Iterative Evaluation of PROSPECTS
UNICEF initiated in 2024 the ongoing Iterative Evaluation of PROSPECTS, to provide continued learning opportunities and practical suggestions for adaptive management and course-correction to improve programme performance.
PROSPECTS is a complex, ambitious and innovative programme that combines several elements:
- It brings together United Nations and Multilateral financial organizations to work together supporting governments planning, piloting and scaling sustainable measures leading to policy changes that improve the resilience, inclusion and self-reliance of vulnerable communities
- It bridges the gap between emergency response and long-term development, ensuring that solutions are sustainable and inclusive (humanitarian, development, peacebuilding nexus)
- It adopts a holistic approach that requires breaking silos and leveraging the strengths of each PROSPECTS partner to address access to education, employment, protection, and access to quality infrastructures in an integrated way.
- It tests and scales new approaches: from digital learning-to-earning pathways for youth, to flexible education models and cash transfer programmes, PROSPECTS supports innovation and adapts successful models for broader impact.
In 2024, the UNICEF Evaluation Office initiated an iterative evaluation of the PROSPECTS programme, commissioned by the Migration and Displacement Hub. This is an adaptive, real-time approach that complements traditional evaluation methods. The iterative evaluation is designed to capture lessons over time and use cumulative learning to support and inform ongoing development and decision-making. To achieve this, the evaluation follows a triangulated learning framework, which examines the interactions between values/beliefs, existing knowledge, and actions taken within the programme, focusing on UNICEF while covering the partnership programme. This framework includes a set of assumptions to test, enabling an understanding of why (or why not) knowledge leads to action.
Evaluation that evolves: Meeting complexity with agility
Integrated Frameworks of PROSPECTS countries
The Integrated Framework (IF) is a practical framework to interconnect each country’s theory of change, indicators framework, policy milestones, to help putting the focus on achieving high-level outcomes. The IF is a conceptual tool to interrogate and refine the design of PROSPECTS, facilitate coordination and communication.
Please find here the May–August 2025 IF drafts. Validated versions are expected to be available by year-end.
Learning Working Note for PROSPECTS
This note explores how UNICEF PROSPECTS and partners can learn from each other. By engaging the entire programme in reflecting on the role, channels and quality of learning, this note aimed to inspire continuous improvement in this critical area.
