Caribbean justice improvement project (University of the West Indies component)

The project is being implemented by the University of the West Indies (UWI) in 10 Caribbean countries. The evaluation was conducted by a three-person team on the basis of a review of basic project documentation such as the Project Identification Document, the Project Paper, the Grant Agreement, and correspondence and reports; interviews with A.I.D./W, RDO/C, and UWI project staff and key personnel in the beneficiary countries; and written comments from the UWI Project Director and RDO/C. The major findings and conclusions are as follows. (1) Implementation of the project by UWI and RDO/C is commendable. (2) The project has suffered from design overload in that it has sought to accomplish too much in too many beneficiary countries with limited resources and implementation capability. (3) USAID should employ the leverage of its total economic assistance programs to influence beneficiary countries to accord higher priorities to the justice sector and to increase budgetary appropriations accordingly. The evaluators noted the following lessons. (1) It is unwise to hinge the success of a particular development project activity on the technical services to be supplied by other donors. (2) Where significant policy reforms would be required from particular beneficiary countries, and a particular grantee does not have the necessary leverage to effect these reforms, it is preferable to have a bilateral project activity. For further information, see the abstract of XD-ABC-324-A. (Author abstract, modified)