Performance evaluation of USAID/Philippines growth with equity in Mindanao III (GEM-3) program

GEM-3's principal objectives are to: (1) accelerate economic growth in Mindanao; (2) assure that as many people as possible participate in and benefit from the growth; and (3) bring about and consolidate peace in Mindanao. The purpose of this performance evaluation is to identify strengths and weaknesses in GEM-3, with the objective to assess key issues of impact, relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, gender, sustainability and lessons that can be learned from the program. Overall, the evaluators found that GEM-3 performance has been on track and will achieve all the physical targets laid out in the project documents by end of project life in December 2012. It is too early to assess the efficacy of the program but it is trending as follows: (1) the first objective (economic growth) is partially achieved, as GEM-3 has facilitated and laid the foundation for economic growth in Mindanao; (2) the second (insure participation) has been achieved, especially for rural residents, who have benefited from infrastructure projects; and (3) the third objective (bring peace) is more difficult to assess without pre and post project data. (Excerpt, modified)