Financing National Evaluation Systems

Moderator

• Oscar Garcia, Director, IEO, UNDP and Chair, UNEG

Panellists

• Jerry Zanger, Director, National M&E Unit, Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, Liberia
• Venancio Mzonda, Chief Economist, Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs-Monitoring and Evaluation Division, Malawi
• Mohamed Mahdad, Governance Director, Ministry in charge of Investment, Convergence and Evaluation of Public Policies, Morocco
• Karen Rot-Munstermann, Evaluator General at African Development Bank
• Teodora Recalde, Director General, Budget for Results, Ministry of Finance, Paraguay

Systems need financing to succeed and ensure they are sustainable. How do we ensure that finances are available, and that NES show their worth?

• During the pandemic, funding was redirected to the health response and away from evaluation in some cases. As we return to normality there is a focus on monitoring over evaluation.
• Not all M&E systems have the same level of maturity; therefore they have different funding needs.
• Funding is a result of the integration and recognition of the need for - and benefit of - evaluation and evaluation systems. To assure financing for evaluation you need: i) legal frameworks recognising the role of evaluation; ii) robust evaluation systems, evaluative expertise and data systems; iii) normative and cognitive frameworks; and finally, iv) strong political will.
• Pilot evaluations can help illustrate worth, and it may be possible to leverage funding to illustrate this worth from non-government sources, such as the international community.
• The COVID-19 crisis led to governments refocusing national budgets. Moving forward we need to show the importance and impact of evaluation, its value for money, as well as identifying and safeguarding M&E funding.
• In international agencies such as the African Development Bank and UNDP, budgets for M&E were less impacted by the pandemic as they are institutionally embedded as part of the administration budget. This provides an example of a way forward to protect evaluation budgets in future.
• In some countries, the M&E budget is included as a percentage of the development plan budget, safeguarding availability, though often for monitoring rather than evaluation. However structural assessments, such as through Monitoring and Evaluation System Analysis (MESA) tools, found that financing and embedded finance was often lacking.
• Equally, a general appreciation of evaluation/ an evaluation culture as such is lacking. To show the value of evaluations for investment, some countries are looking for low-hanging fruits that will illustrate the value-for-money of evaluation.
• We need evaluation champions to advocate for investment in evaluation and evaluation systems at the policy and budget levels, and in discussions with policymakers.
• A culture of evaluation needs to be anchored into public sector management, incorporating a strong dialogue with CSOs and citizens. At the same time, evaluation needs to illustrate its utility for different stakeholders and their different needs.

Conclusion

Nation al Evaluation Systems are not all at the same level of maturity - some are at incubation, and some are mature - therefore the resources required for sustaining the systems are not the same. To ensure adequate financing, NES need to show their worth. To ensure sustainable NES financing, systems need to ensure legal frameworks as well as normative and cognitive frameworks, and be supported by clear political will.