Corporate formative evaluation of UN Women’s support for capacity development of partners to respond to the needs of women and girls at national level

Capacity development has been a long-term intervention strategy within the UN system. It is also a key intervention strategy in UN Women, providing support to duty bearers and rights holders in both technical and functional capacities. It cuts across UN Women’s triple mandate of normative, UN system coordination, and operation activities. Its centrality within UN Women’s work has been evidenced in the Entity’s previous and current strategic plan and remains a core area to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women.

In 2022, UN Women’s Independent Evaluation Service conducted an evaluation of “UN Women’s support for capacity development to partners at national level” between 2018 and 2022. The evaluation looked at effectiveness and efficiency of UN Women in developing and strengthening partners’ capacities, so they are better equipped to respond to the needs of women and girls. The evaluation, which is formative in nature, explored the methodologies and types of capacity building used, identified main results, and shared the good practices, as well as the lessons learned from different country case studies. Through the provision of recommendations, the evaluation supported decision-making and organizational learning.