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| Evaluation News is a monthly email alert service of the Evaluation Office of UNDP |
Issue: October 2010 |
In this issue |
| The evaluation function works to enhance the development effectiveness of UNDP to help men and women build a better life. It strengthens accountability and learning through evaluation and partnership |
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Independent Review of UNDP EVALUATION POLICY |
the Proceedings of the conference on National Evaluation Capacities |
UNEG annual general meeting 2010 |
The Executive Board approved the Evaluation Policy in 2006 and requested that an independent review be conducted after three years of implementation of the policy. In 2009 the Evaluation Office commissioned the review to an independent team. The review was quality assured by a panel of senior advisers. The scope of the review included an assessment of the operationalzation of the Evaluation Policy, the establishment of an independent evaluation system throughout the organization and the way in which the Evaluation Office performed the evaluation function. UNDP prepared a management response to the review.
The review was presented to and approved by the Executive Board and the evaluation policy is currently being revised for the Executive Board approval in January 2011.
Read the full report
View management response
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The UNDP Evaluation Office in cooperation with the Moroccan National Observatory for Human Development organized an international conference on National Evaluation Capacities in Casablanca, Morocco, in December 2009, to provide a forum to discuss issues that face developing countries in establishing evaluation systems that are relevant and have a sound political and institutional basis. The intention was not to focus on international cooperation, including current capacity development efforts by UNDP and other international partners, but on sharing experience through countries’ own identification of effective evaluation systems, including what works and what needs to be strengthened.
The Evaluation Office is now working on finalizing the Conference Proceedings which will serve as a compendium of country papers and experts brief issues papers prepared for the conference.
NEC Conference website
Media Coverage |
The UNEG Annual General Meeting was held from 26-28 May 2010. The main decisions taken at the AGM included: the agreement on the continuation of the work for the 2010/2011 year of the Delivering as One, Evaluation of the Evaluation Function, Human Rights and Gender Equality and Impact Evaluation Task Forces, and the establishment of the Harmonization of Evaluation and Evaluation Capacity Development Task Forces. Also, the Evaluation Practice Exchange Seminar task force is now renamed as the Evaluation Practice Exchange Committee (EPE OC), and will work together with the Evaluation Capacity Development task force on areas of cross fertilization. During the AGM, members agreed on the establishment of two short term Task Forces to work with the UNEG Secretariat on the UNEG Consultants Roster and the UNEG Country Level Evaluation database.
The next UNEG AGM and EPE will take in place in March 2011 and will be hosted by UNESCO in Paris.
UNEG website |
Recent Evauations
The Assessments of Development Results (ADRs) assess the attainment of intended and achieved results as well as UNDP contributions to development results at the country level. Their scope include, but is not confined to, UNDP responsiveness and alignment to country challenges and priorities; strategic positioning; use of comparative advantage; and engagement with partners. Evaluation Office presented five ADRs to the Executive Board in September 2010: |
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 The evaluation found that UNDP contribution to development results in Somalia has varied considerably depending on the region where activities were implemented. The report highlights several challenges and shortcomings in programme management. It concludes that, despite these challenges, UNDP Somalia continued to seize opportunities as they emerged through the peace process and enjoy a privileged relationship with the authorities and donors.
Read Full Report |
 This report states that UNDP Zambia has in general been effective in its contributions to development in Zambia. However, programme resources were spread too thinly across many initiatives and insufficient attention was given to ensuring sustainability. While cooperating partners and non-governmental organizations would have preferred UNDP to play a stronger role in advocacy, the Government appreciates UNDP as a consistent partner.
Read Full Report |
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 The evaluation found UNDP work to be aligned with the country’s development priorities. UNDP provided critical support in the democratization process, and in handling emergency and recovery efforts in the areas affected by the tsunami. Lessons from this evaluation include the need for UNDP to continuously readjust strategically to national development priorities, and maintain its people-centered approach to development.
Read Full Report |
 The evaluation found UNDP has been effective in its support at the policy level, especially in the area of governance, but less so at the atoll and island level. Gender equality and youth remain major areas requiring effective support while capacity development is the most significant barrier to sustained progress. Recommendations include need for fewer interventions and more strategic approach.
