[{"bbox": [140, 153, 1134, 295], "category": "Text", "text": "The Commission may undertake additional project monitoring visits both through its own staff and through independent consultants recruited directly by the Commission for independent monitoring reviews (or recruited by the responsible agent contracted by the Commission for implementing such reviews). UNDP will encode the logframe and regularly update on the progress of the indicators through the EU RELEX IT integrated system (OPSYS). Operational Managers will then verify the data encoded by UNDP."}, {"bbox": [130, 339, 308, 367], "category": "Section-header", "text": "## 5.2 Evaluation"}, {"bbox": [140, 385, 1134, 783], "category": "Text", "text": "Having regard to the importance of the action, a mid-term evaluation will be carried out for this action or its components via independent consultants contracted by the Commission or via an implementing partner. The Mid-Term Evaluation will determine progress being made toward the achievement of outcomes and will focus on effectiveness, efficiency, and timeliness and identify course corrective actions and adaptive learning if needed. The final evaluation focusing on the delivery of the project's results as initially planned and corrected after the mid-term evaluation will be conducted in accordance with EU guidance, policies, and procedures. It will also provide recommendations for follow-up of results including lessons learned for sustainability, replicability of the project's results (best practice, future referencing and planning. The evaluation reports may be shared with the partners and other key stakeholders following the best practice of evaluation dissemination¹¹. The implementing partner and the Commission shall analyse the conclusions and recommendations of the evaluations and, where appropriate, apply the necessary adjustments.. An additional assessment regarding the respect of human rights and gender equality can be commissioned, for which specific expertise will be allocated. The implementation of the five working principles of the human rights-based approach (participation, non-discrimination, respect to all rights, transparency and accountability) will be assessed and evaluated. Evaluation services may be contracted under a framework contract."}, {"bbox": [130, 824, 445, 852], "category": "Section-header", "text": "## 5.3 Audit and Verifications"}, {"bbox": [140, 870, 1134, 950], "category": "Text", "text": "Without prejudice to the obligations applicable to contracts concluded for the implementation of this action, the Commission may, on the basis of a risk assessment, contract independent audit or verification assignments for one or several contracts or agreements."}, {"bbox": [130, 1005, 1066, 1038], "category": "Section-header", "text": "# 6 STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION AND PUBLIC DIPLOMACY"}, {"bbox": [140, 1070, 1134, 1123], "category": "Text", "text": "The 2021-2027 programming cycle will adopt a new approach to pooling, programming, and deploying strategic communication and public diplomacy resources."}, {"bbox": [140, 1149, 1134, 1309], "category": "Text", "text": "It will remain a contractual obligation for all entities implementing EU-funded external actions to inform the relevant audiences of the Union's support for their work by displaying the EU emblem and a short funding statement as appropriate on all communication materials related to the actions concerned. This obligation will continue to apply equally, regardless of whether the actions concerned are implemented by the Commission, partner countries, service providers, grant beneficiaries or entrusted or delegated entities such as UN agencies, international financial institutions, and agencies of EU member states."}, {"bbox": [140, 1335, 1122, 1466], "category": "Text", "text": "However, action documents for specific sector programmes are in principle no longer required to include a provision for communication and visibility actions promoting the programmes concerned. These resources will instead be consolidated in Cooperation Facilities established by support measure action documents, allowing Delegations to plan and execute multiannual strategic communication and public diplomacy actions with sufficient critical mass to be effective on a national scale."}, {"bbox": [130, 1621, 524, 1646], "category": "Footnote", "text": "¹¹ See best practice of evaluation dissemination"}, {"bbox": [1027, 1680, 1141, 1705], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "Page 30 of 31"}]