Objectives:

Objectives 1 (PAEI)

Objectives of the evaluation of the component “Entrepreneurship Development” have been the following:

1) to evaluate the state and the advancement of the six existing regional technical support networks for business development in terms of their representativeness, functionality, functioning, progress of collective actions and their perspectives of future sustainability;

2) to propose evaluation-based recommendations to contribute to the network’s sustainability, also referring to international best practices in terms of network management and functioning;

3) to present the evaluation’s results as well as the proposed recommendations within the framework of a workshop.

Objectives 2 (SWEEP-Net)

Objectives of the network evaluation of the regional network for integrated waste management in the MENA region have been the following:

1) to analyse the state of the network, also in terms of priority development needs of the network and appropriate measures to respond to those needs;

2) to point out the crucial factors for the following year’s strategy;

3) to propose recommendations to ensure the sustainability of the network, also referring to possible measures for a further assistance;

4) to present the network’s management the evaluation’s results as well as the drawn conclusions and recommendations.

Content:

General content

Methodologically, both evaluations were based on the network evaluation guidelines that have been developed by the client Sustainum (formerly fhochx) for the GIZ. This tool faces the central challenge in network evaluations, i.e. the complexity of information by breaking down and clustering the information in terms of the six most relevant network dimensions (the target system, sustainability, the actors’ landscape, steering & management, interaction, and benefits) in order to depict the functioning and functionality of a network in a clearly arranged manner, permitting a thorough analysis and the drawing of conclusions.

Content 1 (PAEI)

The component “Entrepreneurship Development” (Développement de l’Entrepreneuriat) of the PAEI programme (Programme d’appui à l’Entrepreneuriat et à l’Innovation) is operated within the framework of the Tuniso-German technical cooperation and supports inter alia the capacity development and strengthening of supportive structures for the creation of small and medium enterprises. Amongst other things, the programme takes account of the specificities of creating innovative enterprises.

The status quo of the supportive structures in the three pilot regions has been characterised by a multitude of different support institutions, service providers operating on a profit or non-profit base as well as various institutions of higher education.

At the time of the evaluation, there existed four regional technical support networks for business development in each of the three pilot regions. However, their state of advancement has not been the same and the different key institutions still have shown overlaps in terms of their missions’ responsibilities. So far, there has been merely a weak interaction and coordination between the different stakeholders as well as a lack of specialisation in particular services.

Content 2 (SWEEP-Net)

The purpose of SWEEP-Net (Solid Waste Exchange of Information and Expertise Network) is to promote and support comprehensive and sustainable (solid) waste management in the MENA-region. SWEEP-Net aims at sharing expertise, experiences and opportunities for south-south and north-south cooperation with a focus on ecological and economic aspects of solid waste management. At the time of the evaluation, the network consisted of 10 countries from the Maghreb and the Mashreq region, with financial and technical assistance rendered by the Tunisian government and the German government via the GIZ. The network’s secretariat is based in Tunis.

Services 1 (PAEI)

• Provision of one international expert;
• Briefing-/Debriefing workshops;
• Guidance to the national expert;
• Close coordination with GIZ and network managers as well as coordinators;
• Review of documents;
• Data collection and analysis;
• Interviews with key informants;
• Elaboration of an action plan and recommendations as to the improvement of the networks’ sustainability and their positioning;
• Dissemination of the evaluation’s results within the framework of a workshop bringing together the representatives of the different regional networks and the PAEI team;
• Final report, including a power point presentation.

Services 2 (SWEEP-Net)

• Provision of one of the two international experts;
• Preparatory discussion, briefing and debriefing meeting;
• Group discussions and actors mapping exercise with the network’s secretariat staff;
• Document and literature review;
• Face-to-face and phone-interviews with key informants (GIZ team leader, secretary-general and staff members of the network’s secretariat, other stakeholders in Tunisia and abroad);
• Elaboration of an assessment of the current state of the network;
• Proposition of practical recommendations in terms of the network’s future sustainability;
• Presentation of results towards the network’s lead management;
• Final report.