National Evaluation Capacities Conference 2015

About NEC Conference 2015

Venue

Thailand

Date

26-30 October

Theme

"Blending Evaluation Principles with Development Practices to Change People’s Lives"

The Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Royal Thai Government co-hosted in 2015 the Fourth International Conference on National Evaluation Capacities in Bangkok in collaboration with the UNDP Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific. The conference took place and was organized co-jointly with the 2015 Global Assembly of the International Development Evaluation Association (IDEAS).

The conference took place at the very start of a new era with an ambitious set of goals for sustainable development agreed to by Heads of State in New York in September 2015. The 2030 Agenda builds on and expands beyond the preceding Millennium Development Goals, challenging us all with greater complexity as well as new standards of inclusiveness, ownership and universality.

The key outcome of the conference was the Bangkok Declaration on Principles for National Evaluation Capacity for the SDGs, a joint declaration of all participants in both Foreword 13 conferences. The Declaration is an expression of aspirations grounded in professional development evaluation community of practice, and is not legally binding on individuals or governments. It seeks to capture some key principles, give a sense of common purpose and understanding, framing a canvas of joint action in future support of individual, professional, and national evaluation capacity as countries shape their response to the SDG agenda.

Highlights

Programmes

Opening Ceremony

Mr. Luc Stevens, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Thailand

Mr. Rob D. van den Berg, IDEAS President

Video - NEC2015

Mr. Indran Naidoo, UNDP, Director of the Independent Evaluation Office

Ms. Gina Casar, UNDP Under-Secretary-General and Associate Administrator

Mr. Paulo Jannuzzi, Government of Brazil hands theEvalYear Torch to

Mr. Don Pramudwinai, Thailand, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand

JOINT KEYNOTE ADDRESS

Evaluation for Improving People's Lives

Ms. Mallika Samaranayake, Sri Lanka, President of the Community of Evaluators of South Asia

Note taker: Kristina Leuchowius

Coordinator: Francine Pickup

Plenary 1

From MDGs to SDGs - from 18 NEC Commitments to the Global Evaluation Agenda

Chair/Commentator: Mr. Nicholas Rosellini, UNDP Deputy Regional Director for Asia-Pacific and Director of Bangkok Regional Hub

UNDP IEO - Ms. Ana Rosa Soares, UNDP Independent Evaluation Office, Evaluation Advisor - The NEC Journey and the 18 NEC Commitments Baseline Study
UNDP RHAP - Ms. Caitlin Wiesen, Chief, Regional Policy and Programme Support for Asia and the Pacific, UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub - The transition from MDGs to SDGs, implications to the evaluation community, challenges and opportunities
EVALPARTNERS - Ms. Dorothy Lucks, EvalSDGs Chair - The Global Evaluation Agenda

Note taker: Supharat Kaewkhonkaen

Coordinator: Daniela Gasparikova

Parallel Sessions 1

Session 1: EvalSDGs: A Platform for Advocacy, Learning and Innovation for Evaluation

Chair/Commentator: AUSTRALIA - Ms. Dorothy Lucks, Secretary IOCE, Co-Chair EvalSDGs and Executive Director at SDF Global

BRAZIL - Mr. Paulo Jannuzzi, National Secretary of Evaluation, Ministry of Social Development and Fight against Hunger
ALGERIA - Mr. Merzak Belhimeur, Director General, Economic Affairs and International Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
SOUTH AFRICA - Mr. Antonio Hercules, Director, Evaluation and Research, Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation
UNDP NEPAL - Ms. Lazima Onta-Bhatta, UNDP Assistant Country Director
CAMEROON - Mr. Debazou Yantio, Board Member of IDEAS

Session 2: Use of Evaluation and Knowledge Management for Evidence Based Policy Making and Development

Chair/Commentator: UK - Mr. Elliot Stern, UNDP IEO Evaluation Advisory Panel Member, Professor of Evaluation Research, Lancaster University

