Mid-Term Evaluation of the UNDP Timor-Leste Parliamentary Project- Strengthening Parliamentary Democracy in Timor-Leste

The Project
The planned overarching outcome of the Project (2006-2008) is to improve institutional capacity of the parliament in Timor-Leste, i.e. systems and skills of representatives and staff in parliament. The project is a continuation from 2003 and is targeted to six core components a. Oversight capacity development; b. Legislative support; c. Democratic representation; d. Secretariat capacity development; e. Gender mainstreaming; and f. Information and research facilities. The project is costed at about US$ 6,5 mill. and is jointly funded by Australia, Norway, Sweden and UNDP. The report is a midterm review.

Interesting Findings
The evaluation team concludes that after two years of implementation, overall capacity development gains to the institution and to beneficiaries have been variable and modest. This conclusion is however tempered by stressing the critical incidences of two events that have impacted the project's ability to cohesively implement its planned activities during 2006 & 2007 - the security situation that arose in mid 2006, which brought practically all program support to the country to a halt for almost four months, and the election season of 2007.

- Nevertheless, measured against the project's stated objectives, the following can be said on the progress of main components of the programme:

a) Programming activities focusing on oversight capacity have achieved very good results, most prominently illustrated by the passing of two budgets. By all accounts, the service provided by the project, through the advisory support, has resulted in greater capacity of the Members, and in particular the Commission on Economy, Finance and Anti-Corruption, to be able to better scrutinize the budget, offer amendments and engage in substantive debates.

b) The legislative advisory support provided through the project to date, has been well-received, highly valued and appreciated by beneficiaries and partners alike. The role of the legal advisors in building capacity of legislators to better scrutinize legislation and propose amendments to bills has been quite significant and the support of the Legal Advisors is a key success area of the project to date.

c) Over the two-year period, the component on enhancing democratic representation has helped improve Members' and the public's awareness of public policy, law and finances. It has been the strategic use of radio and television, cited by several partners and observers as having visible impact.

d) The project has been limited in its ability to enhance the capacity of the Secretariat, which remains extremely weak both in terms of leadership and decision-making and with respect to staff numbers, skill and educational levels, motivation and incentive structures. The relatively modest results can be partly explained by un-resolved organizational issues that continue to impact on the normal functioning of the Secretariat. Lack of empowerment of the Director of the Secretariat to be able to make decisions and work closely with the project in this regard works to the detriment of optimum implementation as well. At the heart of the problems with the Secretariat, however, is the lack of a strategic vision. In very large measure, this is due to the very low capacity of the staff to carry out a critical needs assessment and develop a strategic plan

e) Achievements within the gender component for 2006-2007 have been good, despite the delayed recruitment of the gender advisor to the project (in situ only in December 2007). One very noteworthy result for the National Parliament was the establishment of a Women's Political Caucus, now up and running, with a current membership of 19, cutting across party groupings.