National Evaluation Capacity Development

A conceptual framework

WHY

Mutual accountability

Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness

Managing for results

Harmonization

Alignment Ownership

National ownership and capacity development: National ownership and capacity development: the key ingredients to developmentthe key ingredients to development

Management for DevResults and Paris Declaration

Partner countries exercise effective leadership over their development policies and strategies

Partner countries exercise leadership in developing and implementing their national development strategies

Donors respect partner country leadership and help strengthen their capacity to exercise it

Implications to the M&E Function

Strengthen and use country-led M&E systemsInstitutionalize M&E systemsM&E capacity development to ensure international standards are met

Paris Declaration Commitment

UNICEF

… in line with the UN General Assembly …

• national Governments have the primary responsibility for coordinating external assistance and evaluating its contribution to national priorities

• mandated the United Nations system to promote national ownership and capacity development, and to make system-wide progress in harmonizing evaluation practices

UNICEF

UNICEF and UNDP ExBoards strongly requested to address it …

UNICEF ExBoard:

• emphasizes that programme countries should have greater ownership and leadership in the evaluation of all forms of assistance

• underlines the importance of increasing the participation of national counterparts and strengthening national capacity in evaluation

• encourages UNICEF to use national evaluation systems, where available, to continue to incorporate capacity-building mechanisms into programme design and implementation and ensure that evaluations are responsive to national demand

WHAT

UNICEF

A Systemic approach to Capacity Development.

Individual Level(skills, knowledge, experience)

Supply side:• Behavioural independence

• Independence of mind & integrity• Knowledge and respect of evaluation standards • Agreed evaluation processes & products

• Professional competences• Formal education (Masters)• Specialized training (UN Training, IPDET)• Professional Conferences and meeting• On the job training (country-led evaluations)• Community of Practices and networking

Demand side• Capacity to strategically plan evaluations, and to identify the key evaluation

questions • Capacity to manage evaluation for independence and credibility• Capacity to use evaluation

Individual Level

UNICEF

Individual Level(skills, knowledge, experience)

Institutional Level(policies, procedures, frameworks)

A Systemic approach to Capacity Development.

• Evaluation culture• Set of values and attitudes supporting evaluative (critical) thinking within an

organization• Institutional commitment to learning from evaluation, support evidence-based

policy debate and demand for accountability. • Individual more self-directed learners and use information to act; take higher risks

but also develop a greater sense of personal accountability and responsibility; consult, coach, and support each other more.

• Protective culture (Remove repercussions on careers)• Understanding of the foundations and principles of Monitoring and Evaluation

• Institutionalizing independence, credibility and utility• Evaluation policies

• Work programme and budget• Independence & adequacy of budget

• Conduct of evaluations• Institutional endorsement of standards• In-built Quality Assurance systems

Institutional Level

UNICEF

Individual Level(skills, knowledge, experience)

Institutional Level(policies, procedures, frameworks) Enabling

Environment(policies, legislation, power relations, social norms)

A Systemic approach to Capacity Development.

• Public administration committed to manage for results and accountability

• Transparency• Results-based public budgeting• Evidence-based policy making

• Strong civil society • rights holders able to demand for and monitor quality of public services

• Strong national evaluation association• foster indigenous demand for M&E, and strengthen indigenous supply

Enabling Environment

HOW?Selected UNICEF’s examples

Enabling Environment

•Organize meetings and/or conference bringing together the demand side (policy makers, CSO, media) and the supply side (public administration, private sector, academia) to discuss strategies to enhance the use of evidence generated through national evaluation system to influence public policies for children• Support right-holders feedback mechanisms and systems, by developing evaluation capacities of non-Governments stakeholders• Strengthen policy-makers demand for M&E systems, by enhancing the demand for evidence by Parliaments and Governments

• Support Governments in conducting a diagnostic of the (existing or potential) country evaluation system

• Targeting technical support based on bottlenecks identified in the diagnostic

• Identifying and supporting local leaders for country-led evaluation systems for children, especially in the initial stage.

• Seed/support a pool of local talent/national expertise in evaluation, including by supporting National (or Regional) Evaluation Associations and/or National (or regional) Centers of Excellence

• facilitating south-south knowledge sharing among countries with identified “good practices”

Institutional Level

• promote the professionalization of evaluation by:• Maintaining KM system in support of Country-led M&E systems• Organizing series of live webinars • Providing capacity development opportunities to selected

individuals

Individual Level

We should always aim at strengthening National ownership and leadership, and not undermining it:

• Selecting topics of mutual interest• Implement evaluations jointly with Governments, as a

first step towards country-led evaluation• Hiring local experts to the maximum extent possible• Not assuming there are weak evaluation capacities,

even if none is immediately apparent• Co-ordinating with other UN agencies and key

international stakeholdersInvest in the country-led process, even if it may

require additional efforts and less control

We need a mind shift to do things differently...

Thank you