The Joint Organisation Strategy (JOS) is
a collaborative framework between the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees (UNHCR), Canada, Denmark, and the United Kingdom (UK) that
aimed at increasing the efficiency of their working relationship and strengthening
UNHCR's capacity for operational delivery. The strategy was conceived
in 2006 and put in place in mid 2007. The JOS was aligned with UNHCR's
Global Strategic Objectives developed in 2006 and was guided by the priorities
of the Executive Committee and its Standing Committee.
The JOS works at two levels: the strategic
level which focuses on the overall relationship between the four partners,
and the operational level which is concerned with the development and implementation
of Annual Action Plans and annual reporting. The three JOS donors have
been consistently among the strongest individual supporters of UNHCR. They
contributed approximately 10% of the overall funding to UNHCR during the
period 2007-08, and the proportion of unrestricted (un-earmarked) contributions
from the three donors is relatively high compared to most other donors
(29% in 2007 and 24% in 2008).
As the JOS was a new approach, the four
partners committed to undertake an evaluation of the JOS in 2009 at the
end of the first trial period. The two overall objectives of the evaluation
are to: determine the extent to which the JOS has delivered the objectives
and desired impact outlined in the strategy, and review the harmonised
approach and share lessons-learned about the strengths and weaknesses of
the approach. The evaluation focuses on two levels: the strategic and organisational
level, and the operational level. It is intended that the key findings
of the evaluation will inform the planning of the next JOS.
This evaluation assesses the relevance,
efficiency, and effectiveness of the JOS based on key issues identified
in the Terms of Reference (ToR) and refined in an Evaluation Matrix, compares
the JOS with other relevant organisational frameworks, and identifies lessons
learned. As the decision has been taken to develop a follow-on collective
agreement, the evaluation's conclusions and recommendations have been
framed as a starting point