Evaluating UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) with big data techniques

UNESCO has commissioned the evaluation of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) to ECOPER. UCCN is a city network established by UNESCO with the purpose of promoting the use of culture and creativity in member cities as a driver for sustainable urban development. In many areas of international cooperation, networks are considered a powerful engine …

Read more

Eradicating child Labour in South Asia

Over sixteen million children between ages 5 and 17 are engaged in labour in South Asia, according to estimates from recent years, with the highest levels in absolute terms found in India, followed by Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal. The ILO’s Asia Regional Child Labour Project (ARC) was implemented in 2019 with the aim of reducing …

Read more

Private sector partnerships to address water scarcity

The MENA region is the area of the world most acutely affected by water scarcity. UNICEF views partnerships and engagements with the business sector as being a crucial component in the response to the crisis and has commissioned ECOPER to conduct a ‘Study on private sector engagements and partnerships to support response to the climate …

Read more

Policies for cultural diversity

The cultural and creative industries are some of the fastest growing sectors in the world and are essential for inclusive economic growth, the reduction of inequalities and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. The 2005 Convention for the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions was a cultural policy milestone and reflected the …

Read more

Social protection to reduce child labour

In the mica regions of Madagascar, an estimated 10,800 children as young as five years old work alongside their families to sort and extract mica, which results in poor education and health for children in these regions and perpetuates poverty across generations. ECOPER has been commissioned by UNICEF to elaborate an advocacy paper on ‘Investing …

Read more

A new financial architecture for development

Under the Team Europe framework, the European Architecture for Development (EFAD) has undergone changes aimed at improving capacity through enhanced synergies and political steering. Although the Team Europe approach emerged as a response to the COVID-19 crisis, it has overlapped with an intense debate on the fragmentation of the EFAD; the entry into force of …

Read more

Bilbao’s IV Master Plan for International Cooperation

ECOPER has been commissioned to lead the design of the Bilbao Municipal Government’s 4th Master Plan for International Development Cooperation. The design process will be participative and the new plan will reflect the lessons learned during the evaluation of the 3rd Master Plan, which was carried out by ECOPER this year. Workshops will be held …

Read more

Good practices in government-development NGO practices

ECOPER has begun a study to identify good practices in relations between governments and development NGOs. Commissioned by the Spanish network of NGOs, the Coordinadora, the research is being conducted at a time when the new ‘Framework for relations between NGOs and the Government of Spain’ is being adopted. It aims to analyse political, legal …

Read more

Trade and gender capacity building

ECOPER has presented its final report on a cluster evaluation of UNCTAD support to ‘Capacity building on Trade and Gender Online Training’. The evaluation, which was conducted in collaboration with an expert on gender and human rights, assessed a series of interventions carried out between 2015 and 2020 which focused on the development and delivery …

Read more

Bilbao’s 3rd International Cooperation Master Plan

ECOPER has evaluated Bilbao municipal government’s 3rd International Cooperation for Development Plan covering the years 2016 to 2020. In addition to assessing the extent to which the plan had achieved its aims, the evaluation considered other factors including how well the plan was adapted to the policies, resources and capacities of the municipality; the instruments and processes applied in pursuing its goals; and the impact on and involvement of the city Bilbao and its stakeholders. A key aim was to inform the elaboration of the fourth master plan. Along with the analysis of data and documents, the evaluation included an online survey and focus groups involving cooperation partners; an online survey of citizens of Bilbao; and interviews with Bilbao’s international cooperation team and other actors with knowledge of the plan’s design and execution.