SDNP's End of Project Evaluation Report is now online

March 2002

The Sustainable Networking Development Programme in Pakistan is managed by IUCN - The World Conservation Union, Pakistan. It has been working since 1992 to promote access to information on sustainable human development among different sectors of society. It has been the pioneer of email and offline Internet in Pakistan, but lately its focus has been on development information services. SDNP is now entering a new phase and is considering its future direction.

 After its funding to SDNP ended in June 2001, UNDP commissioned a team of consultants to carry out its End of Project Evaluation (EPE). The team comprised Seán Ó Siochrú (international consultant) and Rizwan Rashid (national consultant). The main work was carried out in Pakistan between September 6th and September 20th 2001. It comprised a series of interviews with 90 people, which took place in Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore and Quetta. The scheduled visit to Peshawar proved impossible, but the SDNP and several stakeholders travelled to Islamabad for the interview.

 These interviews covered SDNP, IUCN and UNDP staff, a range of beneficiaries from all over Pakistan, other stakeholders who had had contact with the Project, as well as selected senior figures in government, private sector, research institutions and NGOs who the team felt might provide useful insights and advice. Extensive documentation was also made available to the Team. This included detailed data on all aspects of the Project, operational and financial. The SDNP Website (www.sdnpk.org) also contains a wealth of information.

 The EPE yielded invaluable insight to all concerned. In its recommendations, the consultants said: "We believe that SDNP has carried out valuable development work, and that it is capable of further significant contributions to sustainable human development in the future. We believe its outputs and prospects justify further investment, and that future sustainability can be achieved by capitalising on its existing assets and securing income from a variety of sources.

 Of the five future Scenarios considered we favour the creation of an autonomous multi-stakeholder, not-for-profit, entity. We recognise, however, that lacking a secure endowment or source of funding this will be difficult, and that such autonomy may be found within the context of special relationships with key stakeholders, particularly IUCN and possibly others. It may also take some time, with a transition period.

 In the future, the objective of SDNP should more explicitly focus on core development needs such as supporting empowerment or poverty alleviation strategies. It should also work more closely with networks of NGOs and CBOs and other intermediary organisations".