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| 2012 - 2017 |
Impact Evaluation - Millennium Village Northern Ghana (DFID, Ghana)
Project Manager |
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ITAD won the contract to lead its consortium in delivering a five year, independent impact evaluation of a new Millennium Village (MV) in Northern Ghana. The MV project is an experimental application of the poverty trap theory presented by Jeffrey Sachs and collaborators. The poverty trap theory states that factors such as high transport costs, poor agricultural productivity and the burden of disease (amongst other factors) locks poor countries in a cycle of poverty. It argues that small investments are unlikely to yield significant benefits in the long term; what is needed is a 'big push' to lift poor rural communities out of poverty. ITAD and its partners have assembled an expert team who comprise skills in impact assessments and quantitative analysis; participatory research and reality check approaches: and research communication across a broad range of sectors. The assessment of the impact of the MVP will be conducted using the difference-in-difference (DD) approach, by comparing the change in outcomes in MV project areas over time, to changes in the same outcomes in areas not covered by the project. DD allows the evaluator to isolate the MV project impact on the outcomes, from the effects of other variables that are changing over time. Baseline surveys will be conducted and the control sites will be selected, before analysing the impact of the MV project
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Valerie is providing inputs into the management of the project and the initial design phase of the evaluation. She is defining the key evaluation questions for the different intervention areas and reviewing the Theory of Change for a range of intervention areas, as an important initial step to inform and underpin the approach to the impact evaluation of the programme. She is also providing inputs into the specification of the qualitative tools and instruments and in guiding the planning of the evaluation process.
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| 2012 - 2016 |
DFID - The Malawi Tilitonse Fund (DFID, Malawi)
Quality Assurance Expert - Externally Commissioned Evaluations |
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The objective of the IIEA for the Civil Society Governance Fund (Malawi Tilitonse Fund) is to ?evaluate and document the impact of the Civil Society Governance Fund in its aim to improve the accountability, inclusion and responsiveness of Malawian governance through increased citizen engagement. This includes outcomes of supported projects, appropriateness of support mechanisms and overall impact of the CSGF?. This impact evaluation uses a variety of different evaluation approaches including experimental methods such as RCTs, as well as mixed methods approaches, triangulating both qualitative and quantitative data.
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Valerie is leading the quality assurance process, in relation to externally commissioned project evaluations. This will focus on both process quality - the quality by which an evaluation is designed, planned, implemented, and delivered and also product quality - the quality of the final finished products. We recognise that report outputs are likely to be public domain documents, and it is important that they are well presented, adhere to any client reporting guidelines, and are free from typographical errors. We will develop a QA template for this assignment which lays out the quality requirements for the final report.
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| 2012 - 2012 |
Impact Evaluation workshop on Capacity Building Interventions for Human Rights professionals (Council of Europe, )
Workshop Presenter |
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The Council of Europe were interested in bringing together a number of leading evaluation specialists alongside their internal staff in order to appraise different methodologies which could be employed to impact evaluate their capacity building programmes for legal professionals in different countries.
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Following a presentation on the measurement challenges, Valerie presented an overview of methods of measurement of impact of capacity building interventions. These methods included robust impact evaluation methodologies and Kirkpatrick's Model of Training Evaluation and its constituent levels.
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| 2012 - 2012 |
5 Year Evaluation of UNITAID (UNITAID, Multi-Country)
Expert Evaluator |
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The purpose of this evaluation is to carry out a 5 - Year Evaluation of UNITAID, to (i) assess UNITAID's overall performance against its goals and principles, and (ii) identify how UNITAID can strategically leverage its strengths to increase its impact on markets and catalyse improved public health outcomes. The evaluation is both backward looking and forward looking in scope. The review of the effectiveness of UNITAID will generate lessons for the future particularly in terms of its strategic position, market-shaping approaches, business model and governance arrangements and its work in facilitating cost effective outcomes. As well as examining UNITAID's institutional arrangements and organisational structure, it will examine UNITAID's niche within the global health architecture.
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My role on the project focuses on the assessment of organisational effectiveness which will examine governance and accountability, management systems and secretariat capacity and innovation. This six month evaluation will involve the implementation of three phases of work - inception, main study and synthesis and reporting stages. Extensive data collection activities will include field visits to three selected countries, consultations with UNITAID and wider stakeholders, web-based surveys and review of data from secondary sources.
