Projects’ assessment

In October 2011, the Cabinet formed a ministerial committee headed by the State Minister for Administrative Development and including the Minister of Labor and all ministers who carry out projects in cooperation with UNDP, in order to evaluate the projects in question. The report drafted by the committee revealed the following:

• Some of the projects undertaken in partnership with UNDP exceeded the lifespan set for them. In many cases, the duration of these projects was extended to the point that they have somehow become permanent and the state had to undertake partial or complete financing thereof.
• Disputes and conflicts in tasks arose between UNDP’s workforce and the administrative authorities in certain ministries and administrations, thus turning UNDP into a parallel administration.
• Some programs were converted into a means to fill the vacancies impossible to fill according to the conditions of employment in the public sector.
• Experts with insufficient competence were summoned to work on projects although certain public administrations do not lack the needed skills and expertise.
• Most of the programs failed to transfer their expertise to the relevant administrations upon completion of the projects.
• The shortage of personnel in some ministries and administrations makes UNDP a suitable alternative for employment.

Ministry of Energy and Water

The UNDP was responsible for 7 projects within the Ministry of Energy and Water. At the top of these projects are the following two:

• The Lebanese Center for Energy Conservation: A project that supports the purchase of solar water heaters and lasts from 2009 until 2014.
• The Lebanese Center for Water Conservation and Management whose duration stretches from 2011 until 2013.

The following Table 1 illustrates UNDP’s projects at the Ministry of Energy and Water:

Source: Minutes of Cabinet meetings

Ministry of Administrative Development

The UNDP is running a project to promote the public services and institutional development in partnership with the Ministry of Administrative Development as shown in the following Table 2.

Source: Minutes of Cabinet meetings

Ministry of Justice

The UNDP and the Ministry of Justice carried out two joint projects, which are the following:

• Promotion of Transparency and Efficiency
• Improving Access to Justice

The following Table 3 illustrates the budget allocated to the above projects as well as the workforce and the local and foreign shares of funding.

Source: Minutes of Cabinet meetings

Ministry of National Defense

The UNDP cooperated with the Ministry of National Defense in the process of de-mining through two projects:

• Capacity Building for the Lebanon Mine Action Center
• Support the National De-mining Office

The following Table 4 details the cost of the above projects:

Source: Minutes of Cabinet meetings

Ministry of Finance

The UNDP’s support of the Ministry of Finance was rendered through two projects:

• Capacity Building in Financial Management Reform
• Technical Assistance in Financial Management Reform

These projects are among the largest ones managed by the UNDP inside the Lebanese ministries as one may infer from the following Table 5.

Source: Minutes of Cabinet meetings

Ministry of Interior and Municipalities

Two projects were managed by the UNDP at the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities. The first began in 2007 and is expected to be completed by 2013. It is worth USD 9.7 million and is co-funded by the EU and the Spanish government. The second addressed civil defense capacity building and stretched from 2007 until 2010. The French government provided funds worth 2 million euros for the project.

Ministry of the Displaced

Only one project was delivered in collaboration with the UNDP at the Ministry of the Displaced. The socio-economic project aimed at promoting the return of the displaced to Mount-Lebanon throughout 2010 and 2011. The project worth USD 957,000 was financed by the UNDP.

Ministry of Environment

The joint projects between the UNDP and the Ministry of Environment amounted to 14. They addressed a multitude of sectors and aspects that fall within the ministry’s scope of work and cost in total around USD 2.2 million. The 5-year projects are illustrated in Table 6.

Source: Minutes of Cabinet meetings

Ministry of Agriculture

Five projects were delivered by the Ministry of Agriculture in collaboration with the UNDP from 2008 until 2011. The total cost amounted to USD 580,000 as illustrated in the following Table 7.

Source: Minutes of Cabinet meetings

Ministry of Social Affairs

The Ministry of Social Affairs and the UNDP from 2008 until 2011 implemented a project titled “Capacity Building for Poverty Reduction”. Its total cost reached USD 552,000 as illustrated in the following Table 8.

Source: Minutes of Cabinet meetings

Ministry of Education and Higher Education

The project performed by the UNDP at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education focused on providing technical assistance to the Ministry from 2010 until 2012. The cost of the project amounted to USD 795,000 and was divided as illustrated in Table 9.

Source: Minutes of Cabinet meetings

Ministry of Economy and Trade

Two projects were launched in collaboration with the UNDP at the Ministry of Economy and Trade:

• Support to the Ministry of Economy and Trade- Phase I (2008-2010)
• Institutional Assistance for Economic Policy and Trade- Phase II (2011- 2013)

The following Table 10 summarizes the cost of the projects as well as the size of the labor force and the sources of funding.

Source: Minutes of Cabinet meetings

Based on the above, we may conclude that the gross cost of the projects executed by the UNDP in collaboration with the public ministries reaches as high as USD 40.6 million. The Lebanese government covers 35% of this amount (USD 14.4 million) while the UNDP and other foreign parties fulfill the remaining 65%, worth USD 26.2 million.

It would be unfair to deny the role that some of the projects have played in improving the performance of some ministries. Yet, those still need a precise assessment to verify whether or not the yielded benefits are proportional to the high costs.

Source: Minutes of Cabinet meetings