EVALUATION BRIEF

Evaluation Brief: Nepal

The Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) conducted an Independent Country Programme Evaluation (ICPE) of UNDP Nepal in 2021. The evaluation covers the programming period of 2018-2022. This is the second assessment carried out by the IEO for the country; the previous assessment was conducted in 2012. The purpose of the evaluation was to strengthen accountability to national stakeholders and the UNDP Executive Board, to promote organizational learning and to inform the development of the next UNDP country programme.

Nepal’s dynamic development context in this period is characterized by transitions. A decade of political transition after the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, led to a new federal constitution in 2015 that put in place a three-tier federal structure of government at federal, provincial and local levels. Elections in all three tiers of government were successfully organized in 2017 and officials assumed office in 2018. In the area of human development, Nepal has made steady improvements and transitioned to the medium human development category in 2016. However, inequalities along ethnic, gender and community divides threaten Nepal’s efforts to achieve sustainable development. Looking forward, Nepal, currently classified as a least developed country, aspires to graduate to the status of a developing country by 2026 and of an upper middle-income country by 2030.

Equally prominent in this programme period are the challenges and emerging needs for crisis response and recovery. Nepal is one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change and experiences significant risks of disasters including landslides, floods and droughts, with high cost to human life as well as high social and economic costs, as evidenced by the 2015 earthquake. Economic performance was strong in recent years until the COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted the country with substantial decreases in economic growth and intensified economic vulnerability.

UNDP Nepal country programme for the period of 2018-2022 has focused on three outcome areas: sustainable and inclusive economic growth; governance, rule of law and human rights; and resilience, disaster risk reduction and climate change. It is aligned with the United Nations Development Assistance Framework for the same period. Gender equality, social inclusion and human rights are integrated across the thematic areas. UNDP established four field offices in provincial capitals in 2019 to provide coordination and coherence at the subnational level and launched Nepal’s Accelerator Lab in the same year to promote locally contextualized innovative solutions to urgent development challenges.

Programme Expenditure by Outcome 2018-2021, in millions (USD)

Sustainable and Inclusive Economic Growth

Governance, Rules of Law, and Human Rights

Resilience, Disaster Risk Reduction, and Climate Change

Note: Financial data as of 9 December 2021 $21 $26

$26

Findings and conclusions

The evaluation finds that the UNDP country programme has been highly relevant for Nepal’s national priorities. UNDP reinforced its position as a trusted development partner of the Government of Nepal through close alignment of its programme with government priorities and through the important role it has played in supporting federalization, promoting SDG localization and mainstreaming gender equality and social inclusion. The establishment of field offices in four provincial capitals is strategic, but their capacity remains limited to fully execute their strategic and operational functions at the subnational levels.

The inclusive economic growth portfolio has made a longstanding contribution to microenterprise development in Nepal, which was influential for the government’s adoption and commitment in mainstreaming the microenterprise development model, first piloted by UNDP, in all three levels of the government. In this country programme document (CPD) cycle, UNDP has played an important role in supporting subnational governments to institutionalize microenterprise development throughout the country, with gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) and leave no one behind (LNOB) considerations. UNDP has also helped to create rural livelihood opportunities for disadvantaged and vulnerable people through value-chain development, cooperative development and access to renewable livelihoods. However, due to the challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, market conditions, the small size of economy in remote areas and limited local government capacity, the expected economic benefits are unlikely to be fully achieved within the initially planned timeframe.

In the area of governance, UNDP’s support to law-making and institutional capacity development of federal and subnational governments responded to the priority needs of federalization. UNDP’s active engagement in the government’s flagship Provincial and Local Government Support Programme (PLGSP) provides it with an optimal platform for federalization support. UNDP's role in capacity-building at the federal, provincial and local levels is well received by the stakeholders. In addition to support to federalization, UNDP’s technical and financial support made important contributions to institutional strengthening of the parliament and provincial assemblies, the Office of the Attorney-General (OAG) and the national commissions for human rights and elections. UNDP also helped these institutions engage with civil society, including vulnerable and marginalized groups. While positive changes have been achieved, overall weak institutional capacity at the subnational level and resource scarcity continue to affect the effectiveness and sustainability of interventions in these areas.

Regarding the resilience portfolio, UNDP has assisted the government to institute several progressive steps in recent years to integrate disaster risk reduction in development planning and has supported the decentralization of disaster risk management. Support to climate change was strategic but limited in this programme cycle, partially due to reduced in-house technical capacity. Biodiversity and ecosystem management projects are limited and/or at an early stage.

UNDP has well navigated the dynamic context in Nepal and demonstrated adaptability in assisting the government with emerging demands from post-disaster recovery and the COVID-19 pandemic. For the latter, UNDP’s efforts strengthened the health system and helped with subnational governments’ crisis management. UNDP led the rapid socio-economic assessment and its contribution to the United Nations Country Team’s (UNCT) COVID-19 Preparedness and Response Plan and initiatives was appraised by UN and other partners. Nevertheless, crisis response diluted UNDP’s focus on long-term development impact for resilience and livelihoods.

In this programme cycle, UNDP has built positive partnerships with UN agencies and other development actors and has had some initial success in resource diversification, including through government cost-sharing and partnerships with new bilateral partners, the private sector and the international financial institutions. Nevertheless, resource mobilization remains a challenge for the country programme. Moreover, current programming approaches for monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems design and sustainability planning are inadequate for tracking and sustaining results.

Recommendations

Recommendation 1: UNDP should intensify its engagement at the subnational level and expand its capacity development support to provincial and local governments. Recommendation 2: UNDP’s inclusive economic growth and resilience portfolios should seek a balance between interventions for the immediate response to crisis and transitioning, and systematic support that leads to mid- to long-term development impact. Recommendation 3: UNDP should review its experience with policy, financial and institutional constraints and socio-cultural barriers in the human rights and justice domains in consultation with relevant stakeholders and explore avenues for strengthening implementation. UNDP may consider further support for criminal justice reform for the protection of women and vulnerable minorities, transparency and accountability. Recommendation 4: UNDP should ensure that SDG localization and GESI mainstreaming continue to be at the core of its interventions.

Recommendation 5: UNDP should establish theories of change and improve M&E systems for its portfolios and projects. Sound sustainability planning is needed to maintain focus on sustaining intervention benefits.