Reports - United Nations Development Programme

6. CONCLUSION: OVERALL RESULTS, LESSONS LEARNED AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Ensure the establishment and maintenance of
major and sustained partnerships, especially with
the Government and with the EU, since much of
the UNDP’s leverage and resource mobilisation for
the core areas of engagement will depend on the
readiness of these partners to work with the UNDP.
The Government and the EU will be the main agents
of change and financial supporters for the
programmes and initiatives with which the UNDP
can further Turkey’s progress in the four core areas of
engagement. In fact, since most of the EU’s financial
resources (as well as WB, EIB and similar loan
proceeds) will be channelled through Government
Ministries and regional and local public authorities,
the UNDP’s key client and key source of funding
(aside from its own limited core resources) will be the
Government. Therefore, it will need to ensure that it
has a clear understanding of Government priorities,
institutional and financial mechanisms, and has the
Government’s full commitment to the programmes
that it supports. The UNDP and the Government
should consider regular, high-level programme review
meetings with all key Government clients to ensure
that there is a solid mutual understanding on
programme priorities and to deal with systemic issues
and concerns that interfere with effective programme
implementation on both sides. There may well be
other sources of support and funding that the UNDP
Turkey Country Office may want to explore,
especially by cooperating with the growing private
and philanthropic sector in Turkey. But it should
make sure a clear focus remains on core thematic
areas and partners, to avoid running the risk of
dissipating its limited capacity with little to show for
in the end.
Revive the UNCT’s work by stressing cooperative
teamwork, providing for a clearly focussed set of
common goals and operational priorities, and
bringing in additional key international actors,
especially the EU and the WB. Over the past few
months, the UNDP Resident Representative, in his
capacity as UN Resident Coordinator undertook,
together with the heads of other UN agencies, a new
effort to revive the interest in coordinated and
collaborative work by the UNCT. This initiative is
on the right track and must be actively supported by
all participants. The ADR Evaluation Team
recommends that the Resident Coordinator and the
UNCT (a) focus on EU accession and MDG
advocacy as overarching common goals; (b) eschew
the preparation of all-encompassing reports and
complex programmatic statements; (c) identify a
narrow set of common areas of interest and activities
with clearly articulated follow-up actions; (d)
effectively monitor implementation of these actions;
(e) annually update cooperative plans in consultation
with key governmental counterparts; and (f ) seek the
active participation of other key agencies, such as the
EC and the WB, as associate members of the
UNCT. Furthermore, the UNCT must pool the
limited amount of programme funds to strengthen
the work of key inter-agency working groups.
The UNDP Country Office needs to adapt its
operational modalities for project implementation
to operate efficiently in helping to build local
capacity, deploying demonstration projects and
programmes, and scaling-up its operations. The
UNDP needs to avoid the layering of implementing
agencies and entities that currently characterises
many of its activities. This means a move towards
direct execution in more of its projects. Aside from
assuring that the UNDP is, and is seen to be, an
efficiently operating development agency, this will
contribute to building local capacity and ensuring
that opportunities for scaling-up are being pursued.
The Government and the UNDP should regularly
meet at a high level to ensure that new UNDP
programme priorities emerge in line with national
priorities, that agreement on priorities and
commitment to agreed priorities are sustained
and that systemic issues impeding effective
implementation on both sides are addressed. The
UNDP can function effectively in Turkey only if it
has the clear support of and commitment from the
Government. Without this, there is a risk that the
UNDP will soon cease to function as a significant
development partner for Turkey. Considering the
substantial challenges that Turkey still faces in the
four core areas of the UNDP’s engagement, this would
be a serious loss for Turkey at a critical juncture.
UNDP Headquarters and the Turkey Country
Office must work together in developing the new
vision and strategies for the UNDP’s work in
Turkey. The Turkey Country Office is currently
going through a major exercise in recalibrating its
vision, strategy and business model for Turkey. It will
need the full support of UNDP Headquarters in this
exercise. There are three areas in which this support
is especially critical:
1) Assure that Headquarter priorities are
formulated in a way to minimise the perception
and reality of excessively frequent changes in the
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