Isabelle Mercier

Esteemed colleagues, ladies and gentlemen,

It is truly an honour to stand before you today and share a few words to mark the opening of the National Evaluation Capacities Conference.

Looking around this room, I am filled with both optimism and a profound sense of responsibility.

I see over 400 professionals—many of whom have travelled long distances, all united by a common purpose: to use evaluation as a force for meaningful change. Your presence here speaks volumes about our shared commitment to advancing this vital work, work that has the power to transform decisions and improve lives. To all of you, thank you for being here. It is incredibly inspiring.

I want to begin by expressing my heartfelt gratitude to our partners at CIDCA for their invaluable support in organizing this conference. To H.E. Xiao Je, Mr. Fengtao, Mr. Lin and Mr. Mu Peng—thank you for your warm hospitality today. My sincere appreciation also goes to our Administrator, Mr. Achim Steiner, for being here today despite his busy schedule, and for his insightful remarks. His message reaffirmed something I deeply believe—evaluation is not just a tool; it is an essential pillar of effective governance. And UNDP, which has governance as part of its core mandate, has a very important role to play to support countries strengthening decision-making through evaluative evidence.

As I’ve said before—and I will emphasize again today—we can’t make a difference if we work in isolation. We can produce the most insightful evidence, but if we fail to connect it to decision-making processes, we have only fulfilled part of our responsibility. Likewise, if policymakers continue making decisions based on beliefs and untested assumptions, without using evaluations to challenge and validate their choices, they, too, are missing a crucial opportunity to make real, informed progress. In a world as fragmented as the one in which we live, real change can only happen when we come together.

The theme of this conference— ‘Responsive Evaluation: For Government, For Inclusion, For the Future’—calls on us to embrace the reality of the systems we work in. Responsive evaluations are those that don’t just create a direct line between evaluators and decision makers. They open the door to broader, deeper conversations. Responsive evaluations engage not only the leaders and policymakers, but also the implementers, civil society and, above all, the people with the highest stake in the outcomes—and these are the communities we serve. People whose present is uncertain and whose future is most at risk.

As conflicts tear apart the Middle East, and many other corners of the world. As we witness the devastating effects of climate change wreaking havoc across countries. As unequal systems deepen our sense of scarcity, driving people to turn against each other. Amid all this turmoil, I would like us all to reflect on this: What can we do to create a more just and equitable world? What needs to happen for evaluations to become an integral part of governance and decision-making—a must rather than a nice to have? What is the most effective way to challenge programmes and policies that do not align with the values of the SDGs or that fail to deliver the transformative change our world urgently requires? What must change for organizations to promote cultures that are centred around learning? How can we create spaces where we can have honest conversations about what has worked and what hasn’t—where vulnerability is embraced, as we navigate a world where nothing is certain?

Distinguished colleagues, ladies and gentlemen,

We find ourselves at a critical juncture—a moment of profound crisis, but also one of possibilities.

And certainly, a moment that calls for responsibility. We can either retreat into silos, or we can rise to the challenge, working together to build the systems and institutions that will lead us towards a more just, sustainable future.

This week is a chance to begin that work in earnest. Take full advantage of it!

Before I close, I want to express my deep gratitude to my colleagues at the UNDP IEO, whose tireless efforts behind the scenes are making this conference possible: Fumika, Janis, Jin, Anna, Flora, Iben, Anish, Xuefei and Richard, along with the Operations Team and other colleagues. Thank you! I also want to thank our close partners at GEI and our financial sponsors for their unwavering support.

Thank you all for being here. I am excited for the conversations we will have and the ideas that will emerge.

Together, I believe we can turn this shared vision into action.