A process evaluation of the UNHCR Innovation Fund

A process evaluation of the UNHCR Innovation Fund

A project with UNHCR Innovation Service

The problem

The UNHCR Innovation Fund was launched in December 2018 to provide funding and mentorship to novel early stage projects that fall outside the scope of normal UNHCR operations. This evaluation was commissioned after the Fund’s second round of funding, to explore how effectively the Innovation Fund was meeting its objectives, how it compares to other innovation initiatives, how the Fund was learning from its own and other’s experiences, and how well it aligned with the broader strategic goals of UNHCR.

What we did

The evaluation followed a mixed-methods approach that focussed on exploring the Innovation Fund’s approach, processes and achievements. It leaned heavily on qualitative data collection. Because of Covid-19 restrictions, we conducted a 2-day remote workshop with the UNHCR Innovation Service and then did a detailed desk review of internal documents related to the Fund. This was followed by a total of 58 key informant interviews with senior staff from across UNHCR, Innovation Service staff, grantees, and with individuals from other innovation initiatives. We also developed three case studies and conducted an analysis of relevant quantitative data. We engaged a diverse group of UNHCR staff and external stakeholders in a steering group that met periodically throughout the evaluation to provide direction and feedback to the data collection, analysis, and report writing processes.

Making it accessible

The Innovation Service was keen to ensure the outputs from the evaluation could be disseminated as widely as possible and we were happy to oblige. Following discussions with Innovation Service staff around various potential outputs, we developed an infographic and 2-page summary of the final report for current and previous grantees, provided a summary of the key findings and recommendations to the Innovation Service staff, developed an Executive Summary for senior management and donors, and drafted a blog for the UNHCR Innovation Service Medium blog page.