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| 2012 - 2012 |
DFID, M4P evaluation framework development workshop (DFID , Multi-country)
Expert Evaluator |
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This workshop was convened by DFID to explore different methodologies and approaches to the impact evaluation of Markets for Poor (M4P) programmes. The workshop brought together M4P experts, evaluators and donors (DFID, SIDA, SDC) to explore the complexities of evaluating different types of intervention included in the family of M4P interventions. The workshop closed with some guidelines emerging from the group on what could be regarded as a consensus arround core principles of impact evaluation of M4P interventions.
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My role was to collaborate with ITAD colleagues and external partners in Coffey and the Springfield Centre to define the agenda, develop the presentations and plan the practical sessions. I also actively contributed to the workshop sessions and the output from this valuable 2 day event.
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| 2011 - 2012 |
Knowledge Management Evaluation and Impact Assessment (DFID Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN), Multi-country)
Evaluator and Survey Manager |
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CDKN is a five year initiative funded by DFID to assist developing countries respond to the challenges posed by climate change. Priority audiences for CDKN's KM work are developing country decision-makers and those that influence them - including policy advisors, researchers, civil society and the media. CDKN's M&E processes are aimed primarily at learning to improve performance and accountability to a range of different stakeholders.
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Valerie led the annual user panel exercise to assess the usefulness of CDKN knowledge products. This involved the design of a survey instrument focusing on usefulness of CDKN knowledge products. A panel of a cross-section of typical target users was sent an e-survey questionnaire to complete. The results of the survey were analysed and findings documented in a report submitted to CDKN which included headline findings in relation to CDKN's logframe outcome indicators.
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| 2011 - 2012 |
Evaluation of DFID's International Citizen Service Pilot Stage (DFID, Multi country - Africa, Asia, South America)
Project Director |
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The purpose of this evaluation is to assess whether the delivery of the pilot stage of DFID's international volunteering programme - ICS - has been successful and to inform the scale up of the programme. Two evaluation reports - one at mid-term and one at final stage - will be prepared.
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The activities include a desk review phase and a field phase to meet with volunteers, implementing agencies, local partners and communities to assess the development impact of the programme and the difference the involvement of young volunteers can make. Consultations with returned volunteers will examine the impact of the programme on development awareness in the UK. In addition the means testing system used by the programme to ensure a broad range of volunteers from different socio economic groups are involved will be assessed. A value for money assessment of the different placement models will also be conducted.
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| 2011 - 2012 |
Evaluation of the Rockefeller Foundation's work in Agriculture Resilience and Land-based Carbon Markets for Poverty Reduction (Rockefeller Foundation, African countries)
Evaluator |
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The assignment covers two interrelated bodies of the Rockefeller Foundation's work: the African Agriculture Resilience component of the larger Climate Change Resilience Initiative, and the Land-based Carbon Markets for Poverty Reduction Initiative. The African Agriculture Resilience component was approved in 2006 and has spent $14,701,452 from 2007-2011. The Carbon for Poverty Reduction Initiative (CPR) was approved in 2008 and has spent $11,748,980 on grants primarily in Africa. Given their complementary nature the Foundation now wishes to merge these two bodies of work under one Initiative called Climate Smart Rural Development (CSRD). In order to inform the forward looking management of CSRD the Foundation commissioned the evaluation of both bodies of work to date.
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The purpose of this evaluation is to learn from the experience of implementation of the two components of work to guide the planning and management of these two components into the Climate Smart Rural Development for Africa (CSRD) Initiative. ITAD examined the relevance and rationale of this area of work and assessed, inter alia, the evolution of the emerging ideas and theories of change effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and efficiency, influence and potential for sustainability of the two components. ITAD used a mixed methods approach starting with a detailed desk-based analytical review of the portfolio followed by field visits to selected grants in seven countries.
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| 2011 - 2011 |
Evaluation of the EU/ Council of Europe project Enhancing the role of the Supreme Judicial Authorities in Respect of European Standards (Council of Europe, Turkey)
Team Leader |
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This is a mid-term evaluation of a Joint EU/Council of Europe project which aimed to contribute to enhancing the role of the superior judiciary in Turkey in initiating new changes in the normative framework and its implementation in line with the acquis, the rights and freedoms of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR), the provisions of the European Social Charter (ESC) and other European standards. The project also aims to enhance the respective roles of the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors and of the Higher Courts (Constitutional Court, Court of Cassation and State Council) as the supreme judicial authorities in the accession process and in the adoption of European high judicial standards.
