Methodological Brief: Theory of change

This methodological brief prepared by UNICEF’s Office of Research describes the ‘theory of change’ approach, explaining how activities are understood to produce a series of results that contribute to achieving the final intended impacts. It can be developed for any level of intervention – an event, a project, a programme, a policy, a strategy or an organization. By identifying and tightly planning objectives and activities in advanced, or during an intervention’s progress, a theory of change can determine how they should change and adapt in response to emerging issues and decisions made by partners and other stakeholders.