Africa: Assessment of Unicef Finds Strategic Improvements Over Last Three Years

New York — A network of 17 donor countries that rate the effectiveness of multilateral organizations today published its most recent assessment of UNICEF, finding that UNICEF had shown it was able to strengthen its effectiveness and to coordinate efforts to address key issues.

Members of the Multilateral Organization Performance Assessment Network (MOPAN) carry out joint assessments, share information and draw on each other’s experience in monitoring and evaluation. The latest assessment of UNICEF was led by the governments of Austria and Spain.

MOPAN assessments provide an important snapshot of an organization’s management effectiveness from a strategic, operational, relationship and knowledge-based perspective. The assessment relies largely on perception-based surveys of in-country partners, peer organizations and donors. In 2012, country-level surveys were undertaken in Cambodia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Honduras, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Philippines and Zimbabwe, serving as the basis of the 2012 report.

The report, released online, indicates that UNICEF’s efforts led to a number of improvements in several key management areas since the last assessment in 2009. The report also highlights areas where processes could be strengthened for greater efficiency.

UNICEF welcomes the common MOPAN approach and the consultative process and is committed to follow up on the recommendations. The next MOPAN assessment of UNICEF is foreseen for 2015 – the target date for reaching the Millennium Development Goals.

United Nations Children’s Fund (New York)