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The mid-term evaluation involved three separate phases:
- Desk review phase to review programme documentation, monitoring reports and also to examine Turkish judgements in order to explore references made to the ECHR and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights;
- A field phase which involved consultations and interviews with key partners, stakeholders and beneficiaries in Strasbourg and Ankara including the Council of Europe, CFCU, EU Delegation and representatives of the beneficiary institutions;
- A closing analysis and reporting stage which included preparation of a short report on preliminary findings and draft and final evaluation reports.
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| 2011 - 2011 |
External Review of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN, Multi-country - Global)
Appraisal of programme documents for a sample of IUCN projects |
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The 2011 External Review of IUCN focused on assessing the progress made by IUCN since its last review in 2007, as well as examining IUCN's continued niche and relevance and the extent to which it has overcome development challenges - governance structure, financial sustainability and knowledge management etc.
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The appraisal of IUCN programme documentation involved a detailed review of programming documents, M&E plans, evaluations etc in order to examine the extent to which recommendations from the 2007 external review were implemented in practice and in evidence through the adoption of the theory of change perspective and improvements in the M&E systems in place.
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| 2010 - 2011 |
Evaluation of the European Training Foundation Support to Partner Countries (European Training Foundation, Italy (base of ETF) and field visits to Serbia, Ukraine and Jordan.)
Key Evaluator |
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This evaluation assessed the effectiveness of ETF's approach to the planning and implementation of country projects for the period 2007-2009. The evaluation covered all support provided by the ETF to its 29 partner countries in four regions (pre-accession, European Partnership region, Central Asia, Neighbourhood South). As part of the evaluation Valerie assessed quantitative and qualitative data on ETF support in relation to education reform, employability, labour market management, social inclusion and social partnership activities and conducted in depth analysis of this data. Following a period of desk research, a series of consultations were conducted with ETF country teams and also with Government and other agencies in selected partner countries.
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- Stakeholder consultations and interviews using a structured topic guide;
data analysis; application of DAC criteria and drafting and finalising the evaluation report; presentation of findings from the evaluation to the ETF.
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| 2010 - 2010 |
Country Evaluation of EC Support to the Maldives (European Commission, Evaluation Unit, The Maldives)
Key Evaluator - Trade, Sustainable Livelihoods and Drugs Control Projects |
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This evaluation covered the EC's co-operation with the Maldives for the 11 year period 1999-2009 with a forward perspective to 2013. The scope of the evaluation thus covered the individual projects funded in 1999 to 2002, the National Indicative programme of 2004-06, the Tsunami Indicative Programme 2005-06 and the Multi-Annual Indicative Programme 2007-10. The evaluation in addition covered Asia wide regional programmes.
Valerie contributed to this evaluation's methodology though the elaboration of the evaluation questions, specification of judgement criteria and indicators of achievement in reference to each of the DAC criteria and the additional criteria of co-ordination, complementarity and coherence with partner country's policies and other donor's interventions and added value of EC's co-operation strategies.
Valerie led the evaluation of trade assistance projects funded by the EC in the context of graduation from LDCs, EC support to drugs rehabilitation and control and also EC support for local economic development activities including the construction of fish markets and the provision of training to island communities on making and marketing tuna jerky.
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- Extensive desk research phase covering a thorough review of all available monitoring data provided by the EC, EC Delegation in Sri Lanka, and UNDP (as managers of some of the assistance programmes).
- Field mission to the Maldives including consultations with key Government stakeholders (including Deputy Ministers and also Vice President), Island Chiefs, Heads of Island Women Development Committees and beneficiaries of EC assistance.
- Dissemination and reporting the findings to the Reference Group convened by the EC's Evaluation Group and to key stakeholders and partners in Male.
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| 2010 - 2010 |
Review of the implementation of the Cancer Reform Strategy (Macmillan Cancer Support, UK)
Project Director |
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Valerie project directed the review of the implementation of the Cancer Reform Strategy for Macmillan to assess the extent to which Primary Care Trusts were implementing the CRS.
