Evaluation of the DFID-UNICEF Programme of Cooperation to Strengthen UNICEF Programming as it applies to Humanitarian Response, 2000-2005

DFID provided approximately US$39 million from 2000 to 2005 for capacity building in UNICEF. This evaluation came at the end of Phase II of that effort, which ran from May 2002 to December 2005 and addressed work in a number of areas, including humanitarian preparedness and response, operations, human resources, learning strategy, and children affected by armed conflict. Evaluation objectives were to provide an overall assessment of the programme, track the changes and current status of UNICEF preparedness and response, provide recommendations on priorities and strategies for future response capacity and capacity building efforts, and draw lessons for partnership in organisational capacity building and on policy and programming for children affected by armed conflict. The evaluation concluded that UNICEF had made important advances in building capacity supported by the DFID funding, but that it remains some distance from achieving the goal of reliably delivering humanitarian response as the rights-based approach and the UNICEF Core Commitments to Children require.