Rome, 6 October 2022 – Maintaining and safeguarding the independence construct that permeates the functioning of the Independent Office of Evaluation of IFAD (IOE) is essential to ensure the continued production of credible, high-quality and useful evaluations. The newly appointed Chair of the IFAD Evaluation Committee (EC), H.E. Miguel Jorge García Winder, Ambassador and Permanent Representative from Mexico to the UN Agencies, emphasized this crucial node during his meeting with the IOE senior management team, on 6 October 2022.

H.E. Miguel Jorge García Winder was appointed Chair of the IFAD EC at the Committee’s 118^th session, on 2 September 2022. Former Undersecretary of Agriculture of Mexico, Ambassador Winder has led and coordinated hemispheric and global initiatives aimed at the development of competitive, sustainable and inclusive agriculture, with emphasis on sustainable and innovative agribusiness models for small and medium producers and for family farming, in the development of new market organizations and in strengthening entrepreneurial skills. In his work, he has paid particular attention to developing sustainable ways of linking small farmers to markets.

During the course of the meeting with IOE senior management, which took place at IFAD Headquarters in Rome, Ambassador Winder put the spotlight on key strategic issues for the EC. In addition to emphasizing the need to uphold the principle of independence enshrined in the IFAD Evaluation Policy [here], he also underscored the importance of maintaining focused evaluative conversations, avoiding an over proliferation of issues, and highlighted the urgency to identify constructive ways in which IFAD member states can actively support the follow-up process to the recommendations contained in IOE’s evaluation reports.

The strategic innovations brought about by IOE over the past 18 months were also discussed during the meeting, alongside the Office’s work programme and key deliverables for the forthcoming year. In this context, Dr Indran A. Naidoo, IOE Director, explained the significance of the new Evaluation Policy, Multi-year Strategy [here] – a first for IOE – and revised Manual [here], whilst pinpointing the renewed and enhanced focus on quality control, and affirming the heightened collaborative relationship with IFAD senior management. IOE’s re-envisioned approach to communications and outreach – manifest in its new website [here] and magazine [here] – complement these undertakings.

Looking ahead, Fabrizio Felloni, IOE Deputy Director, presented the pillars underpinning the IOE work programme for 2023. These include forging a corporate culture vis-à-vis the need for IFAD to be an increasingly transparent, accountable and learning-oriented organization; improving evaluation coverage; building evaluation dialogues; and retaining and deepening IOE’s position as an internationally recognized leader in the evaluation of rural development programmes, strategies and policies.

The IFAD Evaluation Committee performs in-depth reviews of selected evaluation issues. Meeting at least four times a year, the EC reviews IOE’s strategies and methodologies, discusses selected evaluation reports and IOE’s annual work programme and budget. It also makes suggestions for including evaluations of particular interest to the Committee in IOE’s annual work programme.

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