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- Consultations with PCTs (cancer care commissioners);
- Conduct of a survey and analysis of findings;
- Drafting a report documenting findings;
- Quality control of all deliverables;
- Presentation of findings to Macmillan staff.
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| 2009 - 2010 |
Evaluation of Capital Projects (Bridge New Deal for Communities, London Borough of Haringey, UK)
Project Director |
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Valerie led the evaluation of capital investments by the Bridge New Deal for Communities programme in North London - these included community renewal projects such as public gardens and parks, playgrounds as well as safety interventions such as street lightening and crime reduction measures.
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- Consultations with stakeholders, programme staff and beneficiaries;
- Analysis of data and drafting the evaluation reports;
- Presentation of findings to the client and local resident association.
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| 2009 - 2010 |
Evaluation of the Hearty Lives Programme for the British Heart Foundation (British Heart Foundation (BHF), UK (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland))
Team Leader, Evaluator |
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This is a GBP 9 million programme funded by the BHF to promote heart health in deprived communities throughout the UK. The methodology for this evaluation was developed specifically to address the evaluation objectives of this programme and included a number of innovative and bespoke elements:
- Baseline survey in the key localities supported by the programme and in selected comparator areas, as well as an extensive review of secondary data on key CVD indicators;
-Use of a pre and post intervention questionnaire to measure the participant's journey and level of change in their knowledge, attitudes and behaviour towards heart health resulting from the Hearty Lives programme.
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- Management of a large complex evaluation of a health and lifestyle focused programme;
- Design of evaluation framework and methodology;
- Development of lifestyle monitoring questionnaire and framework for population survey;
- Development of sample selection framework for case study projects;
-Presentation of findings to the BHF;
- QA of all outputs prior to submission to the BHF.
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| 2008 - 2010 |
Evaluation of the Catalyst Programme (Lifelong Learning UK (Sector Skills Council for the Further Education Sector)., UK (England))
Team Leader, Evaluator |
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Valerie led the evaluation of the UK Department for Business, Innovation and Skills of this GBP 30 million programme for the further education sector. Valerie designed a bespoke evaluation framework for this complex programme and developed and quality controlled a whole series of outputs - interim and final evaluations for Catalyst's constituent sub-programmes, as well as over arching programme level evaluations at mid-term and final stages for Catalyst as a whole. Part of this evaluation was to assess equality and diversity issues and measure the programme's success in promoting a more diverse workforce in this sector's management teams. Valerie also assessed the Strategic Added Value - based on the Impact Evaluation Framework's methodology - resulting from the Catalyst Programme to LLUK and the extent to which the programme generated an increase in LLUK's ability to lead and guide the sector and embed the objectives promoted by Catalyst in schools and colleges.
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- Team Leadership
- Development of Evaluation Framework
- Design and development of survey questionnaires for e-surveys, telephone surveys and face to face interviews;
- Consultations with beneficiaries, sector organisations, programme staff and partners;
- Preparation and finalisation of reports.
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| 2009 - 2009 |
Ad Hoc Evaluation of the Financial Assistance Programme for the Turkish Cypriot Community (European Commission, Task Force for the Turkish Cypriot Community, Northern Cyprus)
Deputy Team Leader, Expert Evaluator |
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This evaluation was commissioned by the Task Force for the Turkish Cypriot Community and involved the evaluation of Euros 262 million of assistance to the Northern part of Cyprus.
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- Development of methodological framework for the evaluation - specification of evaluation questions, indicators, judgement criteria;
- review of financial and monitoring data and progress reports
- Assessment of vocational training, education, private sector development projects worth in excess of Euros 70 million.
- Quality control of all outputs to ensure a rigorous professional evaluation report meeting all the requirements of the ToR.
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| 2008 - 2009 |
Interim Evaluation of Ongoing Projects Funded under the Transition Facility (Office of the Prime Minister of Malta, Malta)
Team Leader |
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Using the methodology of the Phare Interim Evaluation Guide, Valerie led the evaluation of Malta's Transition Facility assistance programmes funded with EC support. The interim evaluations covered a range of different thematic areas - justice and home affairs (asylum, border management, visa arrangements), agriculture and environment (Water Framework Directive, nature protection, food safety) projects, statistics, public financial management, public procurement, transport, health, social policy and education.
