NDC Partnership’s Response to the Independent Mid-Term Review of the 2018-2020 Work Program

NDC PARTNERSHIP’S RESPONSE TO THE INDEPENDENT MID-TERM REVIEW OF THE 2018-2020 WORK PROGRAM MAY 2020

INTRODUCTION The NDC Partnership commissioned an external mid-term review (MTR) of its 2018-2020 Work Program, from December 2019 to February 2020.1 The MTR was led by IOD PARC, an independent consultancy based in the United Kingdom. The assessment covers the Partnership’s progress in implementing its 2018-2020 Work Program, identifies key challenges to meeting the Partnership’s goals and targets, and outlines recommendations for the remainder of the Work Program. The MTR team gathered data and information through a review of Partnership documents, an online member survey, semi-structured interviews with member countries and institutions, interviews with Support Unit staff, and three country field visits. This document outlines the Partnership’s official intent to address the recommendations proffered by the MTR. The NDC Partnership, which was launched at COP 22 in November 2016, is a global coalition of countries, institutions and non-state actors, working together to mobilize support and achieve ambitious climate goals and enhancing sustainable development. The Partnership’s main role is to support country access to the technical assistance, knowledge, and financial support they need to turn goals into action, including the implementation of NDCs and related sustainable development goals (SDGs). The Partnership works collectively to reinforce international political support for climate action, using the knowledge and learning from individual successes to create solutions that accelerate global transformation.

The Partnership was founded on the notion that more effective deployment and coordination of international technical assistance, expertise, financing and other resources for climate action is needed to maximize efforts towards achieving the goals established by the Paris Agreement.

The Partnership has also been charged with providing fast, nimble, and catalytic support for ambitious climate action.

Among the Partnership’s central roles is pairing country mitigation and adaptation needs with the relevant climate actors and their available capacity to offer support.

The NDC Partnership is akin to a startup, particularly our capacity to innovate where there are opportunities and adapt to fast changing circumstances to meet relevant goals.

1

While the NDC Partnership was formally announced in late 2016, the Partnership’s 2018-2020 Work Program and Monitoring and

Evaluation

Framework

(MEF)

were

approved by the NDC Partnership’s Steering Committee in September 2018, and May 2019, respectively.

ADDRESSING THE MTR RECOMMENDATIONS The NDC Partnership welcomes the findings and recommendations made by IOD PARC following its independent mid-term review of the Partnership’s 2018-2020 Work Program.

The MTR found that the Partnership is viewed as highly relevant and a significant positive contributor to climate action in many areas. This includes supporting country ownership, raising the profile of NDCs across countries, improving cross-sectoral coordination around NDC-related actions, mobilizing financial resources for NDC implementation, and playing the role of knowledge and learning generator, manager and broker. The MTR also commended the Support Unit, the Partnership’s secretariat, for being highly efficient and responsive to country needs. The report highlighted the Partnership’s Gender Strategy as strong and well aligned with various relevant international agreements. The positive experiences by members with the Climate Action Enhancement Package (CAEP), and how CAEP has provided a tangible vehicle for enhancing and raising the ambition of NDCs was also highlighted.

However, the NDC Partnership welcomes the need to improve in several areas to achieve its ultimate goals. The MTR outlined nine recommendations (indicated in bold below) around which enhanced actions will be taken.

• The NDC Partnership should continue to take forward its current work program (2018-2020). national development plans and sustainable development goals.

The Partnership will proceed with activities under the current work program. However, anticipated delays and COVID-19 induced postponement of activities that have followed the MTR requires revision of several 2020 targets and activities. Revised Work Program targets and follow up actions, including COVID-19 impacts, have been developed for consideration by the Steering Committee in May 2020.

• The Support Unit should have a moderate expansion in terms of staffing to enable it to continue the positive work being undertaken and to manage increased levels of engagement with a high number of countries.

Recognizing the significant surge in country membership (110 countries as of May 2020), the Partnership modestly increased its human resource capacity in 2020. This expansion includes regional program coordinators to support each of the four existing regional specialists (Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and Pacific, Francophone Africa, and Anglophone Africa). The Partnership will propose appropriate levels of human resources and associated budgets for the Support Unit to meet the demands of the new Work Program, which begins in January 2021.

• The NDC Partnership should further develop and institutionalize the role of facilitators, including an assessment of how the role may vary in different country contexts.

The facilitator has the responsibility to coordinate the development and implementation of the Partnership Plans. Given the experience of the Partnership thus far, more time is needed to build systems and increase capacity within governments before transferring responsibility from externally financed facilitators to government staff members for coordinating, revising, tracking Partnership Plans and mobilizing resources for their implementation. The Partnership will therefore extend the length of facilitator contracts from two to three years to allow for more robust support for Partnership Plans to take root. The Partnership will conduct a survey and interview with countries to assess the extent to which countries have found the embedded advisors useful. Lessons learned will inform the new Work Program. The surveys and interviews will take place in August 2020 to enable inclusion in a revised Work Program for the Fall Steering Committee Meeting in September.

