Corporate evaluation on UN Women’s policy advocacy work

UN Women’s policy advocacy work is rooted in the entity’s founding resolution and key normative frameworks, particularly the Beijing Platform for Action, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, and the Sustainable Development Goals. Achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women is deeply tied to policy and requires a transformation of unequal gender relations. This involves change within the structures that underpin gender inequality and discrimination, including changes to discriminatory social and legal norms.

In 2021, the Independent Evaluation Service conducted the corporate evaluation on UN Women's policy advocacy work as part of its implementation of the UN Women Corporate Evaluation Plan. The evaluation focused on UN Women’s policy advocacy roles, initiatives and interventions, and organizational, operational, and strategic structures and approaches in place to support policy advocacy. The linkages between policy advocacy work at global, regional, and country levels were also examined to understand how policy successes translate into local-level action.

The evaluation team assessed the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, and coherence of UN Women’s policy advocacy work to deliver high-impact and transformative results in line with the UN Women Strategic Plan 2018–2021. Findings from this evaluation are expected to contribute to strategic decision-making, organizational learning and accountability, and implementation of the UN Women Strategic Plan 2022–2025.