Valerie also developed Country Summary Evaluation Reports and presented the findings to stakeholders in Malta, including the EC. The project also included a know-how transfer / training component which focused on "on-the-spot monitoring" visits to Transition Facility projects.
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- Team Leadership
- Stakeholder consultations
- Drafting Reports
- Commentary procedure
- Presentation of findings to stakeholders.
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| 2008 - 2009 |
Interim Evaluation of EU Funded projects (Centre for Foreign Assistance, Ministry of Finance, Czech Republic)
Deputy Project Director, Key Evaluator |
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This interim evaluation project involved the thematic evaluation of the health sector and finance and banking sectors, as well as civil society development and twinning assistance to the Czech Republic focusing on statistics and public financial management projects. A know how transfer/training component was also included as well as the preparation of two Country Summary Evaluation Reports.
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- Stakeholder consultations
- Analysis of monitoring data
- Preparation of Evaluation Reports
- Presentation of findings to key stakeholders.
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| 2008 - 2008 |
Provision of hands on support to regional partners in project preparation (Advantage West Midlands (Regional Development Agency), UK, UK (England))
Team Leader |
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West Midlands Region, Advantage West Midlands. Provision of hands-on support to AWM and regional partners to develop rural projects for EU Trans-national funding through INTERREG, Framework Programme 7 and Intelligent Energy Europe Programmes.
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- Project formulation and development
- Provision of input to develop project partnerships
- Development of strategy for AWM to increase numbers of projects developed for EU transnational programme funding.
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| 2008 - 2008 |
Evaluation of Business Support Projects (Southt West Regional Development Agency, England)
Lead Evaluator |
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Evaluation expert for the final evaluation of South West Regional Development Agency support to the business sector. This economic impact review of business support included assessments of general business support projects. Valerie also contributed to Economic Impact Review workshops and the final report.
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- Consultations with programme staff and beneficiaries of the assistance;
- Application of Impact Evaluation Framework methodology;
- Analysis of data;
- Presentation of findings in evaluation report.
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| 2008 - 2008 |
Evaluation of Business Link North East (One North East (Regional Development Agency for North East of England), England)
Evaluation of Tourism Skills Brokers |
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Evaluation of the tourism skills brokers project to assess its effectiveness in terms of supporting tourism businesses address their skills gaps.
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- consultations with programme staff and beneficiaries;
- review of available monitoring data;
- drafting report and finalising findings and recommendations;
- presentation of findings to the client.
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| 2007 - 2008 |
Interim Evaluation of the Knowledge to Innovate Programme (North West of England Regional Development Agency, England)
Team Leader |
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Interim evaluation of the Knowledge to Innovate Programme (k2i) for the North West Regional Development Agency (NWDA). K2i was a GBP 2.1 million programme focused on developing innovation capacity in SMEs in the North West of England to improve their competitiveness and business performance. The evaluation methodology was based on the Impact Evaluation Framework approach designed to measure the impact on Gross Value Added and employment creation and included a survey of beneficiaries of the programme to establish the impact of the programme on their business performance. K2i was funded by the NWDA and the ERDF programme for Merseyside.
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- Application of the Regional Development Agency's Impact Evaluation Framework Methodology including calculation of impact of the programme on Gross Value Added and jobs safeguarded and created.
- conduct of beneficiary survey to assess improvements in business performance and jobs created/safeguarded as a result of the programme;
- Assessment of the Strategic Added Value of the programme to the NWDA;
- stakeholder consultations;
- analysis of programme performance and monitoring data;
- preparation of draft and final interim evaluation reports.
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| 2006 - 2007 |
Interim Evaluation of Ongoing Projects under the Pre-accession and Transition Facility Programmes to Malta (Office of the Prime Minister of Malta, Malta)
Team Leader |
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Interim Evaluation of on-going projects under the Pre-Accession and Transition Facility Programmes in Malta. The interim evaluation reports covered all thematic groups of projects (including statistics, public procurement and public financial management) as well as a know-how transfer / training component for which we designed a training needs assessment as well as designed and delivered training on M&E to different vertical and horizontal stakeholders. The team also supported the client in the revision of indicators of achievement for all ongoing projects.
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- Leading and managing the team;
- Development of methodology for the evaluation;
- Stakeholder consultations;
- Drafting and finalising the report
- Presentation of findings to stakeholders including the EC.
