Countries: Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda.

The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) is mandated to promote the economic and social development of its member states, foster intra-regional integration, and advance international cooperation for Africa’s development. The Sub-Regional Office for Eastern Africa (SRO-EA), based in Kigali, Rwanda, is responsible for a diverse portfolio of 13 countries and provides critical support to key regional bodies including the East African Community (EAC) and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD). Its work is central to driving ECA’s objectives in the region, focusing on critical areas such as trade and regional integration (including AfCFTA implementation), the blue economy, tourism, and food security.

While project-level evaluations are routine, there had been no comprehensive, strategic evaluation of the entire SRO-EA subprogramme since its inception. To fill this gap, ECA commissioned a formative, independent evaluation to assess the performance, strategic relevance, and impact of SRO-EA’s work over a full programming cycle (2020-2024). The evaluation aimed to provide evidence-based insights to inform future strategic direction, enhance organizational learning, and improve the Office’s effectiveness in supporting member states to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the African Union’s Agenda 2063.

The Role of Fokabs:

Fokabs’ role encompassed full technical and managerial leadership of the evaluation process, ensuring it adhered to the highest international standards (UNEG and OECD DAC). Fokabs specific responsibilities included:

• Technical & Methodological Leadership:Designing and implementing a robust, mixed-methods evaluation methodology based on Contribution Analysis. This involved developing a detailed evaluation matrix, sophisticated data collection instruments, and strategies for ensuring gender and human rights mainstreaming throughout the process.
• Stakeholder Engagement & Data Collection:Leading comprehensive consultations with a wide range of stakeholders, including ECA headquarters staff, SRO-EA management and team, member state government officials, regional economic communities (EAC, IGAD), and development partners. This involved conducting in-depth interviews, facilitating focus groups, and performing extensive desk reviews of programme documents, reports, and outcomes.
• Analysis & Reporting:Leading the analysis of findings against the OECD DAC criteria (Relevance, Coherence, Effectiveness, Efficiency, Impact, and Sustainability). We synthesized complex qualitative and quantitative data to draft a comprehensive evaluation report, identifying key achievements, challenges, lessons learned, and actionable, time-bound recommendations for enhancing SRO-EA’s future performance and strategic impact.
• Validation & Dissemination:Presenting preliminary and draft findings to ECA management and stakeholders for validation in a debriefing workshop. We subsequently finalized the report, incorporating feedback, and prepared a concise executive summary for wide dissemination to member states and partners.

Duration: 01/2025 – 06/2025

Client: UNECA