UN Mandate Madness? Why Joint Programmes Are the Only Sane Way Forward
Guest blog by Stephanie Hodge: UN Partnerships Specialist is a globally recognized leader in strategic evaluation, systems transformation, and cross-sectoral program design, with over 30 years of experience in 140+ countries. She is a go-to evaluator for the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and a trusted advisor to the UN system, World Bank, ADB, AfDB, and Ro me-based institutions, known for evaluating what truly matters: systems, coherence, and catalytic impact. originally published here. In the UN system, overlapping mandates aren’t a mistake—they’re baked in. When UNICEF, UNFPA, and UN Women all show up with a stake in adolescent girls’ futures, the overlap isn’t the issue. The real challenge is what we do with it. Too often, the result is duplication, confusion, or competition dressed up as coordination. But as someone who’s evaluated more joint programmes than I can count—from gender equality to climate resilience to education and governance—I’ve come to one conclusion: joint p...