners
• A tool for project monitoring and evaluation
• Basis for the terms of agreement for any
  consultancy/contractual service.

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Sustainability (1/2)

• Most project interventions are temporary in
  nature
• What happens after the project?
• Capacity-building measures should be an integral
  part of project strategies and activities
• Area of repeated concern by the donors and
  auditors

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Sustainability (2/2)

• Project will be sustainable depending on the
  following factors
• Policy support
• Institutional and management capacity
• Economic and financial viability
• Ownership by beneficiaries
• Appropriate technology
• Social and cultural issues
• Environmentally sustainable

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Logical framework (1/3)

• Donors often consider it as a mandatory component
  of the projects
• It identifies and states the main factors related
  to the success of the project
• It clarifies how project success (qualitative and
  quantitative) will be judged or measured, thus
  providing a basis for monitoring and evaluation.

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Logical framework flow of logic (2/3)
Project planning flow
Objectives
Outputs
Activities
Results
Implementation flow
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Logical framework format (3/3)
Objective
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Objectives

• Overall desired achievements
• Long-term benefits to final beneficiaries, the
  future desired situation or the conditions that
  must be satisfied
• High-level aims which the projects results will
  contribute substantially towards
• Set the right level of articulation so that the
  objectives are both realistic and attainable
• Do not formulate objectives with active verbs,
  such as to study, to advise and to cooperate.

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Results

• Direct consequences or effects of the generation
  of outputs
• Show a clear cause-and-effect relationship with
  the objective
• Project managers are accountable for the delivery
  of them
• Address the specific needs of the end-users or
  beneficiaries
• State a meaningful and detectable change
• Avoid long-term goals beyond the project period

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Outputs

• The lowest level results of the project
• The optimal combination necessary for achieving
  the results
• Its delivery must be within the control of
  project management team
• Outputs are the outcomes of activities

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Activities

• The specific work or tasks to be performed within
  the project to transform resources into outputs
• The links between inputs and outputs
• Activities must be pertinent not only to the
  project outputs but also to the wider context of
  the projects aims
• Special attention to the interests of
  under-represented groups, such as women and
  people living in poverty

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Indicators

• What will show us that the objective, results and
  outputs have indeed occurred?
• Indicators provide an opportunity to restate
  intervention logic in specific and directly
  observable terms
• Objectively verifiable indicators should be
  SMART. SMART stands for
• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable
• Realistic
• Time-based

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Means of verification

• Maximize existing data sources
• With existing data sources, caution regarding
  validity and reliability of the data
• Review or content analysis internal records
  audit reports reports by NGOs and other
  international agencies surveys interviews and
  rapid assessments
• Build the cost for data collection in the project
  budget

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Assumptions

• External factors which could affect the progress
  and success of the programme or project, or its
  long-term sustainability
• Underlying conditions which have to be met for
  the project to succeed
• Project managers should assess external factors
  and risks in project implementation and
  articulate them in the planning phase
• Project managers should monitor the influences of
  key external factors

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Logical framework Exercise
Objective Type 2 diabetic condition is improved
to healthy level
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Project checklist

• 1. Have the priorities and needs of the countries
  been identified and incorporated in the project?
• 2. Have all relevant key stakeholders been
  consulted?
• 3. Have the duplications or complementarities
  with the existing or past projects been
  addressed?
• 4. Do the implementing partners have capacities
  to undertake the project?
• 5. Does the Secretariat (or the applicants) have
  capacities to undertake the project?
• 6. Has the linkage to poverty alleviation been
  incorporated?
• 7. Does the project actively address the
  sustainability aspect?

