Our projects

The main objectives of this evaluation were to provide the relevant services of the European Union and, the interested stakeholders with:

• an overall independent assessment of the performance of the Gender Equality and Women Empowerment (GEWE) budget support programme in South Africa, paying particular attention to its different levels of results measured against its expected objectives; and the reasons underpinning such results.
• key lessons learned, conclusions and related recommendations in order to improve the current implementation of the Gender Equality and Women Empowerment (GEWE) budget support programme in South Africa.

In particular, this evaluation served to:

1. Monitor progress and implementation status of the GEWE programme and predict its outcomes.

2. Identify the improvements in government policies, institutional structures, processes, and administrative arrangements to be made by the DWYPD, DSD, National Treasury and DPME to maximise the implementation of activities towards increased impact of the BS program.

3. Recommend modifications to the current programme, including, where appropriate, to the timelines and the definition of variable indicators to ensure ambitious programme objectives are fully achieved.

The main users of this evaluation are the European Union Delegation in South Africa, the GEWE Program Steering Committee (PSC) and the implementers, i.e. DWYPD, DSD, National Treasury and DPME.

The objective of the Third Party Monitoring and Evaluation activity was to monitor and evaluate the execution and implementation of EU funded projects in Somalia. Monitoring missions were carried out in all the regions of Somalia, including direct field visits to all the locations where the project activities were being implemented. The contract had three main purposes:

• Result 1: Provided specific monitoring reports on the implementation progress of ongoing EDF priority projects. These reports clearly reflected relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability, and impact, along with conclusions and any other relevant information collected during the monitoring mission.
• Result 2: Offered recommendations, and where relevant, improved indicators of outputs, outcomes, and impact that could be applied in the remainder of the implementation of the projects.
• Result 3: Provided specific monitoring reports on thematic issues as specified and requested by the EU Delegation.

The main mission of this project was to facilitate and support the Delegation of the

European Union in Morocco (EUD) in close coordination with the services concerned for the design and the implementation of actions in connection with the bilateral programming of EU-Morocco cooperation and the mobility component of the new pact for migration and asylum (Talent Partnership initiative) according to two main axes.

This contract had the following specific objectives:

• Better knowledge and coordination of the various initiatives and support for EU-MOROCCO mobility
• The formulation of a federative action to support mobility, MOBWINWIN within the framework of the 2022 annual programming of EU-MOROCCO cooperation.

The global objective was the successful implementation of the AU-EU partnership priorities and of the AU institutional reform and Agenda 2063.

More specifically the project aimed to reinforce the institutional and operational capacity of the AU.

Through the creation of the platform for Global Exchange on Religion in Society, the EU wanted to explore a specific model for engagement with religion. The goal was to contribute to social inclusion and societal resilience by setting up a global community-based initiative on the place and space of religion in society. Its aim was to connect and empower civil society practitioners working on faith and social inclusion, enhancing cooperation across a broader range of issues with a focus on both "religious" and "non-religious" areas of policy concern.

Specific objectives:

• facilitate the cross-fertilisation of ideas and experiential learning between participants with respect to best practices on the role of religion in promoting respect for diversity and fostering social inclusion
• create transnational networks of religious actors from different faith traditions working in the same professional sector ( e.g. education, community development, conflict resolution)
• provide these actors with ideas and skills to help them scale up their activities and reach out to a larger audience

The project contributed to the introduction of results-based management in all the activities of DG NEAR. The ToR underlined the importance of taking account of all related systems and tools and of the reforms currently being introduced, which are listed exhaustively.

Indeed, the EC had embarked in a major transformation project with crucial implications on the way development cooperation is delivered and development cooperation professionals will work in the future. The aim was to introduce a performance and results culture promoting collaboration, accountability and access to knowledge, along with simplification and harmonisation of all processes and tools, combined in a holistic transparent system.

Result 1: Robust evidence was made available through the setup of an appropriate qualitative monitoring system for civil society projects in order to showcase the benefits of civil society support for citizens;

Result 2: Increased credibility of civil society projects was fostered through regular and more accurate monitoring of projects, following EU external monitoring policy.

Result 3: Increased capacity of EU staff to implement EU monitoring guidelines (and apply corrective measures, if needed) was increased through regular and structured on implementation of EU funded CS projects.

The main goal of this project is to entail skills development through classroom and practical training in the training institution’s workshop after which the trainees will be matched to companies for attachments for real work environment practical training. Thereafter, trainees will be supported to transit into jobs.

The project targets to support the training of 720 youth in the KNQA level IV courses in the 3 years, at least 70% of whom must be women. It is implemented in 3 different regions of Kenya (Coast, Central and Nairobi region), where four institutions have been selected to offer the courses.

As a core element, the project works jointly with the TVET institutions to identify suitable cooperation formats with the private sector to increase labour demand and improve access to jobs and economic opportunities for the youth in Kenya, by establishing linkages and partnerships between vocational training institutions and companies.

Work package 1: Community gender roles sensitization forums, mobilization of Trainees:

In collaboration with TVET institutes, the project mobilises trainees to participate in competency-based education and training (CBET) courses. This includes engagement with community leaders and other influential groups to sensitize about the potential of women in TVET and technical career pathways.

Work package 2: Sponsorship funds management:

The project supports vulnerable trainees pursuing the CBET courses, covering tuition fees and stipends. This is made through local subsidies with thee four selected training institutions.

