All information and data collected from multiple sources was triangulated before making any evaluative judgements. The evaluation design matrix (Annex 2) guided how each of the questions was addressed based on the available evidence, facilitated the analysis and supported the evaluation team in drawing well-substantiated findings, conclusions and recommendations. Moreover, the ICPE used the IEO’s rating system, piloted in 2021, to score the country programme performance against Organisation for Economic Co-Operation-Development Assistance Committee (OECD-DAC) criteria of Relevance, Coherence, Efficiency, Effectiveness and Sustainability. A four-point rating scale is used, with 4 being the highest and 1 the lowest rating (See table 1). The ICPE has undergone a rigorous quality assurance, first with internal peer review at the IEO and two external reviewers. Thereafter, the report was submitted to the country office and the UNDP Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific for comments and, finally, to the government and other partners in the country for review. A stakeholder workshop was organized at the end of this process via videoconference, which brought together the main stakeholders of the programme and offered an additional opportunity to discuss the results and recommendations contained in this report.
Evaluation limitations Due to the travel restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, all of the evaluation’s primary data was collected remotely using Zoom or telephone. This prevented observation of project sites and direct interaction with certain vulnerable beneficiary groups in remote areas where internet connection was non-existent or unstable. Furthermore, as the delta variant outbreak in India exacerbated the COVID-19 situation in Nepal, some key stakeholders (e.g., Ministry of Health) were unavailable for the interview. Challenges posed by remote data collection were mitigated by conducting a broader and a more in-depth desk review and synthesis of existing data, as well as by increasing the number and the quality of consultations with different stakeholders. Some interviews with national key informants were conducted in Nepali to ensure a comfortable and conducive environment for the interviewees to fully express feedback and perception. The ICPE also followed up with national partners by email to obtain more information and a number of studies and reports as additional secondary data for analysis and triangulation.
1.3 Country context Nepal is a landlocked, mountainous country except for a thin strip of plains, the Terai, with a population of an estimated 29.1 million.6 It moved to the category of lower middle-income country in 2020.7 Nepal’s national development strategy is guided by the Fourteenth and the Fifteenth Plans,8 which incorporate the Sustainable Development Goals.9 Nepal has made steady improvements in human development, transitioning to the medium human development category in 2016.10 Nepal’s Human Development Index (HDI) value for 2019 is 0.602, representing a 59 percent increase from the 1990 HDI score (0.378) and positioning it at 142 out of 189 countries and
6 7 8 9 10
World Bank Data, Total Population – Nepal, for year 2020. World Bank. New World Bank country classifications by income level: 2020-2021, 2020. 14th Plan (2016/2017-2018/2019); 15th Plan (2019/2020 – 2023/2-24). Fourteenth Plan: 2016/2017-2018/2019; Fifteenth Plan: 2019/2024 to 2023/2024 fiscal years. Government of Nepal National Planning Commission (NPC) and UNDP, Nepal Human Development Report (HDR) 2020 – Beyond Graduation: Productive Transformation and Prosperity, 2020, p. 17.
CHAPTER 1. BACKGROUND AND INTRODUC TION
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