Base de données d'évaluation

Evaluation report

2005 AFG: Country Programme Evaluation Government of the Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan

Author: Lucien Back, L.; Yavari d'Hellencourt, N.; Haque Waheed, A.; Gonzalez-Aleman, J.

Executive summary

Background:

The 2003-2005 Master Plan of Operations (MPO) signed by the Government of Afghanistan and UNICEF emphasized that the CPC would support and strengthen Afghanistan's commitment and capacities towards the progressive realisation of the rights of children to survival, development, protection and participation, as set out under the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). In doing so, it would contribute to the achievement of Afghanistan's National Development Framework (NDF).

In order to achieve this goal, the Programme sought to support, by the end of 2005, national efforts to (i) reduce infant and under-five child mortality; (ii) improve maternal health and reduce maternal mortality; (iii) reduce infant, young child and maternal malnutrition; (iv) strengthen capacities to promote, protect and fulfil children's right to education and expand opportunities to ensure they reach their full potential; (v) provide children with the skills, knowledge and confidence to manage life's challenges and fully participate in Afghanistan's development; (vi) strengthen capacities to reduce vulnerability and ensure special protection and care measures for children at risk and living in difficult circumstances; (vii) avert widespread humanitarian crises through improved preparedness and rapid response.

The strategy of the 2003-2005 Programme of Cooperation was guided by the principles of universal realisation of children and women's rights. It built upon the World Summit for Children (WSC), within the context of the CRC and CEDAW. It drew on the strategies of the Government's NDF, the analysis of the situation of the children and women of Afghanistan, UNICEF organisational priorities as per the MTSP for 2002-2005, and current strategies of the World Bank and major donors for Afghanistan with regard to disparity and poverty reduction through improving access to basic social services.

The CPC would abide by the four key human rights principles (universality, indivisibility, participation and accountability). Five mutually reinforcing strategies would be used throughout the programme. At the national level, the programme aimed to create an enabling environment through (i) policy development and (ii) advocacy, both focusing on raising the profile of children and women rights in the public arena. At sub-national level, the programme was to support (iii) capacity building for quality and sustainable service delivery - emphasising planning,management and implementation, as well as material support, and (iv) capacity development at community level to empower families and communities with knowledge and skills to protect and fulfil children and women's rights. The final strategy to (v) undertake research, monitoring and communication, was to support the programme at all levels.

Taking into account the issues highlighted in the Situation Analysis and UNICEF's comparative advantage, and in order to maximise impact, promote intersectoral linkages and benefit from synergism, the programme focused all actions on four cross-sectoral and mutually reinforcing overarching programme priorities, which were: (i) the Promotion of Girls' Education; (ii) Early Childhood Care and Development; (iii) Immunisation Plus (v) improved protection of children against violence, abuse and discrimination.

Purpose/Objective:

The current Country Programme of Cooperation (CPC) between the Government of the Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan (hereafter referred to as Government of Afghanistan) and UNICEF covers the period 2003-2005.

A Mid-Term Review (MTR) was completed in November 2004. The rapidly changing environment, with a newly elected cabinet in place after the presidential elections of October, and also the need for a strategic re-adjustment of the CPC were the main rationale to conduct a CPE after the MTR. The UNICEF Country Office in Kabul, in consultation with the Government of Afghanistan, requested that the strategy development for the next CPC 2006-2008 be supported by a Country Programme Evaluation (CPE).

The CPE provides an in-depth assessment of the relevance and appropriateness of the CPC as well as of the role, design and focus of UNICEF support to the realisation of children's rights. The CPE also addresses dimensions of sustainability and connectedness of supported initiatives in a context of considerable security concerns and high political volatility. In addition, the CPE assesses progress made with the introduction of the Human Rights Based Approach to Programming (HRBAP) and Results-Based Management (RBM) in a CPC operating in an unstable context. It also addresses the CPC's alignment with and contribution to UNICEF's organizational priorities and strategies defined in the Medium Term Strategic Plan (MTSP) as well as in relation to Core Corporate Commitments / Core Commitments for Children (CCCs) and the Goals until 2015 (Millennium Declaration, Millennium Development Goals and World Fit for Children).

The CPE focuses on the four main objectives of the current CPC, which address challenges related to 1) child and maternal mortality and morbidity; 2) malnutrition and micronutrient deficiency disorders; 3) improved school enrolment with a special focus on girls' education; and 4) protection of children affected by war. The CPE builds on the MTR report concerning progress made with the fifth objective related to the aversion of widespread humanitarian crises through improved preparedness and response.