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| 2006 - 2007 |
Technical Assistance for the Centre of Foreign Assistance: Interim Evaluation of EU funded projects (Centre for Foreign Assistance, Ministry of Finance, Czech Republic)
Project Director, Key Expert Evaluator |
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Interim Evaluation of Phare Programme for the Czech Centre for Foreign Assistance. This project was implemented over a 30-month period and it involved the interim evaluation of 12 different sectors over this period. Lead evaluator in the preparation of the Interim Evaluation reports for the following sectors: Business Support, Statistics, Finance and Banking, Cross Border Co-operation, Agriculture, Environment and Internal Market. Evaluator for the Interim Evaluation of the Economic and Social Cohesion sector, as well as making expert contributions to the Country Summary Evaluation reports. Attended the regular Sectoral Monitoring Sub-Committee meetings, Joint Monitoring Committee meetings as well as conducting a quality review of many of the Interim Evaluation reports.
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- Stakeholder consultations
- Analysis of data
- Preparation and finalising report after commentary procedure;
- Presentation of findings to the client;
- Managing the project in liaison with the Team Leader and progress reporting to the client.
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| 2006 - 2006 |
Institution and Capacity Building for Cross Border Co-operation (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, Croatia)
Project Director |
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This large complex project was funded by the EC to support programming activities, training regional development actors, institution building at central level, development of a monitoring system for grant scheme projects and transfer of know-how on M&E to the CBC Unit.
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Programming, training, capacity building, institution building, M&E.
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| 2004 - 2004 |
Grant Scheme Procedures Training (Czech Ministry for Regional Development., Czech Republic)
Team Leader, Expert Trainer |
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This project involving leading and providing expert input into the provision of training to assessors, secretariats and members of Evaluation Committees for cross border co-operation programme grant schemes for projects supported under the Phare CBC programmes for the Czech-German, Czech-Austrian, Czech-Polish border regions.
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Leading and managing the team, provision of inputs into the design of the training materials, client liaision and reporting to the client.
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| 2003 - 2004 |
Human Resource Development: Wielkopolskie Voivodship (Polish Agency for Enterprise Development., Poland)
Labour Market Expert |
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Provision of expert input to establish local employment partnerships in Wielkopolskie Voivodship based on EU Territorial Employment Pact model.
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Training, Presentation of Good Practice, Technical assistance and provision of support to develop local partnerships.
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| 2003 - 2004 |
Technical Assistance for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (Polish Agency for Enterprise Development., Poland)
Project Director |
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This project had two key Task areas of assistance: Task 1 related to the training of business consultants in a range of basic and advanced consulting skills ranging from marketing though to technology auditing and e-commerce. Task 2 related to the provision of training, advisory and technical assistance to the Ministry of Economy, Labour and Social Policy in order to prepare a number of key position papers and ad hoc assignments. 350 consultants required training using interactive training methods as well as on-the-job training and 60 officials of the Ministry participated in the Task 2 training sessions. 10 position papers were prepared and five missions took place. A key topic covered in both Task 1 and Task 2 areas was the issue of SME finance and sources of finance for SMEs in Poland (both bank and non-bank finance) as well as the sources of finance available to Polish SMEs via EU Financial Institutions and the rules and regulations governing application and use of funds from those institutions.
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- Directing and managing the project - technical, financial and administrative;
- provision of policy advice to Ministry of Economy;
- Design and delivery of training programmes to business consultants on a variety of different topics.
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| 2002 - 2003 |
Design and Evaluation of Business Support Measures for Structural Funds (EC Delegation to Estonia, Estonia)
Project Manager, Senior Expert |
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Design and Evaluation of Business Support Measures for Structural Funds, This project involved the assessment of Estonian Government support to the SME sector & the redesign of the training, consultancy and export support schemes in order that they would be ready for co-financing from the ERDF after EC Accession. The project involved an analysis of Estonia's SME sector, entrepreneurship promotion & export performance, and sought to propose solutions to issues concerning take-up of some of the schemes.
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- Development of guidelines for applicants for a SME grant scheme
- Assessment and gap analysis of existing business support instruments;
- Design of SME development programmes to be funded by the Structural Funds.
