DA Evaluation Guidelines

Quick Guide for final reports - DA 7th tranche

Quick guide FOR THE PREPARATION OF final reports FOR THE 8thtranche OF THE DEVELOPMENT ACCOUNT

The present quick guidewas prepared to support implementing entities in completing the Development Account’s (DA) reporting requirements for the 8th tranche projects that will close by December 2015 or in 2016, for projects that received an exceptional extension.

Introduction

The present quick guide was developed to supportproject managers andDevelopment Account Focal Pointsinpreparingthe final report to submit to the Development Account (DA) Programme Management Team (DA-PMT) upon closure of each Development Account project. It outlines key procedures and provides a templateto facilitate the drafting of the final report.

The present document is organized as follows:Section Idefines the main purpose of a final project report for the Account;Section IIprovides an annotated template describing the key items of a final report for the Development Account; the annexprovides the templatethat Development Account implementing entities should follow when preparingthe final report.

I.Drafting a Final Report for the Development Account

‘What’:The final report is an internal project management tool which reviews theimplementation processof the project and presents the project’s outcomes and results. Itprovides an opportunity for the project managerswithin the implementing entitiesto summarize, upon closure of the project, the project’s achievements, outline the problems encountered, as well as the good practices and lessons learned. The final report should include a particular focus on assessing the extent to which the expected accomplishments were delivered, as illustrated by the indicators of achievement. In the final report implementing entities are also requested to elaborate onthe sustainability of the projects’ efforts, the presence of multiplier effects and supplementary funding.

The final report represents, together with the evaluation report, a key tool for information, learning, transparency and accountability.The assessment contained in the final report willenable implementing entities to distil lessons learned, internalize them and make adjustments for future projects. It will also help the DA Programme Manager to compile lessonslearned,promote the sharing of information on good practices and report to the General Assembly on results and impacts achieved.

The combination of final and evaluation reports for each completed project offers a unique opportunity to triangulate information and guarantee the soundness of the project’s findings.

‘How’: Final reports are drafted by project managers in the implementing entitiesand should follow the outline provided in the report template.

‘When’: the final report must be submitted to the DA Programme Management Team (DA-PMT)no later than three months after the financial closure of the projecti.e. 31st March 2016 for projects that closed by the end of 2015. Ideally, the evaluation report should be submitted with the final report.

The table below summarizes a number of key features of the final report for DAprojects, as compared to the annual progress report, as well as the evaluation report, which is also due three months after the operational completion of every DA project.

Table 1Annual Progress Report, Final Report andEvaluation Report for the Development Account:

Summary table

Annual Progress Report / Final report / Evaluation report
Scope / Internal monitoring of project. / Internal appraisal of project. / Independent/external assessment of project.
Type / Mandatory for all DA projects. / Mandatory for all DA projects. / Mandatory for all DA projects with a budget of $300,000 or more.
Timeframe / Should be submitted by January 31st for the preceding year. / For 8th tranche projects that closed by December 2015, the final report should be submitted by 31st March 2016.
For 8th tranche projects that received an exceptional extension, the final report should be submitted within 3 months of the project's operational closure. / For 8th tranche projects that closed by December 2015, the evaluation report should be submitted by 31st March 2016.
For 8th tranche projects that received an exceptional extension, the evaluation report should be submitted within 3 months of the project's operational closure.
The evaluation report should ideally be submitted with the final report.
Drafter / Project manager in implementing entity. / Project manager in implementing entity. / External consultant hired by implementing entity.
Budget / No financial resources required. / No financial resources required. / 2% of the total budget of the project is initially budgeted to fund the evaluation.
Should there be savings and need for additional funds for evaluation, the 2% figure can be revised upwards. If the proposed evaluation budget exceeds 4% of the project budget, prior approval needs to be received from the DA-PMT.
Format / Template available at: / Template contained in this quick guide. / The outline of the evaluation, including evaluation criteria, must be defined in the ToR for the evaluation.
All evaluations should be conducted in conformity with UNEG Norms and Standards.

II. Annotated Template for DA Final Reports

The annexed templateshould be used when preparing final reports on Development Account projects in order to ensure consistency in format and content across all projects. The informationreportedwill be made available in summarized form on the Development Account website andwill provide inputs to the Development Account reports submitted to the General Assembly.
In Section 1 project managers are asked to recap basic information about the project. Following a brief summary of results ( Section 2), project managers are then requested to review performance indicators and activities (Section 3),outline the challenges encountered (Section 4),describe good practices and lessons learned (Section 5) and elaborate on sustainability (Section 6), multiplier effects (Section 7) and supplementary funding (Section 8).Alongside any additional information (Section 9), project managers are finally asked to provide financial figures for the project (Section 10).

Key project features

I. Project title
II. Project DA code
III. Implementing Entity
IV. Start date
Please specify themonth and year in which the budget allocation was received / mm/yy
VI. End date
Please specify the month and year of the project’scompletion / a. Original: mm/yy as per prodoc
b. Actual date: mm/yy
VII. Beneficiary countries
Please provide a complete list of the countries that benefited from the project’s activities /

______

______

______

/ ______

______

______

…
VIIII Implementing partners
Please list UN System and other partners (do not include beneficiary governments) / UN system

______

______

… / Other partners

______

______

…

2. Summary of results

This section should be no longer than one page and should provide a concise and effective narrative of the basic accomplishments of the project. It should not repeat information already provided (for instance, information presented in the project document) but shouldhighlight results, potential impact and any relevant achievement related to the project’s implementation (including unexpected results, both positive and negative). If the project(or one if its parts) is considered a success story it should be clearly stated in this section. The information reported in this section might be used for the DA website.

