Humanitarian evaluations

In 2018, UNICEF and partners responded to 285 humanitarian situations in 90 countries, reaching millions of children with lifesaving, intersectoral interventions. To strengthen its humanitarian response, UNICEF relies on robust evidence of what works and what does not work in emergency contexts. 

Evaluations of humanitarian action play a vital role in generating this evidence. They help UNICEF to learn, adapt and improve its humanitarian interventions while accountability to affected populations, partners, and donors.

UNICEF’s Evaluation Office plays a central role in assessing the organization’s humanitarian action. It conducts corporate evaluations of UNICEF’s work in emergencies including Level 3 emergencies while Regional Offices evaluate Level 2 emergencies and Country Offices manage evaluations of Level 1 emergencies. The F Evaluation Office also collaborates with the Inter-agency Humanitarian Evaluation Steering Group to conduct inter-agency evaluations of large-scale emergencies.

Humanitarian action is a core part of UNICEF’s mandate Significant resources are invested to ensure that children affected by crises survive are protected from violence, develop, and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias, or favoritism.  This work is guided by the UNICEF Strategic Plan and UNICEF’s Core Commitments for Children in Humanitarian Action (CCCs) which outline UNICEF’s commitment in nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), child protection, and education – as part of any humanitarian response.

The CCCs are aligned to international standards and guided by humanitarian principles.  As a result, the Evaluation Office is responsible for evaluating humanitarian action to support learning, continuous improvement, and accountability.  Evaluations include corporate thematic evaluations; evaluation of Level 3 humanitarian response, and quality assurance decentralized evaluations.  The Evaluation Office also works closely with other humanitarian agencies to conduct Inter-Agency Humanitarian Evaluations (IAHEs) strengthening system-wide learning and accountability to affected populations, governments, donors, and the public.