Sub-Saharan Africa

Evaluating the World Academy of Sciences’ support to sustainability science in LDCs

January 3, 2025October 3, 2024

The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), founded in 1983, is an international organization dedicated to promoting scientific capacity and excellence for sustainable development in the developing world. As a programme unit of UNESCO, TWAS supports research, provides fellowships, and encourages collaboration among scientists in the global South. With its headquarters at the International Center for …

Evaluation of the IDLO Investment Support Programme for Least Developed Countries (ISP/LDCs)

January 21, 2025September 30, 2024

Investment Support Programme for Least Developed Countries (ISP/LDC) provides technical and legal assistance, as well as complementary capacity building to LDC governments and private sector entities on investment-related matters, including negotiations and dispute settlement. Assistance under ISP/LDCs is provided at no cost to the beneficiaries, by harnessing the expertise of lawyers and experts working on …

West Africa: regional trade and integration in global value chains

January 13, 2025June 20, 2024

West Africa faces significant trade challenges, including aging infrastructure, inefficient customs processes, and high logistics costs that hinder regional and international trade. The high transport delays and costs, as well as non-tariff barriers, limit their competitiveness in global markets. Against this backdrop, UNCTAD has conducted a technical cooperation project and assigned to ECOPER its final …

UNESCO’s board discusses ECOPER’s report on Creative Cities

February 28, 2024February 10, 2024

The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) was established in 2004 to foster international cooperation and knowledge exchange among cities that use culture and creativity as a driver for sustainable urban development. Since then, the Network has progressively increased its membership and currently covers 350 cities in more than 100 countries across the five UNESCO regions. …

Defining, estimating and disseminating statistics on illicit financial flows in Africa

January 6, 2025December 18, 2023

UNCTAD published ECOPER’s evaluation report on UN Development Account project 1819Y on Defining, estimating and disseminating statistics on illicit financial flows in Africa. The project “Defining, Estimating, and Disseminating Statistics on Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) in Africa” was designed to enhance the statistical capacity of African governments to measure and report on IFFs. This initiative …

ECOPER conducts evaluation research at UNESCO in Paris

July 21, 2022March 10, 2022

The 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expression was a milestone in international cultural policy. It is a standard-setting instrument which affirms the right of states to formulate and implement policies and measures in support of cultural activities, goods and services. Within this framework, it encourages governments to …

Policies for cultural diversity

March 10, 2022March 10, 2022

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 …

Social protection to reduce child labour

March 9, 2022

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 …

Building capacity in humanitarian emergency management

December 22, 2021February 28, 2021

Humanitarian emergencies frequently require a rapid response from the organisations responsible for providing assistance. In response to this, Caritas has implemented a capacity building programme on emergency preparedness and response, Phase II (ReCIP2) in Mali, which had the aim of improving the organisations’ response to emergencies. ECOPER recently completed its external evaluation of the intervention. The evaluation aimed to both analyse the results of the programme and, where possible, propose improvements which could be adopted for future efforts. It was conducted remotely owing to the COIVD- 19 pandemic, with interviews and surveys taking place online.

Better Education for Africa’s Rise II

December 28, 2021March 31, 2020

The adequate provision of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) is considered a key element in improving the prospects of young people in the areas of decent work and entrepreneurship. ECOPER consultants have collaborated with Ockham IPS in the evaluation of the joint UNESCO-Republic of Korea project ‘Better Education for Africa’s Rise (BEAR) II’, …

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA