Evaluation of innovation in UNICEF work

The objective was to assess UNICEF’s ‘fitness for purpose’ to employ innovation as a key strategy to achieve the outcomes and goals defined in the strategic plan periods 2014-2017 and 2018-2021. It also sought to provide insights on how innovation contributes to UNICEF’s goals as well as how it might contribute to increasingly effective organisational responses in the coming years.

We conducted the evaluation through separate yet interrelated projects:

• 13 innovation case studies (including 9 field visits) to provide evidence of specific innovations having progressed from ideation to scale;
• an organisational assessment to provide evidence of UNICEF’s ‘fitness for purpose’ to innovate as a key strategy to achieve its larger outcomes and goals; and
• a synthesis to integrate learning and generate conclusions and recommendations.

The intended primary users of the evaluation are UNICEF decision makers across levels. Our ambition is to also reach out to a range of internal and external stakeholders including governments, other United Nations agencies and initiatives, development partners and implementers. Our intent is to inform decisions in an impartial manner, backed by credible evidence, and to maximise UNICEF resources for innovation.