Final Evaluation Report - “Improving oversight in Mozambique's governance” (2016-2019)

An external evaluation of the project was conducted in April - May 2019. It looked into the strategy, performance and attainment of the general development goals. The results of the evaluation will be taken into account in the planning of a possible second phase of the project. According to the evaluation, the project is highly relevant both for the strategic partnership between Finland and Mozambique, as well as for the sustainability and inclusiveness of the economic growth arising from the extractive industries and the development of democratic governance. Finnish discretionary government transfers are used to support the Improving Oversight in Mozambique’s Governance 2016–2019 project, which aims to strengthen parliamentary oversight of the management of natural resources in Mozambique. It is a joint project of three organisations; Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (NIMD), Political Parties of Finland for Democracy (Demo Finland) and Instituto para Democracia Multipartidária from Mozambique (IMD). The project was launched in Mozambique in 2017 and it will be closed at the end of 2019; with a budget of EUR 1,500,000. The evaluation emphasises that strengthening parliamentary oversight is a long-term objective. The project has managed to reach preliminary results in a short time frame in that, for example, Members of Parliament have a better understanding of the challenges met by the extractive industries, and for the first time in Mozambique, there is regular exchange of information and cooperation between national and provincial parliaments. However, performance is not on a sustainable foundation. Sustainable impacts require that a greater number of MPs are trained and the training and research centre of Parliament and the technical secretariats of the provincial parliaments are strengthened. In addition to capacity building, the Parliament should be strengthened by creating wider partnerships and networks with other actors in society. In order to consolidate the results of the project and to improve their sustainability, the evaluation strongly recommends the Ministry for Foreign Affairs to continue the project in cooperation with the new Parliament, which will be elected in October 2019, and with provincial parliaments. It would be useful for the new MPs starting their work at the beginning of 2020 that they make use of the materials produced during the project and consult the MPs who were trained during the project. Additionally, the evaluation recommends the Ministry for Foreign Affairs to continue the project with the same partners, because they have managed to establish well-functioning and confidential relations with the Parliament and other political actors.