Iraq Crisis Response and Resilience Project (ICRRP) final evaluation

This final evaluation of the ICRRP interventions completed by September 2022 served the primary purpose of assessing ICRRP's progress and performance against the predefined targets within its six project outputs. With a summative focus ICRRP aimed to fulfil accountability requirements for UNDP Programme Management by comprehensively documenting project achievements, identifying shortcomings, capturing conclusions, and providing recommendations for future improvements and adjustments based on the evaluation approach and methods employed. This ensured a thorough assessment of project outcomes to inform decision-making for future initiatives and proffer recommendations. Moreover, it met donor requirements and aligned with UNDP's organizational policy of accountability towards various stakeholders, including project beneficiaries and involved institutions such as the Iraqi Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MOLSA) and other ministries. The findings and recommendations derived from this evaluation were expected to play a pivotal role in shaping future programming, refining approaches, fostering organizational learning, and ensuring accountability within UNDP’s interventions in Iraq. By providing insights into the underlying reasons for both successes and challenges, this evaluation informed the design and implementation of similar projects in the future, ultimately contributing to the broader advancement of UNDP's programming objectives. To accomplish these objectives, the evaluation adhered to UNDP Guidelines and aligned with the evaluation criteria established by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development/Development Assistance Committee (OECD/DAC). Its specific goals encompassed assessing the project's achievement of targets and objectives, evaluating its overall progress and its contribution to UNDP's Country Programme Document (CPD) for Iraq, analysing project implementation to derive lessons that enhance sustainability, assessing the project's impact on the lives of Iraqis, and understanding how it integrated considerations of gender, youth, and persons with disabilities. The evaluation also strived to provide constructive recommendations for improving project selection and implementation, thus enhancing the sustainability of UNDP's programming, including the CPD for Iraq (2020-2024). Key evaluation criteria encompassed relevance, coherence/partnerships, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability, with a specific emphasis on inclusion and intersectionality, including human rights, gender equality, and disability considerations. 11 The evaluation employed a hybrid approach, amalgamating a theory-based evaluation design with a blend of 'contribution analysis' and a 'pre-post single group' research design. This methodology aimed to comprehensively assess the project's progress, results, challenges, lessons learned, and potential impact at multiple levels, encompassing the micro, meso, and macro levels. Moreover, 'contribution analysis' was instrumental for several reasons. It conducted a thorough examination of all inputs, activities, and processes within the project, understanding their contributions to socio-economic changes for the target groups, as well as improvements for government institutions, private businesses, and responsible partners. It also enabled the identification of causal links between inputs and outcomes, attributing specific project interventions to outcomes and highlighting areas for improvement and best practices.