This synthesis of evidence from evaluations of WFP's cooperating partners was commissioned by the Office of Evaluation in 2024. Cooperating partners, largely local non-governmental organizations and government partners, are fundamental to WFP’s work, with 31 percent of WFP’s 2023 contributions channelled through them. Given the scale and ubiquity of WFP’s work with cooperating partners, understanding cooperating partner management and WFP’s relationships with cooperating partners is an important consideration for its operations. The synthesis involved the review of 47 evaluations published from 2020 to 2023 with the aim of understanding the contribution and role of cooperating partners in WFP’s work and the factors affecting the quality of cooperating partner engagement and performance and the nature of WFP’s relationships with cooperating partners over time.
