This report presents the main findings, conclusions, and recommendations of a formative and summative evaluation of the childcare and deinstitutionalisation reforms in North Macedonia for the period of 2009 2022. The evaluation was commissioned by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Europe and Central Asia Region Office (ECARO), as part of its multi-country evaluation of the impact of national child care reforms across eight countries in Europe and Central Asia and was conducted by Coram International.
The purpose and object of the evaluation is to provide a rigorous assessment of the results of the childcare and deinstitutionalisation (DI) reforms undertaken by the government of North Macedonia and UNICEF, with a particular focus on children with disabilities and children for whom it is often difficult to find a durable family-based placement (referred to as ‘hard to place’ children). The evaluation’s geographical scope covers programming across the entirety of North Macedonia.
The objectives of the evaluation, as outlined in the Terms of Reference (TOR) are:
- Assess the impact of government child care policies and understand what worked and what did not in the deinstitutionalisation of children, how and why;
- Determine the effectiveness, impact, coherence, relevance and efficiency of national childcare reforms;
- Assess the actual and potential contribution of UNICEF’s work to national progress (including the outcomes and impacts of programming) in deinstitutionalisation childcare reforms, including children with disabilities and other ‘difficult to place children;’
- Identify lessons and provide recommendations for refinement and potential scaling up of good practices to further support national governments in strengthening child protection systems.
The primary audience for this evaluation includes the Government of North Macedonia, relevant ministries, municipalities, UNICEF North Macedonia and UNICEF ECARO, implementing partners, and donors.
