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

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.