Our projects

The purpose of the Exploratory Mission was to collect factual information concerning this election process, in line with the criteria contained in the Commission Communication on Electoral Assistance and Observation [COM(2000)191]. The experts have also in particular:

• Assessed the pre-election situation in the light of international standards for democratic elections and national legislation. The assessment will cover: (i) Political situation, (ii) Legal and Electoral framework, (iii) election administration, (iv) voter registration, (v) party and candidate registration, (vi) human rights and fundamental freedoms, (vii) potential for electoral violence, (viii) traditional and online media, as well as social media, (ix) security aspects, (x) logistics and operational matters, (xi) use of electoral ICT and (xii) any other relevant issues relating to the elections and possible deployment of an EU EOM.
• Assessed, when relevant, the state of implementation of recommendations of previous EU election missions (both EU EOMs and EEMs).
• Made necessary preliminary logistics related enquiries and provide advice on how to organise the operational component of a possible EU EOM.
• Assessed the security situation in the country, in particular in connection with the possible deployment of an EU EOM.
• Advised on the composition, number and length of stay of the Core Team members and long and short-term observers of the EU EOM.
• Drafted tentative specifications and Terms of Reference of a possible EU EOM and related estimated costs and budget breakdown.
• Assessed the relevance of providing support to domestic observer organisations.
• Acquired updated information on EU election support (both EU and Member States) and other major partners (Canada, Norway and Switzerland) and possible other major actors plans in this field, including in the area of electoral assistance.
• Liaised closely with domestic and international election observation organisations that may be present on the ground regarding the preparation of elections.
• Prepared a number of specific reports as outlined in section 'VI. Output' of these ToR.
• If necessary, participated in the briefing of the EU EOM Core Team should the deployment of an EU EOM be decided.

++Integrated water resource management++ is of utmost importance to the Orange Senqu River Basin and the SADC region at large. Lesotho is the “water tower” of the region. All water related interventions in Lesotho are therefore transboundary in nature and have an immediate impact downstream.

The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development has been supporting the SADC water sector for several years through the programme ++“Transboundary Water Management in the SADC region”++ (TWM) implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).The fifth phase of TWM ran from 01/2020 to 12/2023 and included a major component co-financed by the European Union in Lesotho, the “Support to Integrated Catchment Management (ICM) in Lesotho”.

The Overall Objective of this programme was: “ICM facilitates ++socio-economic development and adaptation to climate change++ in Lesotho”, while the Specific Objective ran: “ICM institutionalised and under full implementation in Lesotho, based on gender equality and climate adaptation principles”.

The envisaged Outputs were as follows:

(1) Effective and efficient, gender sensitive and climate-resilient policy framework for ICM is developed and applied;

(2) Effective and efficient institutions for ICM are established, with equitable representation of women and youth;

(3) Capacity, skills and knowledge of public, private sector and civil society for sustainable ICM is facilitated;

(4) ICM measures are implemented;

(5) Capacity strengthened for coordination, monitoring, supervision and general programme management.

The main objective of this project was to assist the government of Bulgaria in fulfilling its obligations according to Article 12 of the Birds Directive.

The project included analyses and studies of species and habitats in the terrestrial part of the country and in coastal areas, in order to ensure up-to-date data and information on reporting under Art. 12 of the Birds

Directive, including the development of various methodologies and pilot monitoring schemes,

their pilot implementation, evaluation of the results and a benefit-cost analysis.

The project led to the following main results:

• Providing an overall methodological approach for collecting and analyzing data, required for reporting under the Birds Directive through a developed National Monitoring Concept, developed/processed/ supplemented methodologies for monitoring and assessment of the conservation status of bird species,
• Providing all necessary information for the purposes of reporting for the period 2013-2018 under Art. 12 of the Birds Directive, including appropriate availability, as well as the most up-to-date data from field studies
• Preparing an assessment of the conservation status of target bird species, subject of reporting under Art. 12 of the Birds Directive, on national level; filled the forms for reporting under Art.12 of the Birds Directive, in accordance with the requirements of the EC
• Reaching agreement with the interested parties about the content of the prepared documents – methodologies, analysis, data, assessments, reporting formats

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland (MFA) commissions regularly meta-evaluations in order to synthesise the findings, explore the issues and assess the reliability of the decentralised evaluations.

