Research area “Children and youth as a target group in development cooperation”
2004–2005, on behalf of GTZ
Formulation of concept papers on various youth related topics:
1) Best practices and proposals on impact monitoring for presentation at the World Bank;
2) The relevance and potential of intergenerational dialogue for presentation at an international youth conference in Sri Lanka. ↑

Discussion paper “Integration of youth into local labour markets”
2003–2004, on behalf of GTZ

Analysis of impact monitoring and evaluation tools related to activities towards employment promotion in youth projects, using the experience of four Latin American youth projects. Proposals for further development of monitoring instruments. ↑

Strategy elaboration to incorporate children and youth-related issues into development cooperation
1996–2004, on behalf of GTZ
The strategy “Promotion of children and youth as a target group” aimed to deliberately address young people as beneficiaries of development projects. SUM Consult assisted GTZ in the formulation and analysis of the programme concept and participated in various publications related to youth promotion in developing countries. Consulting services comprised the evaluation of experiences concerning youth and adolescence, the establishment of sector-specific concepts and policies (e.g. health, rural development, income generation youth policy, strengthening of municipalities, conflict prevention), assistance in the implementation of regional pilot measures, information exchange among professionals and the elaboration of youth-related tools and guidelines. Emphasis was given to 12 to 24 year-old girls and boys in low-income rural and urban areas. Specific issues addressed were street children and youth, domestic child work, and children and adolescents in slavery in West Africa. ↑

Study and report “The Relevance of the Informal Sector to Youth Employment and Social Integration”
2003, on behalf of GTZ and World Bank
Analysis of approaches towards improving youth employment and social integration of vulnerable young people. Elaboration of recommendations for strategies and further research. Presentation of results at the first Youth Employment Workshop of the World Bank. ↑

Violence prevention

Study on “Conflict prevention through youth promotion”
2001–2002, on behalf of GTZ
Summary of current debates in conflict, violence and terrorism prevention, in order to identify potential preventive methods and instruments within German development cooperation. ↑

Regional: Assistance to young people and prevention of violence
1999–2000, for GTZ and the Panamerican Health Organisation
Assistance in the development of the project concept and in the preparation and elaboration of baseline studies in five Latin American countries (Argentina, Colombia, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Peru). Summary of the main results in the Spanish publication “Youth violence in Latin America – conditions, politics and promising interventions”. ↑

Global evaluation of the C40 Cities Finance Facility (CFF) programme
2020 – 2021, on behalf of GIZ
The C40 Cities Finance Facility (CFF) programme was funded by BMZ, BEIS, CIFF and USAID, and implemented in 17 cities of 10 countries on 3 continents of the Global South. CFF’s objective was to enable primary and secondary cities in developing countries and emerging economies to better access funding for sustainable climate action projects, thus contributing to the 2030 Agenda Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their respective countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the Paris Agreement. There is an increasing need to finance cities’ climate actions, particularly in the Global South, in line with the growing willingness of donors to address this funding gap through finance mechanisms and cooperation projects to tackle the urban climate change issue. CFF is collaborating on these initiatives and addresses the finance gap by providing support to formulate financially sound business proposals for projects identified as priorities. The remote evaluation process included online meetings and focus group discussions, individual interviews with key stakeholders and an online survey addressed to CFF programme team and partner city staff. SUM Consult provided the international evaluation expert (team leader) and an international co-evaluator. The evaluation report was published on the GIZ and C40 websites  ↑

Evaluation of the “Asserting People’s Habitat Rights at all Levels” global project of the Habitat International Coalition (HIC)
2020, on behalf of MISEREOR
HIC is the global network dedicated to action for the recognition, defence and full implementation of the right of everyone to a secure place in which to live in peace and dignity, in all countries (habitat-related human rights). Evaluation process included an online survey with HIC member organisations, individual interviews with key stakeholders and HIC representatives, as well as inception and final workshops. SUM Consult provided the international evaluation expert and team leader.  ↑

Research area “Sexual and reproductive health”
2007, on behalf of GTZ

Elaboration of a concept and hand sheets on “Sexual/reproductive health and good governance / urban development”. ↑

Urban 21 Conference
1997–1999, on behalf of BMBau, the German Ministry of Construction
SUM Consult experts participated in the International Expert Group responsible for preparing the Urban 21 Conference in Berlin in the year 2000, a follow-up of the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro 1992 and the UN Habitat II Conference in Istanbul 1996. Specifically, SUM Consult analysed increasing urban informality through a study of policy documents and project evaluations related to informal sector and informal settlements, identified best practices of improving quality of urban life, and prepared policy recommendations to bridge the widening gap between formal and informal urban life. ↑

Policy formulation for the development of housing policies for low-income groups
1985–1989, for GTZ

Assessment of different housing programmes in Peru, Colombia, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic, identification of best practices, preparation of a manual on the management of settlement and house improvement programmes. Preparation of training materials and training courses. ↑

Vocational Training

Sector Evaluation “Vocational Training”
2014–2015, on behalf of MISEREOR
Analysis of more than 100 MISEREOR-funded vocational training projects including field studies in Brazil, Ethiopia and India. The aim was to get to know the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to vocational training and to enable a learning process for both MISEREOR and the project implementing organisations in order to adapt their funding strategies. ↑

German development cooperation

Regional: Temporary External Advisory Fund of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
2019 – 2020, on behalf of GIZ
Preparation and follow-up of the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) Week and development of a new LAC strategy. The BMZ planned to hold a LAC week in Berlin in March 2020 to provide a platform for various stakeholders in and related to Latin America to discuss a reorientation of German development cooperation. Consulting services for the preparation of the event were provided, but the LAC week was cancelled due to the Corona pandemic. The advisory services were adapted to the change in priorities in BMZ’s work with regard to the development of a new LAC strategy following the outbreak of the pandemic.