Rome, 10 October 2024 – “The independent evaluation products have really been a great input to new IFAD policies and strategies, as confirmed by the 2023 MOPAN [Multilateral Organization Performance Assessment Network] assessment, which rated the independent evaluation function as one of the highest performing areas within the organization. Looking at the past twenty years, IOE’s reports have really helped IFAD’s governing bodies to gain a better understanding of the Fund and have assisted Management in terms of learning and accountability”, affirmed Nigel Brett [profile, here], Director of the Sustainable Production, Markets and Institutions Division of the Office of Technical Delivery at IFAD, during the third annual meeting of the Evaluation Advisory Pannel (EAP) of the Independent Office of Evaluation of IFAD (IOE), which took place on the 9^th and 10^th of October 2024.

These comments echoed those of Dr Juha I. Uitto [profile, here], Chair of the EAP, who underscored that “this is one of the best evaluation offices in the [multilateral development] system. IOE’s evaluations are very participatory, especially since the evaluators are very much in touch with the beneficiaries and other stakeholders”.

Hosted by IOE at IFAD headquarters in Rome, the annual meeting provided advice to IOE on several strategic issues and paid special attention to following up on areas for methodological development. For the first time, the new members of IOE’s second EAP came together. These are Dr Juha I. Uitto, Visiting Scholar at Environmental Law Institute and former Director of the Independent Evaluation Office of the Global Environmental Facility; Dr Doha M. Abdelhamid [profile, here], Senior Consultant and Senior International Evaluation Expert at the Islamic Bank for Development Group; and Dr Mita Marra [profile, here], Associate Professor of Economic Policy at the Department of Social Sciences of the University of Naples.

IFAD Senior Management and distinguished Member State representatives also attended the event. Among the latter were Ms Tanja Grén, Permanent Representative of Finland; Ms Anais Deffrennes, Chargée de mission politique, Advisor, France; Mr Mina Rizk, Alternate Permanent Representative of Egypt; and Ms Sandra Paola Ramírez Valenzuela, Alternate Representative of Mexico.

At the heart of discussions was the ability of IOE’s evaluative work to shape and strengthen IFAD’s projects, strategies and policies through a newfound process of engagement, for the benefit of poor rural communities.

“I’ve been in IFAD for over six years, and certainly the partnership with IOE has improved significantly from Management’s perspective. It has been about bringing a fresh approach focused on collaboration while respecting the independence of IOE. This comes through in the way we work together, including when we agree to disagree. I think a healthy tension is good. It’s a robust relationship, and IFAD Member States and our clients have benefited a lot from the fact that we have this much stronger engagement between IOE and Management”, said Dr Donal Brown [profile, here], Associate-Vice President, Department of Country Operations, who intervened on behalf of Mr Alvaro Lario, President of IFAD.

In the same vein Dr Claudia ten Have [profile, here], Director of the Office of the Secretary and Secretary of IFAD, further noted that “the interplay between Management and IOE has given birth to a very healthy dialogue at IFAD. I am very pleased that the organization has built this relationship, whereby we are able to have frank, candid and constructive discussions. I find particularly impressive the engagement, through the evaluative process, that takes place at the national level. This is imperative, because that is the place of change and of impact for IFAD”. 

Meeting participants put on the table several examples of this evaluative body of work. EAP members referenced the Annual Report on Independent Evaluation (ARIE), which they found to be a very solid report, which uses sound evaluation criteria and presents strong analysis. Likewise, IFAD Management brought examples of corporate level and thematic evaluations, as well as country strategy and programme evaluations, which were referred to as having great value in facilitating discussions with country policy makers.

The ability of these reports to contextualise findings and analysis is of paramount importance. This is especially true in the case of IFAD, which works in some of the most difficult countries in the world, with institutions that often have limited monitoring capacity. In this regard, EAP members emphasized how important it is to have a theory of change, as does the ARIE, which is grounded in the contextual understanding of the local realities. 

The two-day event also provided ample opportunity for EAP members to deliver insightful presentations, which sparked though-provoking discussions. Dr Uitto delved into the ramifications of climate change adaptation (CCA) for sustainable development, with reference to the thematic evaluation carried out by IOE on the subject matter, two years ago. In particular, the EAP Chair looked at the trade-offs and synergies between CCA and rural development and touched upon the need to understand the balance between intermediary results and the need for a long-term perspective.

Dr Abdelhamid focused her interventions on the issues and challenges faced by evaluators in measuring policy engagement’s ‘contribution’ on the one hand, and policy engagement’s ‘influence’ on the other in pursuit of enhanced effectiveness. In this regard, she underscored that developing context-based policy engagement outcomes and setting clearly the measures of contribution and influence at the outset is key to measurement and to evaluating policy engagement.

Prof Marra put the spotlight on theoretical perspectives on organizational reform and how to assess it. In doing so, she explained that the program theory should start from a problem and highlight the key causal relationships and intermediary outcomes to be verified; that Implementation theory can help uncover networks of stakeholders and actors that are key for program success; and that context analysis (within and outside IFAD) can generate situational knowledge, drawing on tangible and intangible evidence of change.

The EAP provides the IOE Director, Dr Indran A. Naidoo, with systematic advice, by reviewing and commenting various aspects of IOE’s work to enhance the professionalism of the evaluation function. The panel also serves as a critical friend, drawing on its substantive experience and expertise to help improve IOE’s independence, credibility and utility. Specific areas of advice and insights include quality standards for development evaluation, methodology innovation in evaluation, usefulness and use of evaluations, and global trends in international and rural development.

The first EAP served from 2022 to 2024, and comprised Dr Donna M. Mertens, Dr Bagele Chilisa, Rob D. van den Berg, Dr Gonzalo Hernández Licona and Hans Erik Lundgren. They provided comments on various IOE products, including the Office’s multi-year strategy, the Evaluation Manual, the thematic evaluation on climate change adaptation, and the corporate level evaluation on knowledge management, among others.

For further information, please contact Dr Alexander Voccia, Senior Evaluation Communication & KM Specialist [here].

• To access the presentation delivered by Dr Indran A. Naidoo, IOE Director, during the third EAP annual meeting, please click here.
• To access the first annual report of the EAP, please click here.
• To access the first annual report of the EAP, please click here.
• To access more information about the work of the EAP, please click here.

• To access the brochure ‘More than a journey | 20 years of independence, please click here.
• To access the latest edition of Independent Magazine, please click here.
• To learn why independent evaluation makes IFAD a more credible institution, please click here.

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