Sustainability planning should begin during program development, and continue through implementation, and closeout. The independent evaluation found the RSRCs lacked comprehensive sustainability plans, which left them ill-prepared to staff, supply, operate, and maintain the facilities. Partner country capacity for sustainability should be assessed during development. In cases where it seems an adequate foundation for sustainability of an investment with clear roles and responsibilities is unlikely to be established during a five-year period, those investments may not be suitable for MCC engagement; where it seems feasible to build requisite capacity, those strategies should be incorporated into the implementation plan. As learned in this case, the very intensive efforts to ensure sustainability undertaken in the last year of the compact were insufficient. Lessons along several specific dimensions of sustainability planning are described further below.
Lesson Learned