Education is an essential component in implementing the sustainable development agenda. Reflecting this, UNESCO launched the project ‘Today for Tomorrow: Coordinating and Implementing the Global Action Programme (GAP) on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)’ in February 2016. ECOPER has collaborated with Ockham IPS to conduct the project’s final evaluation. The evaluation featured stakeholder interviews and an online survey, with a field mission to Cost Rica being undertaken by ECOPER.
Reinforcing democratic processes in vulnerable populations
The peace agreement between the Colombian government and the FARC in 2012 brought with it the promise of more peaceful living conditions and new opportunities to participate in democratic processes. However, such opportunities are not evenly distributed. To help address this, Caritas implemented the project ‘Reinforcement of Democratic Processes with Gender and Differential Approaches in Vulnerable Populations in Chocó, Columbia’ between October 2015 and July 2017. ECOPER has presented its final evaluation report on the project. The evaluation methodology was constructed around a participatory approach, which involved the conducting of focus groups and semi-structured interviews with project beneficiaries and other stakeholders.
Increasing teacher participation in education reform
Recent research by international organisations has found that teachers do not sufficiently participate in key discussions on educational reform in developing countries, therefore depriving the process of teachers’ input and undermining teachers’ sense of ownership and commitment. The UNESCO project ‘Improving Teacher Support and Participation in Local Education Groups (LEGs)’ sought to address this deficit. Having run since 2015, ECOPER and Ockham IPS evaluators have recently completed an evaluation of the intervention. A mixed method approach was used for the evaluation, involving interviews with stakeholders at international and national levels, an online survey and field missions to Ivory Coast, Nepal, and Uganda, which provided a deeper understanding of how the project had operated at a country level.