The assessment included all decentralised evaluations completed in 2018-2020. The assignment consisted of three components:

• a meta-evaluation assessing the quality of the decentralized evaluations under consideration
• a meta-analysis assessing overal quality of development coperation and its results based on the decentralized evaluations
• an assessment of the utility and usefulness of the decentralized evaluations.

The purpose of the meta-evaluation was to continue the series of meta-evlauations in order to see the development since the previous analysis, to learn from successes and setbacks as well as to see how the recommendations of the previous meta-evaluations have been used and how they have led to better quality of evaluations and development results.

The final evaluation report is available here: https://um.fi/publications/-/asset_publisher/TVOLgBmLyZvu/content/metaevaluointi-hanke-ja-ohjelmaevaluoinneista-2017-2020/384998

The ++Roadmap++ for the EU's involvement with Malagasy civil society defined four overall priorities with a long-term vision representing the ++structural changes++ that the EU planned to achieve through its work with civil society and the Malagasy government. In fact, since the set-up of a continuous ++EU-CS political dialogue++, the EU's ++ engagement with civil society++ in Madagascar became ++strategic++. CSOs no longer considered the EU as a donor but as a true partner, thus confirming the EU's willingness to honour its new commitment to CS.

Under the 10th EDF, the Dinika Programme (€10 million) supported Malagasy civil society organisations from 2013 to 2017 in the regions of Analamanga, Analanjirofo and Atsimo-Andrefana. The purpose of this programme was to serve as a "laboratory" to develop new forms of dialogue, interaction, and a pool of more detailed knowledge on the dynamics within civil society. As part of the implementation of the 11th EDF, a new agreement on financing the Integrated Civil Society Support Mechanism in Madagascar, Dinika (2), was signed in September 2017 for a period of 5 years. This financing agreement had a total budget of €9.5 million with a contribution from the 11th EDF of €8 million and was jointly funded by the German cooperation through the GIZ with a further €1.5 million.

With regard to the EIDHR, as a result of a call for proposals in 2017, three projects were contracted.

For the Civil Society Organisations Thematic Programme, two calls for proposals made it possible to contract 13 grants (6 in 2016 and 7 in 2018). The 13 actions shared a partnership approach between non-state actors/civil society organisations and, sometimes, with local authorities.

The call for proposals of the 2018 CSO/LA Thematic Programme, enabled 4 projects to be contracted. Their aim was to help improve local governance and got communal services functioning properly to allow a real and efficient exercise of the prerogatives of Local Authorities for the benefit of their population, and involving the consultation of citizens.

The ++specific objective++ of the mission was to ensure ++monitoring++ and ++on-the-ground support ++ of the progress of both ongoing and future projects that have been contracted under the CSO Thematic Programme and the EIDHR 2019-2020, while offering ++ technical support++ to ++ strengthen the capacities of grant recipients++.

++Global objective ++

The global objective of this assignment was enhancing Chinese CSO's capacities to contribute to governance and development processes in China.

++Specific objective(s)++

• Improve local CSOs capacity for better project management, including enhanced financial and contractual management capacities and standard procedures.
• Improve local CSOs' understanding of thematic/conceptual content in the field of social sectors, with focus on results and emphasis on the most vulnerable beneficiaries
• All EU funded actions apply rights-based approach and mainstream crosscutting objectives of the EU e.g. gender equality, youth, persons with disability, indigenous peoples, environment and climate change a.o.