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| 2002 - 2003 |
Strengthening Acquis Preparation (Office of the Committee for European Integration, Poland, Poland)
Project Director, Key Expert Trainer |
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This extensive regional training project was delivered throughout Poland to the regional tier of public administration covering the following themes: - Structural Funds, Common Agriculture Policy and Cohesion Fund. The objective was to enhance Poland's readiness for EU accession in May 2004 and absorption of EU Structural and Cohesion Funds following EU membership.
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Designed and developed training curricula on project preparation for Structural Funds as well as delivered these courses to public administration officials (Voivodship and Marshals offices) throughout Poland. Led the project as Project Director including the technical and financial management of the project, and reporting progress to the client.
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| 2002 - 2002 |
Preparation of Project Fiches (European Commission, Estonia)
Programming Expert and Trainer |
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Provision of hands-on support via technical assistance and training to project promoters developing projects for support under the 2002 and 2003 Phare Programme, as well as training on project identification, ex-ante evaluation of project drafts, problem analysis, objective analysis and strategy analysis.
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Training, Technical assistance, programming inputs, ex-ante evaluation.
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| 2002 - 2002 |
Conduct of an assessment of economic and social cohesion projects (EC Delegation to Estonia, Estonia)
Expert Evaluator |
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Conduct of an assessment of economic and social cohesion projects with a view to establishing the state of implementation of the different projects and defining recommendations to speed up bottle-necks in the implementation of selected projects.
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Evaluation, consultation with stakeholders, review of financial and monitoring data.
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| 2001 - 2001 |
Preparation for Accession - Cross Border Co-operation for Riga Partenariat (European Commission, Latvia)
Team leader, Technical Assistant, Trainer |
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This work included in the development of a report ("EU accession toolkit") defining the level of preparation of Latvian SMEs for EU accession and entry into the Single Market and the proposal of recommendations on how Latvian SMEs could be better prepared for EU accession. The project's beneficiary was the Latvian Chamber of Economy and the project included the provision of training to the Chamber on project preparation and the logical framework approach.
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Training, stakeholder consultations, report preparation and presentation of findings.
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| 2000 - 2001 |
Consultancy and Training programme for SMEs in Southern Transdanubia (European Commission, Hungary)
Programming Expert |
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This project involved the design and development of a Project Fiche for a training programme for SMEs relating to access to finance and business planning as well as preparation for accession.
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Programming input, stakeholder consultations, preparation of project fiche, preparation of ToR.
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| 2000 - 2000 |
TACIS Regional Capacity Building Initiative seminar (European Commission , Moldova)
Trainer |
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Development and delivery of a presentation on "Cross Border Co-operation: Current Situation, Perspectives and Expectations" at the TACIS regional capacity building seminar in Chisinau.
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Training, development of training materials.
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| 2000 - 2000 |
Development of a Monitoring System for the Hungarian Foundation for Enterprise Promotion (Ministry of Regional Development, Hungary)
Project Director, Senior Expert |
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Development of a monitoring system for the Hungarian Foundation for Enterprise Promotion and its network of Local Enterprise Agencies (LEAs). This work involved an extensive review of all HFEP programmes and projects and designing a bespoke monitoring system with requisite indicators and data management tools for the Foundation.
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System design, indicator specification, review and assessment of existing M&E system, gap analysis.
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| 1999 - 2000 |
Analysis of German Capital Investments in Poland (Polish-German Economic Development Foundation, Poland)
Key Expert |
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The conduct of an analysis of the size, structure and results of German capital investments in Poland, as well as analysing the Foreign Direct Investment attraction process and Polish-German economic co-operation.
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Analysis of data on German capital investments in Poland, stakeholder consultations, drafting a report on Foreign Direct Investment in Poland.
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| 1999 - 1999 |
Programming Support - Phare Cross-Border Co-operation Programme, Czech Republic (European Commission, Czech Republic)
Programming Expert |
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Programming support and assistance in the development of Phare Cross Border Co-operation programmes in the Czech Republic in the framework of CBC Programmes Czech Republic - Austria and Czech Republic-Germany.
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Extensive stakeholder consultations, SWOT workshops, and specification of sector programmes.
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| 1997 - 1998 |
Evaluation of the Phare Partnership Programme and Ecos Ouverture Programme (European Commission,, Multi-Country - Phare beneficiary countries and EU Member States)
Lead Evaluator |
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Evaluation of the ECOS-Ouverture Programme and evaluation of the Phare Partnership Programme (civil society development programme), Phare contribution, 1997 (inter-regional co-operation programme) and both ERDF and Phare contributions, 1997 and 1998. This involved extensive consultation with the Programme Managers, surveys of beneficiaries and interviews with the project managers of selected projects in Romania and Czech Republic.
