For the seventh consecutive year, the UNFPA evaluation function has earned the highest rating on the United Nations gender equality accountability framework. Here is what that means and why it requires ongoing work.
Evaluations are among the main inputs into how development programmes are designed, funded and adjusted. Incorporating gender dynamics into evaluative evidence ensures a complete understanding of all stakeholders, guaranteeing that women and girls are fully visible, represented and supported in every initiative.
The UN System-Wide Action Plan on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-SWAP) tracks how effectively United Nations entities deliver gender-responsive evaluations that uncover who benefits, on what terms and who gets left behind. For evaluation commissioners, this means verifying that teams actively integrate gender equality dimensions throughout evaluation design, data collection and reporting.
The UNFPA evaluation function has exceeded UN-SWAP requirements for the seventh consecutive year, as highlighted in the 2025 Annual Report on evaluation. UNFPA evaluations consistently perform well against these metrics, anchored by the agency’s core mandate. Because gender equality is integral to sexual and reproductive health and rights, UNFPA evaluations naturally capture how effectively programmes deliver, highlighting successes, key learnings and meaningful outcomes for every population served.
What the highest rating requires
Achieving the highest UN-SWAP rating requires entities to evaluate their corporate performance on gender equality at least once every five years. UNFPA met this benchmark in 2021 by evaluating over a decade of gender mainstreaming efforts across three strategic plan cycles. These regular evaluations give entities the space to pinpoint where gender integration excels, address operational gaps, and sharpen both organizational responsiveness as well as evaluation design.
The standards behind every evaluation
The 2024 UNFPA Evaluation Policy establishes gender equality and human rights as foundational principles of the evaluation function, requiring their integration at every stage of an evaluation. The IEO's methodology follows norms and standards set by the United Nations Evaluation Group and the gender-responsive approaches described in the UN Women's Evaluation Handbook.
Every evaluation must meet three key standards: embedding gender equality into evaluation questions, using inclusive, gender-responsive data collection methods and delivering recommendations that explicitly address human rights and gender equality. Ultimately, this connected approach ensures that evidence directly informs management decisions and drives field-level action where gender gaps exist.
All completed evaluations are reviewed by independent external experts for quality, including the gender responsiveness of the evaluation process and findings, with results published in UNFPA's publicly accessible evaluation database.
Gender-responsive evaluation in practice
Independent quality assessments of UNFPA evaluations show that evaluation teams examine gender dynamics in depth, draw on perspectives from diverse stakeholder groups and issue recommendations that address gender equality directly. However, data availability remains a key challenge.
Many national monitoring systems and implementing partners track aggregate indicators rather than disaggregating by sex, age or disability. This makes it difficult for evaluations to verify if vulnerable populations - such as adolescent girls or women with disabilities - are being reached. Strengthening monitoring systems at the country level is therefore directly connected to whether evaluative evidence can fully serve its accountability mandate.
Looking ahead
The second evaluation of UNFPA's contribution to gender equality and women’s empowerment is currently underway. The evaluation assesses how UNFPA has supported gender equality and women's empowerment from 2021 to 2026, across development, humanitarian and peace settings. It asks what has worked, what has not and what should change, so that the next UNFPA gender strategy and its strategic plan are built on solid evidence.
Exceeding UN-SWAP standards for seven consecutive years demonstrates that gender equality is consistently woven into the evaluative evidence UNFPA generates across global, regional and country levels. Ultimately, meeting these high standards is most meaningful when this evidence informs decisions, programmes and policies to drive better outcomes for all women and girls.
This article was written with AI support with human authors in the lead.
