Endline evaluation of the Strengthening Capacities in the Use of Geospatial information for Improved Resilience in Asia-Pacific and Africa project

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Project/Programme 2024

Endline evaluation of the Strengthening Capacities in the Use of Geospatial information for Improved Resilience in Asia-Pacific and Africa project

Agency

United Nations Institute for Training and Research

Overview

The Strengthening Capacities in the Use of Geospatial Information for Improved Resilience in Asia-Pacific and Africa project, funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), aims to enhance climate resilience and disaster risk reduction (DRR) in eight countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Fiji, Lao PDR, Nigeria, Solomon Islands, Uganda and Vanuatu. The project is being implemented between July 2021 and December 2024.

More specifically, the project focuses on building geospatial information technology (GIT) capacities for effective planning and decision-making through targeted technical training, backstopping services, awareness raising, and development of web-based GIT applications, including geospatial decision support systems (DSS), a knowledge platform, and support to access climate finance in the three Pacific countries (with implementation support of the Commonwealth Secretariat).

The endline evaluation aimed to systematically assess the performance and results of the project as it reaches its operational closure, assessing the project relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, likelihood of impact, and likelihood of sustainability. The evaluation followed a mixed-methods approach, analysing data from primary and secondary sources through qualitative and quantitative methods such as text analysis from interviews and a focus group and descriptive statistics from survey data and the scorecard. Furthermore, two field visits were organized to Bhutan and Bangladesh.

Several limitations were encountered by the evaluation:
i) absence of completion of endline scorecards for Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and Uganda, and information gaps for Nigeria;
ii) lack of survey responses from Nigerian participants and limited number of responses from climate writeshops;
iii) absence of contacts from participants from awareness raising events;
iv) lack of response from some national focal points and in-country experts;
v) failure to establish a counterfactual scenario; and
vi) lack of agreement to establish a cost-effectiveness methodology. Mitigation strategies were implemented where possible.

Key evaluation findings and conclusions

The project is highly relevant and closely aligned with global, regional, and national priorities for DRR, Climate Change Adaptation (CCA), and sustainable development. It effectively addresses the specific needs of the participating countries by providing targeted support in DRR, CCA, and Natural Resources Management (NRM). The project's alignment with the SDGs, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, and national policies highlight its strategic relevance. The project promotes gender equality and women's empowerment within its reach but could not systematically change broader societal gender dynamics.

The project is strongly aligned with national policies, strategies and other development interventions across the participating countries. It effectively complemented existing DRR and climate resilience initiatives, particularly in countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan and Fiji. The alignment with ongoing initiatives by development partners such as JICA, the World Bank and UNITAR-supported projects further reinforced the project's contribution to broader national and regional efforts. However, some opportunities for deeper integration, especially with other UNOSAT and UNITAR projects, were missed, limiting the potential synergies that could have been achieved.

The project was generally effective in achieving its planned outputs and outcomes, significantly enhancing technical capacities across multiple countries. Deploying in-country experts and developing web-based geospatial applications were instrumental in improving decision-making capacities in disaster risk management and environmental planning. However, the project's effectiveness was uneven across countries, with challenges such as high staff turnover, inconsistent government engagement, and the technical profile of focal point organizations hindering progress in some areas. Despite these challenges, the project achieved over 80-95 per cent of its main targets, demonstrating satisfactory performance.

The project demonstrated satisfactory efficiency, producing most of its planned outputs in a timely and cost-effective manner. The strategic use of in-country experts, partnerships and open-source software significantly enhanced cost efficiency. Although there were initial delays due to administrative challenges, the project effectively applied adaptive management strategies to mitigate these issues and ensure nearly full resource utilization by the project's end. Besides administrative delays, the project was affected by exchange rate changes.

The project's impact on DRR and climate resilience in all participant countries was significant. In Lao PDR, Uganda, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands and Fiji, project geospatial tools were effectively applied during specific disaster events. The project enhanced resilience through improved disaster management capabilities, better quality data and increased efficiency in resource use. By developing user-friendly web-based applications and decision support systems, the project has enabled beneficiaries to make more informed decisions. The project's contributions to enhancing organizational capacities and resilience were substantial, but systemic policy changes or significant differences in disaster outcomes compared to counterfactuals were not evident.

The project also supported climate finance proposals in the three Pacific countries, mobilizing nearly USD 12 million. However, the overall impact on climate finance in the Pacific Island countries was less measurable, with climate finance flows remaining similar to counterfactuals during the project timeframe.

The sustainability of the project's results varies across the participating countries. The likelihood of sustaining project outcomes is high in countries where strong government engagement and institutional backing are present. However, challenges such as government restructuring, high staff turnover, and the limited integration of GIT into national frameworks pose risks to the long-term sustainability of the project's outcomes.

Report Details

Year Published	2024
Type	Project/Programme
Theme/s	Climate changeEnvironment
Joint	No
Partner/s	N/A
SDG/s	SDG11 - Sustainable Cities and CommunitiesSDG13 - Climate Action
Consultant name	Antonio Cabo
Agency Focal Point	Katinka Koke
Focal Point Email	katinka.koke@unitar.org
Managed by Independent Evaluation Office	Yes
Geographic Scope	Global
Country/ies	BangladeshBhutanFijiLao PDRNigeriaSolomon IslandsUgandaVanuatu