UN WOMEN, THAILAND - Ms. Yumiko Kanemitsu, UN Women, Regional Evaluation Specialist, UNDAF Evaluations
UNDP ALGERIA - Ms. Ana Cristina Da Costa Amaral, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Algeria, Mainstreaming evaluation in UNDP planning: the experience of Algeria (via videoconference)
INDONESIA - Mr. Indra Wisaksono, Directorate of Development Performance Evaluation Report and System, Ministry of National Development Planning, Evaluation as delivery mechanism in Indonesia Medium Term Development Planning
UNRWA JORDAN - Mr. Robert Stryk, UNRWA, Chief, Evaluation Division and UNEG Vice Chair - Impact of evaluation through better use
ALGERIA - Mr. Merzak Belhimeur, Director General, Economic Affairs and International Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Session 3: The Role of Parliamentarians to Promote National Evaluation Capacities to Support the SDGs

Chair/Commentator: SRI LANKA - Mr. Asela Kalugampitiya, EvalPartners Executive Coordinator

NEPAL - Hon. Mr. Ananda Prasad Pokharel, Member, Legislature Parliament, and Coordinator, National Parliamentarian Forum on Development Evaluation in Nepal
AFGHANISTAN - Hon. Ms. Rangina Kargar, Member of the Afghanistan Parliament
UNDP GAMBIA - Ms. Ade Lekoetje, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Gambia
UNICEF - Ms. Ada Ocampo, UNICEF Senior Evaluation Advisor

Session 4: Addressing Gender Equity and Human Rights in Evaluations of Public Policies and Programmes

Chair/Commentator: AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK - Mr. Rakesh Nangia, Evaluator General (Vice President), African Development Bank

WORLD BANK - Ms. Caroline Heider, Director General and Senior Vice President, Evaluation, World Bank Group
UNDP ARMENIA - Ms. Armine Hovhannisyan, UNDP RBM and Gender Equality Focal Point
INDIA - Ms. Shagun Sabarwal, Senior Capacity Building Manager, JameelPoverty Action Lab South Asia (J-PAL) at the Institute for Financial Management
KENYA - Mr. Awuor Ponge, Board Member of IDEAS and President & Director of Research, Policy and Evaluation at the African Policy Centre

Session 5: M&E Systems to Improve Performance of Policies and Programmes

Chair/Commentator: UNDP RBAP - Ms. Francine Pickup, UNDP Strategic Planning Advisor

BOTSWANA - Ms. Kemelo Mophuting, Chief M&E Officer, National Strategy Office, Evolution of the National Monitoring and Evaluation System
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO - Ms. Jacinta Bailey-Sobers, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Planning and Development - Building a robust Monitoring and Evaluation System
GEORGIA - Ms. Tamara Razmadze, Head of Donor Coordination Unit, Measuring Progress towards SDGs through National Policy Monitoring and Evaluation System
BRAZIL - Ms. Selma Serpa, Head, Evaluation and Performance Audit Department, Brazilian Court of Accounts - The maturity of monitoring and evaluation systems of the Brazilian public administration
EGYPT - Ms. Randa Hamza, Senior Advisor Monitoring and Evaluation, Ministry of International Cooperation

Pararllel Special Joint Sessions 1

Session 1: New Frontiers for Evaluation in a Fast Changing World

Chair/Commentator: WORLD BANK - Ms. Caroline Heider, Director General of the Independent Evaluation Group of the World Bank

UNITED KINGDOM - Mr. Chris Barnett, Director, Centre for Development Impact, Brighton
THAILAND - Mr. Dechapiwat Na Songkhla, Deputy Budget Director, Bureau of the Budget
SOUTH AFRICA - Mr. Richard Levin, Principal of the National School of Governance, South Africa and Chairperson of the South African Monitoring and Evaluation Association
KENYA - Ms. Holly Dublin, Independent Expert

