Our Unique Contribution
UNISWEM makes a unique game-changing transformative contribution based on three grounds which are anchored on both the United Nations Charter and legally binding international instruments in support of the unquestionable requirement to evaluate the relevance, effectiveness, impact and sustaianability of operational activities for development of the United Nations System in program countries to strengthen accountability, transparency and participatory social inquiry using a human rights-based approach to development evaluation.
Firstly, within the context of Article 13(1) of the United Nations Charter we submit that, organisations created as implementation and coordination structures for the United Nations System by the United Nations General Assembly through various resolutions such as UNIISWEM that are, for example, focused on improving the relevance, effectiveness, impact and sustainability of operational activities for development of the United Nations System can legitimately engage in conducting evaluative inquiry for purposes of enhancing accountability, transparency and participatory social inquiry, simply, because development donors who provide funding support to the UN System are mainly, interested in the steady relevance, effectiveness, impact and sustainability of their funding support.
Secondly, we reiterate that the United Nations is both a custodian and guarantor for the effective implementation of legally binding international instruments which have their judicial rectitude anchored on the values of the foundational pillars of the United Nations Charter upon which our human Rights based approach to development evaluation is grounded. In this case, entities of the United Nations System are duty-bound to mainstream the realization of all rights and obligations obtained in these legally binding international instruments which are related to development, in all their operational activities for development in program countries.
Lastly, we reason that individual member States of the United Nations have legally binding duties within the context of international law by virtue of their ratification of international instruments, including doing so, through international development cooperation to respect, protect, and promote the full realization and enjoyment of development and governance-oriented human rights in their respective countries, while, also bearing in mind that development funders are mainly interested in the steady relevance, effectiveness and impact of their funding support.
On the basis of our Human Rights-Based approach to Development Evaluation and these legally defensible grounds, including, the unquestionable requirement to strengthen accountability, transparency and participatory social inquiry within the UN System through evaluative inquiry, we submit that program countries and entities of the United Nations development System (as duty bearers) can no longer be innocent by standers, neither, can beneficiaries/citizens (as rights holders) remain mere passive spectating recipients or observers.