Transparency and Accountability
Fundamentals for UNICEF in delivering development and humanitarian results for children
Transparency and accountability are fundamentals for UNICEF in delivering development and humanitarian results for children. UNICEF has been pursuing a series of measures to underpin the principle of transparency in the organization’s operations. It is envisaged that these efforts will not only make information about our work easier to access, understand and use, but further support ongoing endeavors to make the organization more efficient, responsive, collaborative and better able to deliver on its commitments to children, especially the most disadvantaged and marginalized.
UNICEF has an established Information Disclosure Policy that outlines explicitly its commitment to making information about programmes and operations available to the public. Reflecting the organization’s efforts to strive for transparency and accountability, UNICEF in 2012 became signatory to the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI), the global multi-stakeholder initiative, which committed the organization to publicly disclose its information on aid spending and make it easier for all stakeholders to find, use and compare the standardized data. Further to this, UNICEF prepared an ambitious IATI Implementation Schedule with the aim of implementing it fully by December 2015. UNICEF achieved its first milestone in June 2013, successfully publishing the details of financial and programme information in a standardized format on the registry. Thereafter, UNICEF’s commitment to being open and transparent has been demonstrated by continuous efforts to scale up the quality, depth and timeliness of the programme and financial data released to the public. This commitment is also acknowledged by the significantly improved score in the annual Aid Transparency Index, which in 2016 placed UNICEF in 'very good category' ranked 3 out of 46 organizations.
In order to communicate with the outside world on how and where it uses resources to achieve results for children, UNICEF in 2015 launched a transparency microsite (open.unicef.org). The site features interactive geo-data and flow visualization where information is automated from the published IATI files. With the aim to keep the public up-to-date on activities taking place in 128 UNICEF offices around the world, the portal allows users to intuitively search, filter, group, and generate information by attributes such as programme areas, funding source and geographic locations. The portal also has links to a growing number of corporate documents such as country programme documents, evaluations, audit reports, details on supply and logistics, financial rules and regulations, and annual programme results reports.
Evaluation Policy, Principles & Guidelines
Evaluation Policy of UNICEF
UNICEF evaluation policy was prepared as a response to the Executive Board decision 2006/9, in which the Board requested UNICEF to prepare a comprehensive evaluation policy for consideration by the Board. The UNICEF Evaluation Policy was approved in February 2008. The Policy was revised in 2013, and was approved at the June 2013 Executive Board Annual session. Here is the link to the Revised Policy in accordance with Executive Board decision 2012/12.
Evaluation Work Plan
Since 2014, the Executive Board requires UNICEF Country Offices to develop Costed Evaluation Plan as part of each new Country Programme. Those available in the region for the time being are:
- Cambodia
- China
- Democratic People's Republic of Korea
- Lao PDR
- Malaysia
- Mongolia
- Thailand
- Viet Nam
Recent evaluations
United Nations Evaluation Development Group for Asia and the Pacific (UNEDAP)
UNICEF EAPRO supported the establishment and currently co-chairs United Nations Evaluation Development Group for Asia and the Pacific (UNEDAP), an inter-agency network which promotes an evaluation culture and contributes to UN Coherence on evaluation. UNEDAP also aims to strengthen regional evaluation capacities among UN agencies and their partners. UNEDAP aspires to ensure that evaluation is addressed as a distinct and strategic function by UN agencies and their partners who share the same goals and vision of promoting human development. At the same time, UNEDAP intends to contribute to the professionalization of the evaluation function in the region.
UNEDAP Training on Evaluation in the UN Context, September 2017, Bangkok, Thailand
To contribute to increasing capacities of UN staff in designing and managing evaluations and enhancing the quality and effectiveness of evaluations in the UN system.
Members of UNEDAP includes the
1. UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP)
2. International Labour Organization (ILO)
3. United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNDCF)
4. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
5. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
6. United Nations Educational Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
7. United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
8. United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
9. United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS)
10. United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN WOMEN)
11. United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)
Partners
The Community of Evaluators South Asia (CoE)
EvalPartners
United Nations Evaluation Development Group for Asia and the Pacific (UNEDAP)
United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG)