By its decision 21/2 of 20 April 2007, the Governing Council (GC) of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) adopted the Medium-term Strategic and Institutional Plan (MTSIP) for 2008/2013. In the same decision the GC requested Executive Director of UN-Habitat to establish a peer-review process for the Plan. The present report is the final report on the results of the peer review. It reviews progress made in improving UN-Habitat strategies, programmes, organizational structures and procedures and gives recommendations for improving the implementation of MTSIP.

This document is the overall summary and synthesis of the first impact study of initiatives supported by UN-HABITAT’s Water and Sanitation Trust Fund (WSTF).The WSTF, which was established in 2003, aims to leverage new investment and ideas to expand the water and sanitation (WATSAN) service coverage for poor urban dwellers and help build momentum for achieving the MDGs. Its strategic plan for 2008 - 2012 envisions three key outcomes: • Increased institutional capacity in partner countries for pro-poor water and sanitation initiatives and policies with focus on gender equity, renewable energy and efficiency and environmental sustainability;• Increased flow of investment into water and sanitation sector catalysed by WSTF interventions; • Improved MDG monitoring mechanisms in place in partner countries, with improved benchmarking of water and sanitation service providers. The UN-HABITATWater, Sanitation and Infrastructure Branch (WSIB) seeks to maximise the impact of projects funded by the WSTF, and this impact study is the first of a series of impact assessments which will be undertaken over the next five years.

This impact assessment identifies how the water and sanitation initiatives implemented under the Water Sanitation and Infrastructure Branch of UN-HABITAT, have strategically mainstreamed gender aspects in its various initiatives and to identify achievements and impact, challenges, lessons learned and provide recommendations.This gender thematic study is one out three impact studies supported by the WSTF. The other two are Kenya and Nepal Country Impact Assessments. Together these three constitute the first in a series, intended to assist the WSIB in its future plans for regular assessments of its WATSAN initiatives during the coming five years. The study has looked at global, regional and country activities. The country programmes reviewed are implemented in Ethiopia, Ghana,Kenya and Nigeria in Africa; India,LaoPDR, Nepal and Vietnam in Asia and Nicaragua in the Latin America and Caribbean region

This document is an internal Kenya country impact study of initiatives supported THE UN-HABITAT Water and Sanitation Trust Fund (WSTF). The objective of the WSTF, established in 2003, was to bring in new investment and ideas, expand service coverage for poor urban dwellers and help build momentum for achieving the MDGs.The impact study reviewed the overall strategy of the WSTF, examined the Kenya country context and the UN-HABITAT country strategy, and undertook an impact study of specific projects. Information was gathered from project documents, interviews with key stakeholders including project beneficiaries, and field visits.

This document is an internal Nepal country impact study of initiatives supported by UN-HABITAT’s Water and Sanitation Trust Fund (WSTF) undertaken by a team of international consultants. The objective of the WSTF is to bring in new investment and ideas, expand service coverage for poor urban dwellers, and help build momentum for achieving the MDGs. UN-HABITAT is a newcomer to the Urban WATSAN sector in Nepal, but has managed to establish itself as a notable development partner in this field. UNHABITAT’s comparative advantage is its focus on the complex problem of the urban poor, the ability to integrate WSS approaches across the urban sector, and community involvement from the outset of the project.

The objectives of the evaluation are to assess UN-HABITAT's efforts in mainstreaming gender across its programmes and policies, and the appropriateness of its institutional arrangements and strategic partnerships for the promotion of gender equality in human settlements.

In addition to the accountability objective, the purpose of the evaluation is to generate lessons to inform decisions about how institutional arrangements for gender mainstreaming and related strategic partnerships can be improved.The following Summary sets out the findings of the Evaluation with regard to the achievements and challenges of gender mainstreaming in UN-HABITAT, before presenting a summary of recommendations and next steps.

The evaluation of the UN-Habitat Youth Programme was mandated by UN-Habitat Governing Council resolution 21/6, which, among other things, requested the Executive Director to establish the Opportunities Fund for Urban Youth-led Development, and undertake an evaluation of the operation of the special fund and to submit a report thereon to the Governing Council at its twenty-third session in April 2011.

The main objectives of the evaluation were to:

• Assess the relevance of the work carried out by UN-Habitat with urban youth
• To review the integration of youth issues in the normative and operational work of UN-Habitat
• To evaluate the operations of the Urban Youth Fund
• To review the normative and operational performance of the youth empowerment initiatives of UN-Habitat

The evaluation assessed the performance of the Slum Upgrading Facility (SUF) and its associated projects in the four pilot countries: Ghana,Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Tanzania. The evaluation was requested by the donors of the SUF Programme i.e., the Governments of Norway, Sweden/Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and the Department for International Development of theUnited Kingdom.

It also responded to UN-Habitat Governing Council Resolution 20/11 which requested for an independent evaluation of the SUF pilot phase to inform decision making on how to proceed with the project. The evaluation found that one of the main outcomes of the pilot phase was the establishment of the local finance facilities which represent an important innovation that has the potential for impacting the lives of millions of slum dwellers, not only in the four pilot countries but throughout the developing world.

A mid-term evaluation of the Global Land Tool Network (GLTN) was carried out to inform the planning and decision-making of the second phase of GLTN. The GLTN was launched in June 2006 with the goal of contributing to poverty alleviation and the Millennium Development Goals through land reform, improved land management and security of tenure.

The Network is supported by a project implemented by UN-Habitat and funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and the Government of Norway. The evaluation found that the GLTN had made impressive progress in achieving its expected outcomes, given its limited staff base and the short time in which funding has been available to implement activities. Further efforts are now required to reach national governments and those designing land projects.

Since 1991, UN-Habitat has been implementing programmes addressing women’s empowerment and gender mainstreaming in its’ overall activities. This evaluation assesses what the Women and Habitat Programme (WHP) and the Gender Unit have achieved in these areas. The Evaluation also focuses on understanding the relevance of UN-Habitat partnership with organizations dealing with women and habitat issues. Information and views were gathered from UN-Habitat staff and documents, as well as key partners. In addition, selective case studies were carried out in Tanzania and Ecuador, to assess the effectiveness of WHP’s operational programmes. The evaluation report outlines the history, lessons learned, useful indicators for gender mainstreaming; and recommendations for strengthening gender mainstreaming in UN-Habitat’s future work.