Polish aid

The MFA assessed Polish development assistance activities in selected countries of East Africa and the Middle East. The objective was to analyse the efficiency,utility, effectiveness, sustainability and relevance of assistance financed from the budgetary reserve for development cooperation.

It was the last evaluation focusing on the initiatives stemming from the Multiannual Development Cooperation Programme 2012-2015, and the first exercise which covered the entire programming period. Conclusions and recommendations influenced the planning, implementing and managing of tasks in the 2016-20 period.

The objective of the evaluation research was to evaluate the Polish development aid provided to selected countries of East Africa and the Middle East in 2012-2015 and to make recommendations based on the results.

The research has led to a positive assessment of Polish development aid provided to selected countries of East Africa and Palestine. In most cases, the Polish aid projects have accomplished their planned social and economic objectives in all areas of support. Low financial outlays and the annual project cycle were identified as the main obstacles to achieving a broader (going beyond local) and long-lasting aid impact.

Research results – Component I (selected countries of East Africa – Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania)

The most efficient types of support in the case of East Africa were simple and cost-efficient projects (e.g. projects realized in the field of environment) that bring about a fast and visible improvement of the beneficiaries’ situation. Polish development aid is relatively well recognized locally. Underdeveloped cooperation with Polish entrepreneurs was identified as a weakness of the Polish aid . Despite the projects’ complementarity in terms of their duration and geographical location, no significant synergy impact of the aid was evident. The key factors that determine project sustainability are: proper identification and training of local leaders who play the role of “knowledge multipliers” and advance planning of sustainability mechanisms.

The commonly applied principle of partnership (ownership/empowerment) and participatory aid model that allows to properly adjusting an intervention to the local context and needs are some of the strengths of Polish development aid.

As compared to other donors, the scale of Polish bilateral aid is small. Despite the professionalism of Polish institutions engaged in development aid, cooperation with other donors is impeded due to financial limitations and lack of multiannual financing development initiatives. The research results also show that the system of monitoring and evaluation of development aid needs to be developed further.

The analysis of the capacity of Polish institutions engaged in development aid in East Africa reveals that they possess a lot of experience, knowledge and skills, but they are now facing a barrier to further growth and need to be supported by means of relevantly targeted public policies.

Research results – Component II (the Middle East - Palestine)

The research shows that Polish Development Assistance (PDA) projects implemented in Palestine achieve the assumed impact. The projects and their impact are positively assessed by the beneficiaries and project participants, even though the impact is only local.

Polish development organizations/institutions are characterized by great engagement, flexibility and familiarity with the local situation. Moreover, aid initiatives implemented by the Polish diplomatic mission show that the political conditions have been properly diagnosed. Polish non-governmental organizations implementing projects in Palestine are prepared to engage in larger projects.

In most cases project sustainability is maintained, especially in infrastructural projects as a result of adjusting initiatives to the needs of the beneficiaries. Nevertheless, the factor impeding both the project implementation and sustainability is the complicated political situation. In view of this, it is necessary to maintain flexibility and at the same time to prepare for crisis management.

Good cooperation with proven local partners was a key factor of successful project implementation.

However, Polish development cooperation in Palestine has faced serious problems. First of all, outlays for the cooperation are very low, particularly as compared to other donors’. Consequently, the impact scope of the aid is small. Another problem is the lack of synergy with both other PDA projects and other donors’ projects. The process of monitoring and evaluating development aid in Palestine is not systemized and it lacks a comprehensive model of project impact assessment (the long-term results). Under the present institutional structure, the MFA and the diplomatic mission in Ramallah play both a strategic and an implementing role; these institutions cannot focus on strategic tasks due to their many commitments and a shortage of resources.

Research recommendations from the evaluation of Polish development aid in selected countries of East Africa and the Middle East

The key strategic recommendations refer to systemic issues:

• gradual shift to a system for implementing large-budget projects,
• strengthening the PDA strategic level by delegating tasks relating to implementation to an institution outside the MFA,
• strengthening the PDA evaluation process, specifically in regard to project impact assessment.

The operational recommendations focus on those elements of the PDA system that can be changed to make the work of project promoters easier and to increase the effectiveness of project initiatives:

• developing projects that complement other donors’ activity,
• introducing mechanisms of verifying the synergy impact of initiatives,
• reviewing procedures with a view to earlier launching of projects during a budget year,
• greater concentration on sustainability in preparing and assessing projects,
• concentration of information and promotion initiatives in presenting the project impact by project promoters in different media.

Specific recommendations for East Africa concern strengthening the capacity of project promoters for diagnosis of the situation and adjusting initiatives to the local needs by using large modular projects for launching pilot versions (over the first year of the implementation of project initiatives). Others recommendations are: more frequent implementation of simple, cost-effective projects and introducing solutions that facilitate implementing projects by non-governmental organizations.

Specific recommendations for Palestine concern realization of a smaller number of projects but with higher budgets and in selected specialist areas. Furthermore, support for projects in the area of entrepreneurship should be increased. During the formulation of projects it is also essential to take into account the impact of the political conflict on the implemented projects and to design a model of risk management. The evaluator also recommends considering introducing additional incentives at the stage of submitting applications for funds with regard to such projects in which the implementer will require the ultimate beneficiaries to make their own financial contribution.