Session 2: Evaluation Challenges and Innovations in Small Island Developing States

Chair/Commentator: GEF - Mr. Juha I. Uitto, Director of the Independent Evaluation Office of the Global Environment Facility

ST. LUCIA - Mr. Edwin St. Catherine, Director of Statistics, Ministry of Economic Affairs
AUSTRALIA - Mr. Jeremy Kohlitz, University of Technology
COOK ISLANDS - Ms. Miimetua Nimerota, Senior Strategic Policy and Planning Adviser, Central Policy and Planning Unit, Office of the Prime Minister
MARSHALL ISLANDS - Mr. Bruce Kijiner, Secretary, Ministryof Foreign Affairs
BARBADOS - Mr. David Todd, Director, International Development, Environment and Disasters

Session 3: The Role of Bilateral Agencies and the OECD-DAC Evalnet in Promoting NEC to Support the SDGs

Chair/Commentator: FINLAND - Ms. Riitta Oksanen, Senior Advisor, Unit for Development Evaluation, Ministry for Foreign Affairs

MALAWI - Mr. Winston Nyasulu, Assistant Budget Director, Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Development - Steps towards successful evaluation of sustainable development goals
NORWAY - Mr. Per Oyvind Bastoe, Director of the Evaluation Department of the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD)
FRANCE - Mr. Hans Lundgren, Manager of the DAC Evaluation Network, OECD
UNITED KINGDOM - Ms. Penny Hawkins, Head of Evaluation of Department for International Development (DFID)
SOUTH AFRICA - Ms. Zenda Ofir, UNDP IEO Evaluation Advisory Panel Member

Joint Keynotes Address

Challenges of Evaluating Sustainable Development

Mr. Vinod Thomas Director - General Evaluation, Asian Development Bank

Chair: Ms. Susan Tamondong, Vice - President of IDEAS

Commentator: Mr. Emmanuel Jimenez, ExecutiveDirector of the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie)

Plenary 2

National Policies and Capabilities for Evidence-Based Planning and Results-Based Governance

Co-chairs: UNDP - Ms. Simona Marinescu, Chief of the Development Impact Group

UNDP - Ms. Simona Marinescu, Director/Chief of the DIG global project for strengthening national evaluation capacities
ISRAEL - Ms. Barbara Rosenstein, Chairperson, The Israeli Association for Program Evaluation - The status of national evaluation policies worldwide (via videoconference)
PHILIPPINES - Ms. Violeta Corpus, Director, Monitoring and Evaluation Staff, National Economic and Development Authority - National Evaluation Policy Framework: Engendering an Evaluation Culture in the Philippines
NORWAY - Mr. Per Oyvind Bastoe, Director of the Evaluation Department of the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation
FINLAND - Ms. Riitta Oksanen, Senior Advisor, Development Evaluation, Ministry for Foreign Affairs

Note taker: Kristina Leuchowius

Coordinator: Serdar Bayriyev

Parallel Sessions 2

Session 6: Good Practices in Strengthening Institutional Evaluation Capacities in Government

Moderator: CLEAR - Ms. Nidhi Khattri, Lead, Centers for Learning on Evaluation and Results

NIGERIA - Mr. Zakariyau Lawal, Director, Monitoring & Evaluation in the National Planning Commission - Building Evaluation Capacity in Government
BRAZIL - Mr. Miguel Foguel, Technical Expert in Research and Planning in the Institute for Applied Economic Research
INDIA - Mr. A.K. Shiva Kumar, Director, International Centre for Human Development
MEXICO - Mr. Gonzalo Hernández Licona, Executive Director, National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy
KENYA - Mr. Samson Machuka, Director, Ministry of Devolution and Evaluation

Session 7: A Cross-Regional Dialogue on NEC: Opportunities, Challenges, Lessons Learned

Chair/Commentator: ARMENIA - Mr. Garegin Melkonyan, First Deputy Minister of Economy

