The Final Evaluation of the “Resilient Reconstruction and Recovery of Vulnerable Communities Severely Affected by 2015 Earthquake”, commissioned by UNDP Nepal, was found to be of high quality and selected as one of two winners of the 2020 Gender-Responsive Evaluation Award by UNDP’s Independent Evaluation Office. Despite the difficult circumstances created by the COVID-19 pandemic, the evaluation made commendable efforts to incorporate the voices of vulnerable households receiving reconstruction and recovery assistance, highlighting their vulnerabilities and analysing how they benefitted differently from the project.
The project, implemented from January 2018 - May 2020 with support from the European Union Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid (ECHO), aimed to address reconstruction challenges faced by the poorest and most vulnerable earthquake-affected households at risk of being left behind in the reconstruction and recovery process. These included elderly, single women headed households, and people with disabilities, who, even after receiving government reconstruction grants, were unable to rebuild their houses on their own. After receiving the first instalment, some households used it for urgent necessities, including food or healthcare, and were then unable to commence reconstruction to qualify for the second instalment.
The project identified these households through vulnerability criteria, specifically articulated during project design with inputs from communities and local governments and responded with tailored support addressing their actual needs. This included providing construction materials and interest-free loans, creating a pool of masons trained in cost-effective disaster-resistant housing technologies, support for government documentation to receive housing grants, and promoting livelihood recovery activities that enhance resilience to future disasters. The activities engaged local governments who demonstrated high levels of accountability, ownership and commitment by actively participating and contributing their resources in several areas.
The project had four specific objectives indicators and, on average, four indicators for each of the five result areas, all linked with detailed activities. The indicators were meticulously designed to measure the project outcomes and outputs, tied with the project objectives. Sources and methods of data collection were identified in the design stage. During the periodic reporting, sex, age and disability disaggregated data was rigorously collected and monitored, informing identification and inclusion of the most vulnerable beneficiaries in project activities.
This well-designed project framework greatly aided the evaluation process. Informed by and building on this rich data, the evaluation undertook in-depth consultations and field visits to arrive at nuanced findings about the projects’ relevance, coherence, efficiency, effectiveness, sustainability and impact.
Over a period of ten weeks, the evaluator liaised with and consulted the project design team to understand the broader context in which it was formulated. Then, a total of 30 stakeholders from federal and local governments, implementing partners, private sector, NGOs, affected communities and beneficiaries were interviewed, including 15 dedicated interviews with women and Dalits, to better capture their voices and experiences. With the evaluation conducted at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the evaluator exhibited great commitment to leverage all online and offline means at disposal to reach as many stakeholders as possible. The thorough desk review also included an emphasis on disaggregated data to better understand the projects’ impact on the most vulnerable communities and people.
Being selected as the winner of the 2020 Gender-Responsive Evaluation Award only further highlights the importance of placing gender equality and the promise of Leaving No One Behind at the center of all steps of UNDP’s programming - from design and beneficiary selection, to implementation and partnerships, as well as monitoring and well-planned evaluations to inform adjustments and the design of new inclusive projects.
