Indran A. Naidoo - IOE

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Director

Dr. Indran A. Naidoo

South Africa

English

i.naidoo@ifad.org

+39 06 5459 2274

PhD Evaluation University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa

Masters in Geography West Virginia University, USA

Bachelor of Education University of South Africa

Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) in Geography University of KwaZulu Natal

Bachelor of Pedagogics (Arts) University of KwaZulu Natal

Indran A. Naidoo is the Director of the Independent Office of Evaluation at IFAD. He brings vast global experience into the role having served as the Director of the Independent Evaluation (IEO) of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), where he led the transformation and expansion of the office during his 8 year term. Fundamental transformation milestones included entrenching independence, establishing a budget target through a new evaluation policy, new polices, advancing staff professionalization, diversifying evaluation products, dedicated IEO website, and achieving five-fold expansion of coverage and evaluation efficiency. He also pursed innovative evaluations, advancing disciplinary boundaries with assessments of institutional effectiveness conducted with the UNDP Office of Audit and Investigations. The experience was presented and documented in several publications. Indran has placed emphasis on using evaluation processes as learning and reflective opportunities, and was able to achieve this within the construct of accountability . The National Evaluation Capacity (NEC) series grew under his leadership to become the largest United Nations evaluation capacity building event by country participation, offering training and forums for thought leadership with partners over the period, which saw major co-hosting with government and evaluation partners and networks in South Africa, Brazil, Thailand, Turkey and Egypt. The NEC series engaged with participants from over 170 countries, and generated high-quality evaluation resources. During his various tenures, he has generated presentations and courses that were selected for instruction internationally. Indran has emphasized the importance of evaluation for good governance, transparency, accountability and learning, and has been active in evaluation networks of the United Nations, as a UNEG Vice-Chair, and former Board member of the International Development Evaluation Association (IDEAS), and South African Monitoring and Evaluation Association (SAMEA). He services as academic advisor and reviewer for evaluation courses and journals, and has published extensively. At the Public Service Commission (PSC) of South Africa, where he served for 12 years, he helped design and implement monitoring and evaluation systems to measure governance pinned on constitutional values and principles for good governance. In 1995, he entered the field and set up the first monitoring and evaluation Directorate to oversee the land reform program, in post-apartheid South Africa.

Academic instructions Guest speaker and instructor at International Program for Development Evaluation Training (IPDET); Guest speaker at Yale School of Management; Guest speaker at Kennedy School of Management; Guest speaker at European Institute of Innovation for Sustainability (EIIS); External examiner for post graduate courses at University of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg

Professional affiliations Member of the Evaluation Cooperation Group (ECG) Member of the United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG) | Vice-Chair, 2013 – 2020 Member of International Research Group for Policy and Program Evaluation (INTEVAL) Former Board member of the International Development Evaluation Association (IDEAS) Founding Board member of the South African M&E Association (SAMEA)

Leadership awards and distinctions Abe Bailey Fellowship to the UK, Ambassador for the University of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa British Council Scholarship for the Oxford University Educational leadership seminars, United Kingdom Outstanding Alumnus, West Virginia University Senior Executive Programme at the Harvard and Wits Business Schools, USA and South Africa

Key publications Eliadis, P., Naidoo, I., Rist, R. (2023) Policy Evaluation in the Era of COVID-19. Routledge. Naidoo, I. (2022) “Evaluation for Transformational Change: Learning from Practice”. Chapter 2. In Transformational Change for People and the Planet. Sustainable Development Goals Series, Juha. Uitto and Geeta Batra (Eds), Springer. Published in the Journals of the American, European and African Evaluation Associations.

+30 years experience in the education, development and evaluation sector.

+25 years at the evaluation leadership level, with teaching and management.

2021 Rome, Italy

2012 New York, USA

2000 South Africa

1995 South Africa

1987 South Africa

Director Independent Office of Evaluation, IFAD

Director Independent Evaluation Office, UNDP

Deputy Director-General for Monitoring & Evaluation; Deputy Director-General for Leadership and Management Practices; Chief Director for Governance Monitoring Public Service Commission of South Africa

Director Monitoring and Evaluation National Dept.of Land Affairs

Educator

Articles in journals, publications and books

60 Seconds with the Director

Statements

Interviews

Presentations & blogs

Articles in journals, publications and books

Independent Magazine (Editor-in-Chief)

Independent Office of Evaluation of IFAD 2021 - present

Policy Evaluation in the Era of COVID-19

Indran A. Naidoo, Pearl Eliadis, and Ray Rist 2023