Blending Evaluation Principles with Development Practices to Change People’s Lives PROCEEDINGS FROM THE FOURTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON NATIONAL EVALUATION CAPACITIES 26-30 October 2015, Bangkok, Thailand Independent Evaluation Office United Nations Development Programme Blending Evaluation Principles with Development Practices to Change People’s Lives PROCEEDINGS FROM THE FOURTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON NATIONAL EVALUATION CAPACITIES 26-30 October 2015, Bangkok, Thailand Co-hosted by the Independent Evaluation Office of UNDP and the Government of Thailand with support from UNDP Regional Bureau of Asia and the Pacific, and partnered with the International Development Evaluation Association BLENDING EVALUATION PRINCIPLES WITH DEVELOPMENT PRACTICES TO CHANGE PEOPLE’S LIVES PROCEEDINGS FROM THE FOURTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON NATIONAL EVALUATION CAPACITIES 26-30 OCTOBER 2015, BANGKOK, THAILAND © UNDP June 2016 eISBN: 978-92-1-058255-1 Manufactured in the United States of America Printed on recycled paper Permission to reproduce any part of this publication will be freely granted to educational and non-profit organizations. Suggested citation: Independent Evaluation Office of UNDP, Proceedings from the Fourth International Conference on National Evaluation Capacities, UNDP, New York, June 2016. Key Messages and Outcomes zzSupport existing national systems, avoiding duplication and responding to national circumstances through promoting country- owned, country-led evaluations with an emphasis on their use in influencing policies zzDevelop and strengthen evaluation process and methods for evaluating progress towards and the impact of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) zzImportance of promoting more diverse partnerships and greater cooperation between Governments, civil society, Parliaments and private sector to increase awareness and use of evaluations ­­­– engaging existing and new stakeholders in exchange and collaboration zzChallenge of institutional structures for the evaluation of the SDGs – importance of integrating the evaluation of the SDGs into institutional structures zzArticulation of the Bangkok Declaration by conference participants, which seeks to capture an emerging body of shared understanding on lessons and priorities for evaluation practice in the era of the SDGs to help guide joint action in future support of national evaluation capacity. Table of Contents Acknowledgements . 8 Preface . 10 Foreword . 12 Executive Summary . 14 Conference Conceptual Framework . 23 The Global Evaluation Agenda to Support the SDGs: The Road Ahead . 27 NICHOLAS ROSELLINI Opening Address at the Fourth International Conference on National Evaluation Capacities . 32 GINA CASAR KEYNOTE SPEECHES 35 Evaluation for Improving People’s Lives . 36 MALLIKA R. SAMARANAYAKE Evaluating Sustainable Development . 40 VINOD THOMAS Opportunities in Evaluating Equitable and Sustainable Development in the Context of SDGs . 42 MARCO SEGONE OVERARCHING PAPERS 47 Ideas from IDEAS for the Bangkok Principles . 48 ROB D. VAN DEN BERG From Millennium Development Goals to Sustainable Development Goals: Challenges and Opportunities for the Evaluation Community . 52 CAITLIN WIESEN AND MICHAELA PROKOP Insights on National Evaluation Capacities in 43 Countries . 59 ANA ROSA SOARES AND CLAUDIA MARCONDES Global Evaluation Agenda 2016-2020. 63 DOROTHY LUCKS AND ASELA KALUGAMPITIYA 6 BLENDING EVALUATION PRINCIPLES WITH DEVELOPMENT PRACTICES TO CHANGE PEOPLE’S LIVES PROCEEDINGS FROM THE FOURTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON NATIONAL EVALUATION CAPACITIES Throwing Down the Gauntlet: Lessons that Challenge Evaluation in the SDG Era . 69 ZENDA OFIR The Status of National Evaluation Policies Worldwide . 82 BARBARA ROSENSTEIN UNRWA – Use of Evaluation for Evidence-Based Policymaking: Case of UNRWA . 89 ROBERT STRYK COUNTRY PAPERS 97 Indonesia – Evaluation as a Delivery Mechanism in Indonesia: Medium Term Development Plan 2015-2019 . 98 INDRA WISAKSONO Nepal – Significance of Management Response to Evaluation towards Promotion of National Evaluation Capacities in Nepal . 103 RAMESH TULADHAR Brazil – The Maturity of Monitoring and Evaluation Systems of the Brazilian Public Administration. .111 SELMA MARIA HAYAKAWA CUNHA SERPA, HIROYUKI MIKI, GLÓRIA MARIA MEROLA DA COSTA BASTOS AND MARIDEL PILOTO DE NORONHA Colombia – Monitoring and Evaluation towards the SDGs: The Case of Colombia . .120 FELIPE CASTRO Dominican Republic – The Link between Poverty and Environment: An Innovative Tool for SDGs Monitoring and Evaluation in the Dominican Republic . 131 IVETT SUBERO ACOSTA, MELISSA BRETON, CESAR IVÁN GONZÁLEZ, ANA MARÍA PÉREZ CASTAÑO AND MARÍA SANTANA Dominican Republic – Opportunities for Strengthening Evaluation Capacities through the Common Assessment Framework. 