KPMG End-Review NORCAP Climate and Energy Final Report

KPMG AS was commissioned by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) to undertake a joint end- and forward looking review of the Norwegian cooperation with the Norwegian Refugee Council through NORCAP supporting the program on climate services and energy in humanitarian settings.

Norway has supported this programme since 2018, and the current agreement is coming to an end in 2022. The climate service cooperation was initiated already in 2014, while the energy component was added in 2018. This review however, focuses on the last program period from 2018.

The joint end- and forward looking review was carried out as a combined desk study and a field visit to Tanzania and Kenya, to meet with relevant stakeholders.

The support to NORCAP is assessed to be of high relevance, both for Norwegian policy, and also for the partners benefitting from the experts deployed. Furthermore the program is viewed as complementary to other programs focusing on energy and climate services. The program is viewed as efficient, and implemented largely according to plans. The delivery on outcomes are progressing well, however the review points out that output delivery has experienced delays. The revies also recommends the program to revisit the theory of change and results framework in a potential new phase. Another recommendation is for NORCAP to further strengthen the due diligence of partners requesting experts. This is important to ensure the technical input provided by the expert is really taken up by the organizations, and that knowledge is transferred and utilized in the partner organization when the expert has left. Following from this is also a recommendation that the partners requesting experts must prove that they have budgeted sufficient and dedicated funding to follow up and carry out the suggested investments recommended by the experts. Improving measures around these recommendations are crucial to improve the sustainability and impact of the program. Another challenge pointed out by the review is also the uncertainty of funding from Norad, with annual allocations. This makes it difficult for NORCAP to plan strategically, and a more long-term approach is recommended in order to allow for both NORCAP and partners to plan more strategically and allow sufficient time for the partners to work on drafting and implementing their plans for climate - and energy services, and take advantage of the experts during the deployments.

The final report was discussed and concluded upon in a meeting between NORCAP, Norad and the consultant team. NORCAP welcomed the constructive advice and recommendations from the report to improve the program, and several of the recommendations have already been taken into consideration when NORCAP has drafted a new proposal for a potential next phase of cooperation.