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Lesson
The program design benefited from interaction with ADB staff preparing similar Comprehensive Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic (CPRO) programs in other Pacific countries. ADB’s CPRO policy and guidelines were still being refined while the program was under Preparation. Managing the changing internal guidelines and expectations while also coordinating virtually (due to COVID-19 restrictions) with Vanuatu, ADB’s Pacific Liaison and Coordination Office, and ADB headquarters added significant pressure.

Project Number: 54179-001
Project Name: COVID-19 Fiscal Response Program
Report Date:
Lesson
Basing the reporting requirements on the monitoring systems of the government’s own response plan and providing dedicated assistance for monitoring and evaluation will help reduce the burden of the government in meeting the reporting requirements of massive budget support, pandemic response programs such as the CPRO. Budget support mechanisms are relatively new for the borrower, as most development assistance is delivered as project funding or through technical assistance.

Project Number: 54179-001
Project Name: COVID-19 Fiscal Response Program
Report Date:
Lesson
Project asset ownership should be carefully discussed with relevant stakeholders during the design phase, and explicitly delineated in the implementation agreements to avoid misunderstandings and possible disruptions during implementation. The issue between Dili Institute of Technology and its subsidiary, could have been avoided if SEFOPE had signed an agreement with the parent institution. Formal arrangements between government and private entities should be made clear in advance.

Project Number: 45139-001
Project Name: Mid-Level Skills Training Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Trainings and in-person support are needed to strengthen financial management performance and full compliance, especially in cases where the government agencies are handling ADB projects for the first-time. As the first ADB project the Secretariat of State for Vocational Training and Employment (SEFOPE) oversaw, more thorough trainings and in-person support could have strengthened financial management performance and full compliance with the grant covenants.

Project Number: 45139-001
Project Name: Mid-Level Skills Training Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Limited baseline data could lead to unrealistic performance Indicators and targets. Because this was ADB’s first TVET grant project in Timor-Leste, which introduced a new area of formalized skills development, baseline data for the targets were limited. This led to some unrealistic performance Indicators and targets. For example, the number of students and trainers to be trained appeared to be modest, whereas the target of 65% of graduates to find employment within 3 months of graduation was overambitious.

Project Number: 45139-001
Project Name: Mid-Level Skills Training Project
Report Date:
Lesson
An innovative campaign may be needed to attract women to nontraditional TVET training programs. The project emphasized providing opportunities for women, especially those from poor families and rural areas, to attend the TVET programs and to help them find employment after graduation. Campaign activities that proved effective included scholarships and a detailed outreach and communications plan targeting both female candidates and employers.

Project Number: 45139-001
Project Name: Mid-Level Skills Training Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Shortage of qualified national consultants could delay implementation and increase project costs . The intention at design was to work with the support of national consultants. However, the lack of national consultants with technical qualifications and TVET experience as required by the project hampered timely recruitment and mobilization of these technical experts. Consequently, some national positions had to be converted to international positions or contracts of qualified national consultants extended to enable them to complete the tasks.

Project Number: 45139-001
Project Name: Mid-Level Skills Training Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Project partnership agreements with government on human resources and funding are critical to effective implementation and sustainability. While initially the project national project implementation unit had issues on staffing, procurement, and implementation, these were resolved with incremental additional staffing, recruitment of a small core team of individual consultants, and restructuring to a subproject management unit. The non-recruitment of a social development specialist; to be funded by the government, affected the Gender action plan monitoring and planned survey update.

Project Number: 44130-022
Project Name: District Capitals Water Supply Project
Report Date:
Lesson
More thoughtful planning and sustained monitoring are required when implementing new pilot approaches. Successful implementation of new approaches such as public-private partnerships, which involve government policy changes and reforms, would require realistic timelines, ongoing monitoring of political commitment, and adoption of risk management strategies that are responsive to change.

Project Number: 44130-022
Project Name: District Capitals Water Supply Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Coordination and use of phased approach to key project activities will maximize project benefits. This would involve identifying opportunities at project design phase for integrating or combining under one contract interlinked activities, such as water system infrastructure investment and the planned O&M, to reduce risk of slippage and implementation delays.

Project Number: 44130-022
Project Name: District Capitals Water Supply Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Sufficient funding must be ensured to cover all investment needs for rehabilitation and expansion of water supply infrastructure. This requires rigorous assessment of technical and institutional capacity (including for operation and maintenance or O&M) of the implementing agency and economic aspects (including life cycle costing) to determine whether to invest in a total new system at higher initial capital cost or to utilize parts of existing infrastructure to enable lower capital cost but likely higher levels of O&M costs.

Project Number: 44130-022
Project Name: District Capitals Water Supply Project
Report Date:
Lesson
It is critical for a Gender equity theme project to have a Gender specialist on board to monitor and ensure the attainment of all Gender action plan (GAP) targets. GAP monitoring was the responsibility of the project implementation unit, with support from social development specialists hired by the project implementation consultant. The project implementation consultancy ended in April 2015; after which the government was to fund the engagement of a social development specialist. The position was not filled due to lack of funds, resulting in reduced GAP monitoring and assessment.

Project Number: 44130-022
Project Name: District Capitals Water Supply Project
Report Date:
Lesson
It is important to adjust project expectations based on context when preparing a district water supply project. This requires a thorough sector assessment of government institutional capacity and ability to implement policy reforms at national and local district levels with sufficient counterpart staff and budget, a risk-based analysis of local fragility and resilience factors, and a phased incremental approach outlined for critical actions.

Project Number: 44130-022
Project Name: District Capitals Water Supply Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Performance monitoring and reporting on the implementation of the Gender action plan (GAP) need to be understood as mandatory activities to ensure they are completely undertaken. Implementation of the GAP was not successful in achieving all planned activities and targets. While 4 of the 5 activities were implemented, only 2 of the 10 targets were achieved. Ongoing monitoring could have improved the actions undertaken and attainment of targets. As women have a core role as clients, users, employees, and beneficiaries of water supply systems, GAP implementation should be strictly monitored.

Project Number: 44130-022
Project Name: District Capitals Water Supply Project
Report Date:
Lesson
A sector or project loan modality is more appropriate for post-disaster projects requiring detailed design services and longer-term reconstruction.

Project Number: 49319-001
Project Name: Cyclone Pam Road Reconstruction Project
Report Date: