Component 2 examined the first phase of the Accelerated Peer-Support Partnership (PAP-APP) Programme, which ran from 2018 to 2020. The intention during this period was to prepare project proposals built on SAI-led needs assessments and strategic and operating plans. 

Based on relevant documents and interviews with representatives of all stakeholders in the February/March 2020 period, the evaluation concludes that PAP-APP was well designed and implemented, that SAIs responded above expectations, that the partnership with AFROSAI-E and CREFIAF on the whole worked well, and that most of the planned outcomes and outputs were likely to be achieved by the end of Phase 1. 

Most SAIs in PAP-APP improved their strategic planning capacity and became more sustainable institutions compared with the situation before the Programme was initiated. The evaluation attributes these positive results to the high level of trust in IDI, AFROSAI-E and CREFIAF, as well as the approach of letting the SAIs lead their own needs and development with IDI and partner support and clear synergies with AFROSAI-E and CREFIAF training programmes. While there have been shortcomings in some respects, these are largely recognised and serve as lessons learnt. 

The third component examined IDI's bilateral support to the National Audit Chamber (NAC), the SAI of South Sudan. 

During the project period the NAC has been highly challenged. South Sudan is currently in a deep and longstanding economic, political, security and humanitarian crisis, and the Government of South Sudan (GOSS) has in many cases not met its commitments in the Revitalized Peace Agreement (R-ARCSS) of September 2018. Consequently, the NAC faces serious problems considering the difficult and challenging situation it is working in, and basic conditions for playing the role of a SAI are missing. 

As a result, IDI classified this project as ‘lifeline support’, aiming to maintain the basic competency and skills of the SAI and its staff in the interim period till the situation stabilises and more long-term support could be provided. 

Despite the label ‘lifeline support’, the evaluation found that the Project had an ambitious Results framework. Risks were underestimated in the project description, however, so many of the targets were not been fully achieved. That being said, even with a delay to many of the deliverables, the evaluation determined that the results are good considering the challenged situation of the NAC.

Component 4 represented a synthesis of the findings and lessons for implementation of IDI’s bilateral policy. It examined several high-level questions, such as: 

Has IDI’s bilateral policy been applied as intended and implemented efficiently? 
Has IDI’s bilateral policy been effective in contributing to SAIs enhancing their performance and capacity, relative to the resources available? 
Is IDI’s bilateral policy in need of refinement? 

The document includes a list of recommendations and a review of the bilateral policy's relevance, efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability.

In late 2019 and mid-2020, IDI designed and commissioned two evaluations of its bilateral support (as above).

The first was a broad evaluation of several initiatives focused on the period 2017-2020. This evaluation is broken down into four components covering GCP Tier 2, PAP-APP and support to SAI South Sudan, concluding with a sysnthesis of finds and lessons learnt. The second evaluation focused specificly on peer support to SAI Somalia. 

Given the similarities of the evaluation objectives and findings, IDI prepared this consolidated response to both evaluations. The document reviews each recommendation from the evaluations, IDI's response to the recommendations, and, if required, proposed action.

This evaluation report covers the project “Peer Support to the OAGS 2018-20” that provided bilateral assistance by IDI in partnership with AFROSAI-E to the Office of the Auditor General of Somalia (OAGS). 

The OAGS Project was among the first projects under IDI’s Bilateral Policy adopted in March 2017, to ensure that the most challenged SAIs with substantial need for capacity development are assisted and are improving their performance. During project implementation, this support was broadened to also include the other strategic goals of the OAGS relating to communication, human resource management and IT infrastructure. This ensured a holistic approach to the development of the OAGS. 

In summary, the Project’s objectives were mostly met and scored reasonably well on each of the six OECD-DAC evaluation criteria. Performance improvement was evidenced by OAGS ability to audit the Government’s annual budget execution report in a timely manner for the first time in 2019, and its willingness to report openly on challenging topics involving corruption and malpractice with regard to donor funds.