The targeted CSOs were local Chinese CSOs, both those that have worked under EU-funded

grant contract, but also those that never were contracted but may show interest.

++Required outputs++

• Preparation of a work plan during the first month of the assignments
• The first output submitted during or shortly after the first debriefing, was the work plan, the power-point template to be used respecting the EU Visibility guidelines. These were part of the Inception Report.
• Completion of requested Workshops Type A -B. Outputs included implementation of the requested services by workshops attended by members of selected CSOs.
• Submission of reports as described in section 5.1 Reporting

The main aim of this project was to enhance the promotion of Montenegrin companies and their products at an international level, with specific focus on SMEs. The project has establish the best possible conditions for increasing the export oriented activities of Montenegrin SMEs with respect to its geographical position and sector.

a) Technical assessment of concept notes in accordance with guidelines provided by the Contracting Authority, based on the published evaluation grids.

Expectation:

• 99 concept notes.
• Assessment of each concept note by two assessors individually.

b) Technical and financial assessment of full applications in accordance with guidelines provided by the Contracting Authority and are based on the published evaluation grids. Expectation:

• 32 full applications.
• Assessment of 4 concept notes per day and 2 full applications per day per assessor (on average).

c) Availability of assessors to advise the members of the Evaluation Committee is required.

d) The assessors are required to uphold the integrity of the evaluation process. Proposals are assessed online through PROSPECT or other secured IT tools if deemed necessary.

The objective of the contract was to support the EU Delegation to the Republic of Serbia and the Beneficiaries to ensure the timely, efficient and effective implementation of the Public Administration Sector Reform Contract to be implemented under the IPA 2015 national programme. In particular terms, the project: 1) assessed compliance of the Beneficiaries with the General and Specific Conditions for the release of fixed and variable tranches as set out in the Policy Matrix for the Sector Budget Support component of the Public Administration Reform and Public Finance Management Sector Reform Contract and 2) provided recommendations to the EU Delegation to the Republic of Serbia concerning the value of the tranches to be disbursed.

DSIF provides concessional loans for funding of sustainable infrastructure projects, which cannot otherwise be financed on commercial terms in developing countries. The projects have to be sustainable, support the national development plans and contribute to sustainable growth and employment in line with the Sustainable Development Goals. The evaluation of DSIF served learning and accountability purposes for both the Investment Fund for Developing Countries (IFU)/DSIF and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).

This evaluation had two objectives. The first objective was to assess DSIF’s relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, development impact and sustainability as well as commercial outcomes through its investments in developing countries. The evaluation applied the updated OECD/DAC evaluation criteria to DSIF investment projects. It involved an analysis of the project portfolio in terms of geographies, sectors and types of projects and funds, and the development of the portfolio composition over time. The evaluation included all DSIF activities since the last evaluation in 2002, although with an emphasis on the last ten years of operation. It included DSIF investments and, to the extent relevant, activities related to project preparation managed by DSIF.

The second objective was to assess the policy directions of the MFA and DSIF’s mandate over the evaluation period and provide an assessment of DSIF’s envisaged future role in Danish development cooperation, and whether the organisation was fit for purpose. During the evaluation period, Danish development policy had evolved, and expectations and requirements from the MFA towards DSIF had accordingly led to adjustments in the mandate. The evaluation took into account these changes in development policy and adjusted DSIF mandate when assessing its performance during the evaluation period, including changes in CSR/sustainability polices and the commercial framework under which this development finance instrument worked. The evaluation assessed the extent to which policy-driven initiatives derived from the Danish development policies had the potential to influence DSIFs portfolio, which was otherwise based on client demand. In this context the evaluation assessed the relevance of the adjustments made to the DSIF-mandate and, to the extent possible also, assessed whether the DSIF organisational set-up was Fit for Purpose, including risk management as well as results measurement and communication.

Case studies, including field visits were implemented in Bangladesh, Ghana, Mozambique, and Vietnam.