Country Strategy Evaluation for UNHCR Mauritania

EvO/2023/13

The UNHCR Evaluation Office has commissioned an evaluation of the country strategy in Mauritania at the request of the Representative to assess UNHCR's interventions during the period 2020-2022. The geographical scope of the evaluation is national, but it focuses on UNHCR's intervention areas in the country, namely:

• Nouakchott
• Nouadhibou
• Mbera camp and its surroundings (Bassikounou municipality, Hodh Chargui region).

The four objectives of the evaluation are to:

1. assess the strategic relevance, coherence, effectiveness, challenges, and opportunities of UNHCR in Mauritania
2. provide evidence of how and why UNHCR's interventions have improved or not improved the lives of the people with and for whom UNHCR works
3. determine the extent to which UNHCR's capacities, structures, and processes are aligned and adapted to the implementation of the strategy
4. draw lessons and make recommendations to improve UNHCR's actions in Mauritania.

The evaluated period was characterized by internal reforms within UNHCR, which include:

1. a change in the structure and approach to strategic planning, aligned with the spirit of the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR)
2. regionalization and decentralization to strengthen operations in countries through increased powers and additional capacities
3. the development of multi-year strategies at the country level for the first time within the organization. In Mauritania, these reforms are being implemented gradually during the evaluated period but are particularly visible from 2022 onwards.