After almost half a year of intense work with the evaluation and NGO desks of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (MFEA), and the consulting firm Baastel, we recently concluded a very enriching and fruitful evaluation of our framework agreement. The MAEE, in the context of the multi-year programme of its Evaluation Department and under the general conditions governing contractual relations between the Ministry and NGOs, periodically undertakes external evaluations of the different co-financed NGOs in Luxembourg.

Final meeting for the presentation and analysis of the report, April 2023. From top-left to bottom-right: Angela Roldán (UF), Jade Pichard (Baastel), Sylvie dos Santos (MFEA), Marie-Claude Rioux (Baastel), Fernand Schaber (UF), Luna Congo (UF), Thierry Lippert (MAEE), Steve Engel (MAEE).

From the beginning of this process which started in November of last year and concluded in April, the MFEA framed this evaluation as “an accompaniment of Unity Foundation”. The spirit in which it was conducted was always one of learning and of “continuous and mutual capacity building”, both for our local partners and ourselves. Although it was a very intense exercise, their approach wholly aligned with our principles and our mode of functioning, and this set for a very positive atmosphere throughout our collaboration with the MFEA and Baastel teams.

Under the leadership of Baastel, our partners and ourselves were able to reflect deeply on different subjects such as our organisations’ performance, the effectiveness of the different interventions and their results, the impact these are having on the beneficiaries, and the integration of Luxembourg’s transversal cooperation themes, to name a few.

Sample images from our community schools’ line of action. 

The evaluation was done through an extensive documentation review, a series of virtual meetings and interviews, and field visits. All our partners except Kimanya (due to budgetary constraints) benefited from the visit of local expert evaluators, with the principal evaluator from Baastel, Ms. Marie-Claude Rioux, travelling to Zambia. With about 400 interviews and meetings with the UF team in Luxembourg, our six local partners, national, regional and local coordinators, teachers, community school committees, parents, PSA students, tutors, and local leaders, Baastel was able to produce a clear and well-structured report.

On the one hand, it has been instrumental and enriching to see how some of the findings align with and confirm our own learning questions. On the other hand, the exercise has enabled us to identify new areas for improvement. For instance, one truly enlightening point was how the evaluation objectively demonstrated the positive impact in the communities and from the beneficiaries’ voice of the moral component embedded in the different programs, bringing cohesion to the material and moral aspects of development. At the same time, the evaluation made us aware of the need to improve our communication and further clarify our messages.

Sample images from the Preparation for Social Action (PSA) program. 

We would like to express our deepest gratitude to the Baastel team for their efforts in completing the evaluation, support, and friendly collaboration, always characterised by mutual respect and openness. Likewise, we want to thank the Ministry representatives for their close and thoughtful accompaniment in this process, which provided us and our partners with many avenues for reflection and action to increase the effectiveness and impact of our efforts. We look forward to using the report as a tool to guide and advance our thinking and implement what we feel are the most important recommendations.