Final Evaluation of “Enhancing the Capacities of the Palestinian Authority in Mainstreaming Environment and Climate Change” Project.

Project Overview

The project aimed at enhancing capacities of the Palestinian Authority (PA) to mainstream and address the challenges of climate change into the government policy framework and plans. It also intended to support the implementation of pilot projects on climate change adaptation and mitigation. more specifically the project aimed at :To support PA, especially EQA and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) to engage in the International Environmental Conventions, including Rio Conventions, especially UNFCCC, in preparation for the state building;To mainstream climate change into national plans and strategies as integral component for sustainable development and green economy;To assess and strengthen the capacities of the related PA ministries and authorities in climate change mainstreaming, adaptation and mitigation according to the priorities identified;To implement selected Pilot projects from the Palestinian Adaptation Program of Action (PAPA) in the most affected areas in Palestine including water resources and food security, efficient and sustainable use of energy and sea level rise;To enable the PA to access environmental financing with focus on the GEF/SGP.With approaching the end of project, a final evaluation was necessary to provide a comprehensive and sufficient analysis of the project during the 4 years of operation by conducting an independent external assessment of the level of achievement, performance and impacts of set objectives and expected results, outputs and outcome listed in the project documents, determine the successes and/or shortcomings, as well as the factors that have hindered or facilitated the success of the project, identify lessons learned and best practices, in addition to provide recommendations to be considered in the development of future similar interventions.Specifically, the final evaluation focused on the following relevant activities: Assessing the relevance of the project in the context of the State of Palestine and the actual needs of Palestinian institutions;Determining the extent to which the project has achieved its overall goal, specific objectives and expected outputs since its inception;Addressing the gaps and highlighting challenges in achieving the desired results and outcomes;Analyzing the processes, efficacy of used model/practices/strategies, the effectiveness of project monitoring and learning processes, relations with relevant main stakeholders, and other aspects of UNDP/PAPP’s performance as implementing agency;Assessing the overall impacts of project and appraising the potential sustainability;Identifying and highlighting lessons learned, best practices, challenges faced, and providing recommendations as needed for development similar future interventions.Within this context, UNDP/PAPP has contracted GCT to undertake this final evaluation assignment in line with its requirements and expectations.