The Strengthening Capacities in the Use of Geospatial Information for Improved Resilience in Asia-Pacific and Africa project, funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), aims to enhance climate resilience and disaster risk reduction (DRR) in eight countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Fiji, Lao PDR, Nigeria, Solomon Islands, Uganda and Vanuatu. The project is being implemented between July 2021 and December 2024. 

More specifically, the project focuses on building geospatial information technology (GIT) capacities for effective planning and decision-making through targeted technical training, backstopping services, awareness raising, and development of web-based GIT applications, including geospatial decision support systems (DSS), a knowledge platform, and support to access climate finance in the three Pacific countries (with implementation support of the Commonwealth Secretariat).

The endline evaluation aimed to systematically assess the performance and results of the project as it reaches its operational closure, assessing the project relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, likelihood of impact, and likelihood of sustainability. The evaluation followed a mixed-methods approach, analysing data from primary and secondary sources through qualitative and quantitative methods such as text analysis from interviews and a focus group and descriptive statistics from survey data and the scorecard. Furthermore, two field visits were organized to Bhutan and Bangladesh.

Several limitations were encountered by the evaluation: 
  i) absence of completion of endline scorecards for Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and Uganda, and information gaps for Nigeria; 
  ii) lack of survey responses from Nigerian participants and limited number of responses from climate writeshops; 
  iii) absence of contacts from participants from awareness raising events; 
  iv) lack of response from some national focal points and in-country experts; 
  v) failure to establish a counterfactual scenario; and 
  vi) lack of agreement to establish a cost-effectiveness methodology. Mitigation strategies were implemented where possible.

The project is highly relevant and closely aligned with global, regional, and national priorities for DRR, Climate Change Adaptation (CCA), and sustainable development. It effectively addresses the specific needs of the participating countries by providing targeted support in DRR, CCA, and Natural Resources Management (NRM). The project's alignment with the SDGs, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, and national policies highlight its strategic relevance. The project promotes gender equality and women's empowerment within its reach but could not systematically change broader societal gender dynamics. 

The project is strongly aligned with national policies, strategies and other development interventions across the participating countries. It effectively complemented existing DRR and climate resilience initiatives, particularly in countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan and Fiji. The alignment with ongoing initiatives by development partners such as JICA, the World Bank and UNITAR-supported projects further reinforced the project's contribution to broader national and regional efforts. However, some opportunities for deeper integration, especially with other UNOSAT and UNITAR projects, were missed, limiting the potential synergies that could have been achieved.

The project was generally effective in achieving its planned outputs and outcomes, significantly enhancing technical capacities across multiple countries. Deploying in-country experts and developing web-based geospatial applications were instrumental in improving decision-making capacities in disaster risk management and environmental planning. However, the project's effectiveness was uneven across countries, with challenges such as high staff turnover, inconsistent government engagement, and the technical profile of focal point organizations hindering progress in some areas. Despite these challenges, the project achieved over 80-95 per cent of its main targets, demonstrating satisfactory performance.

The project demonstrated satisfactory efficiency, producing most of its planned outputs in a timely and cost-effective manner. The strategic use of in-country experts, partnerships and open-source software significantly enhanced cost efficiency. Although there were initial delays due to administrative challenges, the project effectively applied adaptive management strategies to mitigate these issues and ensure nearly full resource utilization by the project's end. Besides administrative delays, the project was affected by exchange rate changes. 

The project's impact on DRR and climate resilience in all participant countries was significant. In Lao PDR, Uganda, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands and Fiji, project geospatial tools were effectively applied during specific disaster events. The project enhanced resilience through improved disaster management capabilities, better quality data and increased efficiency in resource use. By developing user-friendly web-based applications and decision support systems, the project has enabled beneficiaries to make more informed decisions. The project's contributions to enhancing organizational capacities and resilience were substantial, but systemic policy changes or significant differences in disaster outcomes compared to counterfactuals were not evident.

The project also supported climate finance proposals in the three Pacific countries, mobilizing nearly USD 12 million. However, the overall impact on climate finance in the Pacific Island countries was less measurable, with climate finance flows remaining similar to counterfactuals during the project timeframe. 

The sustainability of the project's results varies across the participating countries. The likelihood of sustaining project outcomes is high in countries where strong government engagement and institutional backing are present. However, challenges such as government restructuring, high staff turnover, and the limited integration of GIT into national frameworks pose risks to the long-term sustainability of the project's outcomes. 

Nine high and medium priority recommendations were issued by the evaluation:

High priority:

1. Clarify the level and timeframe for continued backstopping support and in-country experts post-project to ensure sustained capacity and effective application of GIT tools.
2. Advocate for the establishment and consolidation of core GIT teams in all focal point organizations to ensure the sustainability of GIT capacities and foster the integration of geospatial information in national policies.
3. Increase engagement on the knowledge platform and support ToT participants in the application of knowledge and skills when delivering training. 

Medium priority: 

1. Involve both technical and higher decision-making levels from government agencies.
2. Consider the inclusion of additional training and support for subnational and local authorities to ensure the effective application of GIT tools across all levels of government.
3. Establish early contact with national governments, involving UNOSAT/UNITAR leadership, to streamline official approval processes and reduce delays in project implementation.
4. Strengthen the project's cooperation with the UN Country Teams (UNCT) and bilateral cooperation frameworks to enhance coordination and avoid duplication of efforts. 
   Explore opportunities for collaboration with other UN and bilateral projects to maximize impact and create synergies.
5. Identify further countries to replicate the project's successful elements such as using in-country experts and adopting open-source software. Continue support in countries where progress is being made to sustain results. 
6. Promote gender participation in technical fields like GIT by showcasing “champions” and undertaking awareness raising together with academic institutions. Develop a gender strategy for new project and discuss its operationalization across all project components. Consider partnering with universities to address gender root causes. Strengthen collaboration with the implementing partners in terms of gender good practices for replication in future activities.

1. Importance of Stable Leadership: The presence of stable leadership within focal point organizations is critical for the successful adoption and sustainability of GIT tools.
2. Challenges of Working with Policy-Oriented Agencies: Technical government agencies are better suited to apply GIT solutions than policy-oriented organizations, which may lack the necessary technical expertise.
3. Need for Decision-Maker Awareness: Insufficient awareness of GIT capabilities among senior decision-makers can hinder the allocation of resources and the effective adoption of these tools.
4. Value of High-Level Engagement: Early and sustained high-level engagement, particularly involving UNOSAT leadership facilitates smoother project implementation by overcoming bureaucratic obstacles. 
5. On Climate Finance Funding: Organized, persistent and committed local, national and international partnerships provide a comprehensive approach and represent a key factor for the development and approval of concept notes and proposals since this process can be long and requires a lot of resources and contribution from other actors.