The National Economic and Development Authority of the Government of the Philippines and the Independent Office of Evaluation of IFAD (IOE) have co-organized a national workshop for the Philippines Country Strategy and Programme Evaluation (CSPE), as a final step in the evaluation process, which took place in Manila on 16 November 2016.

The event was attended by about 75 participants from a wide range of sectors, including  the Undersecretaries from the Department of Agrarian Reform and the Department of Agriculture, government agencies, government-owned and controlled corporations (e.g. Development Bank of the Philippines, Land Bank of the Philippines, Small Business Corporation), IFAD-financed projects, farmers’ organizations, non-governmental organizations, CGIAR institutions, development partners (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, World Food Programme, World Bank and the Asian Development Bank) and the private sector. The IFAD delegation included the Assistant Vice-President/Programme Management Department, IOE Deputy Director, Asia and the Pacific Division Director, IOE lead evaluator for the CSPE, the Country Programme Manager for the Philippines, and staff from the Philippines IFAD Country Office.

The objectives of the national workshop were to:

• discuss the main issues emerging from the Philippines Country Strategy and Programme Evaluation;
• provide inputs for the preparation of the evaluation's Agreement at Completion Point; and
• discuss the opportunities and challenges of the IFAD-Government of the Philippines partnership in the future.