Summary

This system-wide evaluation assessed the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability of the 2019 United Nations Disability Inclusion Strategy (UNDIS). It covered the period 2019-2025, focusing on the conceptualization and design of UNDIS, alignment with international frameworks, and its operationalization by all United Nations entities and country teams at country, regional and global levels. It was utilisation-focused, participatory, theory-based, and drew on multiple data sources including interviews with United Nations staff and external stakeholders, in-depth analysis of 15 United Nations Country Teams, 2 peace missions and 37 entities, extensive document review, and analysis of survey data. The evaluation concludes that the UNDIS has proven to be a relevant and timely instrument for advancing disability inclusion across the United Nations system, serving as a catalyst for systematic change and accelerating efforts to embrace disability inclusion. However, implementation has varied considerably across the complex United Nations landscape, and has not yet succeeded in getting sufficient traction to be fully transformative across the entire United Nations system. While the UNDIS has successfully established institutional frameworks for disability inclusion, focusing primarily on policies, processes, and compliance mechanisms, the United Nations has not achieved its ambition of becoming an employer of choice for persons with disabilities or effectively mainstreaming disability inclusion across development, humanitarian, and peace and security programming. The current UNDIS and its accountability framework requires substantial revision to capture the full scope and depth of the United Nations' disability inclusion efforts. The evaluation makes five strategic recommendations, including: (i) revising the UNDIS to define the vision and time-bound goals, key guiding principles, approaches and a theory of change, (ii) strengthening the means of implementation through developing system-wide, entity, and UNCT action plans, strengthening the accountability framework and establishing a sustainable institutional framework to implement in an efficient and coordinated manner, (iii) ensuring adequate, sustainable and efficient investment in UNDIS implementation, building on the twin-track approach, leveraging partnerships with a view to taking inclusion to scale, and monitoring resource allocation to disability inclusion, (iv) institutionalizing and strengthening system-wide knowledge management, learning, and capacity for promoting disability inclusion to ensure more effective and efficient implementation of the UNDIS, (v) stepping up and strengthening efforts to foster an inclusive organizational culture and accessible workplace, positioning the United Nations as an employer of choice for persons with disabilities by developing and implementing comprehensive evidence based and data driven strategies to address accessibility, reasonable accommodation and organizational culture.