Corporate evaluation of UN Women’s approach to innovation

Innovation, technology, and the identification of new solutions for development problems are critical in order to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. As a result, innovation is increasingly being prioritized within the work of the United Nations system and the wider international development community.

Within this context, UN Women has increased its focus on innovation in recent years, based on the recognition that innovation and technology frequently do not benefit men and women equally, but can potentially be leveraged for women’s empowerment.

The Independent Evaluation Service of the UN Women Independent Evaluation and Audit Services undertook this evaluation as part of its corporate evaluation plan with the aim of assessing and providing forward-looking recommendations on what innovation means for UN Women, the value added of UN Women’s normative and coordination work in the area of innovation for gender equality, the results of UN Women’s innovation initiatives, and the systems, processes, and culture of UN Women to support innovation. The evaluation covered the period 2017 to 2020.