New York, 11 July 2024 – People’s participation in development cooperation initiatives to lead and influence decision making is crucial. Affected people are not just target groups or subjects of development intervention, but are the centre and lead of the process, who hold a right to participate in their development. However, the evaluation field has been shaped by the priorities and preferences of the development assistance over the past six decades. By focusing on results frameworks and intended consequences of development actions, evaluations often overlooked the unintended consequences of interventions. As an alternative, people-centred evaluations could facilitate the focus on both intended and unintended consequences, when coupled with efforts to ensure credibility, impartiality and independence. Dr S. Nanthikesan, Lead Evaluation Officer at the Independent Office of Evaluation of IFAD (IOE), delved into this fine balance during a side event at the UN High Level Political Forum (HLPF) 2024, on 11 July 2024.

Titled ‘People’s right to participate in development cooperation as key to achieving SDG 13 (Climate Action) - A consultative engagement with global development actors’, the event was hosted by several international partners who have engaged in various ways to put people and their needs at the centre of the development process. Over 60 participants followed the lively panel discussion that, in addition to Dr Nanthikesan, also featured presentations by Dr Isabelle Durant, Former Deputy Secretary General, UNCTAD & UN Independent Expert on the Right to Development; Ms. Merlyn Barlaanm, Director of Women’s Federation for World Peace International office for UN relations; and Ms. Alejandra Safa Barraza, Programme Officer at FAO. Ms. Srruthi Lekha Raaja Elango, Doctoral Researcher, United Nations University for Peace for the study on People Led Approaches to development cooperation, moderated the proceedings.

The aim of the event was to promote people’s right to participate in development cooperation and help guide development practitioners of international organizations to effectively empower people to lead their own development through the exchange of knowledge and expertise. To this end, discussions looked at ways in which people’s right to participate in development cooperation is fulfilled, as being the key to effective development initiatives against the disproportionate impacts of climate change. In his session, Dr Nanthikesan focused specifically on people-centred monitoring and evaluation for an impactful accountability.

IOE’s Lead Evaluation Officer noted that evaluation teams parachuting into a country will most likely not possess all the insights necessary to capture the full extent of the reality on the ground as development efforts entail not only intended consequences but also unintended ones.  People-centred approaches in which local inputs that anticipate and identify unintended consequences offer an important resource to make a complete assessment of development interventions.  While there are advantages, people-centred approaches also face risks from a methodological standpoint - risks may arise vis-à-vis elite capture and power hierarchies, fragmented communities, and threats to credibility and independence of the process, that need to be managed and mitigated.  

The 2024 HLPF was held from Monday, 8 July, to Wednesday, 17 July 2024, under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council. The theme of this year’s Forum was ‘Reinforcing the 2030 Agenda and eradicating poverty in times of multiple crises: the effective delivery of sustainable, resilient and innovative solutions’.

For further information, please contact Dr Alexander Voccia [here]

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