Objectives;
Situation Analysis;
Strategy;
(Expected) Results / Outcome;
Major activities |
Situation analysis: In Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States, national policies related to human development often fail to deliver expected results. This is partly due to poorly designed public policies and legislation being adopted without a proper assessment of their potential impact. The present project will build capacity for, and support the institutionalization of ex-ante impact assessment (IA) with particular focus on poverty reduction and on ensuring equal opportunities for the vulnerable and marginalized groups, in selected countries in Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States, with a view to strengthen policy capacities for meeting the Millennium Development Goals. Anticipated result: Improved policy processes in participating countries through the introduction of ex-ante Impact Assessment. Proposed programme: The Project will be implemented in synergy with, and will offer support to country-level interventions to institutionalize ex-ante impact assessment, including through broad-based public participation in national policy dialogue. Initial research for mapping experiences with introducing and using ex-ante IA in the central governments in the region and training needs assessment will be conducted. Professional meetings/workshops will be organized to share lessons learned in the introduction and application of IA in the region, particularly between countries in Central Europe and countries in other sub-regions. Such meetings will also serve for reviewing existing tools for IA, their applicability to diverse country situations, and necessary adaptations. Pilot ex-ante IAs will be supported by the regional project in participating countries. Regional training on IA with particular focus on poverty reduction and on ensuring equal opportunities for the vulnerable and marginalized groups will be organized for public officials in targeted offices (parliament, center of government, key ministries) who are to be involved in policy impact assessment as part of their regular work. A knowledge product (Manual or Reference Guide) and a virtual resource centre on ex-ante IA methodologies and practical experiences will be developed. Current status: The Mapping of Ex-ante Impact Assessment Experiences and Tools document for practitioners have been finalized and translated to Russian and Serbian languages. Based on the case studies of this resource book and the Training Needs Assessment conducted in the participating countries and close consultation with the COs, UNDP’s first regional training on cross-cutting issues of ex-ante impact assessment was organized in June 2008, Budapest. During the one-week training 30 participants of the four target countries – civil servants and civil society representatives – learned about the methodology of ex-ante impact assessment, and how can this be applied in their every day work. The core of the group of participants is expected to be further engaged in the project and develop to a pool of regional experts. The Virtual Resource Centre was set up and is running. So far information materials have been uploaded. An interactive workspace was developed for practitioners from the target countries which enables smoother communication and consultation with the members of it. A mapping of vulnerability in relation to policy areas is planned to be conducted by early 2009. This exercise will provide with a master matrix where vulnerable groups, will be linked with the key policy areas in the participating countries through matching data sources, stakeholders, methodologies and other relevant impact assessment instruments. This will give a broader picture of policies to affect the different vulnerable groups. |
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