Ladies and gentlemen,
It’s a pleasure to join you today for the 7th National Evaluations Capacities Conference. This year’s event is taking place against the backdrop of an unprecedented global food crisis with the threat of famine and starvation growing all the time.
Today, 345 million people are marching towards starvation – that’s more than two and half times the number before the pandemic. And 50 million people in 45 countries are literally knocking on famine’s door. For many of these people, World Food Programme (WFP) assistance means the difference between life and death.
As we go all out to deliver emergency food aid and work with communities to build resilience and strengthen global food systems, it’s critical that we learn what’s most effective in the fight to end hunger, and that we apply these successes right across our operations.
That’s why the focus of this year’s conference on resilient systems and evaluation in fragile contexts is so important. Independent evaluations provide vital information about the effectiveness, the impact, and of course the sustainability of our work. They promote transparency and trust with our many donors and partners and shine a light on effective approaches that deliver tangible results.
And when tough decisions need to be made, we need access to the best possible evidence to ensure we make the right call.
Your work as evaluation experts underpins the frontline programmes that save lives and change lives every single day in the world’s most challenging places.
Thank you for everything you do.
I wish you all a very successful and productive conference.
