The evaluated project was an innovative intervention that touched upon a topic that had not been addressed before. It made use of a participatory method that involved intensive engagement with stakeholders at different levels and managed to produce processes and patterns that can be replicated in the future. It also managed to highlight important problems and identify their root causes, while it also allowed the exchange of experiences at regional level. The project was highly relevant to the needs of Egypt and the stakeholders and was implemented in an expeditious and efficient manner, on time and within budget. As a pilot, the present project generated valuable lessons to guide future activities dealing with legislation in Egypt and beyond.

The evaluation conducted from July through October of 2013, was managed expertly by the Evaluation Unit in close consultation with the Research and Capacity Building Branch. This evaluation took place against the background of:

(1) A decision by UN-Habitat’s Management Board to discontinue both flagship reports as currently produced and published and, instead, to prepare a single flagship report in the future, starting in 2015;

(2) Financial and human resource constraints

(3) Unclear boundaries between the two reports

(4) Repeated requests by the Government of Norway, the flagship reports’ donor, for increased accountability, effectiveness, efficiency and evidence of use by target groups

As per the terms of reference, this evaluation focuses “on the results achieved by the flagship reports in UN-Habitat’s normative work, sharing of responsibilities, appropriateness of planning and conceptualization, production, dissemination and follow-up on reports; and resource allocation for producing the reports.”

Its purpose is “to assess UN-Habitat achievements, challenges and opportunities in raising awareness on human settlements issues through the flagship reports through the provision of information on global conditions and trends and policies to Member States and the Habitat partners”

Assessing training needs and evaluating the outcomes of training are crucial, both for training providers and recipients of training, to ensure that training is effective and resources are wisely used. Despite the importance of assessment and evaluation, these steps are often the least prioritized of the training cycle as they are perceived as complicated and costly.

This manual supports training providers with practical and affordable methods and tools for training needs assessment and training outcome evaluation, ultimately aiming to increase the value of training. The methods and tools are accompanied by basic theory on assessment and evaluation as well as ideas on how and why to engage funders and other stakeholders in the process.

UN-Habitat's Medium-Term Strategic and Institutional Plan (MTSIP) 2008-2013 was adopted by resolution 21/2 of April 2007 of the Governing Council. The overarching goal of the plan is "to ensure an effective contribution to sustainable urbanization". Implementation of the MTSIP started in 2008 and comprises six focus areas, an Enhanced Normative and Operational Framework and cross-cutting issues of disaster management, gender mainstreaming and urban youth. 

The purpose of the evaluation was to provide an independent assessment of:

1) The progress on achieving MTSIP focus area results over the 2008-2011 period

2) Efficiency and effectiveness with respect to the attainment of the key MTSIP objective

The evaluation was carried out between November and June 2012 by two external evaluators. It found that the MTSIP has rationalized and further sharpened the programmatic focus of UN-Habitat, brought about better alignment of programmes, and played a catalytic role in encouraging and enabling partnerships. The evaluation also identified lessons learned and proposed recommendations for improving the performance of the MTSIP.

The evaluation of the UN-Habitat liaison offices was conducted at the request of UN-Habitat management. The purpose of the evaluation was to assess the roles, relevance, efficiency, effectiveness and implications of the new reform of UN-Habitat on the liaison offices. Specially, the evaluation focused on key functions of the liaison offices in terms of organizational and technical representation, information sharing, advocacy and outreach, building of partnerships and resource mobilization.

Key achievements of the liaison offices and their challenges were assessed and analysed together with three scenarios for maintaining status quo, concentrating on liaison functions or strengthening the liaison offices.

The evaluation report presents findings, lessons and recommendations from the evaluation of the Rafik Hariri UN-Habitat Memorial Award launched in 2009 jointly by UN-Habitat and Rafik Hariri Foundation, the sponsor of the Award. It also covers an evaluability assessment of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Foundation and UN-Habitat.

The purpose of the evaluation was to provide lessons learned from the launch phase of the Memorial Award and recommendations to both UN-Habitat and the Foundation in order to improve future planning and implementation of the Award.

This report represents the Mid-Term Evaluation of UN‑Habitat’s Cities and Climate Change Initiative. The Initiative was launched in 2008 and to date has been implemented in three phases: August 2008 to July 2010 (Phase I), August 2010 – December 2011 (Phase II), and January 2012 – December 2013 (Phase III).

Brief: EN | FR (PDF)

The purpose of the evaluation was to assess the contributions of the UN-Habitat Iraq Urban Programme, the relevance of its programmatic focus, and the appropriateness of its institutional arrangements and partnerships. The evaluation also examined the added value of UN-Habitat within the context of joint programmes and identified lessons learned.

Operating within a challenging developmental context, the evaluation found that the Iraq Programme had made a visible and well-acknowledged contribution to the country's sustainable urbanization agenda in sectors of housing and land, urban planning, water and sanitation, infrastructure and broader issues of governance and protection.

Participation of Youth representatives from developing Countries at the UN-Habitat World Urban Youth Assembly and World Urban Forum 6.

The Sustainable Neighbourhood Programme was designed as an experimental, community-driven slum resettlement project, expected to address the housing crisis in Kenya by focusing on improving the lives and livelihoods of people living in 26 slum settlements in Mavoko, Kenya.The evaluation was a response to the request by the Government of Finland for a final evaluation of the achievements, experiences, challenges, and lessons learned.

The evaluation found that the project strengthened community capacity through the sensitization, mobilization, and training of men, women, and youth living in the slum settlements who were able to better define their role in creating healthy, sustainable neighbourhoods and also implement steps to improve their own lives by working together.