Action Plan Skills Building: Module 2 Defining Action Plan Purpose and Scope January 2013

2 Module 3: Planning the Details Module 4: Implementing and Evaluating Module 1: Getting Started Module 2: Defining Purpose and Scope Action Plan Skills Building Workshop

3 Outline Developing the “foundation” of the Action Plan: Establishing the problem statement and goal Conducting a situation analysis Conducting a gap analysis Setting objectives and indicators

Establishing the Problem Statement 4 Brief description of the specific problem Include enough contextual detail Outlines the need for the action plan Based on, for example: Decisions at the international level Accidents Significant hazards Gaps in chemicals management

Establishing the Goal 5 Goal builds on the problem statement: Concise statement Describes the action plan’s purpose Must be realistic and not too ambitious Problem statement Goal

Conducting a Situation Analysis: Purpose Obtain insight and guidance on challenges & opportunities Identify relevant existing structures Reveal potential overlap Analyse existing problems and scope 6

Conducting a Situation Analysis: Structure & Information Sources Key steps: 1. Information collection 2. Information analysis Information sources: National Chemicals Management Profile National SAICM Capacity Assessment Literature reviews Personal communications Inventories Site visits 7

To provide some direction for the situation analysis, identify what sorts of information will need to be collected Dissect the goal at a general level Consider relevancy of: Legal and administrative issues Monitoring and reporting practices Regulations Operational issues This will also later help in conducting the gap analysis 8 Conducting a Situation Analysis: Tool

9 Basic Situation Analysis Questions Relevant existing legal instruments, policies, and/or non- regulatory mechanisms? Relevant ministries, agencies, and other governmental institutions? Relevant industry, public interest groups, and bodies in the research sector? Relevant existing technical infrastructure (including data access and use)? Level of awareness, understanding, and competence of government, workers, and the public concerning the AP issue? Human and financial resources (possibly having only a preliminary understanding at this stage) available for AP implementation?

Based on the results of the situation analysis Identify where current situation does not meet the established goal and related possible requirements Question: “What is missing?” May identify gaps in: Legislation Enforcement Analytical capacity Material Human resources Organisational issues 10 Conducting a Gap Analysis Having now developed a more complete picture, it may be desirable to modify the goal to more accurately reflect the current situation

Setting Objectives Explicitly state, at a finer level of detail, what the AP aims to achieve Direction for setting objectives suggested by situation and gap analysis Objectives can be met at the end of a project or along the way 11 Problem statement Objective Goal

Setting SMART objectives Well-developed objectives are “SMART” objectives: Specific, Measurable, Agreed, Realistic and Time-dependant An example of an unrealistic objective is: “To install a functional metals analysis lab within one year for under 10,000 USD” 12

To strengthen capacity for information collection on PCBs in the country by 2012 To strengthen the legal framework on PCBs in use and PCBs waste by 2014 To establish an ongoing programme to replace PCBs transformers by Setting SMART objectives: Examples

Defining Indicators How will we know if we are achieving or have achieved this objective? The success of the AP can be measured by the degree to which its objectives were achieved Define indicators to evaluate if objectives were met 14

Defining Indicators: Examples Objective: To strengthen capacity for information collection on PCBs in the country by 2012 Possible indicator: Number of entries in the PCB inventory database To establish an ongoing programme to replace PCBs transformers by 2015 Number of transformers containing PCBs in use (decrease) each year after 2010 To successfully train lab staff by 2013 (Decreased) response time for laboratory analysis 15

Basic possible characteristics of indicators Quality: measure the kind (or nature) of the change Quantity: measure the scope (or extent) of the change – e.g. by how much? how many? Timing: measure by when the change should have taken place 16

Situation and gap analysis identified the country’s current situation – the baseline It will later be possible to look at each indicator and compare the relevant information collected at the start of the AP and following its completion 17 Defining Indicators (cont.)

Summary Establishing the problem statement and goal Conducting a situation and gap analysis Setting objectives and indicators 18

Thank you Chemicals and Waste Management Programme United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) Palais des Nations 1211 Geneva 10 Tel: Fax: