End of Project Evaluation: IBSA Fund Project Targeting Child Marriage in Malawi and Zambia

By May 27, 2021 June 17th, 2021 IBSA Fund News and Stories

End of Project Evaluation for the IBSA Fund Project: Eliminating Child Marriages in Malawi and Zambia and Offering Scholarships to Child Marriage Survivors – Pilot Project

UN Women Malawi, Zambia, and Ethiopia offices have been implementing a one-year pilot project (24 September 2019 – 31 December 2020) on eliminating child marriages and offering scholarship to child marriage survivors. The project implemented with support from the India, Brazil and South Africa Facility for Poverty and Hunger Alleviation (IBSA Fund) and with fund management support from the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSCC)  aims to enhance South-South cooperation for the benefit of the neediest nations of the South.

The overall goal of the project was to contribute to the elimination of child marriage in Malawi and Zambia and offer scholarships to child marriage survivors. The intervention was implemented by UN Women Malawi, through local civil society organizations (Malawi Interfaith AIDS Association and Malawi Girl Guides Association) in Malawi; UN Women ESARO through the Ministry of Gender and Child Development in Zambia; and the UN Women Ethiopia Liaison to the AUC and UNECA, in Coordination with the African Union Department of Social Affairs and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). The UN Women Ethiopia Liaison component focused on the promotion of regional advocacy within the overall framework of the AU Campaign on Ending Child Marriage in Africa.

At the end of the implementation period, an end of project evaluation was commissioned. The purpose of the evaluation was to assess outcomes, results and lessons learned from the implementation of the project. The evaluation was meant to contribute to accountability, learning and decision-making.

The evaluation had the following objectives:

  1. To assess outcomes and draw lessons from the IBSA fund project in relation to the intended for outcomes of the project;
  2. To identify what lessons have been learnt, good practices and innovations that can be used to support gender equality and human rights in future projects.

Main key users of this evaluation are UN Women offices, IBSA donors, UNOSSC, UN Women implementing partners, other countries implementing projects related to second chance education for child marriage survivors. In particular, findings and lessons drawn from this evaluation are meant to be used to inform the design of the next phase of the project and share knowledge to other countries in the Global South.