The CPE has been implemented in a fast-track mode, as it was to feed into the preparation of the draft Country Programme Document (CPD), which had to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2005. The next CPC cycle will be harmonized among United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) partners and coincide with the programme cycle of the interim Poverty Reduction Strategy between the Government of Afghanistan and the World Bank (2006-2008).

Methodology:

Key methods for the conduct of the evaluation have been:
(a) A comprehensive desk review of external and internal documents that are relevant to past and current Country Programmes;
(b) A review of past and recent studies, reviews and evaluations of projects and programmes;
(c) An extensive round of interviews and focus group discussions with key stakeholders in the past and present Country Programmes (Government, NGOs, International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), CBOs, United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), UN agencies, opinion leaders, children and youngsters, etc. at both national and local levels)
(d) Field visits to the selected provinces (i.e. Kandahar, Herat and Mazar-e-Sharif) to gain first-hand information of the implementation of projects and programmes
(e) A synthesis of reviews, interviews and field visits and an annotated outline of the report containing major lines of analysis
(f) An on-line survey among UNICEF staff members of Afghanistan Country Office (ACO) involved in programme support;
(g) Organisation of a preparatory meeting on 17 February 2005 and participatory CPE workshop on 28 March 2005, during which a "work in progress" presentation of main findings, conclusions and recommendations was discussed;
(h) A draft evaluation report for comments by stakeholders.

The evaluation has been a participatory process that has given due importance to selfassessment by stakeholders involved in Country Programme design and implementation. All information was to the largest possible extent triangulated (three or more sources of information were used to verify and substantiate an assessment) and validated. Findings, conclusions, recommendations and lessons learned are user-oriented and feed into major decision-making during strategy development for the next Country Programme.

The selection of sites for field visits was inspired by one or more of the following criteria:

• the maturity of the programme, project or activity within the Country Programme;
• the wealth of experiences and the chances of their generating interesting lessons;
• strategic interest of the programme, project or activity for the whole Country Programme;
• interest of the experiences in the context of the inter-agency collaboration of the UN (UNDAF);
• the cultural, ethnic, linguistic and geographical diversity of Afghan provinces;
• logistics and security considerations.

Findings and Conclusions:

Finding 1: Relevance and appropriateness of objectives related to child and maternal mortality and morbidity
Child and maternal mortality and morbidity are still very high in Afghanistan due to poor health, nutrition and water and environmental sanitation. The present level of public and private services justifies considerable support. For the UNICEF supported CPC it therefore remains highly relevant and appropriate to address child and maternal survival objectives in support of national efforts and in coordination with other forms of external aid.

Finding 2: Focus of the Health and Nutrition and the Water and Environmental Sanitation (WES) Programmes
The CPC has played a pioneering role and focused on the provision of service delivery and infrastructure at a time when major needs existed in the areas of health, nutrition, water and environmental sanitation. The promotion of good health, nutrition and hygiene behaviours at the family and community levels was a lesser priority.

Finding 3: Design of the Health and Nutrition and the WES Programmes
Programme objectives were relevant, but they were not specific, measurable, achievable and time-bound (SMART) and there were no explicit references in the formulation of the objectives to expected institutional and behavioural changes (outcomes).

Finding 4: Strengths and weaknesses in the implementation of Health and Nutrition and WES programmes
The CPC has contributed to a very significant increase in coverage both in health and nutrition and in WES. This is no mean achievement in a country, which is emerging from long years of civil strife, little attention to social development between 1994 and 2001 as well as an acute emergency that happened as recently as in 2001-2002. The aim to achieve large-scale coverage in a short time may have crowded out concerns for a more systematic management of programmes (e.g. routine immunization) and quality of provided infrastructure and services (e.g. in WES).

Finding 5: Challenges to the sustainability and connectedness of results
There is a significant concern regarding sustainability of the results of both the health and nutrition and WES programmes due to the decline of interest among donors, decreasing funding as a consequence, lack of funding from government side, limited management capacities of counterparts, frequent turn over of senior/mid level technical staff in different services and low motivation of government staff (especially at the service delivery level) Existing resources (e.g. female health workers) are not always used in an optimal fashion and vertical programmes (e.g. Extended Programme of Immunisation - EPI and nutrition) are insufficiently linked. A particular concern is also the low level of health and hygiene awareness among caregivers of children, their limited demand for adequate services and the low level of their involvement in the management of health and WES infrastructure and services. Challenges related to sustainability may in part be addressed by close connectedness to and coordination with the new Basic Package of Health Services (BPHS) programme, which benefits from considerable external support.

