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UNHCR evaluation update: January 2001
This is the latest in a series of updates which are
intended to keep UNHCR staff and others informed of
key developments in the area of evaluation. It is
prepared by the Evaluation and Policy Analysis Unit
(EPAU).
1. EPAU has started to implement its 'plan of action
for the further strengthening of the evaluation
function', which was presented to an informal
consultation of the Executive Committee in November
2000. EPAU hopes to gain senior management
endorsement for the plan of action, as well as a new
UNHCR evaluation policy and procedure, by the middle
of 2001. Copies of the plan of action are available
from EPAU.
2. A key feature of the plan of action is to
encourage regional bureaux and field offices to
become more directly involved in the evaluation
function. To move in this direction, EPAU and
OMS are jointly organizing a pilot 'facilitated
self-evaluation workshop' in Ethiopia, which is
planned to take place in February 2001. To encourage a
broader understanding of the evaluation function in
UNHCR, EPAU recently held a two-day workshop on
evaluation objectives and methods, attended by 30
Headquarters staff members from a variety of different
bureaux and sections. A similar workshop is planned
for May 2001, to which government and NGO
representatives will be invited.
3. EPAU has been offered a financial contribution by
the UK government (Department for International
Development) for the development and devolution of the
evaluation function in UNHCR. The US government has
provided EPAU with a financial contribution to
undertake an evaluation of UNHCR's role in the
management of protracted refugee situations.
4. After a competitive bidding process, a consultancy
company, Valid International, has been contracted to
undertake a major evaluation of UNHCR's role in
meeting the protection rights and needs of refugee
children. Work on this evaluation will start in
February 2001.
5. An inter-agency evaluation (UNHCR, UNICEF, OCHA,
WFP) of the UN's humanitarian programmes in
Afghanistan, focusing on the issue of needs assessment
and the targeting of beneficiary groups, is due to
commence early in 2001. It will be undertaken by the
Christian Michelson Institute of Bergen, Norway.
According to an agreement reached in June 2000, the
four agencies will henceforth seek to undertake one
major inter-agency evaluation each year, with costs
and management responsibility being shared.
6. An EPAU staff member will participate in a WFP
evaluation of refugee food assistance programmes in
Sudan. The evaluation will be undertaken in March
2001.
7. A number of evaluation reports are now in the
pipeline and scheduled for publication early
next year. These include an evaluation of UNHCR's role
in relation to statelessness; a beneficiary-based
evaluation of the UNHCR programme in Guinea; an
evaluation of UNHCR's firewood distribution project in
Dadaab, Kenya; an evaluation of the UNHCR programme
for IDPs in Angola; a review of lessons-learned from
the implementation of Quick Impact Projects; and
evaluations of the implementation of UNHCR policy on
refugees in urban areas in Cairo and Bangkok.
8. With funding provided by the US government, EPAU,
in association with the Health and Community
Development Section, has commissioned five studies on
different aspects of refugee education. These studies
will be used as the basis for an international
workshop on 'refugee education in developing
countries: policy and practice', to be held in
Washington DC in March 2001.
9. EPAU is giving careful consideration to the
establishment of an evaluation project that would
review UNHCR's involvement in the provision of
assistance, as well as the implications of such
an involvement in terms of protection, coordination
and standards. This idea has been stimulated by the
growing number of commentators (including donor
states, NGOs and academics) who are currently arguing
that UNHCR should reduce its involvement in assistance
so as to focus on its 'core protection mandate'.
Comments on the proposal are welcome.
9. A new staff member, Elca Stigter, has joined EPAU.
Elca previously worked for UNIFEM in New Delhi and
will assume particular responsibility for
gender-related issues. She will participate in a
review of the implementation of the UNHCR guidelines
on the protection of refugee women, sponsored by the
US and Canada, and to be managed by the Women's
Commission on Refugee Women and Children. In this
contect, EPAU also hopes to undertake an
evaluation of the Kosovo Women's Initiative.
10. More than 30 working papers have now been
published in the series 'New Issues in Refugee
Research'. Another half dozen are in the pipeline.
For full details of these papers and all other EPAU
activities, please access the Evaluation and Policy
Analysis page of the UNHCR website, <www.unhcr.ch>.
11. A reminder to all researchers and practitioners
that all of UNHCR's evaluation reports since the 1970s
have been placed in the public domain, and that those
produced during the past three years are available
on-line on the evalaution and policy anlaysis page
of the UNHCR website.
EPAU
e-mail: <[log in to unmask]>
25.1.2000
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