United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS

Evaluation Function

The UNAIDS Unified Budget, Results and Accountability Framework (UBRAF) is the Joint Programme's instrument that aims to maximize the coherence, coordination and impact of the UN's response to AIDS by combining the effort of 11 UN Cosponsors and a Secretariat. The UBRAF is guided by UNAIDS 2011-2015 Strategy, adopted by the Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) in December 2010. The UBRAF has three components including a Performance Monitoring and Evaluation Framework which is designed to support results-based management, to promote transparency, strengthen accountability, improve reporting, and reflect synergistic links between collective and individual levels of effort. It serves as a framework for assessing outcomes of UNAIDS effort, promoting cohesiveness in tracking and reporting, and facilitating access to information on progress across UNAIDS. It is a mechanism for generating information for evidence-based decision-making across the cosponsored Programme and for improving organizational learning. The Performance M&E Framework has two broad components: a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation framework and Joint accountability for results.

The three streams of evaluation work in UNAIDS are independent external evaluations mandated by the PCB; evaluation of the UBRAF; support to evaluations at global level and country led evaluations through a global monitoring and evaluation reference group and UNAIDS country presence. The latter lies with the UNAIDS Evaluation Team located in the Economics and Evaluation division.

In 2014, the Evaluation Team has two staff members. There were also 56 Monitoring and Evaluation Advisors conducting decentralized evaluations in country offices and reporting to the Evaluation Unit.

Promoting a culture of evaluation in-house

The Monitoring and Evaluation Reference Group, a high level body, with membership from donor agencies, civil society, government, cosponsors, and academics, advises UNAIDS on promotion of evaluation and strategies for internalization and incorporation of evaluation into programme development and strategic planning. This input facilitates corrective action where resources are underutilized, and maximizes impact of programmes.

By creating standardized user-based evaluation tools and guidelines and performance measures, such as the Monitoring and Evaluation Guidelines and Tools, the Evaluation Team promotes a culture of evaluation, and strengthens the evaluation function. Forming links with the Evaluation units of partner agencies and Research institutes demonstrates credibility and improves the utility of evaluation in-house.

Snapshot

Evaluation Policy

• UNAIDS UBRAF Performance Monitoring and Evaluation Framework, 2011

Priorities

• To realize the potential of the newly formed Monitoring and Evaluation Reference Group (MERG), a global agenda setting body.

• To implement evaluations in  high priority countries.

Human Resources

• Unit Head: M

• Evaluators : Total 2 : M=1

• Support staff : 1 (F)

• Decentralized evaluation staff : Total 56: F=20 M=46

Evaluation expenditure in 2013

• USD 160,000

Evaluations produced in 2011 by central and decentralized units

• Five centrally supported evaluations carried out at country levels.

Key resource:

• UNAIDS Website (www.unaids.org)

• 2012-2015 Unified Budget, Results and Accountability Framework (UBRAF)

Independence

The Evaluation Team reports to the Director of strategic information and evaluation. The Chief of the Evaluation Unit does not have the authority to sign off on or distribute evaluation reports to the governing body or the Executive Director without prior clearance from other parties within or outside the Organisation but does have control over evaluation expenditure. 

Agenda Setting & Evaluation Planning

The Evaluation Team prepares a biennial work programme which addresses timing of evaluation with a view to inform decision-making, specification of necessary resources for evaluations and priority areas most in need of evaluation. The work programme is submitted for review and cleared within the programme branch.

Stakeholder involvement and promoting national evaluation capacity development

Stakeholders are systematically consulted throughout the evaluation process. Peer reviews or reference groups composed of external experts are sometimes involved in the evaluation process. Evaluation teams include professionals from the countries or regions concerned and are gender balanced when possible.

Quality Assurance

The quality of evaluation reports is systematically reviewed by a set of quality rules, which cover evidence-based evaluation reports, findings and actionable recommendations, methodology and limitations, research design, sample selection method, data analysis, local participation / ownership of evaluation findings, and data use strategy.

Use of Evaluation

The UNAIDS Executive Director issues an explicit response to external independent evaluations in the form of a Management Response Matrix. This is subsequently reported to oversight bodies and the PCB.

Evaluation results are disseminated widely within and outside the Organisation. Lessons are systematically extracted and communicated through information briefs, abstracts, press releases, workshops, meetings with senior management, meetings with operations management and annual evaluation reports.

Evaluation reports, including the Second Independent Evaluation of UNAIDS, are available online.

Joint Evaluation

Since 2006, the UN Joint Programme has allocated substantially greater effort to programme evaluations of the overall response to AIDS in selected areas of work. The purpose of the joint evaluations are to yield evidence-based recommendations to help UNAIDS Cosponsors and the Secretariat refine targets, adjust working methods and alter strategies to better support countries. The joint evaluations complement the evaluations conducted individually by UNAIDS Cosponsors and the Secretariat. They address specific global, regional, and selected country UNAIDS initiatives implemented in the framework of the UBRAF.