Finding 6: Relevance and appropriateness of the Basic Education Programme
The Basic Education Programme and especially its core "Back-to-School Project" were highly relevant and appropriate given the low levels of school enrolment that prevail in Afghanistan and also the high level of illiteracy that exists especially among girls and women. The emphasis on girls' education was fully justified, as girls and women have long been denied the realization of their basic human right to education.

Finding 7: Focus of the Basic Education Programme
The core of the Basic Education Programme has been the Back-to-School campaign with a strong focus on increasing access to education especially for girls. The emphasis was on formal primary education, especially the initial grades and relatively less attention to non-formal education for children above 10 years old who either dropped out of primary school very soon or who had never been to school (accelerated / "second-chance" learning as well as adult literacy). Attempts to improve the quality of education through teacher training and curriculum development have not stemmed dropouts, which are apparently rather high.

Finding 8: Design of the Basic Education Programme
The design of the programme took into account human rights (especially those of girls and women), but the programme cannot be said to be fully compliant with guidance concerning rights-based and results-oriented programming.

Finding 9: Strengths in the implementation of the Basic Education Programme
The greatest achievement of the programme has been the spectacular enrolment of 4.4 million children, of which 400,000 girls. This means a tenfold increase of enrolment rates for girls. Significant achievements were also made with regards to the quality of education, e.g. through curriculum development and teachers' training, and in the areas of information and policy systems.

Finding 10: Weaknesses and challenges in the implementation of the Basic Education Programme
Quantitative achievements remain fragile, as dropout rates are high and underlying factors explaining abandonment and retention are as yet not well understood. Civil society still shows a relatively limited interest for education, especially for girls. School environments still have a long way to go to become child-friendly. There is also a need to include basic life-skills in curricula. While gender disparities have been addressed to the greatest possible extent, there has been less attention for other disparities (e.g. between regions, locations, social groups).

Finding 11: Sustainability and connectedness required for Basic Education
The sustainability of the education system will depend on external financial and institutional support for some years to come. It is important that external aid is well integrated in national policies and strategies and well coordinated. As or even more important are the social mobilization of civil society (families and communities) and the commitment of education staff. The current CPC has addressed both these dimensions a certain extent. However, UNICEF support is presently engaged in a transition process from a pioneering role in the aftermath of an acute emergency situation to an equally challenging role of contributor to an increasingly complex and ambitious development process.

Finding 12: Relevance and appropriateness of the Child Protection Programme
As a result of two decades of war and destruction, traditional networks to ensure the realization of children's rights have been eroded. Many children are now the victims of violence, abuse and exploitation. Under these circumstances it was relevant and appropriate for the current CPC to create a programme for children in need of special protection in addition to the other sectoral programmes that contribute to the protection and promotion of children's rights.

Finding 13: Focus and design of the Child Protection Programme
The Child Protection Programme has been strongly geared towards cooperation with existing national partners and their capacity building. Faced with a wide range of issues related to violence, abuse and exploitation, the Programme was relatively well focused on the rights of
children affected by war, as they were most at risk. There has also been an adequate focus on gathering and analysis of information as well as on policy advice. Like in other programmes, there have not yet been results matrices, but the MTR reports on results at the outcome level, i.e. institutional and behavioural changes induced by the Programme.

Finding 14: Strengths and achievements in implementation of the Child Protection Programme
The CPC has been successful working with and building capacity in the Ministries of Labour and Social Welfare, Justice and Interior. A good start was made to provide reliable information and analysis to the Government and non-governmental partners concerning child protection issues, which in turn laid the groundwork for a strategic vision of the sector. There were also more efforts than in other Programmes of the CPC to strengthen the community level.

Finding 15: Weaknesses and challenges in implementation of the Child Protection Programme
Coordination and cooperation between the Child Protection Programme and other programmes of the CPC, e.g. Health and Nutrition and Basic Education, as well as with the cross-cutting programme of Information and Communication has not been strong. More cooperation and integration of the various Programmes could have had a beneficial effect on coordination among national partners. The focus of the Programme on children affected by war also resulted that many other protection issues were not yet addressed, especially those with a gender dimension.

