Sub-Saharan Africa

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. …

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’, …

Improving capacity of teacher training institutes

December 28, 2021September 30, 2019

ECOPER has collaborated with Ockham IPS to evaluate Phase II of the UNESCO– CFIT project ‘Improving Quality Teacher Education in a selected number of countries in Sub-Saharan Africa’. The evaluation involved an online survey and a large number of interviews conducted with stakeholders. ECOPER conducted field missions to two project countries, Congo and Togo, in order to collect a data and gain a better understanding of the intervention and its results.

Centres of African Excellence

December 28, 2021September 30, 2019

ECOPER and OCKHAM IPS have collaborated on an evaluation and tracer study for the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) ‘Centres of African Excellence’ (CoAE) programme. The evaluation was undertaken with the aim of assessing the performance of the overall programme to date and allowing lessons to be drawn to inform future improvements to the programme. ECOPER conducted field missions to centres in two of the programme countries: Ghana and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The accompanying tracer study sought information on the current occupations of alumni through an online survey and a series of individual and group interviews in order to draw conclusions on the programme’s impact.

ECOPER entrepreneurship project report published

December 21, 2021August 31, 2018

Better entrepreneurship policies can increase the number of businesses created and enlarged, and therefore contribute to the economic goals inserted into global development agendas and national strategies. Reflecting this, UNCTAD implemented the project ‘Support Developing Country Policy Makers in the Formulation of National Entrepreneurship Policies through the Implementation of Entrepreneurship Policy Frameworks’ between 2015 and …

Entrepreneurship policymaking

December 23, 2021April 30, 2018

Better designed and implemented entrepreneurship policies should result in more new businesses created, with potential long-term benefits for economic growth, employment and economic integration. Following this logic, UNCTAD has implemented the project ‘Support Developing Country Policy Makers in the Formulation of National Entrepreneurship Policies through the Implementation of Entrepreneurship Policy Frameworks’. The intervention has been with an evaluation conducted by ECOPER, which featured an extensive document review, along with interviews and an online survey. ECOPER also attended an Africa Entrepreneurship Forum in Kigali, Rwanda in order to directly observe project activity.

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA