ANNEX II: ACHIEVEMENT OF TARGETS FOR GLOBAL EXPECTED ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND LESSONS LEARNED OVER 2014-2017 Lessons learned related to management issues Strategic decisions UN Human Rights aims to promote improved understanding among staff and senior management about RBM principles and the importance of “managing for results.” Every organizational unit and field office in UN Human Rights plans, monitors and reports through an IT-based Performance Monitoring System that is based on a common results framework that uses RBM methodologies and principles. The Joint Inspection Unit undertook an evaluation of RBM in the UN System, in 2017, and highlighted that results-based management practices at the entity level, such as use of the UN Human Rights Performance Monitoring System, can contribute to the alignment of programme planning, programme aspects of the budget, monitoring implementation and methods of evaluation and related tools that are managed at the United Nations Secretariat level. In addition, project evaluations conducted at the field level concluded that a long-term investment of time and trust is needed to positively impact on the enjoyment of human rights. As a result, medium- or longterm planning is crucial to the development of strategic decision-making. This is particularly important for short-term projects or programmes where setting overly ambitious goals may cause undue stress for the implementing staff regarding their delivery. Field operations Increasing efficiency in supporting field operations is crucial as the Office enhances its field engagement. Several regional and country programmes and projects were evaluated during the programming cycle. This enabled the Office to identify the following important lessons that were learned and should be taken into account in future interventions. 160 UN HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT 2017 Guidelines and review mechanisms can assist field presences to establish appropriate organizational structures and clarify strategies to narrow down the scope of activities in accordance with needs on the ground and the comparative advantages of UN Human Rights. Limited access to financial, administrative and human resources, including for staff members that are living in difficult conditions in the field, restricts their potential to have a substantive impact on human rights issues on the ground. To offset these limitations, there is a need for the streamlining and expediting of internal administrative and financial procedures for field presences, especially the deployment of staff, which can increase the effectiveness of field operations, particularly those that are affected by high turnover. Finally, evaluations that assessed the effectiveness of organizational arrangements at the field level indicated that field presences are better at understanding the complex environment in which they operate and at implementing the Office’s mandate whenever they are composed of a diversified workforce, both in terms of gender diversity and professional backgrounds. They also indicated that field presences need to focus on the key human rights issues in their respective countries or regions, identified through systematic needs assessments, to which UN Human Rights can contribute added value. Staff training The knowledge and expertise of its staff are one of UN Human Rights’ comparative advantages. As the project and programme evaluations at the field level concluded, the effective implementation of the UN Human Rights programme requires regular staff capacity needs assessments, development of training plans for all staff and access for all staff to relevant training programmes. These capacity-building efforts are particularly useful in areas such as: project management, RBM systems, resource mobilization and financial reporting. When the mandate of a field presence involves special themes that require particular knowledge or skills, focused assessments of capacity needs should be taken into account to develop appropriate training plans.