Finding 16: Challenges for sustainability and connectedness of the Child Protection Programme
Children in need of special protection require a long-term engagement both of the State and within civil society (non-governmental organisations - NGOs, communities etc.). The ultimate measure of the sustainability of interventions of the State is that regulatory frameworks are enforced and that the care practices of State institutions are adequate. At the same time, vulnerable children are also the responsibility of families and communities. Sustainability at this level will depend on the restoration and initiation of networks that monitor all forms of neglect, violence, abuse and exploitation and develop measures to counter them. The current CPC has started to build capacities at both levels, but it is still too early to expect outcomes to be sustainable.

Recommendations:

Recommendation 1: Long-term vision concerning the reduction of child and maternal mortality and morbidity
In cooperation with other UN partners, UNICEF should support the Government in further developing an integrated and long-term vision concerning the reduction of child and maternal mortality and morbidity and address both factors where immediate results can be achieved (e.g. immunizations and improved caring practices of infants and young children and hygiene) and factors that require a longer-term strategy (e.g. relevant aspects of education).

Recommendation 2: Integration in and coordination with Basic Package of Health Services (BPHS Programme) and other major national programmes
The new CPC should to the greatest extent possible be integrated in and coordinated with the five national priority programmes in health and nutrition, including Basic Package of Health Services (BPHS) and Essential Package of Hospital Services (EPHS). These programmes are geared towards national capacity building and supported by major external aid agencies. During the preparation of the new CPC it will be necessary to determine how UNICEF supported projects could contribute to ensuring effective integration with the national priority programmes (e.g. aspects of the Maternal and Child Health - MCH project, such as Emergency Obstetric Care - EmOC, building capacities for routine immunization, Iron Deficiency Anaemia - IDA reduction, Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses - IMCI). It is also necessary to assess which quick impact projects can be efficiently coordinated with such integration efforts (e.g. Polio Eradication Initiatives, Measles Mortality Reduction - MMR campaigns, Supplementary Immunization Activities - SIA, Universal Salt Iodization - USI).

Recommendation 3: CPC programme components requiring continuing national coverage and those requiring high-quality model interventions to feed into advocacy
Given the fact that it will still take some time, before there are adequate systemic national health, nutrition and WES capacities, the UNICEF supported CPC should continue major interventions initiated under the current CPC (2003-2005), e.g. policy and strategy advice in these areas to the Government, Polio Eradication, Supplementary Immunization Activities (e.g. Maternal Neonatal Tetanus Elimination - MNTE), EmOC support to hospitals run by government, Universal Salt Iodization and dissemination of experiences at the national level (including WES). There should, however, be a greater emphasis on the quality of interventions and pilot experiences on a more limited scale (e.g. for water supply and sanitation) with the potential of feeding workable and high-quality solutions into national policy development.

Recommendation 4: Promotion of good health and nutrition behaviours as well as of better water use and management and adequate hygiene
The next CPC should give more attention to the promotion of good health and nutrition behaviours, improved water use and management, hygiene education, empowerment of stakeholders (rights-holders and duty-bearers), and community involvement in design and operation and maintenance of infrastructure (e.g. in WES). There is a need for a better understanding of traditional practices and factors that prevent people from adopting more appropriate behaviour. Programme communication needs to be enhanced and national capacities should be developed in this regard, e.g. through the government and religious leaders. UNICEF should continue to take the lead in technical support to the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) and other partners to ensure effective integration of national priority programmes at beneficiary level, and to ensure the implementation of public nutrition policies and guidelines at service delivery level through BPHS and EPHS. UNICEF should continue to support government and encourage private sector for food fortification (especially USI) until Iodine Deficiency Disorder (IDD) is eliminated and other food fortification policy and practice is widely adapted.

Recommendation 5: More horizontal integration of vertical programmes
There is a need to enhance integration among vertical components of the Health, Nutrition and WES Programmes and among different sectoral programmes of the CPC as well as enhance programmatic cooperation UNDAF partners with a potential for positive effects on interdepartmental cooperation within the Government.

Recommendation 6: Management implications of the shift to a more developmental programme approach
The shift from direct implementation of programmes and projects by UNICEF to a more developmental programme approach with challenges related to capacity building and building partnerships with other agencies will have management implications that may involve a greater transfer of the responsibility for implementation to the Government and / or a transfer of certain responsibilities from UNICEF staff at the central level to UNICEF staff in field locations.