Work package 3: Industry sensitization forums and job placements:

The project organises sensitization workshops with local industry players in order to encourage them to provide practical training opportunities (attachments) and jobs for the graduates. The project organises job fairs and learning round tables to facilitate networking and share experience. The project provided training on entrepreneurship and work readiness skills to trainees to facilitate (self-)employment.

Work package 4: Project sustainability:

The project provides capacity building of training institutions on mobilisation and enrolment into the CBET courses. Lessons learnt and best practices are documented and shared at national government level.

Development of a regional consumer policy framework and model law to provide policy guidelines and facilitate development and implementation of the regional policy at national level, encourage common measures, common approaches, and common enforcement practices. The regional policy framework strengthen the network of national consumer protection authorities to promote cooperation and harmonisation of consumer regulation in the region as well as assist countries to implement consumer laws in conformity with the goals of the SADC region. The model law on consumer policy serve as a template for drafting and revising consumer legislation.

The evaluation focused on Somalia, including Somaliland, and had as overarching objectives to provide the relevant external co-operation services of the EU and the wider public with an overall independent assessment of the EU’s past and current cooperation with the Federal Republic of Somalia, and to identify key lessons and to produce recommendations in order to inform the responsible decision-makers.

The more specific objectives of the evaluation were:

• To take stock of the results achieved during the cooperation period 2014-2021 with Somalia, and to identify which factors have supported and contributed the achievement of results and have hindered or even blocked their achievement;
• To assess along the six OECD/DAC evaluation criteria, namely relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, coherence, impact and sustainability, plus the EU’s additional criterium of EU value added, the performance of the EU’s support in terms of non-spending (mainly policy dialogue) and spending activities (i.e., financial assistance);
• To investigate and assess the extent to which EU’s interventions financed from the 11th EDF were coherent, complementary, of added value and coordinated with other actions financed and supported by other EU instruments, or actions carried out by EU-MS, regional and international donors, i.e., state and/or international organisations;
• Looking forward, to nurture strategies and future interventions of the ongoing programming period (well noting that the broad programming lines for the funding period 2021 to 2027 have been defined, but recognising that there is space for adaptation and for further development of the cooperation portfolio); and
• To assess the extent to which the EU has been able to respond to security, peace, development and humanitarian challenges in the country and how the EU has positioned itself in Somalia in terms of the design, implementation, results and impact of its interventions.

Beyond that, the evaluation played significant role in the discussions on the EU’s wider strategy in the Horn of Africa as well as in discussions on the use of aid modalities, including budget support, in fragile and conflict-ridden country contexts, at a broader level.

General objective: Developed a National Adaptation Plan (2023) to allow the Ecuadorian exporting productive sector to achieve an adequate and timely transition in line with the European Green Deal, through the design of strategies within the framework of quality infrastructure, production systems and regulatory Framework.

Specific objectives:

• Carried out a comprehensive analysis of the agro-industrial export chains and prioritised challenges to achieve compliance with the European Green Deal requirements
  • As the European Union is one of Ecuador's main trading partners, it was necessary to know through a comprehensive analysis which were, in order of priority, the main adaptations that were to be considered within the agro-industrial chains framework. This allowed to define a baseline to focus the Ecuadorian production on the European Union as destination market
• Evaluated the Ecuadorian regulatory framework in order to identify priority reforms, within the international trade framework, which allowed to be aligned with the regulations derived from the European Green Deal. The evaluated regulatory framework affected the following products and value chains: bananas, fruits non-traditional, vegetables and greens, cocoa, coffee and fishery. For the Ecuadorian agricultural and agro-industrial sector, the European Union has become a preferential market for exports ; In line with the European Green Deal, the European Union regulatory framework is adapting and it was therefore essential to make such adjustments and reforms to the Ecuadorian regulatory framework.
• Evaluated the current situation of the quality infrastructure and monitoring mechanism, to ensure compliance with the requirements of the European Green Deal for the export of the selected products and value chains.
  • For the strengthening of the Ecuadorian economy, one of the defined strategies was the diversification of the exportable offer. An analysis of the country's quality infrastructure helped to define updated mechanisms with the objective of guaranteeing compliance with the defined requirements to access the European market, especially with high value-added products.
• Identified requirements and general principles to guarantee the sustainability of productive systems applied in the bananas, non-traditional fruits, vegetables and greens, cocoa, coffee and fishery and aquaculture value chains and products
  • Strengthened the marketing capacity of the selected value chains and products with a focus on the knowledge of the destination market, considering the changes in rules and requirements that the European Green Deal generated
• Prepared an Action Plan that focused on the quality infrastructure, production systems and regulatory framework, which allowed the agile adaptation to the requirements of the European Green Deal of the selected products and value chains.
  • As to comply with the adaptation process derived from the European Green Deal, it was necessary to define an action plan for each of the prioritized value chains, based on the changes that they needed to manage to continue accessing the European market
• Established a plan for the socialization and validation of the Action Plans with the main actors of the public and private sectors of the prioritized value chains
  • The process of adaptation to the European Green Deal, was to require reforms in national regulations and policies as established in the action plans for each of the prioritized production chains, which needed to be socialized with the private sector, unions, chambers and other related actors, to develop a validation and appropriation process of agreed plans, but mainly commitment to their implementation