By Faith Nsanshya Chilupula and Karen Cadondon
UNFPA Independent Evaluation Office
Investing in young people in evaluation is not just the right thing to do; it is a strategic investment for a sustainable and equitable future. The UNFPA Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) recognizes this and is committed to empowering young people to participate meaningfully in evaluation. This commitment aligns with the global commitment to youth engagement in decision-making, as exemplified by the recent adoption of the Pact for the Future.
The engagement of youth in evaluation builds their agency, enabling them to realize their full potential. At UNFPA, we see young people as drivers of change, and not just those that benefit from development programmes. To truly engage young people in evaluation, we need to rethink old ways of doing things and recognize the fresh perspectives and ideas that young people bring to evaluation. This means working across generations, and with a wide range of partners and sectors, so that young people can have real engagement in evaluation.
To truly engage young people in evaluation, we need to rethink old ways of doing things and recognize the fresh perspectives and ideas that young people bring to evaluation.
At IEO, we have made youth engagement a core part of how we work. This commitment is captured in the UNFPA Evaluation Policy 2024 and the UNFPA Evaluation Strategy 2022–2025, which prioritize the capacity building of youth and enhancing their meaningful participation in evaluation. To bring this vision to life, IEO is taking a three-fold approach:
Building an enabling environment for youth engagement in evaluation
Strengthening institutional capacities for organizations to meaningfully engage youth in evaluation
Strengthening individual capacities of youth for professional evaluation work.
Walking the talk by investing in an enabling environment
IEO’s approach to youth engagement in evaluation isn’t just about providing opportunities, it’s about creating an ecosystem where young people from all backgrounds can truly influence and engage in evaluation. Reflecting on the journey so far, it’s clear that youth bring a fresh lens to evaluation tasks and issues, and these perspectives are crucial in making evaluations more adaptive and relevant to the challenges of today’s world.
In recognition, IEO leadership has demonstrated a real commitment to creating spaces where youth voices are heard and valued in evaluation. As an example, in 2020, the IEO, the EvalYouth Global Network and the Global Parliamentarians Forum for Evaluation launched the Decade of Evaluation for Action (Eval4Action) campaign. This was followed by the launch of the Youth in Evaluation initiative, a flagship advocacy stream of the campaign that is co-driven by young evaluators. This launch also marked the release of the Youth in Evaluation manifesto and a follow up release of the Youth in Evaluation standards. IEO is a signatory to the Youth in Evaluation manifesto, and is upholding the Youth in Evaluation standards through various initiatives. In recognition of this effort, we are incredibly proud and honoured to be recognised as a Youth in Evaluation Super Champion in 2024!
IEO has put the manifesto and the standards in action in several ways. One of the best examples of this is the involvement of young people throughout the evaluation of UNFPA support to adolescents and youth. In this evaluation young people took on key roles —not only as contributors and key informants, but as co-decision makers, co-managers, and evaluators. This shift meant that the IEO had to share power with young voices in a formal institutional setting– a groundbreaking move toward inclusivity that recognizes the invaluable perspectives of youth in evaluation! We compiled the lessons from this innovative and inclusive engagement of young people into a publication, accompanied by a short film, which was shared with the broader evaluation community.
Read more about the lessons from the UNFPA experience on meaningfully engaging youth in evaluation
We are also at the forefront of providing youth-focused evidence to the UN system from various evidence synthesis exercises, helping advance the implementation of the UN Youth Strategy.
Investing in the capacity of institutions
Reflecting on the methodology of UNFPA evaluations, the IEO recently launched its new Evaluation Handbook 2024 which contains specific guidance on the engagement of young and emerging evaluators (YEEs) in the evaluation process. The handbook also offers guidance on how to involve youth at every stage of the evaluation process.
Complementing the handbook, this year we also released a new resource, A practical guide to meaningfully engaging youth in evaluation processes. This guide follows a key recommendation from the evaluation of UNFPA’s support to adolescents and youth. It's one of the few resources out there specifically focused on the involvement of youth in evaluation for evaluation managers, consultants and youth, making it an invaluable tool for fostering meaningful engagement.
Taking it a step further, IEO took the lead in advocating for the establishment of the first-ever United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG) intergenerational working group on young and emerging evaluators (YEEs). This innovative group recently conducted a mapping exercise on the engagement of YEEs within UNEG agencies, revealing valuable insights into the current status, composition, conditions, challenges and lessons surrounding youth engagement in evaluation.
The UNEG working group also renewed a partnership with the United Nations Volunteers programme (UNV) to launch the young evaluators UNV programme. This initiative aims to deploy young evaluators within the UN system, showcasing a progressive approach to cultivating young talent and integrating them into real-world evaluation processes.
We also supported the development of a toolkit for evaluation associations, on increasing engagement of young evaluators in their activities, governance structures, and leadership.
Investing in the capacity of young evaluators
IEO invests purposefully in raising the professional competencies of YEEs. In partnership with the Global Evaluation Initiative (GEI), the IEO has developed a comprehensive training pack on career development in monitoring and evaluation. In 2022, the IEO supported the involvement of YEEs in the Voluntary Organizations for Professional Evaluation (VOPE) governance through the VOPE Leadership Boot Camp, organized by the International Organization for Cooperation in Evaluation. This initiative was aimed at cultivating leadership and boosting evaluative skills of YEEs. The IEO also supports the EvalYouth Global Network's strategic priorities by implementing its global mentoring programme and offering funding to VOPEs and EvalYouth chapters through the provision of bursaries and scholarships for youth to attend conferences, trainings and winter schools.
Building on this momentum, the 2024 cross-regional evaluation capacity development workshop hosted by IEO welcomed five young evaluators from Kenya to collaborate with M&E staff from different countries, exchanging knowledge and fostering networking opportunities. Country offices were encouraged to consider bringing in young evaluators for their upcoming country programme evaluations.
During the UNFPA cross-regional evaluation workshop in Nairobi, Kenya, young African evaluators gained skills to manage complex evaluations.
In its own exercises, the IEO has made significant strides to ensure that YEEs and young people play vital roles throughout the evaluation process. As part of the evaluation of UNFPA support to adolescents and youth, a Youth Steering Committee, made up of six young professionals, was created to guide the evaluation alongside the IEO. Additionally, national young evaluators were recruited to work in intergenerational teams with senior evaluators to conduct the country case studies. This innovative approach integrated youth voices and perspectives throughout the evaluation, enriching and deepening the entire process.
Looking ahead, IEO is dedicated to advancing the implementation of the Pact for the Future through active youth participation in evaluation. In this journey, we call upon the evaluation community to adopt the Youth in Evaluation manifesto and the standards. Let us commit to creating inclusive spaces and structures where young people can actively engage in the evaluation process, shaping a future that reflects their voices and aspirations.
Faith Nsanshya Chilupula is an evaluation analyst at the UNFPA IEO, where she supports the implementation of centralized evaluations and the strengthening of the decentralized evaluation function at UNFPA. She also serves as a co-convener of the UNEG Working Group on Young and Emerging Evaluators. Connect with Faith on Linkedin and X.
Karen Cadondon is an evaluation specialist at the UNFPA IEO. She manages centralized evaluations and other evaluative exercises around adolescents and youth, including the Formative Evaluation of UNFPA Support to Adolescents and Youth and a series of inter-agency syntheses on the thematic priorities of the UN Youth Strategy. Connect with Karen on Linkedin.
Disclaimer: The content of the blog is the responsibility of the author(s) and does not necessarily reflect the views of Eval4Action co-leaders and partners.
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