PROGRAM MONITORING FOR YEMEN EMERGENCY CRISIS RESPONSE PROJECT (YECRP)

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) administers the Yemen Emergency Crisis Response Project (YECRP), which aims to strengthen the resilience of poor and vulnerable communities and households through improved access to public services and social safety nets. In particular, the program aims to help women, young people, and marginalized minorities. The UNDP required third-party support to verify assets, ensure quality program implementation, validate fiduciary aspects of program activities, and assess the impact of the program on beneficiaries and targeted communities.

Apex Consulting was selected to deliver this project because of our program monitoring experience, familiarity with working in Yemen, ability to managing the security environment in Yemen, and ability to rapidly mobilize. We developed a monitoring plan with specific parameters for site visits to target locations across Yemen, 70% of which was inaccessible or insecure.

During our site visits, we verified assets, collected data and conducted qualitative assessment on sample sites. We reviewed the quality of the work (buildings, roads, water and sanitation etc.) to ensure they are constructed in accordance with agreements. Through interviews and direct observation, we reported to the UNDP direct quotes from key program beneficiaries and partners, GPS coordinates of project implementation sites, photos and human interest stories. We provided the UNDP a set of actionable recommendations based on our field assessment.

As a result, the UNDP project management team, Project Board, and other stakeholders received information from the field that allowed them to make planning and resource allocation decisions, resulting in improved service delivery to the community. UNDP was able to deliver short-term income earning opportunities and access to social services directly to marginalized Yemini citizens.