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- Analysis of data
- Stakeholder consultations
- preparation of evaluation reports
- Finalisation of reports after commentary procedure.
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| 1996 - 1997 |
Preparation of Country Operational Programmes (European Commission, Albania)
Programming Expert |
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Preparation of the 1997 Country Operational Programme for Albania which specified the assistance to be provided by the EC covering all sectors - finance/banking, cross border co-operation, agriculture, the environment and private sector development.
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Programming assistance - collating the inputs from a range of sectors into the COP for 1997.
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| 1995 - 1997 |
Preparation of the Phare Cross Border Co-operation (CBC) Programme Annual Report (European Commission , Multi-country - all Phare CBC beneficiary countries)
Senior Consultant |
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Preparation of Phare CBC Programme Annual Report for the EC to report to the European Parliament on the progress with the implementation of the Phare CBC programme in the beneficiary countries in the years 1995, 1996 and 1997.
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Review of financial and monitoring data for the Phare CBC programmes in each of the beneficiary countries in order to develop an overall picture of the state of implementation of the programme, identify good practice and lessons learnt.
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| 1996 - 1996 |
Regional Development Programme for Maribor, Slovenia (European Commission, )
Design of a Train the Trainers Component |
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Design of a train the trainers component for local training organisations to provide training courses for entrepreneurs and the local business community as part of the regional development programme for Maribor.
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Consultations with local training organsiations, audit and review of the training needs of local businesses and managers, design and development of a training programme for training providers and presentation of the programme to key stakeholders and partners.
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| 1996 - 1996 |
Provision of Technical Assistance - Phare Cross Border Co-operation Programme (European Commission, Slovak Republic)
Technical Assistant |
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Provision of technical assistance to establish the Phare Cross Border Co-operation Programme Management Unit (PMU) to manage the Phare CBC programme for Slovakia-Austria border region, including the provision of programming support, input on Phare procedures including the tendering and contracting of assistance, etc.
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Tecnical assistance, programming support, advice on the tendering and contracting of assistance.
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| 1993 - 1993 |
Preparation of Interreg programmes for Ireland-Wales Interreg programme (European Commission, Ireland and Wales)
Programming Expert |
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Provision of expert support in the consultation of local and regional partners to explore areas of possible co-operation and activities to be supported in the framework of the first Ireland-Wales cross border co-operation programme.
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Consultations with local and regional stakeholders in the East Coast of Ireland (Dublin and Wexford) and in Wales and drafting inputs into the programming documentation.
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| 1992 - 1993 |
Design of SME programmes in Belarus and Ukraine (European Commission , Ukraine and Belarus)
Programming Expert |
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Provision of inputs into the design of EU funded programmes of assistance to the Belarus and Ukraine.
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Conduct of desk analysis, consultations with stakeholders in Ukraine and Belarus in order to examine areas of possible support as well as select local counterpart organisations for the delivery of the assistance.
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| 1991 - 1993 |
Design of SME programme (European Commission, Albania)
Expert in programming |
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Provision of inputs into the design of the first programme of assistance to Albania's private sector including a small enterprise grant scheme and a revolving loan fund. Following contracting of the implementation of the programme, my inputs focused on monitoring and reporting the contractor's performance to the EC.
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Stakeholder consultations, design of revolving loan fund and SME grant scheme, monitoring of implementation of the schemes.
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| 1992 - 1992 |
Design of STRUDER Regional Development programme (European Commission , Poland)
Programming Expert |
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Provision of expert support in the selection of regions to be supported by the STRUDER Regional Development Programme to Poland.
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Conduct of field missions to selected localities in Poland to appraise their suitability for support by the EC in the framework of the STRUDER regional development programme for Poland.
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| 1992 - 1992 |
Design of REDEV regional programme for Bulgaria (European Commission, Bulgaria)
Programming Expert |
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Provision of programming input into the design of the EC supported REDEV regional development programme for Bulgaria.
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Conduct of field mission to selected regions in Bulgaria to appraise their suitability for support under the REDEV programme.
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