138 MARCO V. ESPINAL MARTINEZ Jamaica – The Development and Use of a Monitoring and Evaluation Framework: Jamaica’s Experience . 147 SHAWN ST. AUBYN GREY Peru – Impacts of Financial Education for Conditional Cash Transfer Beneficiaries in Peru. 153 CHRIS BOYD TABLE OF CONTENTS 7 Cameroon – Contribution to Evaluation Capacity Development in Africa: Challenges and Opportunities from the African Evaluation Association . 157 SERGE ERIC YAKEU The Gambia – Government Innovations in Evaluation: The Gambia’s Experiences and the Drive to Strengthen the National Evaluation Capacities towards the SDGs . 165 ALAGIE FADERA Kenya – Country-Level Experiences in Building Demand and Developing Institutional Capacity for Evaluation in Kenya . 172 SAMSON MACHUKA Uganda – Improvement of Development Outcomes through an Evaluation: Uganda’s Evaluation of its Eradication Action Plan . 176 ALBERT BYAMUGISHA AND ALEX TURYATEMBA BASHASHA Algeria – Mainstreaming Evaluation in UNDP Planning: The Experience of Algeria . 183 SANA AL-ATTAR, CRISTINA AMARAL AND MOHAMED BOUCHAKOUR Tunisia – Monitoring and Evaluation of Public Policies and Programmes. 193 MAHMOUD GHOUIL Georgia – Measuring Progress towards SDGs through National Policy Monitoring and Evaluation System. 202 TAMARA RAZMADZE Australia – EVALSDGs: A Platform for Advocacy, Learning and Innovation. 206 DOROTHY LUCKS AND CHARLOTTE JONES ANNEXES 213 Annex 1. Programme . 214 Annex 2. Participants . 223 Annex 3. Conference Assessment . 243 Annex 4. Bangkok Declaration. 247 Annex 5. The Event in Photos. 250 8 Acknowledgements Several organizations are responsible for making the Fourth International Conference on National Evaluation Capacities a success. As co-hosts, the Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Government of Thai- land are grateful for the opportunities this conference yielded for the respective institutions and look forward to further collaborations. The UNDP IEO and the International Development Evaluation Association (IDEAS) worked effectively as partners to organize the event. Both organizations extend their heartiest grati- tude for the opportunities and insights provided and look forward to further cooperation. The support of UNDP management, particularly Ms. Gina Casar (UNDP Associate Admin- istrator), Mr. Haoliang Xu (UNDP Director of the Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific) and Mr. Nicholas Rosellini (UNDP Deputy Regional Director for Asia-Pacific and Director of Bangkok Regional Hub) are greatly appreciated. The conference was made possible thanks to generous financial support provided by the Government of Finland. The organizers also appreciate the Government’s substantive contributions as participant at the conference. We gratefully acknowledge the role of the advisory group in guiding the organizers in conceptualizing, organizing and implementing the conference. The advisory group con- sisted of: zz Mr. Hans van Rijn (Principal Evaluation Specialist, Asian Development Bank) zz H.E. Mr. Kabir Hashim (Sri Lanka Minister of Highways and investment Promotion/ Member of Parliament/Parliamentarian Forum/EvalPartner) zz Mr. Kamolmas Jaiyen (Co-chair of UN Evaluation Development Group for Asia and the Pacific (UNEDAP) zz Mr. Luc Stevens (UN Resident Coordinator, Thailand) BLENDING EVALUATION PRINCIPLES WITH DEVELOPMENT PRACTICES TO CHANGE PEOPLE’S LIVES 9 PROCEEDINGS FROM THE FOURTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON NATIONAL EVALUATION CAPACITIES zz Mr. Marco Segone (UNEG Chair/Director of the Independent Evaluation Office of UN Women/Vice Chair EvalPartner) zz Mr. Nicholas Rosellini (UNDP Regional Deputy Director for the Bureau for Asia and the Pacific) zz Mr. Nick Rene Hartmann (Group Leader of the Partnership Group in UNDP Bureau for External Relations and Advocacy) zz Ms. Nidhi Khattri (Lead Evaluation Officer in the Independent Evaluation Group, World Bank – CLEAR Initiative) zz Mr. Peerader Tongum (Vice-President of the Thai Evaluation Network) zz Ms. Riitta Oksanen (Senior Adviser, Unit for Development Evaluation, Ministry for For- eign Affairs, Government of Finland) zz Mr. Rob van den Berg (President of the International Development Evaluation Asso- ciation, IDEAS) zz Ms. Simona Marinescu (UNDP Chief Development Impact, Bureau for Policy and Pro- gramme Support) zz Ms. Yumiko Kanemitsu (Co-chair of UN Evaluation Development Group for Asia and the Pacific)zUNEDAP) The support and participation in the conference by the Thailand Evaluation Network, EvalPartners (especially Mr. Asela Kalugampitiya), Regional Centres for Learning on Evalua- tion and Results (CLEAR) and evaluation offices in the UN and multilateral systems are also recognized. Staff of the UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub (especially Ms. Marta Lanzoni)