Given the early stage of the Corporate Partnership Strategy implementation, the evaluation did not limit its assessment to changes that could directly be attributed to implementation, but also explored the extent to which the actual partnering behaviour of Regional Bureaux, Country Offices, and WFP Offices is aligned with or indicates progress towards the partnership vision and results outlined in the strategy.
The evaluation found that the Corporate Partnership Strategy reflected good partnership practice outlined in the relevant literature at the time of its design and defined a clear partnership vision for WFP. However, the Strategy has not enabled the development of clear incentives for staff and managers to engage in stronger partnering behaviours or of an explicit communications strategy for partnerships. Its direct applicability to the Integrated Roadmap 2017-2021 is limited.
Overall, WFP is making progress towards most of the five envisaged results outlined in the Corporate Partnership Strategy, but there remains considerable scope for increased impact of the CPS, which is not yet widely known or used. The CPS includes attention to gender equality and equity concerns; however, there is a lack of guidance to ensure that these principles are appropriately integrated into all partnership. WFP partnership practices are both positively and negatively affected by a variety of internal and external factors.
The evaluation recommended that a costed action plan to implement the partnership pillar of the Strategic Plan 2017-2021 is finalized; that a Partnership Action Plan with specific resources is developed as a mandatory component of each Country Strategic Plan; that guidance and tools on partnership are revised and updated; that specific guidance on preparation of country level partnership action plans is developed; that systems to capture and report on qualitative data on partnering are strengthened; and that prioritized partnership agreements with UN agencies, NGOs, private sectors actors, financial institutions and economic organizations are revised.
