As the COVID-19 pandemic gripped the world, UNFPA Evaluation Office was amongst the first to develop guidance on how to adapt evaluations to the COVID-19 pandemic. The guidance provides alternative approaches, methods and considerations to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on managing evaluations. Following the guidance and based on the unique local contexts, UNFPA evaluations were adapted real-time in 2020 reflecting adjusted contextual analysis, methods, and data collection schemes in line with the changing realities.

Given the protracted COVID-19 crisis, UNFPA programmes have been considerably adjusted to respond to the complex and dynamic external environment. In order for evaluation to be better aligned to the changing programmatic focus, evaluators must adjust and fine tune evaluation questions to ensure continued relevance, rigour and quality. To this end, the Evaluation Office’s latest resource on adapting evaluation questions to the COVID-19 pandemic, provides guidance on how to adapt areas of inquiry for assessing the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, coherence and coordination, and sustainability of country programmes and other interventions.

These adjusted evaluation questions will help to assess the extent to which UNFPA has adapted its interventions to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and ensure an equitable and sustainable recovery.