Syrian Arab Republic
Generic framework for an advocacy strategy
UNDP development interventions face the inherent challenge of contributing to positively changing dynamic processes and roles involving institutions of state and market and also within civil society and the informal sector where dynamics are played out politically socially and economically at the micro level. UNDP is also expected to contribute to the capacity-building of its partners using its global knowledge networks information sources and expertise and play an effective role in supporting the process of gender mainstreaming.
National priorities and strategic positioning of UNDP
This chapter aims to analyse how the UNDP CO in Syria has positioned itself strategically in order to respond to national development priorities during the period under review—i.e. did UNDP do the right things in Syria? The analysis thus focuses on how UNDP positioned itself strategically up to 2000 and how it responded to the dynamics of the post-2000 transition phase especially the development vision set for the country by the Government including how it handled its strategic partnerships during the period under review.
Terms of reference
The Evaluation Office (EO) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) carries out a series of country evaluations called Assessments of Development Results (ADRs) in order capture and demonstrate evaluative evidence of UNDP’s contributions to development results at the country level. Undertaken in selected countries every year the ADRs focus on outcomes and critically examine achievements and constraints in the UNDP thematic areas of focus draw lessons learnt and provide recommendations for the future. The ADRs also recommend a strategy for enhancing performance and strategically positioning UNDP support within national development priorities and UNDP corporate policy directions.
Challenges of transition in Syria
Since 2000 the situation in Syria is best described as one of cautious reform where there are some signs that a climate for reform is being allowed to develop. Various quarters of Syrian leadership have recognized the need for economic reform particularly in the unwieldy public sector. This sector cannot be financed by an economy in which a high percentage of revenue income derives from stagnating or shrinking sectors. Agriculture though still a significant sector is also shrinking and oil is no longer viewed as a reliable long-term revenue earner. Furthermore as indicated earlier ODA to Syria constitutes a relatively small proportion of the country’s spending on development and has in fact been decreasing over the past years. Syria is thus challenged with reforming its economy in ways that allow for greater economic diversification and a more solid national economic base while at the same time taking into account fluctuations in net ODA flows and an eventual dwindling reliance on the oil sector as a major foreign currency earner.
Foreword
This report presents an assessment of the contributions of the UNDP to the key development results in Syria in the last five to six years. The evaluation is one of independent country-level evaluations conducted by the UNDP Evaluation Office called Assessments of Development Results (ADRs) every year. These are forward-looking exercises that seek to capture and demonstrate UNDP’s contribution to national development results as well as serve as tools for accountability and quality assurance with regard to UNDP interventions generating lessons learned and strengthening country-level programming.
UNDP contribution to national development results
The following analysis focuses on how UNDP’s interventions supported national priorities and contributed to development results. More specifically from 1997-2004 (the timeline defined by the ADR) and given its strategic position analysed in the previous chapter how and to what extent has UNDP been doing things the right way in Syria in terms of its efforts to implement intended outcomes. The analysis also includes the implications of the UNDP CO operational management and capacity for implementing its development objectives.