A framework for evaluating the impact of the United Nations fellowship programmes

Arie Rotem,Alexandre Goubarev,Michael A Zinovieff

doi:10.1186/1478-4491-8-7

Abstract

The United Nations (UN) System's agencies have been criticized for not adequately assessing the impact of their training and fellowship programmes. Critics point out that beyond documentation of the number of fellows that underwent training, and their immediate reaction to the experience, it is necessary to ascertain that fellows are using what they have learned, and most importantly that their institution and country are benefiting from the significant investments made in the fellowship programmes.This paper presents an evaluation framework that was adopted by the 17th Meeting of the UN System Senior Fellowship Officers convened in London in 2008 in response to this challenge. It is arranged in three sections. First, the assumptions and constraints concerning impact evaluation of training are presented. Second, a framework for evaluating the impact of training in the context of UN System programmes is proposed. Third, necessary conditions and supportive measures to enable implementation of the impact evaluation framework are identified.The critical message emerging from this review is the importance of constructing a 'performance story' based on key milestones associated with the design and implementation of fellowship programmes as a way of assessing the contribution of different components of the fellowship programmes to institutional outcomes.

Highlights

The United Nations (UN) System’s agencies have been criticized for not adequately assessing the impact of their training and fellowship programmes [1]
Critics point out that beyond documentation of the number of fellows that underwent training, and their immediate reaction to the experience, it is necessary to ascertain that fellows are using what they have learned, and most importantly that their institution and country are benefiting from the significant investments made in the fellowship programmes
This paper presents an evaluation framework that was adopted by the 17th Meeting of the UN System Senior Fellowship Officers (London, November 2008)

Summary

Background

The United Nations (UN) System’s agencies have been criticized for not adequately assessing the impact of their training and fellowship programmes [1]. Critics point out that beyond documentation of the number of fellows that underwent training, and their immediate reaction to the experience, it is necessary to ascertain that fellows are using what they have learned, and most importantly that their institution and country are benefiting from the significant investments made in the fellowship programmes In response to these concerns, the 16th Meeting of the UN System Senior Fellowship Officers (Paris, November 2006) mandated the design of a generic evaluation framework that defines the scope, dimensions and core indicators for evaluating the impact of UN Fellowship programmes [2]. The critical message emerging from these assumptions and assertions is the importance of constructing a ‘performance story’ based on key milestones associated with the design and implementation of fellowship programmes, as a way of assessing the contribution of different components of the fellowship programmes to institutional outcomes [14,15].

Key indicators include:

Conclusions

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