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EVALUATION BRIEF
Evaluation Brief: Egypt
Egypt is located in northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea between Libya and the Gaza strip. Its growth rate is driven by the performance of the economy and the strength of its banking system, in terms of liquidity, profitability, capital and resilience to shocks. The COVID‑19 pandemic has the potential to reverse the country’s achievements in relation to fiscal consolidation, macroeconomic stability and sustainable development over the long term. Egypt faces several challenges with regards to governance, with a highly centralized, bureaucratic public administration characterized by poor legal frameworks, which can undermine government implementation capacity. Most land in Egypt is desert, with the Nile River providing a narrow strip of very fertile land making up less than 5 percent of the land area. Egypt is susceptible to a range of natural disasters, including periodic droughts, earthquakes, flash floods, and wind, dust and sandstorms.
Total programme expenditure by funding source
161 30 11 2 1
Government cost-sharing Vertical trust funds (GEF, GCF, GFATM, MP) Bilateral and multilateral donors Other UNDP regular resources
million US$
Programme finances by outcome (2018–2021)
Outcome 1 Inclusive growth, economic empowerment & employment Outcome 2 Resource efficiency, environmental protection & green growth Outcome 3 Gender equality and women’s empowerment $0.2 $32.4 $175.2
million US$
Key findings and conclusions
UNDP is strongly positioned as a reliable provider of development services in support of the Government’s efforts, as reflected in the steady government financing of UNDP initiatives.
Efficient procurement and service provision have expanded services in local development and employ‑ ment generation and integrated the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into government plans, with extensive policy and institutional development support in the environment and climate change sectors. UNDP has effectively mainstreamed gender across its interventions, though work is still needed to ensure that they ‘leave no one behind’ and align with the country’s SDG priorities.
UNDP operations were significantly affected by COVID‑19, which also provided a window for UNDP to innovate and assist the country through the COVID‑19 response. UNDP contributed to expanding the evidence‑base on development issues and challenges in Egypt, to promote and integrate SDG priorities into government policies and plans, and address the impact of the COVID‑19 pandemic.
UNDP support to the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) Development Agency has brought transformative changes through the promotion of entrepreneurship, transparency and innovation in the provision of services for MSMEs and job creation.
UNDP support to economic and urban development and job creation was well‑conceptualized and responded to key challenges, but more effort is needed to build an enabling environment to overcome the structural challenges for youth employment and economic empowerment.
UNDP has significantly contributed to expanded energy‑efficiency and use of renewable energy technol‑ ogies. Initiatives addressing waste management, hazardous materials and solid waste have been more difficult to promote, though the phase‑out of ozone‑depleting substances has shown promising results.
Protected area financing and management systems have been supported by the amended Protected Area Law. Many initiatives in the portfolio could benefit from past lessons and experiences, which could help with spin‑offs and scale‑up.
Recommendation 1. UNDP should strengthen its potential added value and deepen its development contributions, capitalizing on its knowledge, expertise and international networks as direct inputs to strengthening the Government’s potential to fulfil its priorities. This also applies to projects designed to provide administrative and procurement services.
Recommendation 2. UNDP should expand its support to the strategic strengthening of digitalization and e‑governance reforms.
Recommendation 3. UNDP should continue to support inclusive entrepreneurship and job creation initiatives, with a strong focus on building an enabling environment to address structural challenges and integrate sustainability mechanisms. UNDP should build on results and lessons from the implementation of initiatives in support of women’s empowerment, gender and equity as a basis for the country office strategy to fully integrate gender equality and women’s empowerment into its portfolio.
Recommendation 4. UNDP should consider creating stronger intersectoral synergy between economic development and segments of its support to environmental and climate change management, to enhance the potential of investment in green growth and the green economy. Interventions in support of the circular economy and innovation should be supported, to expand the Government’s efforts to diversify the economy, and position UNDP as a leader in this field, building on its regional and global knowledge.
Recommendation 5. UNDP needs to increase the emphasis on sustainability and the uptake of its environment and climate change interventions, so that community benefits from its market‑based approaches are sustained over time, with clear exit strategies. This includes building government absorptive capacity (where gaps exist), providing multi‑pronged policy and institutional support (as needed), and fostering strong engagement with all stakeholder groups.
Recommendation 6. UNDP should reassess and reinforce its results‑based management approach and strengthen its monitoring and evaluation capacity. Coherence and cross‑thematic synergy should be entrenched in programme design and implementation.
Recommendation 7. UNDP should invest in existing and expanded partnerships with civil society, development partners and the private sector.
Recommendations
CHAPTER 1 BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION
This chapter presents the purpose, objectives and scope of the evaluation, as well as the methodology applied. It lays out the development context of Egypt, before introducing the UNDP country programme.
The Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) conducts Independent Country Programme Evaluations (ICPEs) to capture and demonstrate evaluative evidence of UNDP contributions to development results at the country level, and the effectiveness of UNDP strategy in facilitating and leveraging national efforts for achieving development results, to contribute to organiza‑ tional and stakeholder learning. ICPEs are independent evaluations carried out within the overall provisions contained in the UNDP Evaluation Policy.1
This is the third country‑level evaluation conducted by UNDP in Egypt, after the Assessments of Development Results carried out by IEO in 2004 and 2012.2 This ICPE covers the period 2018 to September 2021 of the current UNDP Country Programme Document (CPD) (2018–2022). The scope of the ICPE includes the entirety of UNDP activities in the country, covering interventions funded by all sources, including UNDP core resources and donor and government funds. It also includes any projects and activities from the previous programme cycle that continued or concluded in the current one, in accordance with the evaluation Terms of Reference (Annex 1).
The ICPE is guided by four main evaluation ques‑ tions (Box 1). It presents findings, conclusions and recommendations which will serve as an input to the formulation of the new CPD of UNDP Egypt for 2023–2027.
The primary audiences for the evaluation are the UNDP Egypt country office, the Regional Bureau for Arab States (RBAS), the UNDP Executive Board, and the Government of Egypt.
BOX 1. Evaluation questions
1. what did the UNDP country programme intend to achieve during the period under review?
2. To what extent has the programme achieved (or is likely to achieve) its intended objectives?
3. To what extent has UNDP been able to adapt to the COVID‑19 pandemic and support country’s preparedness, response and recovery process?
4. what factors contributed to or hindered UNDP performance and, eventually, the sustainability of results?
Source: Evaluation terms of reference
1.2 Evaluation methodology
The ICPE was conducted according to the approved IEO process, and the evaluation methodology adhered to United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG) norms and standards.3 However, due to the coronavirus 2019 (COVID‑19) pandemic, IEO and the ICPE team, in consultation with the country office, decided to conduct the evaluation remotely. The methodology was adapted to the changed circumstances, while still guaranteeing UNEG evaluation norms and professional standards. This included ethical considerations to ensure the highest standards of integrity and respect for the beliefs and customs of the social and cultural environment in the country, and due consideration to the values and principles of human rights, gender equality and do no harm.
1 See http://web.undp.org/evaluation/policy.shtml 2 See http://web.undp.org/evaluation/evaluations/adr/egypt.shtml 3 See UNEG website: http://www.unevaluation.org/document/detail/1914
