The Department of External Resources, the Department of National Planning and the Independent Office of Evaluation of IFAD (IOE) co-organized a national workshop for the Country Strategy and Programme Evaluation (CSPE) conducted by IOE in the course of 2018, as a final step in the evaluation process.

The event was held on 13 March 2019 in Colombo. Around 115 participants attended the workshop, including  Mr. J. A. Ranjith, Secretary, Ministry of Plantation Industries; Mr. K. D. S. Ruwanchandra, Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Economic Affairs, Livestock Development, Irrigation and Fisheries & Aquatic Resources Development; Mr. S. S. Mudalige, Director General, Department of National Planning; and Mr. Ajith Abeysekera, Acting Director General, Department of External Resources. Among other participants were representatives of IFAD senior management and project management staff of IFAD-funded projects covered by the CSPE, resource organizations and international development cooperation institutions.

The IFAD delegation included the Associate Vice-President, Programme Management Department, the Director of IOE, the Director of the Asia and the Pacific Division, the IFAD Country Programme Manager for Sri Lanka, and the IOE evaluation team.

Ms Fumiko Nakai, IOE Senior Evaluation Officer, presented the key findings, conclusions and recommendations from the Sri Lanka CSPE. The key themes emerging from the CSPE were then discussed in working groups.

Prior to the workshop, on 11-12 March, the IFAD delegation undertook a field visit to selected field activities of interventions co-funded by IFAD in relation to the completed National Agribusiness Partnership Development Programme, the ongoing Smallholder Agribusiness Partnerships Programme and the Smallholder Tea and Rubber Revitalization Project in Kalutara, Ratnapura and Kurunegala districts. This provided an opportunity to directly hold discussions with the rural communities, staff and partners in the field, and to see project activities on the ground.

During the workshop, as a final step in the evaluation, the Government of Sri Lanka and IFAD Management signed an Agreement at Completion Point. The ACP presents Government's and IFAD's commitment to adopt and implement the CSPE recommendations within specific timeframes.

The workshop was widely covered by the Sri Lankan media.