The Independent Office of Evaluation of IFAD (IOE), in collaboration with the Government of India and IFAD’s Asia and the Pacific Division, organized a national workshop for the India Country Strategy and Programme Evaluation (CSPE), as a final step in the evaluation process.

The event took place on 7 October 2024, from 9.00 to 12.30 (New Delhi time), in New Delhi. It entailed the participation of representatives of the Government, development partners, civil society organizations, private sector partners, research institutions and IFAD senior management and staff.

The objectives of the workshop were to:

• discuss the main findings, recommendations and issues emerging from the CSPE;

• reflect on opportunities and challenges in the IFAD-Government partnership and strategic priorities for IFAD’s upcoming programmes; and

• discuss points that can be considered in the finalization and signing of the evaluation’s Agreement at Completion Point (ACP).

The workshop opened with an introductory statement by Dr Indran A. Naidoo, IOE Director. Dr Donal Brown, Associate Vice-President, Programme Management Department, IFAD, delivered a statement. Ms Manisha Sinha, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, gave an opening statement.

Dr Kouessi Maximin Kodjo, IOE Lead Evaluation Officer, and Ms Nimisha Mittal, IOE consultant, delivered a presentation on the CSPE’s main findings, conclusions and recommendations. This was followed by a lively Q&A session.

After a coffee break and group photo session, a key partners’ comments session commenced, where key programme stakeholders gave their perspectives on the IFAD-Government partnership. The stakeholders were Mr André Ling, Monitoring & Evaluation Expert, Collaborative Impact; Ms Jasmer Dhingra, Senior Programme Manager, Sustainable Trade Initiative; Mr Manuj Goyal, IFAD Project Director; Ms Megha Desai, Senior Coordinator, Self Employed Women's Association; and Ms Elisabeth Steinmayr, IFAD India – Programme officer. Thereafter, reflections on the future directions for IFAD’s country strategy and programme were delivered by Dr Reehana Raza, Regional Director, APR, IFAD; and Dr Ulaç Demirag, IFAD Country Director for India. Ms Annies Kanmani Joy, Deputy Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, delivered a statement on the Government’s orientations on the future IFAD strategy in India.

The event ended with closing remarks by Dr Naidoo and Ms Kanmani Joy.

The workshop was attended by 48 participants.

The workshop material will be made available on this webpage in due course.