Within the Multi Annual Indicative Programme for 2011-2013, the European Union had earmarked an amount of approx. EUR 18 million to support State Building and Good Governance with a Financing Decision to be adopted in 2012. Given the recent developments in Yemen, the formulation of this support is extremely timely and highly relevant.

The global objective of this contract is to provide the Delegation of the European Union with sufficient information to justify the acceptance, modification or rejection of the project proposal as formulated in the Identification Fiche, and to provide adequate information on which to proceed to concluding a financing agreement.

In order to ensure ownership and commitment, it is imperative to involve the prospective implementing partners and other local stakeholders closely and continuously during the formulation of incoming support.

The mission will specifically review the proposed programme against the following:

•    The programme’s contribution to improve democratic governance in Yemen, within the context of current and prevailing strategies and policy documents.
•    The coherence of the proposed interventions with the prevalent strategic directions for the areas concerned as well as current/future support planned for those sectors.
•    The need to strengthen participatory approaches and inclusiveness in existing and future governance networks, structures and vision.
•    Financial viability of proposed programme options.

The experts will also accomplish the following analyses:
•    Verify the relevance, feasibility and sustainability of the proposed activities.
•    Absorption capacity; deficiencies in this area can be mitigated by early implementation through the provision of specific measures on organisational capacity in such areas, taking into account the need to ensure full local ownership of the project.
•    Assess the relevance of the proposed activities in relation to activities of other actors in the proposed intervention areas, such as resident EU Member States, USAID, WB, UNDP, and other relevant agencies.
•    Assess whether the number of suggested activities should be decreased or their content amended in order to maximise the impact of each of the selected activities.