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC - Mr. MarcoVinicio Espinal Martinez, M&E Advisor of the National Competitiveness Council. The Common Assessment Framework (CAF): Principles and Criteria on Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation for Development Results
TAJIKISTAN - MrShahzod Avazov, Chief Specialist, Department of Monitoring of National Programmes Implementation. Tajikistan M&E Experienceand Lessons Learned.
CANADA - Mr. Frederic Martin, Co-President, Coordinator of IDEA Network
KYRGYZSTAN - Ms. Jyldyz Choroeva, UNDP M&E Specialist
UKRAINE - Ms. TetyanaKudina,UNDP Programme Associate of Democratic Governance Cluster

Session 8: Establishing Sound Subnational M&E systems - Meeting the Challenges with Local Creativity?

Chair/Commentator: CHINA - Mr. Li Kouqing, Director General, Asia-Pacific Finance and Development Institute and Centers for Learning on Evaluation and Results

SOUTH AFRICA - Mr. Salatial Chikwema, Director, Monitoring and Evaluation, City of Johannesburg, & Group Strategy Policy Coordination and Relations (GSPCR), Office of the City Manager
MEXICO - Mr. David GomezAlvarez, Undersecretary of Planning and Evaluation, Government of Jalisco
CHINA - Ms. Fu Hai Ying, Section Chief, ShanFughai Finance Bureau

Session 9: SMART Indicators, Adaptation of Indices and M&E Systems for the SDGs - The Challenge of the Millennium

Chair/Commentator: Mr. Ray Rist, UNDP IEO Evaluation Advisory Panel Member

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC - Ms. Ivett Subero, Director of UN System Monitoring in the General Directorate of Multilateral Cooperation, Ministry of Economy - The link between Poverty and Environment: an innovative tool for monitoring and evaluation of the SDGs
MONTENEGRO - Ms. Marija Mijuskovic, Advisor at the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism, Moving from MDGs to SDGs
UNSD - Mr. Matthias Reister, Senior Statistician, Statistical Services Branch, UN Statistics Division

Session 10: Building credible national data systems for results based monitoring and evaluation of the SDGs

Chair: BRAZIL - Ms. Lycia Silva e Lima, General Coordinator, Sao Paulo School for Economics at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, Center for Applied Micro-economics

BRAZIL - Mr. Paulo Jannuzzi, Secretary of Evaluation and Information Management, Ministry of Social Development and Fight against Hunger - Using National Statistical Surveys and Registers to consolidate the evaluation strategy of social programs and build SDG indicators at subnational level
SOMALIA - Mr. Mohamed Farah, Head of M&E Department, Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation - Building credible national data systems for results-based monitoring and evaluation
COLOMBIA - Mr. Felipe Castro, Director of Monitoring and Evaluation in Department of National Planning Monitoring and Evaluation Systems, moving forward to SDGs
GUINEA - Mr. Eloi IV Kouadio, UNDP Acting Country Director

Pararllel Special Joint Sessions 2

Session 4: The Future of Social and Environmental Safeguards

Chair/Commentator: ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK - Mr. Vinod Thomas, Director-General of the Independent Evaluation Department

UK - Mr. Michael Cernea, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution
INDIA - Mr. Shekhar Singh, Independent Expert, India
CHINA - Mr. Shi Guoqing, Director, China's National Research Centre on Resettlement (TBC)
UNDP - Ms. Heather Bryant, IEO Evaluation Specialist