3. Detailed review of achievementsand implementation

The purpose of this section is to understand how the project actually performed against what it intended to accomplish. This should be done through the verification of the indicators of achievement that were developed in the project document as well as through an assessment of the implemented activities.

Entities are kindly requested to fill in the tables below:

-In Table 1 the comments column should be used to elaborate on the project’s contribution towards the achievement of the expected accomplishments;

-Table 2 should list, under each expected accomplishment,the set of activities that were actually implemented by the project. For each activity listed, project managers should highlight whether the activity represents a variationfrom the project’s initial design (project document) and, if so, in what ways (e.g. additional activity/change in activity initially envisioned etc.).

Table 1 - Review of Performance Indicators

Expected Accomplishment / Indicator of achievement (T0) / Indicator of achievement (T1) / Comments
EA1 / Please specify the baseline, if measured at the start of the project / Please provide an estimate or actual values of the indicator at the end of the project / Please elaborate on the progress made on the EA based on the indicator data or other relevant data.
EA2
…

Table 2 - Review of Activities

Activities implemented
Please provide the complete list of activities implemented under the framework of the project / Comments
Please specify whether the activity represents a variation of the project’s design. Significant variations that took place should be explained under paragraph 4 (Challenges/problems encountered).
EA1
A.1.1
A.1.2 / …
EA2
… / …

Challenges/problems encountered

Project managers are asked to elaborate on the problems faced by the project, both in terms of the project’s design (e.g. type of activities, expected accomplishments, objectives, etc.) and implementation (e.g. change in country situation, administrative processes, collaboration with partners, etc.). All issues faced,as well as any action taken to address them, should be reported in the table below.

Table 3 - Challenges and Actions

Description of challenges / Action(s) taken to solve the issue, if any
Please list all challenges faced / For each challenge, please indicate whether and how it was solved

Good practices and key lessons learned

In this section entities are requested to elaborate on good practices, with respect to the design or execution of the project, which could be successfully replicated in future programming.

The section should also outline any relevant finding that can be considered important lessonsfor future programming.

Sustainability

This section should elaborate on the extent to which the achievements of the project arelikely to be sustained beyond its completion, leadingto durable, self-sustained results. It should also include reference to any follow-up activity to the project that wasimplemented or initiated by the entity or other partners following the completion of the project.

Multiplier effects

This section should elaborate on whether the project triggered processes for thereplication of its activities, in other participating countries, non-participating countries, or, alternatively, any plan to do so.

Supplementary funding

This section should elaborate on whether additional funding (financial or in-kind) was leveraged to further the implementation of the project (e.g. securing additional participants at workshops, paying for venues/additional activities, etc.). In addressing this section, implementing entities are asked to fill in the table below.

Please note that supplementary funding does not refer to funds leveraged for projects other than the one being reviewed (follow up activities to the project or spin-offs in other countries should be reported in sections 6 and 7, respectively).

Table 4 – Financial Leveraging

Contributing Entity/Donor / Purpose / Amount raised
Cash (USD) / In-Kind

Additional information

In this section any additional information on the project’s activities, such as relevant press clippings, media coverage, meeting reports, publications, websites, etc. should be mentioned (if the information isavailable online, please includethe relevant URLs).

Quick Guide for final reports - DA 7th tranche

10. Financial Information

Project managers are asked to fill in the table below with accurate figures for each object class.

Table 5

Object Class / Description / A. Budget/Allotment (as per project document) (USD) / B. Revisions to allotments (if any) (USD) / C. Explanations of revisions to allotments (USD) / D. Total Expenditure (USD)
602 / General Temporary Assistance
604 / Consultants and Expert Groups
608 / Travel of staff
612 / Contractual services
616 / Operating expenses
618 / Supplies, Materials etc.
621 / Fellowships, grants and contributions
Total

Quick Guide for final reports - DA 7th tranche

Annex: Template for DA Final Reports

Key project features

I. Project title
II. DA project code
III. Implementing Entity
IV. Start date
Please specify the month and year in which the budget allocation was received / mm/yy
VI. End date
Please specify the month and year of the project’s completion / a. Original: mm/yy as per prodoc
b. Actual date: mm/yy
VII. Beneficiary countries
Please provide a complete list of the countries that benefited from the project’s activities / 1.______
2.______
3.______/ ______
4.______
5.______
…
VIIII Implementing partners
Please list UN System and other partners (do not include beneficiary governments) / UN system
1.______
2.______
… / Other partners
1.______
2.______
…

Summary of results
Detailed review of achievements and implementation

Table 1 - Review of Performance Indicators

Expected Accomplishment / Indicator of achievement (T0) / Indicator of achievement (T1) / Comments
EA1 / Please specify the baseline, if measured at the start of the project / Please provide an estimate or actual values of the indicator at the end of the project / Please elaborate on the progress made on the EA based on the indicator data or other relevant data.
EA2
…

Table 2 - Review of Activities

Activities implemented
Please provide the complete list of activities implemented under the framework of the project / Comments
Please specify whether the activity represents a variation of the project’s design. Significant variations that took place should be explained under paragraph 4 (Challenges/problems encountered).
EA1
A.1.1
A.1.2 / …
EA2
… / …

Challenges/problems encountered

Table 3 - Challenges and Actions

Description of challenges / Action(s) taken to solve the issue, if any
Please list all challenges faced / For each challenge, please indicate whether and how it was solved

Good practices and key lessons learned
Sustainability
Multiplier effects
Supplementary funding

Table 4 – Financial Leveraging

Contributing Entity/Donor / Purpose / Amount raised
Cash (USD) / In-Kind

Additional information

Quick Guide for final reports - DA 7th tranche

10. Financial Information

Table 5