Steve Crosskey presented at the APM Project Management Conference on Wednesday 25 April at Central Hall Westminster, London.

1. From Output to Impact
Steven Crosskey - Head of Strategic Initiatives
Infrastructure and Project Management Group
APM conference April 25th 2018

2.  Introducing UNOPS
 Challenge: The Sustainable Development Goals
 UNOPS Solutions
 Conclusion
​Presentation

3. Introducing UNOPS

4. UNOPS is mandated to expand implementation capacity across peace and
security, humanitarian, and development efforts.
Through its project services — including infrastructure, procurement,
project management, human resources, and financial management —
UNOPS supports governments, the United Nations, and other partners in
achieving Member States’ Global Goals, and local objectives for people and
countries’.
​UNOPS Mandate

5. ​Where we work
Procurement Financial
Management
2016 countries and
territories of delivery
Top 15 countries and
territories of delivery
Human
Resources
Infrastructure Project
Management

6. The graphic illustrates that more
than two-thirds of in-country
activity is in Least Developed
Countries', including a number
of Fragile States *
*Fragile states – defined under OECD dimensions of
fragility.
Operational context

7. 7
In 2017, UNOPS helped partners deliver projects worth +$2 billion
47
hospitals and 243 health
clinics constructed,
designed, or rehabilitated
days of paid work
created were
undertaken by women
more than
370,000
more than
$1 billion
worth of goods and
services for partners
35
schools constructed,
designed, or rehabilitated
in total, around
$1.8 billion
delivered in peace and
security, humanitarian
and development projects
more than
2.1 million
days of paid work created
for beneficiaries
2,300 km
of roads designed,
constructed or
rehabilitated
$540 million
worth of procurement
budgets went to local
suppliers
17
countries & territories
where UNOPS supported
UNMAS and its partners
mine-clearance work
11,000
people on
UNOPS contracts
more than
$104 million
worth of goods
procured through
UN Web Buy Plus
almost
40,000 days
of technical
assistance and advice
almost
more than
more than

8. Challenge
The Sustainable
Development Goals

9. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
What do these mean for UNOPS
projects?
 Project design
 Project implementation
 Project impact monitoring

10. Project Management Drivers
The Global Agenda
Integrated approach
Scope
Time
Quality
Cost
Risk approachRisk
Risk
R
i
s
k
Risk
‘Future proofing projects’
Sustainable Development

11. UNOPS Solutions

12. ​Solution: Project Design
 Embed sustainability at the heart of our new Project Management Manual
 Strengthen processes that generate engagement with the SDGs at the community
level
 Improve understanding of context
 Strengthen capacity development (not just a focus on assets) into project design
 Better integration of business development with project managers during project
development

13. What?
 Comprehensive tool to assess capacity of the
infrastructure system to plan, deliver, and manage
assets to deliver a service
Why?
 Improve sustainable development outcomes
 Infrastructure as a system, comprised of
• Assets
• Institutions and knowledge – i.e. capacity
 Working within a complex context
 Need evidence to make decisions
Context
• Environment
• Social
• Economic
• Political
• Security
​Solution: Capacity Development

14. ​Solution: Context
 Studying the relationship between
infrastructure projects and their context
 Generate evidence on the main
challenges to infrastructure
interventions in Fragile States
 Through technical guidance, provide
project managers with a more
systematic view on the interaction of
infrastructure and the context
Context
• Environment
• Social
• Economic
• Political
• Security

15. ​Solution: Project Delivery - PM Tools
PMM Perspective: Sustainable Results Management PMM Extension: Infrastructure
Flexible approach required for these to work –
projects implemented with beneficiaries, and this
introduces added complexity and uncertainty
Includes:
 Problem and solution tree
 Logical Framework
 Social and Environmental
Screening
 Inclusion of Project Social and
Environmental Management Plan
 Sustainability Management Plan
 Gender Action Plan
 Monitoring and Evaluation
 Community Engagement
Includes:
 Design Manuals
 Quality Control
Mandatory Requirements
 Sustainability factors

16. ​Solution: Close involvement with beneficiaries
 Identify issues which may not otherwise have been
considered
 Gain a better understanding of local needs
 Strengthen relationships with communities
 Enable the community to be better informed
 Reduce the level of misconception or misinformation
 Ensure commitment and greater ownership of the final
decision by the community
 Encourage the community to put forward ideas

17. ​Example – Integrated Project Management
Lessons Learned
 Partner: Government of Colombia
 ​​​50,000 Homes project: upgrading around 3,500
individual homes for approximately 20,000
 Focusing on the most vulnerable in communities
 Architects and engineers worked with social workers
and each family to design individual plans to upgrade
each property. This is based on the family’s needs,
social priorities in the home or community, and the best
architectural options.

18. ​Solution- Monitoring
 New PMM will require and give guidance on Log Frame Monitoring & Evaluation.
 Need to develop KPIs for infrastructure beyond economic – for example; record
change in land use, gather socioeconomic baseline surveys, and monitoring of
changing data.
 For long term M&E – hand over to Government / Client. This would mean training
and a consistent approach / agreed methodology.
 Link project outputs to SDG outcomes (Oxford University)

19. Conclusion

20. Plan
 Ensure projects are designed and implemented to ensure sustainable outcomes
 Improve understanding of context where we work and capacity of our beneficiaries
 Implement an outcome focus
Deliver
 Include key processes into PMM from design to closure stages, to ensure aspects of
sustainability
 Empower our PMs – enhance training, case studies, improved Knowledge management.
 Include project components that strengthen capacity building and ownership of partners
Monitor
 Move to link outputs to SDG impacts for reporting purposes
 Empower beneficiaries to be able to monitor effectively project impacts in its operational
phase
​Conclusion – Ensure ‘Future proofing’ of our projects

22. Steven Crosskey – Head of Strategic Initiatives, IPMG
StevenC@UNOPS.org