Session 5: The Role South-South Collaboration in Evaluation to support the SDGs

Chairs/Moderator: UNDP – Mr. Arild Hauge, IEO Deputy Director

BENIN – Mr. Abdoulaye Gounou, General Director of Evaluation, PrimeMinister’s Office, Promoting Impact Evaluation In The WAEMU And Strenghtening M&E In Africa: Two Programmes Of Peer To Peer And SouthSouth Collaboration And Exchange On Evaluation
THAILAND - Mr. Banchong Amornchewin, Director of Planning and Monitoring Thailand International Cooperation Agency (TICA) - Revitalizing the Evaluation Result for Effective South-South Cooperation
SURINAME - Ms. Joyce Kariodimedjo, Director of the National Planning
SPAIN – Mr. Pedro Flores, Director of the International Foundation for Administration and Public Policies (FIIAPP)

Session 6: Qualification of Evaluation Professionals

Chair/Commentator: DFID – Ms. Penny Hawkins, Head of Evaluation of DFID

WORLD BANK – Ms. Caroline Heider, Director-General Evaluation and Senior Vice President of the World Bank Group: introductory speech raising the issue whether the evaluation profession is getting ready for credentialing, qualification and other forms of professional recognition

IPDET – Ms. Linda Morra-Imas, Co-Director of IPDET and Special Advisor of the IDEAS Board on professionalization
MALAYSIA – Mr. Arunaselam Rasappan, Executive Director of CeDRE, Committee Member of the Malaysian Evaluation Society
UK – Ms. Elizabeth Robin, President of the UK Evaluation Society
THAILAND – Mr. Chanin Chiumkanokchai, Thailand Evaluation Network
CANADA – Ms. Keiko Kuji-Shikatani, Member of Canadian Evaluation Society

Session 7: The Role of UNEG in Promoting NEC to Support the SDGs

Commentator: Mr. Indran Naidoo, Director of the Independent Evaluation Office of UNDP

UNHABITAT - Mr. Martin Barugahare, Chief, Evaluation Unit
UNICEF - Ms. Ada Ocampo, Senior Evaluation Advisor
UNIDO - Mr. Javier Guarnizo, Officer-in-Charge, Office for Independent Evaluation
UN Women - Mr. Marco Segone, Director, Office of Evaluation
IDEAS - Mr. Rashmi Agarwal, Board Member of IDEAS

Joint Keynotes Address

Opportunities in Evaluating Equitable and Sustainable Development in the Context of SDG

Mr. Marco Segone, Director, Independent Evaluation Office of UN-Women, UNEG Chair

Chair/Commentator: Rob D. van den Berg, IDEAS president

Note taker: Dorothy Lucks

Coordinator: Marta Lanzoni

Parallel Sessions 3

Session 11 A– Asia and the Pacific Consultations

Chair: Dharshana Senanayake, Director-General, Department of Project Management and Monitoring, Ministry of Finance

Facilitator: UNDP RHAP – Daniela Gasparikova, Team Leader RBM Unit

Session 11 B– Asia and the Pacific Consultations

Chair: Thavrak Tuon, Secretary of State, Ministry of Planning

Facilitator: UNDP RBAP – Francine Pickup, UNDP Strategic Planning Adviser

Session 12 – Africa Consultations

Facilitator: UNDP RBA – Mamadou N’Daw,RBM and M&E Adviser

Session 13 – Arab States Consultations

Chair: MOROCCO – El Hassan El Mansouri, Secrétaire Général de l’Observatoire national du développement Humain (ONDH)

Facilitator: UNDP MOROCCO – Chafika Affaq,Programme Officer

Session 14 – Europe and CIS Consultations

Facilitator: UNDP RBEC – Elena Panova, Regional Senior Programme Coordinator

Session 15 – Latin America and the Caribbean Consultations

Facilitator: UNDP RBLAC – Gonzalo Guerra, RBM and M&E Adviser

Parallel Sessions 4

Session 16: The Role of National Governments in Impact Evaluation

Chair/Commentator: 3IE - Mr. Emmanuel Jimenez, Executive Director

PERU – Ms. Chris Boyd – Researched in the Institute of Peruvian Studies, The Impact of Financial Education for Conditional Cash Transfers' Beneficiaries in Peru
PHILIPPINES - Mr. Christian Deloria, Director III, Department of Social Welfare and Development,
UGANDA – Ms. Christine Guwatudde Kintu, Permanent Secretary, Office of the Prime Minister-Uganda., Institutionalization of National Evaluations: Experience of Uganda
BENIN - Mr. Emmanuel David-Gnahoui, Special Advisor, Prime Minister’s Office
INDIA - Mr. Prakash Kumar, Lead, Bihar Technical Assistance and Support Team

