Over the past two years, UNICEF has intensified its initiatives to enhance national evaluation capacities among government officials and thought leaders, aiming to bolster evidence-based policymaking for children. Guided by the updated UNICEF Evaluation Policy31 and aligned with the principle of "Leaving no one behind," UNICEF views building national evaluation capacity as vital to advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly in relation to child rights and equitable progress.
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In April 2023, the UN General Assembly underscored this need by passing a resolution to strengthen the Voluntary National Reviews through country-led evaluations, affirming the importance of credible, locally sourced evidence for advancing the SDGs. Through its National Evaluation Capacity Development (NECD) approach, UNICEF equips governments with critical skills and practical tools to gather high-quality, disaggregated data for monitoring child-related SDG progress. Identifying the most effective strategies to accelerate this progress remains a challenge in the years ahead.32
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One UNICEF’s flagship initiative supporting NECD is the Executive Course for Evaluation Leaders (ExCEL), launched in 2022 in partnership with the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore. ExCEL targets senior government officials aiming to foster a culture of evaluation and evidence-based decision-making within national systems. During 2022-2023 UNICEF’s Europe and Central Asia Regional Office (ECARO) facilitated the participation of 15 countries from the Europe and Central Asia region in ExCel, involving representatives from various government levels, ministries and academic institutions. The course equips participants with skills and expertise to lead and manage robust evaluations while promoting an evidence-driven organizational culture.
In addition to ExCEL, the Intermediate Moderated Programme for Evaluation Systems’ Strengthening (IMPrESS), a six-week online training, focuses on building capacity among those responsible for commissioning, conducting and utilizing evaluation results for development. This training is currently being implemented across the region.
ECARO conducted a study to document existing evaluation practices of countries in Central Asia, which is used as a baseline to build national evaluation capacity development efforts in the region.
Despite the enthusiasm generated by ExCEL and IMPrESS, scaling up these efforts faces challenges, particularly in securing sustainable funding. While political commitment is strong, there is a lack of an established legal framework and a deeply ingrained culture of evaluation in the region. As a result, many government participants struggle to mobilize the resources needed to operationalize evaluations and leverage findings for policy decisions. To address these challenges, UNICEF and its partners are advocating for seed funding to establish proof-of-concept initiatives that showcase the social benefits and return on investment from creating dedicated evaluation units within government structures.
Turkmenistan is a country rich in hydrocarbon resources, which it leverages to support national socio-economic development, including advancing the rights of children, who constitute a third of the country’s population.33 Following the recommendations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child,34 Turkmenistan adopted its first National Action Plan on children’s rights covering the period from 2018 to 2022.
33 UNICEF Country Programme Document for Turkmenistan 2021-2025
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At ExCEL training, Turkmenistan was represented by the Strategic Planning Department of the Ministry of Finance and Economy (a focal point for SDG monitoring) and the Institute of State, Law and Democracy (secretariat of the Inter-ministerial Commission on Monitoring of Human Rights). Although Turkmenistan lacks a formal definition of evaluation and related regulations, the ExCEL training proved highly valuable.
The second National Action Plan on realization of children’s rights 2023-2028 was developed based on the evaluation of the first Plan.35 This process, which was country-led and youth-facilitated, was commissioned with UNICEF support. The findings underscored the plan’s contribution to advancing SDGs and served as a critical input for the development of the second Voluntary Review Report.36
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As a result, evaluation capacity building was incorporated into the second National Action Plan on children’s rights (2023–2028) as one of its primary activities. In this context, the SDG monitoring focal point played a pivotal role by integrating the development of a regulatory framework for strategic planning and evaluations into the Joint UN-Government Action Plan on SDG financing.
At the institutional level, the focus is on:
Formulating and implementing national evaluation policies and strategies to embed sustainable evaluation capacities within government systems.
Providing training and capacity-building programs for government officials, evaluators and relevant stakeholders, fostering a culture of evaluation.
Facilitating South-South cooperation and knowledge exchange to enable countries share best practices and strengthen cross-border collaboration.
At the technical level, the priorities for the early stages of national evaluation capacity development include:
Providing tools and methodologies that prioritize children's needs, especially those from marginalized or hard-to-reach communities, ensuring these are central to national policy decision-making.
Supporting the creation and strengthening of legislation and regulations related to strategic planning and evaluation processes.
Conducting joint evaluations of policies by leveraging existing government data systems to enhance evidence-based decision-making.
As this is an enormous task, UNICEF seeks support from partners to invest in human capital, particularly in health, education, early childhood development, social protection and social policy systems for children.
Partnerships are pivotal to the success of evaluations conducted by ECARO, offering diverse benefits that promote evaluation to advance children's well-being. Here is how these partnerships contribute.
Capacity-Building: By partnering with local institutions and organizations, UNICEF promotes rigorous evaluation methodologies and strengthens local capacities. This ensures that evaluation findings are relevant and effectively inform policies and practices that benefit children across the region37.
37 Evaluation in UNICEF ECARO | UNICEF Europe and Central Asia
Knowledge Exchange: Partnerships facilitate sharing best practices and lessons learned across diverse contexts. This exchange is vital for adapting evaluation strategies to address local needs and challenges.
Strategic Alignment: Partnerships help align UNICEF’s evaluation efforts with broader global and regional development goals, such as the SDGs.38
38 UNICEF Europe and Central Asia Regional Office Annual Report 2023 | UNICEF
Enhanced Impact: Working with various stakeholders—including governments, NGOs and academic institutions—enables UNICEF to leverage additional resources, expertise and networks. This collective approach enhances the scope, depth and actionability of evaluations.39
39 RAM3 End-Year Summary Extended Narrative
Policy Influence: Evaluations supported by strong partnerships can drive more effective advocacy for children’s rights and needs. By presenting credible, evidence-based findings, UNICEF can influence policy decisions at both national and regional levels.
In summary, partnerships are integral to UNICEF ECARO’s evaluation strategy, amplifying its ability to generate meaningful insights and drive positive change for children across the region.
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