Recommendation 7: Links with MDG, National Development Goals and UNDAF objectives
The National Development Goals and the UNDAF objective related to basic education entail two important shifts in emphasis for the next CPC, which are also in line with UNICEF's next Medium Term Strategic Plan (MTSP 2006-2009): (i) while maintaining goals and objectives related to access to education, there should henceforth be more attention for the quality of education resulting in improved retention and completion of schooling; (ii) rather than only aim at gender parity (equal numbers of boys and girls in school), there should be attention for gender equality, i.e. social relations between men and women that need to be transformed to overcome the systematic discrimination of women and their subordinate position in society.

Recommendation 8: "Back-to-School" and "Stay-in School"
The next CPC should support the Government not only in maintaining and increasing enrolment rates of children into primary education, but increasingly also in promoting retention and completion in primary education. A new slogan could be "Stay-in-School". This will first of all require a better understanding of factors that are at play in the decision-making of parents and children to continue schooling until completion or to abandon schooling. Studies and surveys should be gender-specific. A good causality analysis would allow for more targeted programming addressing the immediate and underlying causes of non-attendance and noncompletion. This would also contribute to a better understanding of the notion of quality of education that should become more culturally appropriate.

Recommendation 9: Towards gender equality and quality of education
An important contribution to the quality of education is adequate attention for gender equality. It is not enough to have equal numbers of girls and boys in schools, curriculum development, teachers' training and promotion of community involvement in education should convey messages that overcome gender stereotypes. Activities should not only aim at the empowerment of girls and women, but also very specifically at the education of boys of men to protect and promote girls' and women's rights. A gender-sensitive education may be expected to improve overall quality of education.

Recommendation 10: Improving the infrastructure of education and the supply situation
Given the interest of major donors in the education sector, it may be expected that the Ministries of Education (MoE) and of Rural Reconstruction and Development (MRRD) will receive support to gradually achieve coverage in terms of school infrastructure. Rather than maintain a focus on coverage of needs in terms of infrastructure, the next CPC should focus on high quality and lowcost solutions both for school buildings and for school water supply and sanitation. UNICEF could play a role in designing and implementing experimental demonstration projects for primary schools (including school water supply and sanitation) on a limited scale resulting in workable solutions that could be replicated in other locations or mainstreamed in national policies and strategies. There is need for evidence-based advocacy both with the Government and with major external aid agencies. Key criteria for the selection of pilot sites should be (i) environmental and physical site characteristics; (ii) social, economic, cultural and political factors (potential for community involvement, exclusion in terms of specific groups or isolated areas); (iii) partnership with different external aid agencies (iv) convergence with other UNICEF supported programmes (e.g. in Health and Nutrition, Child Protection).

Recommendation 11: Community-based village schools
Village schools have the potential of being interesting experiences as a means to enhance the enrolment especially of girls into primary education and to stimulate community involvement in education in general. Large-scale implementation of this approach seems not to be warranted. But pilot experiences should be pursued where there have been traditional initiatives to educate girls in villages (home-based education) and where there is a demand from families and communities. The pilot experiences may result in evidence-based advocacy at the national level.

Recommendation 12: Accelerated learning (second chance primary education) and functional literacy
Given the importance to reach children and young adults who are too old to be enrolled in regular primary education, the Government should increase opportunities for non-formal education (accelerated learning / second chance primary education) as well as for functional literacy. On the basis of its existing experiences in this area, the next UNICEF supported CPC should design and implement experimental demonstration projects for this type of non-formal education on a limited scale resulting in workable solutions that could be replicated in other locations or mainstreamed in national policies and strategies with the support of other external aid agencies.

Recommendation 13: Strengthening of human resources for education
There is an urgent and growing need to provide training to teachers, which can only be responded to with substantial external support. The UNICEF supported CPC should remain involved in teachers' training, especially as far as elements are concerned that make schools more child-friendly. At the same time, the CPC should contribute to a flexible approach in identifying and training non-formal teachers.

Recommendation 14: Strengthening of partnerships with Government and other stakeholders
It is important to consolidate relationships with the new MoE and to remain involved at the policy level in partnership with other external aid mechanisms. UNICEF's strengths would be based on its extensive field experience and its potential to provide evidence-based advocacy with use of demonstration projects. The simultaneous involvement in implementation and at the policy level may create managerial challenges for UNICEF staff.

