Our evaluation spans UNHCR’s engagement from 2019 to 2023 through the lens of five overarching evaluation questions:
- Relevance: what lessons are there for how UNHCR ensures relevance of its approaches in situations of internal displacement?
- Effectiveness: what lessons are there for how UNHCR articulates and achieves its intended results in situations of internal displacement?
- Connectedness: what lessons are there for UNHCR on how to work in multi-agency situations of internal displacement?
- Coherence: to what extent is UNHCR working in line with the 2019 UNHCR policy on engagement in situations of internal displacement?
- Strategic positioning: what are the implications for UNHCR’s strategic positioning on internally displaced persons (IDPs) at country, regional and global levels?
Our role
We conducted this global thematic evaluation on behalf of UNHCR’s Evaluation office, with an aim to inform UNHCR’s future plans and strategies in internal displacement situations by identifying key lessons from their experience.
We undertook nine country case studies for the evaluation and to represent a range of contexts, taking into account strategic, operational, evaluability and contextual criteria. Detailed context analysis was also conducted for the case study countries.
Methods & approaches
Our evaluation was learning and user-focused. In addition to its formative aim to inform UNHCR’s future plans, it also encompassed elements of a summative evaluation and normative inquiry. As such, it assessed UNHCR’s progress regarding policy commitments, mapping approaches and their outcomes while investigating enabling factors and constraints.
The evaluation also integrates a learning focus by framing overarching questions around lessons learned and using a participatory approach in Country Office workshops.
Outcomes & impact
We were able to give recommendations that respond to the evaluation’s findings and their implications for UNHCR’s future strategy and programme implementation in situations of internal displacement, including its forthcoming Focus Area Strategic Plan. The evaluation team also shared emerging findings to support the UNHCR’s planning team’s development of a theory of change.
