Unicef Child Friendly Schools Programming: Global Evaluation Final Report - Executive Summary

UNICEF contracted with the American Institutes for Research (AIR) in January 2008 to conduct a global evaluation of the CFS initiative, which was to be built upon site visits to Child Friendly Schools in six countries. The evaluation study was set out to be a baseline that addressed the challenge of variability and examined inclusiveness, pedagogy, architecture and services, participation and governance, systemic management, and cost. Specifically, the evaluation was to address three questions, each of which had several objectives:

• What are the underlying principles of CFS schools and what do they look like in practice? Data and analyses here were to assist UNICEF promulgate empirically grounded principles for CFS.
• Does CFS programming realize UNICEF’s objectives for ‘child-friendly schools’? Data and analyses were meant to provide evidence for quality improvement and strategic planning.
• Can UNICEF CFS programming have an impact at the national level? Data and analyses here were to provide evidence for the added-value of CFS implementation and its sustainability in the national context.

This Executive Summary briefly describes the evaluation approach and present the main findings from the evaluation. Detailed results and recommendations are presented in the full CFS evaluation report.