Session 18: Government Innovations in Evaluation

AFGHANISTAN – Mr. Qiam Mukhtar, Results-Based Monitoring and Evaluation Expert in the Ministry of Economy, Impact of inflation uncertainty, exchange rate volatility, and interest rate volatility on Foreign Direct Investment
PAKISTAN – Mr. Muhammad Nadeem Javaid, Chief Economist, Planning Commission, Ministry of Planning, Development & Reform, What drives the quality of institutions in Asian economies?
GAMBIA – Mr. Alagie Fadera, Director of Development Planning, Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, Government Innovations in Evaluation: The Gambia Experiences and the Drive to Strengthen the National Evaluation Capacities towards the SDGs
UKRAINE - Ms. Oksana Movchan, Advisor to Administration of the President
BRAZIL - Ms. Cristina Magro, Board Member of IDEAS

Session 19: Civil Society Evaluation Skills Collaborating with Governments to Enhance Learning and Accountability

Chair: IOCE/EvalPartners – Mr. Jim Rugh, Coordinator IOCE/EvalPartners

Facilitator: UNDP Egypt – Ms. Nermine Wally, Evaluation Specialist

CAMEROON - Mr. Serge Eric Yakeu Djiam, Independent Consultant, Contribution to Evaluation Capacity Development (ECD) in Africa: Challenges & Opportunities from the African Evaluation Association (AfrEA)
IFAD – Ms. Johanna Pennarz, Lead Evaluation Specialist, Independent Office of Evaluation, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), IFAD approach to ECD, Emerging practices for peer-to-peer collaboration in China and Ethiopia
CANADA – Ms. Keiko Kuji-Shikatani, Member of Canadian Evaluation Society

Session 20: NEC in Africa: The Challenge with the Integration of Evaluation into SGDs and National Development Goals

Chair/Commentator: CANADA - Ms. Marie Gervais, Vice-President of IOCE and Vice President of the Réseau francophone d’évaluation, RFE

Discussant: SENEGAL – Mr. Boubacar Aw, Coordinator, CLEAR-CESAG

AFRIQUE DU SUD – Ms. Laila Smith, CLEAR Afrique Anglophone
BURKINA FASO - Mr. Seglaro Abel Some, Secretaire Executif National, Stratégie de Croissance accélérée et de development durable
COTE D’IVOIRE – Mr. Koffi Kouame, Directeur du Controle, du Suivi et de l’Evaluation, Direction Generale du Plan et de la Lutte contre la Pauvrete
UNDP RBA - Mr. Mamadou N’Daw, M&E Advisor, Regional Bureau for Africa

Concluding Plenary

The Global Evaluation Agenda 2016-2020 to support the Global Development Agenda post-2015

UNDP RBAP - Mr. Nicholas Rosellini, UNDP Deputy Director of the Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, presents the NEC list of priorities for the Bangkok Declaration
IDEAS - Mr. Rob D. van den Berg, IDEAS president, presents IDEAS list of priorities for the Declaration of Bangkok
UNDP IEO - Mr. Indran Naidoo, Director, presents the Bangkok Declaration

Note taker: Kamolmas Jaiyen

Coordinator: Francine Pickup

Closing Ceremony

Royal Thai Government HANDS TORCH to

Hon. Mr. Ananda Prasad Pokharel, Member, Legislature Parliament of Nepal

Ms. Dorothy Lucks, EvalPartners Representative

Documents