UN Capital Development FundImproving the Selection Criteria
for Climate Resilience Projects
September 2013
Communes propose projects for financing under PBCR grants
• Based on the range of projects selected, probably the Communes do not understand well which projects will have a strong chance of being selected.
• Instead, it is a bit like a lottery where the Communes prepare and submit proposals: sometimes they are lucky and the proposal is accepted.
Preparation of the District Climate Resilience Strategy
Problem
VRA
Strategy
Priority Actions
Identification of Projects by Local Communities
CIP
Local Needs
Proposal
Linking the Strategy to the Projects
Problem
VRA
Strategy
Priority Actions
CIP
Local Needs
Proposal?
Linking the Strategy to the Projects
Problem
VRA
Strategy
Priority Actions
CIP
Local Needs
Proposal
Criteria
Proposal Project
Evaluation
CIP Criteria
Selection Criteria are used when:Communes choose proposal from CIP District selects projects for funding
NCDDS evaluates project
Purpose of this Presentation
The purpose of this presentation is to: Improve understanding of how to choose project
selection criteria Improve understanding of how to use project
selection criteria Agree a work plan to review the District Climate
Resilience Strategy and in particular, the project selection criteria
What is the Climate Resilience Strategy?The District Climate Resilience Strategy is based
on Vulnerability Reduction Analysis in a sample of local communities
The District Climate Resilience Strategy • Identifies the negative impacts of climate
change on local communities• Identifies the most vulnerable people and the
most vulnerable places• Identifies actions that can build resilience to
climate change• Sets criteria for allocating funds to projects
that build climate resilience
Purpose of the Selection Criteria
The Project Selection Criteria should help the District Planning Committee and the Commune representatives to identify:
Which proposals relate to priority actions in the Climate Resilience Strategy
Which proposals assist beneficiaries identified as vulnerable in the Climate Resilience Strategy
Which proposals are located in areas identified as vulnerable in the Climate Resilience Strategy
What is a good selection criterion? SIMPLE: the Communes should be able to
understand easily MEASURABLE: Based on the project
proposal, we should know whether a project fits the criterion
APPROPRIATE: the criterion should help identify the best way to spend the Climate Resilience grants
RANGE OF VALUES: the criterion should be chosen so some projects will score high and some projects will score low
TARGETED: ensure that the Climate Resilience grants go to help the most vulnerable communities
SIMPLE
MEASURABLE
APPROPRIATE
RANGE
TARGETED
What is NOT a SMART Criterion?
Criteria that only say the same a the basic eligibility rules.
Example: “Project in the CIP” is NOT a useful criterion because ALL project funded by PBCR grants must be in the CIP
Criteria that are too general
Example: “Project that fits the Climate Change Strategy” is NOT a very good criterion because it is very vague. Criteria should show HOW the project fits the Climate Change Strategy.
Analysis of the Climate Resilience Strategies
Activity In Strategy In Proposals
# % # %
Roads 15 5% 28 18%Irrigation 33 10% 28 18%Water Supplies 37 12% 8 5%Drainage 8 3% 10 6%Flood Refuge 10 3% 2 1%Agriculture 77 24% 18 11%Other Infrastructure 31 10% 2 1%
Water and Hygiene 16 5% 29 18%
CC Awareness 30 9% 19 12%Other Services 60 19% 16 10%
Analysis of Selection CriteriaCriterion Average
Weight
Highly vulnerable area 27%In CIP 26%Responds to District CCA Strategy 14%Many beneficiaries 13%Benefits vulnerable groups 4%Can be implemented before end of year 4%Uses budget effectively 4%Strengthens climate resilience 4%Has co-financing 3%Multi-sector benefits 1%Inter-Commune benefits 1%
Are the Criteria SMART?
Criterion Simple?
Meas-urable?
Appro-priate?
Highly vulnerable area
()
In CIP Responds to District CCA Strategy
() ()
Many beneficiaries Benefits vulnerable groups
()
Are the Criteria SMART?
Criterion Range? Targ-eted?
Comment
Highly vulnerable area
SMART
In CIP Not usefulResponds to District CCA Strategy
Too general
Many beneficiaries
Need to compare cost and size of benefit as well as number of beneficiaries
Benefits vulnerable groups
SMART
Examples of SMART Criteria
Project activity is mentioned as a priority in the Climate Resilience strategy
Project beneficiaries are identified as a vulnerable group in the Climate Resilience Strategy
Project is located in an area identified as vulnerable in the Climate resilience strategy
Criteria can be very specific…
For example, if the District and the Communes agree that the highest priority investments should be for irrigation and agriculture extension, the criteria could include
Irrigation Project … 15%
Agriculture Extension Project … 10%
OR
Irrigation or Agriculture Extension Project … 25%
… but some general criteria can be included
Common examples of general criteria might be:
Many beneficiaries High value for money High Sustainability High Commitment from the beneficiaries Provides highest benefits to women, poor
families or other vulnerable groups
How Can We Measure Value For Money?
We should try to select the projects that have the highest value for money. However it can be very difficult to say which project gives highest value for money. Consider the following examples:Project Type Cost Benefits # HH
benefit
Irrigation $15,000 Farmers can grow two rice crops instead of one
50
Road $10,000 Can travel to and from village even in the flood season
250
Water Education
$ 2,000 Women understand better how to prevent children from getting sick
1,000
Elements of Value for Money
Value for Money can be considered to consist of: The COST of the project The NUMBER of beneficiaries The size of the benefit each household gets from
the project
SO, if we only think about the number of beneficiaries, but not the cost or the size of the benefit, our criterion is not very useful
Examples of Value for Money CriteriaThe simplest Value for Money criterion might be: Cost per beneficiary householdThe District Planning Committee can easily calculate the cost per beneficiary for each proposal and then group them as High / Medium / Low.We could try adding a second criterion: Size of benefits per householdWe cannot calculate this as a number so this would depend on the District Planning Committee using their judgement as to which project have high / medium / low benefits per household.
Remember that “low benefits per household” does NOT mean that the project is bad.
A project with low benefits per household, and low costs per household, may be just as good as a project with high benefits and high costs for each household.
Next Steps
1. The PBCR Grant Allocations for 2014 will be announced in November or December 2013 (at the same time as the C/S Fund and D/M Fund allocations).
2. As soon as the PBCR Grant allocations are announced, the Districts should organise a workshop to review the Climate Resilience Strategy and instruct the Communes to identify proposals
3. At this workshop, the District and Commune representatives should review whether any changes are needed to the Climate Resilience Strategy.
We expect that in most Districts there will be no need to make big changes to the strategy.
However, each District should review the Project Selection Criteria and try to improve them based on the training today.
Then, the Communes should understand clearly about the criteria and should choose projects from their CIP that match the selection criteria so they have the best chance of being selected.
UN Capital Development FundTHANK YOU
Julian AbramsLoCAL Technical Coordinator / LGCC Implementation Adviser