Independent Evaluation Office

EV

ALU

ATI

ON

THE INDEPENDENT EVALUATION OFFICE OF

UNDPINDEPENDENCE, CREDIBILITY AND USE

IPDET, 30 JUNE 2014

Indran A. NaidooDirector

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Outline

Make evaluation count!

Dynamic triad of independence, credibility & utility

Experience from the IEO of UNDP

Independence

CredibilityUtility

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Evaluand

Country

Presence

UNDP in 177 countries

Budget

Annual Budget is more than 5 Billion dollars

FOCUS

AREAS

Poverty alleviation; democratic governance; energy & environment; and crisis prevention & recovery

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Influencing the evaluand at all levels

IEO evaluations have influenced the new Strategic Plan of UNDP – 2014-2016 – thus all of UNDP work

90% uptake of IEO recommendations Management reflects in its documents how it

has addressed recommendations & updates public website

All new programmes must be preceded by and include response to an evaluation

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Recent Evaluations from IEO

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Recent Evaluations from IEO

Visit IEO website @ www.undp.org/evaluation

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The critical “how question”

Professional evaluation, what does it mean in practice

Principles, approaches and ensuring that the end is in sight

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Importance of the ‘Evaluation Triad’

Utility

Credibility

Independence

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Independent Evaluation Office in UNDP

PROCEDURESPOLICY

IEO work is guided by the

Board approved Evaluation policyEvaluation Policy

periodically reviewed

Management

engagement from

inception to

conclusion

Structurally Independent

Reports directly to UNDP

Executive Boardwho

appoints/renews/dismisses Director

STRUCTURE

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Independence

Quality Assurance Policy review

Evaluation Advisory Panel

Peer Reviews

Reporting LineDirector reports

to Executive Board to prevent censorship and

enhance transparency

INTERNALLY @ IEO Staff protected from

occupational detriment Director takes full

accountability

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Credibility

Credibility

Methodology

Guidance

Institutional Linkage and

Capacity

Professional Forums & Networks

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Utility

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Uptake of recommendations•Management responses to evaluations and key actions publicly available in Evaluation Resource Centre in IEO website•UNDP strategies and policies are informed by evaluations (UNDP strategic plan 2014-2017)

Stakeholder engagement•Management engagement throughout the evaluation process•Stakeholder workshop organized for all evaluations to share its findings and recommendations. Government, civil societies and all other stakeholders participate at these workshops

Organizational accountability & learning•Implementation of evaluation recommendation and associated key actions reported to UNDP Executive Board in Annual Report on Evaluation•Assessment of Development Results(ADR) provides substantive in put for development of new UNDP Country Programmes•All new country offices are required to submit fully costed evaluation plan with their new country programme documents (CPDs)

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UN Evaluation Group (UNEG)

The United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG) is a unique interagency professional network in the UN system that aims to advance the effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability of the UN system’s work by promoting and strengthening evaluation. UNEG brings together units responsible for evaluation in the UN system, including UN departments, specialized agencies, funds and programmes, and affiliated organizations. It currently has 45 such members and three observers. UNEG’s mission is to: promote the independence, credibility and usefulness of the evaluation function and evaluation across the UN system; advocate for the importance of evaluation for learning, decision-making and accountability; support the evaluation community in the UN system and beyond.

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Professionalization

Evaluation is emerging as a mature profession.For evaluation to be taken seriously it needs to distinguish itself as a profession which requires policies, strategies and practices that bring changes at the agency and the staff level.

UNEG advances the professionalization of evaluation within the UN system and promotes adherence to the norms and standards through the external review processes of evaluation functions, the development of relevant guidance materials, as well as the development of a professional competency framework for UN evaluators.

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UNEG Strategic Objectives 2014-2019

(UNEG Strategy 2014-2019 available at: www.unevaluation.org/uneg_strategy)

Strategic Objective

s1Evaluation

functions and products of UN

entities meet the UNEG Norms and

Standards for evaluation;

Strategic Objective

s2

UN entities and partners use evaluation in

support of accountability and

programme learning;

Strategic Objective

s3

Evaluation informs UN system-wide initiatives and

emerging demands;

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UNEG benefits from and

contributes to an enhanced global

evaluation profession.

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Engaging with governments

The National Evaluation Capacity development initiatives …

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National Evaluation Capacity

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National Evaluation Capacity

Independence

Credibility

Utility

- Rebeca Grynspan, Associate Administrator UNDP (2010-2014)

‘National evaluation capacities are increasingly critical to countries’ overall ability to capture and demonstrate

results to a variety of constituencies and to

promoting learning and enabling decision makers to

make informed decisions and plan strategically.’

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2015 – Year of Evaluation

Declared by EvalPartners and currently working on a UN resolution to have 2015 declared Year of Evaluation

Motto: Empowering nations and people through evaluation

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EvalYear

EvalYear, a catalyst to promote

demand and use of evaluation in policy-making

Evaluation policy process at country

level

Strengthening work with

parliamentarians and policy makers

(enabling environment)

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Concluding thoughts..

It is necessary to drive evaluations at many levels & ensure that all of the complexity and context is addressed.

Evaluation principles should not be lost in this pursuit Working across sectors and with partners helps build

support Evaluation should ultimately help to improve the

lives of people through ensuring development effectiveness.

Professional and well capacitated evaluation functions remain critical for this, and training such as IPDET is invaluable.

Thank you

United Nations Development Programme

Independent Evaluation Office220 East 42nd StreetNew York, NY 10017www.undp.org/evaluation