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In-person training conducted through a series of shorter sessions over a period of several months, rather than one training condensed into a short period of time, can improve learning and support the building of connections and networks between participants, which is important to recognize and leverage.

This project has demonstrated that even in the complex and difficult context of Palestine, setting realistic objectives in terms of the number of beneficiaries and communities of intervention, and adopting a pragmatic approach that includes relevant and useful activities such as training and community services, can engage different target groups, regardless of their political affiliations and sensitivities, and generate impact at both the individual and community levels.

Given the numerous challenges of the Palestinian context, it is increasingly relevant to engage Palestinian youth in order to increase their individual resilience and help them cope with the stress they face. Youth in Gaza face double exclusion compared to their peers in the West Bank as a result of settlements and internal conflict, which makes engaging them more difficult and therefore requires additional funding, effort, and monitoring to achieve meaningful change and results.

The adoption of a coordination strategy between the project and other relevant actors (mostly from the Academic arena) would have been key in order to optimize resources and avoid duplication, while strengthening coordination. It is therefore important that UNDEF continues to require such strategies for all its projects.

The adaptation strategy to the COVID-19 pandemic was key for the project success. In this regard, a strategy aimed at adapting methods to changing, external circumstances (natural, pandemic and/or geopolitical), going beyond the risks inherent to the project’s internal design, and defining the actions and measures to be to be taken should such potential changes materialize should also continue to be considered systematically in all UNDEF projects.

 

The elderly project should be a source of learning for both UNDEF and the grantee organization LBH Apik, since both parties have not dealt exclusively with elderly before. In a short project such as this (especially with an unexpected challenge like the pandemic), the Donor and Implementing Agency should conduct more frequently periodical pause and reflection to assess direction, progress, challenges, and lessons learnt in order to be able to manage the project adaptively. Ideally this is done every quarter. Sessions for the purpose of learning need to be intentionally planned from the outset. It is unclear whether programmatic learning is being performed from the bottom to the top, and vice versa. It is useful however to cohesively provide a picture on the differences and similarities, and what worked and what did not work.

Project activity costs can be reduced through close coordination, mutual trust and regular consultation with key implementing partners that can lead to financial burden sharing and increased buy-in. This project, for example, reduced costs by persuading implementing partners to share some of the financial burden for certain events, when co-hosting.

Grantees need to be disciplined in their monitoring and reporting, making best use of the comprehensive guidance available on the UNDEF website. Grantees should feel free to suggest to UNDEF alternative baselines, target indicators and means of verification if data collection against initially planned Results Frameworks proves more difficult than expected or impossible.

In a crowded donor environment with multiple civil society actors, and a highly volatile and dynamic political and security context, the project demonstrated the need to maintain good links with key actors in the International Community as well as national government stakeholders. This requires an investment in time and resources. To ensure longer-term durability and sustainability of projects, considerations for mobilising and engaging with the international community should be an integral part of Civil Society Organisation planning and strategy.

Plan early to develop and implement a strategic communication campaign to tell a multi-dimensional transmedia narrative story about their project through multiple channels that are most used by direct beneficiaries and target audiences. Consider hiring an experienced media communication specialist to help with regional and national media coverage efforts beyond simple announcements.