9 / 88
9
This is the Final Report on the Programme Cooperation
Agreement (PCA) between the Norwegian Ministry of
Foreign Affairs (MoFA) and GRID-Arendal for the period
2010-2011 (the ‘biennium’). To avoid duplication of the
information already provided in the Progress Report for
2010, the Final Report
focuses on 2011 programme delivery
and on the results that have been achieved during 2011
,
rather than simply repeating and updating the previous
report.
Adhering to the terminology and principles associated with
NORAD’s guide on Results Management
3
, the effects of
3 Introduction
3. Results Management in Norwegian Development Cooperation: A
practical guide. NORAD on behalf of Norwegian Ministry of Foreign
Affairs (December 2008)
GRID-Arendal’s work under the PCA fall into one of three
categories along the results chain:
outputs
, defined as the
direct products and services generated by programme
activities;
outcomes
are the effects that these products and
services have on the target group, what the PCA is intended
to accomplish as a contribution to the impact; and
impact
is the long-term change, or improvement that occurs in
society or the environment.
4 Attribution
While clear causal links – from inputs and activities
through outputs to outcomes and impacts – form the
basis of project design, the
attribution
of a particular
result tends to become more tenuous along the results
chain. GRID-Arendal’s outputs are relatively easy to
identify and attribute. Direct linkages to outcomes and
impacts, however, are generally harder to establish,
invariably because of process time-lags (‘project
gestation’), the difficulty of tracking the absorption of
specific information by diverse end-users before they take
decisions, and/or because decisions, especially those
related to the environment, are rarely taken on the basis
of a single information source. Despite these limitations
in attribution, considerable evidence is available and
presented in this report to trace direct and indirect
linkages from positive outcomes or impacts back to the
work of GRID-Arendal. Beyond this, there is anecdotal
evidence to support indications of progress towards
desired outcomes and impacts.
It is well understood that certain outcomes and impacts
only become apparent long after the products or
services are delivered – especially when these products
target decision-makers. Because of this time lag, the
ultimate results of certain GRID-Arendal projects that
pre-date the biennium report are only now beginning to
make themselves felt (the impacts of the UNEP Shelf
Programme and the Blue Carbon initiative are cases
in point). This implies that significant results from this
biennium’s activities may not materialize, and may not
be objectively verified until a substantial period of time
has passed. In addition, many of GRID-Arendal’s projects
are implemented over longer than a two-year period and
results could be cumulative over the whole period and
beyond. For these reasons, reporting on the programme
of work, to a certain extent, looks both back in time and
into the future, reflecting on-going programme delivery
and measured progress towards achieving outcomes and
impacts.