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UNEP Project Document
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Project Document formatKey elements of the UNEP
project document

• Project summary
• Background
• Contribution to the work programme
• Project description
• Logical framework
• Work plan
• Institutional framework
• Monitoring and reporting
• Evaluation
• Project budget

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Key elements of the UNEP project document
Background

• Overall background and situation
• Identify and elaborate urgency of the problem
• Previous actions by UNEP and others
• Lessons learned from similar actions
• UNEPs specific advantage to run the project

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Key elements of the UNEP project document
Contribution to work programme

• Clear linkage to
• COP decisions and programme of work (objectives?)
• MDG, WSSD and other major Conference outcomes

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Key elements of the UNEP project document
Project description

• Methodology
• Implementation modalities
• Justification of selected project location
• Links between outputs, activities and the problem
• Key stakeholders and beneficiaries and impacts on
  them (consideration of marginalized groups)
• Project impacts on poverty alleviation and
  gender-equality
• Strategies for successful implementation
• Sustainability and replicability

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Key elements of the UNEP project document Logical
framework
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Key elements of the UNEP project document Work
Plan

• Timetable for activities
• Roles and responsibilities among implementation
  partners identified
• Tool for monitoring and self-evaluation by
  project managers and project coordinators
• Activity flow sequences to be carefully examined
• Situation analysis and project planning part of
  work plan?

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Key elements of the UNEP project document
Institutional framework

• Institutional arrangement of project
  implementation
• Project implementation modality

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Project cyclePhase 3
Identification Phase 1
Preparation and formulation Phase 2
Evaluation Phase 5
Funding and approval Phase 3
Review and approval Phase 3
Implementation Phase 4

• Project review and funding negotiation
• Internal and external project approval process
• Administrative steps

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Administrative process

• Review and approval by fund management office,
  Nairobi
• Chief of BFMS verifies and sends project document
  to cooperating or supporting agency for signature
• Chief of BFMS counter signs
• Project is allocated a project number and IMIS
  identification
• No financial obligations can occur before this!

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Project cyclePhase 4
Identification Phase 1
Preparation and formulation Phase 2
Evaluation Phase 5
Review and approval Phase 3
Implementation Phase 4
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Project Implementation

• Financial Regulations and Rules according to UN
  Secretariat system
• Contractual agreements (MoUs) will soon need to
  follow UNEP standard formats
• Hiring of staff have to follow UN OHRM
  Regulations and Rules (e.g. ToR, classification,
  contractual types)
• Implementing organizations should comply with the
  agreed terms--on time, on budget and on-project
  terms

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Project monitoring

• Growing emphasis to demonstrate performance
• In-built in the activities as routines
• Agree on performance measurement tool, frequency
  of analysis and method and data source
• Assess performance against the results and
  management risks
• Assessment of project activities vis-à-vis
  results
• Regular documentation and analysis of reports
• Generation of lessons learned and possible
  adjustment of activities strategy and
  methodologies

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Project reporting

• Why reporting is needed
• To inform management of progress
• To validate usage of funds
• Tool for audits and evaluation
• Reference for future projects (lessons learnt)
• Reporting towards donors on project progress
• Projects can only be closed once all reporting
  requirements have been met

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Project cyclePhase 5
Identification Phase 1
Preparation and formulation Phase 2
Evaluation Phase 5
Review and approval Phase 3
Implementation Phase 4
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Evaluation

• 4 types of evaluations
• Desk
• In-depth
• Impact
• Self-evaluations
• Timing of evaluations at any point during the
  life of the project (mostly mid-term an final
  stages)

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Evaluation

• UNEP requires all projects to include evaluation
  in project budget (e.g. consultants fees, travel
  and communication and dissemination)
• Usually a few of total budget
• For a project over 500,000, in-depth evaluation
  is required (suggested 20,000)

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EC Evaluation Criteria
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Summary

• A project concept should start from
  identification of needs and what has been done
• After feasibility test, formulate Logical
  Framework as the first step in proposal
  preparation
• Think of project sustainability and replicability

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Website

• www.unep.org/pcmu/project_manual/

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• Yunae Yi
• Secretary of the
• Project Approval Group (PAG)
• PCMU/UNEP
• Yunae.yi_at_unep.org
• 254-20-762-4660