Read Full Report
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| Assessment of Development Results: Chile |
The following ADRs will be submitted to the Executive Board in June 2011: |
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 The evaluation found UNDP programming to be rightly aligned to the country’s development priorities. Although UNDP in Chile was able to achieve and sustain its objectives in supporting the consolidation of democracy, it was not as successful in helping to strengthen national decentralization efforts. The National Human Development Report is among the most visible products, and has contributed significantly to the strategic positioning of UNDP in Chile.
Read Full Report |
- Bangladesh
- Brazil
- Egypt
- El Salvador
- Ghana
- Jamaica
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- Lao PDR
- Malawi
- Mongolia
- Paraguay
- Senegal
- Thailand
- Tunisia
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COMING SOON
Evaluation Office is pleased to announce the upcoming publication of thematic evaluation reports. Thematic evaluations assess UNDP performance in areas that are critical to ensuring sustained contribution to development results in the context of emerging development issues and changing priorities at the global and regional levels. The following reports are expected to be presented to the Executive Board in January 2011.
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| Evaluation of UNDP Contribution to Prevention and Recovery in Countries Affected by Natural Disasters |
Evaluation of UNDP Support to Local Governance |
The evaluation aims to determine the contribution of UNDP to strengthening national capacities in disaster prevention and recovery; and UNDP contribution to disaster risk reduction efforts at the global and regional levels. The findings and recommendations are expected to inform UNDP programming strategies in supporting countries affected by natural disasters and enhance its contribution to development results. In addition, the evaluation will provide insights for UNDP in its emerging work of reducing vulnerability to natural disasters as part of support to environmental management and adaptation to climate change.
Send a Comment
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The evaluation assesses the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability of UNDP’s support to local governance, with the objective to clarify UNDP’s strategic role vis-à-vis other development partners in providing local governance-related support to programme countries. The evidence has been gathered from a meta-analysis of UNDP’s experience with strengthening local governance at the global, regional and country levels, covering Africa, Arab States, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries, and Latin America and the Caribbean. The evaluation provides actionable recommendations on UNDP strategies, polices, approaches and interventions for local governance.
Send a Comment |
| Evaluation of the UNDP contribution to Strengthening of National Capacities for National Development Strategies and their Management |
Evaluation of UNDP Contribution to Environmental Management for Poverty Reduction: The Poverty-Environment Nexus |
The study is the first comprehensive evaluation of UNDP's efforts on capacity development as intended to develop the sustained ability of national partners to do things for themselves, to do things better without the United Nations having to play the same role again. It selects UNDP's performance in supporting the national process of developing national strategies as the lens for examining and evaluating its overall approach and support for capacity development. The study evaluates the relevance of UNDP's work on capacity development with respect to national priorities and UNDP mandate, the effectiveness of UNDP's contribution to capacity development, and the efficiency of institutional and programming arrangements of UNDP as a partner for capacity development. The evaluation uses a multi-method approach. It uses four country case studies to analyze the endogenous process of developing national strategies and to generate the national perspective, and then uses this perspective to assess UNDP's performance. Complementing this method are meta-analyses of evidence from forty five ADRs including analyses from interviews with a wide range of UNDP staff, and a portfolio analysis of capacity development in a random sample of UNDP projects.
Send a Comment
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The evaluation assesses UNDP’s contribution to development results in integrating environmental considerations into poverty reduction activities. It provides findings and recommendations that are intended to further assist in identifying strategies and operational approaches to strengthen UNDP’s development effectiveness in the area. The proposition driving this evaluation is that a nexus of issues closely links poverty alleviation and environmental protection and involves impacts in both directions: the effects of poverty reduction on the environment and the effects of protecting the environment on poverty. The evaluation considers the extent to which each set of relations is addressed in UNDP’s work.The evaluation assesses the relevance of UNDP’s work with respect to national priorities and the UNDP mandate; the effectiveness of achieving development results; the efficiency of institutional and programming arrangements; and the sustainability of resulting benefits. It builds upon in depth case studies in nine countries: Bhutan, Kyrgyzstan, Mali, Morocco, Paraguay, Rwanda, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, and Vietnam.
Send a Comment
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