MANAGEMENT
LESSONS LEARNED
RBM is about developing a culture of
results. A key component of developing a culture of results is to recognize
the actions that promote learning from
experience. Compiling, systematizing
and disseminating good practices and
lessons learned supports more effectiveness in programme implementation
because it allows effective programmes
to be replicated with the knowledge and
experience of others.
The 2018-2021 OMP is based on robust
contextual analysis and broad consultations with many different stakeholders,
drawing on achievements and lessons
learned, including from internal reviews,
external evaluations and audits.
The MOPAN assessment, which was
published in April, rated the uptake of
lessons learned and good practices
from evaluations and other reports as
an area of improvement. UN Human
Rights stepped up its efforts to capture
and share good practices and lessons
learned. For example, during the consultation process of the virtual planning
month, which was launched as part of
the preparations for the 2020 AWPs, all
teams reflected on the lessons learned
(what worked and what did not) that
would require a change in their strategy
for programme implementation.
In 2019, the Task Forces on SDGs, prevention and ESCR, established by the
High Commissioner to expand work
in these three critical areas, produced
essential analysis and recommendations. The Surge Initiative confirmed that
while there is limited knowledge about
the opportunities that are available for
human rights implementation in the 2030
Agenda, there is considerable interest
among field presences to operationalize
the pledge of “Leaving No One Behind;”
link UN human rights reviews and SDG
66 UN HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT 2019
reporting and accountability; invest in
the new Common Country Analysis and
UNSDCF; and do more related to data
disaggregation. Amid rising inequalities,
field presences responded positively to
specialized and technical advice to work
on economic and other inequalities and
their impact on the enjoyment of economic, social and other human rights.
One of the objectives of the evaluations
that UN Human Rights conducted in 2019
was to produce useful lessons learned
and good practices that illustrate successful and unsuccessful strategies. For
example, the Independent Evaluation
of the Implementation of Results-Based
Management at UN Human Rights
identified lessons learned and good
practices in the implementation of the
RBM approach. The evaluation report
concluded that UN Human Rights’
investment in RBM had paid off and had
positioned it in a far better position than
it was in 10 years ago, both in terms of
knowing what it is contributing to and
why and its capacity to communicate
this to others. At the same time, UN
Human Rights placed more emphasis
on accountability than on the learning
component of RBM.
Lessons learned exercises were
also undertaken in the context of UN
Human Rights country engagement.
For example, in a follow-up to a lessons learned exercise on the response
to the Honduras crisis, UN Human
Rights developed new standard operating procedures on its preparedness
and response. In another example, a
lessons learned workshop was jointly
organized by UN Human Rights and the
Department of Peace Operations regarding cooperation between UN Human
Rights and military components of peace
operations. This also provided an important opportunity to reflect on the potential
for collaboration between the two UN
departments to promote and protect
human rights. The identified good practices and lessons learned will be used to
update the UN Handbook on integrating
human rights into the work of UN military
components. Furthermore, identifying
and applying lessons learned was integral to the 2019 Mid-Year and End-of-Year
Reviews. In some cases, the Mid-Year
Reviews revealed that adjustments to
country or regional programmes were
required. This was taken up during the
preparation of the 2020 AWPs. Finally,
substantial programmatic analysis and
discussions fed into the programmatic
guidance for the AWP 2020 process.
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