Blog IICA

Good practices of initiative:

PROCARIBE+ Project

Relevance
It measures the alignment of the initiative with existing policy frameworks in the country. In addition, the scalability of the initiative to other realities and geographies is valued.
Marco Description Ambit Country Source
Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change The project supports the updating of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) of Panama, Honduras, Costa Rica, Jamaica and Belize with blue/marine components. Global World (aggregate) Link
UN: Sustainable Development Goals The project contributes directly to SDGs 13 (Climate Action), 14 (Life Below Water) and 17 (Partnerships), and indirectly to SDGs 1, 2, 5 and 8. Global World (aggregate) Link
Eficacy
This measures how well the objectives and goals set out in the initiative were fulfilled, as well as the extent to which the results achieved are attributable to the actions implemented by the initiative.
Indicator Description Indicator Type Measure Unit Base date Base Goal Measure Date Measure Compliance Source
Number of direct beneficiaries (men) Number of male individuals who receive co-benefits from the project (directly or indirectly) Effectiveness People 01-05-2023 0 259328 30-06-2024 2166 1 Link
Number of direct beneficiaries (women) Number of female individuals who receive co-benefits from the project (directly or indirectly) Effectiveness People 01-05-2023 0 162327 30-06-2024 1313 1 Link
Marine protected areas created or under improved management Hectares of marine protected areas created or with improved management effectiveness Effectiveness Hectares 01-05-2023 0 4368052 30-06-2024 0 0 Link
Sustentaibility
It measures the installed capacities or actions identified to maintain or improve the results of the policy initiative.
Indicator Description Indicator Type Measure Unit Base date Base Goal Measure Date Measure Compliance Source
Sustainability strategy of the Ocean Coordination Mechanism (OCM) The project seeks to ensure the permanence of its results through the operationalization and financial and institutional sustainability of the OCM, which will act as a long-term regional governing body for the conservation and sustainable use of marine resources in the CLME+ Sustainability Operational sustainability strategy 2023-06-30 0 1 0 No Link
Learned lessons
Gained knowledge from implementing, evaluating, and managing a policy intervention, including why it was or was not effective and how it could be improved in the future.
Lesson Description Source
Critical dependence of the prior operationalization of the regional governance mechanism (OCM) on the implementation of the project In multi-country regional projects with governance mechanisms under construction, an explicit contingency roadmap for the period between projects should be designed, including formalized interim mechanisms (such as the ICM) from the outset, and it should not be assumed that the progress of the previous phase will be automatically sustained. Link
Negative impact of the incomplete staffing of the Project Management Unit (PMU) in the initiation phase A full Project Management Unit (PMU) was anticipated from the outset. Human resource management decisions at the UNOPS portfolio level prevented this; recruitment delays exacerbated the impact. The project operated at partial capacity for much of the first year, which, combined with the initial complexities, substantially reduced the speed of implementation. The lesson is that highly complex regional projects with accumulated institutional momentum cannot tolerate periods without a full team: the retention of institutional memory is a critical asset that must be contractually protected between successive phases of GEF projects. Link
Adaptive management and the use of the interim management mechanism (ICM) as a strategic lever allow regional momentum to be sustained in the face of structural delays Given the impossibility of operationalizing the OCM within the planned timeframe, the project team activated the Interim Coordination Mechanism (ICM) as an interim governance body. This decision allowed for continued coordination among the Intergovernmental Organizations (IGOs), continued advocacy for signatures on the OCM MOU, and progress on activities requiring a functional steering body. The lesson is that in multi-level regional governance projects, identifying and activating pre-existing interim mechanisms is an effective practice for preventing operational paralysis and preserving the political commitment of the stakeholders. Link