Evaluation of the UNRWA medium term strategy 2016-2022

UNRWA is facing a range of significant challenges. These include a chronic funding crisis, the unique political context in which the Agency operates, very different and volatile operating environments – Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the West Bank - and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This independent evaluation of the UNRWA Medium Term Strategy (MTS) 2016–2022 - the document that outlines the Agency’s strategic vision for its programmes and operations and lays out a set of Strategic Outcomes designed to meet the needs of Palestine refugees – has come at a crucial time. The Agency is in the process of developing its next strategy and also preparing for an international conference, co-chaired by the governments of Sweden and Jordan.

The evaluation has a threefold purpose: to provide accountability to the Agency’s internal and external stakeholders, to generate evidence-based insights and learning, and to inform the development of a successor strategy to the current MTS.

The evaluation focuses on the Agency’s implementation of the MTS between 2016 and 2020, covering all five fields of operation and all of its programme areas as well as the organizational structures, systems and processes that support the achievement of the MTS’s Strategic Outcomes.