• The Support Unit should organize an event with Members to review expectations of behavior within the Partnership and look at facilitating mechanisms, including the possibility of an accountability matrix or country level partnership assessment tool.

Building on previous Stop and Reflect exercises held in 2018, the NDC Partnership will organize additional Stop and Reflect exercises with implementing and development partners in 2021. Members will be invited to discuss commitment and contributions to the Partnership at all Stop and Reflect events. Stop and Reflect exercises will also complement existing mechanisms built into Partnership Plans. The Partnership Plans currently include a section on deliverables, timelines, and budgets allocated by members to support country requests. This provides a means to track progress on deliverables in accordance with Partnership Plans. Summary reports reflecting contributions by members and gaps will also inform Stop and Reflect exercises.

• The Partnership should review its Theory of Change (TOC) and Monitoring and Evaluation Framework (MEF).

As part of the preparation of its new Work Program, the Partnership will adjust its Theory of Change. Strengthening the TOC will include establishing enabling intermediary and endpoint outcomes to more clearly illustrate connections between impact, outcomes and outputs. The enabling intermediary and endpoint outcomes will also improve the elaboration of key risks and assumptions related to desired impact. A new Monitoring and Evaluation Framework will be prepared with a streamlined set of indicators to capture both quantitative and qualitative progress. The new Work Program, TOC and MEF will be approved by the Steering Committee and the broader membership by the end of 2020.

• Building on the recent insights on the use of knowledge resources the Support Unit should look to further develop its Knowledge and Learning Strategy.

The Support Unit is adjusting its 2020 Work Plan to reflect how its Knowledge Portal, kNook—the Partnership’s knowledge management system—, in-person and online peer convenings, and knowledge products can be delivered more effectively to support greater climate impact and action. Our knowledge and learning tools and associated sharing mechanisms are further embedded into Partnership Plans and the country engagement processes. Additionally, knowledge insights emerging from the Partnership’s work are being presented to members in more accessible forms to support greater application. Our current actions include making the kNook more accessible to members and holding regular Partnership Briefings to share unique Partnership insights on key topics—NDC enhancement, gender, finance, adaptation, among others. Adjustments of this nature are being made to the 2020 Work Program and will also be reflected in the next Work Program. On approval of the Partnership’s second Work

Program, the Knowledge and Learning (and Country Engagement) strategies will be revised to reflect new priorities. The Partnership has also crafted a comprehensive communications and visibility strategy that is aligned with the core goals of the new Work Program. This strategy draws upon best practices in both science communications and climate change communications to both diversify and strengthen how the Partnership distills, packages and shares knowledge and insights about climate action.

• There should be an increase in the level of resources available to implement the gender strategy.

The Support Unit has mapped out key technical support responsibilities for effective coordination and implementation of the Partnership’s Gender Strategy. More than a third (35%) of the equivalent of one full-time team member’s time has been allocated to support effective implementation of the Gender Strategy. The Support Unit has also issued a Request for Support for a gender consultancy to boost capacity to implement the Gender Strategy. Recruitment is expected to conclude in early June 2020, and services retained through 2021. The Support Unit will also consider gender capacity needs systematically as part of the new Work Program. The Support Unit’s communications team will review online materials and other relevant communication products to ensure consistent use of the term “gender equality” (over gender parity) by June 2020.

• To initiate a process for a ‘deeper’ framework for Partnership Plans which allow them to facilitate more effective operationalization.

The Support Unit and members will provide a deeper assessment of needs expressed in the Partnership Plans. This will be done through increased focus on policy and institutional gap assessment as part of developing Rapid Situational Analyses. The Support Unit is already developing Project Information Notes (PINs) that further contextualize investment projects represented in Partnership Plans. PINs are being developed throughout 2020 and will be scaled up in the new Work Program.

• The Steering Committee to agree on clear parameters for what a permanent Technical Assistance Fund (TAF) resource could be used for and the level of funding available.

•

A pooled funding mechanism will be considered as part of the new Work Program.

CONCLUSION The findings and recommendations of the MTR offers valuable specific input and a credible basis for improving the Partnership’s implementation processes and expanding impact immediately, and in the medium-term. Emblematically, the MTR outlines valuable insights that have substantially informed the planning process for the next Partnership’s Work Program.

Following this external assessment, the NDC Partnership is reassured that the NDC Partnership’s founding principles and rationale has borne itself out. By working collaboratively, this expansive and truly global coalition of committed countries and institutional partners is greater than the sum of its parts and can achieve greater climate impact together.

NDC PARTNERSHIP SUPPORT UNIT WASHINGTON, DC, USA OFFICE

BONN, GERMANY OFFICE

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Phone:

+1 (202) 729-7600

Phone: (49-228) 815-1000

Email:

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Email: supportunit@ndcpartnership.org

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