PEM is in the middle of an assignment in Mexico. The Joint Mexican-German Fund (FCMA) was created in 2015 to address governance challenges. FCMA provides financial and technical assistance to government and civil society initiatives that aim to improve public security, protect human rights, promote social inclusion, strengthen the rule of law, and enhance democratic governance. FCMA focuses on sustainable solutions by providing support throughout the entire project cycle. PEM is now evaluating the joint fund for the full period 2015-2023.

PEM is involved in an assignment aligned with the Danish strategy for development cooperation, “The World We Share”. The contribution is part of the Team Europe Initiative (TEI) on Transboundary Water Management in Africa (fEI-TWM), which brings together a variety of international stakeholders. By aligning efforts with the global objectives of the European Green Deal, the TEI investments will support large-scale projects in Africa with social, economic, and environmental benefits at continental, regional/basin, and national levels. The project’s specific objectives include improving policies and knowledge regarding water resources management, fostering cooperation and peer learning among transboundary basin bodies, enhancing transboundary integrated water resource management and water-energy-food-environment nexus approaches for climate change adaptation and biodiversity conservation, and increasing investments that contribute to economic development and regional integration.

Every year, 10 million tons of plastic waste enter the ocean. Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are particularly affected by this increasing amount of marine litter. In 2019, IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) launched the Plastic Waste Free Islands (PWFI) project. The program is running for three years and incorporates six islands in the Caribbean and Pacific: Fiji, Vanuatu, Samoa, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Lucia, and Grenada. The aim of this project is to promote their circular economy and to demonstrate effective solutions to addressing plastic leakage. Since December of last year, PEM is leading the final evaluation of the project with the specific objective of assessing the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impacts, and sustainability of the project to address plastic pollution in the targeted islands. Four out of the six target islands were visited during a field mission.

With the development strategy “The World We Share” food and agriculture is back as a major priority in Danish Development Policy as part of the climate, poverty, and health agendas. The development of the global food situation is becoming graver with regard to Russia’s invasion and war in Ukraine, climate change and economic pressure as a result of the COVID pandemic. On this background, work has started to develop a stronger concerted “whole of government” approach to the Danish international engagement on food and agriculture. The purpose of the assignment is to assist the Department for Green Diplomacy and Climate (GDK) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in developing a comprehensive approach to food and agriculture in development assistance aligned with the “whole of government” approach. The methods include the development of background overviews, the facilitation of consultations and dialogues, analyses and more. The main outputs include an inception report