This evaluation aims to assess UNFPA's organizational readiness and strategic positioning in the Arab States and inform the design of the next regional programme. The evaluation also aims to provide evidence on what works and what does not to accelerate progress towards the three transformative results and contribute to the next global strategic plan.

A joint initiative of the United Nations and the European Union, the Spotlight Initiative is one of the largest targeted efforts to end all forms of violence against women and girls. UNFPA Independent Evaluation Office seconded a senior evaluation specialist to the System-Wide Evaluation Office to manage the final evaluation of the Spotlight Initiative’s first phase (2017-2023). 

The evaluation assessed how the Initiative shaped and influenced programming to address violence against women and girls, the effectiveness of management and operational systems in achieving results at all levels, the quality of partnerships and decision-making processes, the Initiative’s impact on the reform process, including its role in driving transformative change.

Overall, the evaluation found proof of concept for the Spotlight Initiative model while also highlighting areas for improvement. The comprehensive design demonstrates the ability of an integrated, inter-agency approach to ending violence against women and girls, contributing to higher-order changes at regional, national and local levels. The Initiative was able to respond to contextual changes to deliver important results across pillars. The governance model brought together expanded stakeholders with an elevated role for civil society engagement. At the same time, the evaluation found that programme delivery was significantly challenged by a complicated operational model and by limitations in the compatibility of United Nations administrative and financial systems. While some elements and activities of the Initiative show signs of continuation, the sustainability of the overarching approach is still to be determined.
 

The Global SDG Synthesis Coalition is a multi-stakeholder initiative that aims to provide rigorous evidence around the five pillars of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnership. The evidence synthesis for the partnership pillar of the SDGs provides evidence to understand what works, why, and in what context to accelerate progress towards SDG 17. 

The synthesis of the partnership pillar was conducted under the guidance of the Coalition and led by a management group consisting of Canada, Ireland, Spain, OIOS, UNDP, UNFPA, WFP, UN Joint SDG Fund, UNICEF and the International Development Evaluation Association (IDEAS). The synthesis uses evidence from 183 impact evaluations and 70 performance and process evaluations to provide a comprehensive assessment of how to accelerate SDG 17 objectives. 

The synthesis captures key areas concerning SDG 17 such as horizontal cooperation, partnership models, trade opportunities, green technology, digital initiatives, inclusive development including the effective use of evaluative evidence and statistical data in Voluntary National Reviews. The synthesis also identifies evidence gaps and provides a roadmap for addressing them.

Impact evaluations evidence and gap map
Performance and process evaluations evidence gap map 
 

The Global Action Plan for healthy lives and well-being for all (GAP) initiative, launched in 2018, seeks to enhance interagency collaboration and accelerate progress towards the health-related targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. UNFPA, along with 12 other agencies— Gavi, GFF, the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, ILO, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNICEF, UNITAID, UN Women, WFP, WHO, and the World Bank—are signatories to this initiative. 

In 2024, WHO Evaluation Office led a joint evaluation of the GAP initiative. The UNFPA Independent Evaluation Office participated in the Evaluation Management Group, alongside evaluation offices from GEF, Global Fund, ILO, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNICEF, UNITAID, UN Women, WFP, and the World Bank. Covering 67 countries where the GAP approach was applied, the evaluation assesses the coherence, effectiveness, and sustainability of collaborative efforts from 2019 to 2024 at the country, regional, and global levels. The evaluation results are informing discussions among agency principals on the future of the GAP.

The evaluation concludes that, globally, the GAP aligns well with current and past international health initiatives, demonstrating continuity and opportunities to build on previous work. However, despite initial support from agency principals, achieving interagency coherence and country engagement has been challenging. While there is insufficient evidence to definitively conclude that the GAP has met, or will meet, its objectives of accelerating progress towards SDG 3 targets, it has not hindered progress. Importantly, the sustainability of the GAP and its outcomes must be considered within the broader context of global health and individual country contexts, where few are on track to achieve SDG 3 targets.

Based on the evaluation results, two potential paths forward were proposed. The first path suggests closing out the current GAP within six to twelve months, contingent upon the agencies reaching a consensus on whether closure serves their collective best interest. Alternatively, the second path recommends developing a new framework that retains select GAP elements. This evaluation equips signatory agencies with the necessary information—including evidence, benefits, trade-offs, and risks—to inform their decision-making regarding the future of the GAP. The management response accepts the first option and commits to preparing a 6-9 month sunsetting and close-out action plan with key milestones.
 

UNFPA has a bold vision: a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe, and every young person's potential is fulfilled. The UNFPA Strategic Plan 2022-2025 is a crucial stepping stone towards this vision, focusing on three transformative results: ending preventable maternal deaths, ending unmet need for family planning, and ending gender-based violence and harmful practices. This plan is the second in a series of three strategic plans until 2030, each building on the last to accelerate progress towards the three transformative results.

This independent evaluation assesses the organizational readiness and strategic positioning of UNFPA to accelerate progress towards the achievement of the three transformative results, and provides evidence and insights for the development of the next UNFPA Strategic Plan 2026-2029. In particular, the evaluation examines two key innovations: six accelerators designed to drive faster results, and twelve strategic shifts that represent UNFPA's commitment to adapt and evolve its approach, to support the implementation of the strategic plan.

The evaluation concludes that while successive strategic plans aiming for the three transformative results provide continuity and focus, they require adaptability, with acceleration remaining relevant yet potentially insufficient for countries facing setbacks. The evaluation recommends to focus the next strategic plan on further acceleration - rather than unfinished business - and ensuring that efforts to protect the ICPD agenda are fully integrated into the approach.

While the three transformative results effectively focused UNFPA resources on key priorities, they do not fully encompass all stakeholder needs or the organization’s broader contributions to the ICPD Programme of Action and the Sustainable Development Goals. The next strategic plan should clarify the UNFPA strategic positioning in population dynamics and other key areas of work (such as HIV, gender equality, youth and adolescence and ageing) and the direct contribution of these areas to the SDGs and ICPD Programme of Action.

The shifts in the Strategic Plan 2022-2025 demanded substantial organizational effort, with clearer guidance, and needed to consider internal capacity constraints, especially in smaller country offices. The evaluation recommends operationalizing acceleration by clarifying and strengthening linkages between concepts and programming approaches well in advance of the launch of the new strategic plan.

A clearer approach to acceleration in the next strategic plan, and the country programmes, is needed in order to enhance coherence across UNFPA initiatives, align modes of engagement and guide human resource priorities at the country level. The evaluation recommends strengthening capacities to undertake the critical measures that will support acceleration, especially in normative work, funding to finance, knowledge management and strategic communications.

Finally, UNFPA has improved its humanitarian response capacity but needs clearer guidance and strategic integration to coordinate and implement resilience, humanitarian, development and peace efforts within resource constraints. The evaluation recommends better integration of humanitarian, development and peace-responsive interventions while taking into account the different and changing contexts within which UNFPA works.