Recommendation 15: Development of a social observatory function
The research agenda should be closely linked with advocacy to curb all forms of abuse, neglect, exploitation and violence against both girls and boys. The combination of systematic research with advocacy and social communication actually constitutes a "social observatory function", which should eventually be built with national partners, e.g. more or less specialized NGOs. The Child Protection component of the forthcoming CPC should build such a function that could provisionally be lodged within the UNICEF Office. The advocacy part of this function would involve the use of media (radio and television) as well as other communication channels (e.g. Mosques) to inform the population and to raise the public knowledge of the law and strengthen protection networks in communities. The social observatory function could also raise national and external financial resources to better protect vulnerable children.

Recommendation 16: Capacity building with governmental and non-governmental partners
The emphasis of UNICEF's support to children in need of special protection should be on capacity-building of governmental and non-governmental partners. This includes the creation of adequate legislation and the strengthening of law enforcement. Those dealing with children in schools and other institutions need to be sensitized to and trained in adequate care practices. This entails a strong cooperation with other sectors, e.g. health and education. Traditional networks at the level of families and communities that protect children from all forms of abuse and violence and exploitation need to be revitalised.

Recommendation 17: Strengthening of Core Commitments for Children (CCCs) and Human Rights Based Approach to Programming (HRBAP) in the next CPC
Whereas the CPC has largely complied with and even gone beyond the CCC of 2000, there have been some shortcomings, as far as the HRBAP is concerned. Respect of human rights principles is a necessary, but not a sufficient condition for programme strategies to be recognized as a full-fledged HRBAP. There is not enough evidence in the various sectoral programmes that the immediate, under-lying and structural causes of the non-realisation of human rights are sufficiently understood and monitored and that appropriate strategies especially to strengthen the capacities of rights-holders have been formulated. Efforts to strengthen capacities of duty-bearers at the central and provincial levels have by contrast been
significant. The next CPC should fully take into account the CCC of 2004 as well as recommendations concerning HRBAP as laid down in the Stamford Consensus Document and the Quito Outcome Document (both of 2003). The CPC should establish an active relationship with national efforts that aim to enhance the human rights environment in Afghanistan, especially the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) already supported by UNAMA, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Recommendation 18: Contributing to the realization of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) related to gender equality
Although the CPC 2003-2005 has placed a strong emphasis on child and maternal mortality as well as on girls' education, there has not been a proper analysis of the situation of girls and women in Afghan society and their relations with boys and men nor has there been an attempt to address the systematic violation of basic human rights of girls and women rooted in traditional values, beliefs and customs. There is a need to gain a more in-depth understanding of the discrimination of girls and women in Afghan society and the structural and under-lying causes that explain why girls and women remain deprived of the realisation of their human rights. The next CPC should support the Government of Afghanistan and civil society to design and implement strategies that empower girls and women and that involve boys and men in this process. The CPC should thereby make a clear contribution to MDG 3 aiming at the progressive realization of gender equality.

Recommendation 19: Follow a results-based approach
The design of the next CPC should follow a results-based approach and develop clear results matrices / logframes that demonstrate vertical and horizontal relationships between strategic goals (related to MDGs) and outcomes and outputs. Objectives and qualitative and quantitative indicators should to the largest possible extent be SMART. Goals and objectives need to address the issues that are identified in causal analyses. It is understood that the results framework will be part of the Country Programme Action Plan (CPAP) for the next CPC and relate to the UNDAF outcome document.

Recommendation 20: Towards evidence-based advocacy as part of wider partnerships
The UNICEF supported CPC needs to evolve from a role in nation-wide implementation of basic social service projects to that of advocate for the realization of children's and women's rights with the aim of leveraging national and external resources required to progressively realize the provisions of the Millennium Declaration and the MDGs in Afghanistan. Advocacy needs to be evidence-based. The CPC should hence focus on low-cost and highly effective workable solutions to realize children's rights at the local and regional levels that can eventually be replicated in other locations and / or mainstreamed in the wider development context. The CPC should consider to geographically focus on convergence areas, in which all dimensions of children's rights can be addressed in an integrated manner. The CPC should understand itself as part of wider partnerships with evidence-based advocacy for children's rights as its core mission.

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