Knowledge for Children in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) – UNICEF Report

Knowledge for Children in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) – UNICEF Report

Full Report

 

State of Palestine: Ex-post Evaluation of UNICEF Humanitarian Action for Children in the State of Palestine, 2014-15

  • Background and rationale: In response to the 2014 Gaza War which UNICEF deemed “very much first and foremost a crisis of children:’ UNICEF conducted a needs assessment in August 2014, immediately after the ceasefire. Consequently, UNICEF adopted a two-phase response approach whereby first phase aimed to respond to immediate needs in 2014 and into 2015, while the second phase focused more on reconstruction and early recovery in 2015 and into 2016, involving more extensive outreach to children in need as well as a strengthening of services and systems that support children’s needs in the medium-term. Broadly, UNICEF’s aim in 2014 and 2015 was to address the Palestinian children’s protracted and compromised access to adequate health care, safe water, sanitation and safety and quality education in the West Bank and Gaza with a set of humanitarian interventions. In 2016 UNICEF commissioned an evaluation of these interventions to inform and strengthen future humanitarian programming and to improve the connection between UNICEF’s development and humanitarian work. In particular, the evaluation focused on the following components implemented during 2014 and 2015: (i) Emergency Response to Improve Access to Water Services and Protect Vulnerable Families in the Jordan Valley; (ii) Emergency E-Voucher Assistance, (iii) Support to remedial education in Gaza; (iv) Protected and safe access to schools as an emergency response for vulnerable communities in West Bank (Family Centers and Child Protection Mechanism); (v) Adolescents are Agents for Positive Change; (vi) Community Based Humanitarian Child Protection Mechanisms in Gaza and (vii) Urgent child health care and improved young child feeding for affected communities.
  • Methodology: The evaluation employed a mixed-method methodology with qualitative and quantitative evaluation tools. The main evaluation tools included a desk review of key documents such as progress reports, evaluations, situation reports and other secondary sources. Primary data collection was done through key informant interviews with UNICEF staff and management, partner organization’s staff, governmental officials, consultants, focus group discussions with beneficiaries and affected population and surveys. The evaluation tools included three surveys; the Gaza Conflict survey (n-393), which was administered as a face-to-face household survey for affected populations and two online surveys which were administered to cluster/working groups members (n-46) and implementing partner organization staff (n-49). The evaluation sought to answer to two key evaluation questions, namely (1) How successful was the programme in responding to changes in the context occurring between 2014 and 2015, specifically the Gaza war in 2014? (2) To what extent were activities of a short-term emergency nature are carried out in a context that takes longer-term into account and was policies consistent with humanitarian and human-rights considerations?
  • Key conclusions and recommendations (see key findings vis-à-vis the focus components in the main report):

In conclusion, the evaluation found that emergency preparedness was adequate in the Gaza Strip on both the organizational level, the field office having recently conducted an emergency simulation, and at the intervention level, with stocks of life-saving supplies available and distribution partners already identified. Prepositioning of medical supplies and medicine, however, was non-existent in mid-2014 due to the lack of funding for prepositioning of such supplies at the time, which greatly affected the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the response. Given the high probability of recurrence of escalation of violence, the evaluation recommended the following to be undertaken:

  • Emergency supplies (specifically medicine and medical consumables) be prepositioned both in the West Bank and Gaza
  • Regular emergency simulations are undertaken, and each program has a tailored emergency plan for how it can be adapted to future humanitarian crises.
  • Funding must be sought and ear-marked for prepositioning and emergency planning
  • Measures should be taken to stabilize staffing and prepare for efficient human resource procurement procedures in the case of a future conflict through ensuring that that personnel on the organizational staffing matrix have updated UNLP documents and visas.
  • Continued negotiations with the Palestinian Red Crescent Society on partnership agreements are pertinent to formalize work with this key front-line agency.
  • Unification of the location of a future Emergency Operation Center in Gaza should also be a key point of focus for UNICEF in emergency planning.
  • Lessons learned from the Supply and Logistics Department from the 2014 conflict should be documented and provided to all staff in the department

Accountability to affected populations. While the use of the already-existing e-voucher platform was found to have accelerated aid provision to target groups quickly during and after the conflict, the evaluation notes that beneficiary selection processes need to be revisited and strengthened to avoid overlaps in provision of aid and to ensure that children are the primary beneficiaries of UNICEF- sponsored aid. Based on this conclusion the evaluation recommended that:

  • UNICEF undertakes its own beneficiary selection process, informed by government and partner data
  • UNICEF re-visit the complaints systems used for each programme, specifically for aid through e-vouchers that is a recently-instated aid distribution mechanism for UNICEF

Interventions in Area C of the West Bank fostered a high level of community participation and ownership and were found to be a best practice to be replicated in this context. This local ownership and commitment was found to be achieved through three key aspects: the necessity of inclusion of local capacities and support in implementing the project; the inspiration created among beneficiaries and stakeholders by fulfilling one of their most basic needs in an area characterized by neglect and vulnerability; the work of the implementing partner, Action Against Hunger, in fostering a team mentality and working through a ground-up approach. The evaluation recommended

  • continued support to interventions similar to that of the Jordan Valley WASH component (which use same implementation mechanisms) and to enhance advocacy for the rights of the children and families living in Area C, many of which are the most vulnerable segments of the Palestinian population

Child Protection and the Family Center Model. The model and referral mechanism are well-functioning after much effort put into their development and piloting, and lessons learned documented and used for improvement. Local partners, Tamer for Community Education and MAAN Development Center, are well-positioned to continue this intervention, while UNICEF’s added-value was evident in the set-up and development phases of the model and referral mechanism. The Family Center Model is, by nature, human-resource intensive in a context in which similar types of service are not otherwise available. Given the high cost, the financial sustainability of family centers and partner organizations is at risk, as these function on donor funds and have little prospect for income generation. The evaluation recommended that

  • the support to the family center model and referral mechanism should be continued while tackling the issue while researching alternative funding mechanisms, specifically from donors that can provide long-term, core funding and are committed to the model, understanding its human-resource-heavy nature

The remedial education component faced challenges regarding scheduling activities. Although mitigated by UNICEF staff and implementers to the extent possible, it was found that these challenges are inherent to working in the education sector and with students and teachers outside of the regular school day. Further, project funding cycle needs to be synchronized with the academic schedule of semesters to ensure the success of the intervention.

Additionally, teacher training was not overwhelmingly seen as relevant to the teacher’s needs, and educational materials produced were not fully used in the regular classrooms. The component was also lacking a rigorous monitoring mechanism through which children’s numeracy and literacy skills could be continually assessed, and outcome reporting done. Considering the short-term nature of the intervention to support children who have fallen behind in their classes due to the effects of the conflict, the evaluation recommends the

  • non-renewal of this component

The protective presence component was found to be extremely relevant to the needs of the affected populations. In order to mitigate the risk of the unintended negative effect of dependence of affected populations on international presence and a decrease in local resilience, integrated Palestinian and international protective presence for students and teachers in West Bank affected communities is needed, while it has been concluded that one group without the other is likely to be less effective in providing protection and documentation of rights violations. Therefore, the evaluation recommended

  • not to replace international groups with local Palestinian. It may be pertinent, however, to support local protective presence groups and actors to provide a complementary presence to what is currently provided by the international volunteers


2018-09-27T11:14:16-04:00

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