Saving lives
Changing lives
Evaluation in every nation
WFP’s work in strengthening national capacities to achieve the SDGs
A strong culture of evaluation is relevant today more than ever.
As the era of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) hits mid-point and countries increasingly review activities and track progress, there is urgent need to shine a light on progress thus far; to scale up successes or course correct to steer a truer path to zero hunger and the SDGs.
Evaluations promote learning, transparency and trust, delivering robust evidence on what is working, what isn’t and why.
Yet not all countries possess the same levels of evaluation capacity.
Supporting the 2014 UNGA Resolution, the evaluation function of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has been working closely with countries, partners and civil society organisations to strengthen national evaluation capacities, leaving no one behind.
This digital report presents a snapshot of WFP’s recent work across continents, showcasing spheres of action, highlighting results and lessons as we move forward in the Decade of Action (2020-2030).
The United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG) defines National Evaluation Capacity Development (NECD) as the process whereby State and non-state entities and individuals expand, reinforce and sustain national capacity to manage, produce and use evaluation.
This definition is further guided by a comprehensive theory of change.
On 19 December 2014, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution on “Building capacity for the evaluation of development activities at the country level”.
The UN’s 193 member states unanimously signed the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, a bold vision to end poverty and improve lives by 2030. Paragraph 74 g of the 2030 Agenda calls for a follow-up and review that is “rigorous and based on evidence, informed by country-led evaluations”.
The WFP Evaluation Policy 2016-2021 set out to meet the commitments of the 2014 UN resolution building national evaluation capacity in line with the role of evaluation envisaged in the SDG framework.
UNEG published a report to review the progress towards the 2014 UN Resolution, under the guidance of a dedicated working group on NECD. The report finds that substantial progress has been achieved, and identifies recommendations for UN agencies to move forward.
The WFP Strategic Plan 2022-2025 identifies evidence as a key enabler of its delivery. The plan states that evaluation is central to organizational learning, ensuring that all WFP programmes, plans, policies and strategies are evidence-based. A new Evaluation Policy 2022, strategy and charter reflect and align with this vision.
WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, fighting hunger and reaching 128.2 million people each year in 120+ countries
NECD Initiatives
Countries
Regions
Partners
25
Governments
8
UN system and multi- &
bilateral organizations
11
VOPEs, CSOs &
Academia
5
Global
According to the WFP Evaluation Policy 2022 partnership is fundamental to delivering results in National Evaluation Capacity Development. WFP works with UNEG, the Global Evaluation Initiative, EvalPartners, EvalForward and other partners to meet the commitments of the 2014 UN resolution in line with the role of evaluation envisaged in the 2030 Agenda and the global evaluation agenda.
Partnership is one of five principles highlighted in WFP’s approach to Country Capacity Strengthening (CCS) together with ownership, recognition, trust and time.
WFP’s work in NECD spans across 25 countries in five regions.
WFP has worked in five distinct NECD areas since 2018. Below is a summary of these areas, with a more complete description for download.
WHERE:
Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, Argentina, Guatemala, Peru, Uruguay, Djibouti, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda
WHAT:
WFP embarked on two regional mapping and assessment exercises of existing national evaluation capacities to guide discussions on strengthening evaluation systems. It includes:
The National Evaluation Capacity Index (INCE) in Latin America and the Caribbean and
A national capacity mapping exercise in East and Central Africa
WHY:
The initiatives had the common objective of assessing and mapping the state of NEC along three domains: an enabling environment, organisational capacities and individual capacities, in each country and across regions. The goal was to inform a more strategic evidence-based approach to supporting development of NEC and harmonizing international cooperation on this topic.
SPOTLIGHT
A test of strength
As countries across Latin America and the Caribbean embraced national ownership of the SDGs post-2015, WFP’s regional bureau in Panama was busy conceptualising an initiative in which evaluation could play a role in contributing to progress.
The plan, supported strategically and financially by the German Development Evaluation Institute (DEval), was to develop an index to assess existing evaluation capacities in Latin America and the Caribbean. The index, known as INCE, would be used to capture the capacities and practices of evaluation in the field of policies, programmes and social services at country level.
While government needs were central, a participatory multi-actor approach process played a key role in INCE’s creation, providing institutional legitimacy and national and international recognition.
During the index’s birth and design phase (2017-2020), WFP and DEval convened and facilitated exchanges and regional workshops
within a working group of more than 40 entities, including governments, UN agencies (UN Women, UNICEF, UNFPA), regional and national VOPEs, the Center for learning on Evaluation and Results (CLEAR-LAC), Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), Civil Society Organisations, academia and an independent experts committee.
WFP, with DEval, had developed a concept note, methodology and tools, and supported pilot data collection across countries. And while governments are now firmly in the INCE driving seat, WFP continues to be active, organizing data analysis and discussions on actions through national workshops; promoting knowledge sharing through a web platform, and promoting INCE’s application and use in a growing number of countries.
Today, the index has become an institutional decision-making tool for governments, allowing for trend- and regional-level analysis to inform multi-stakeholder evidence-based discussions at national level on progress and recommended action.
WHERE:
India, Lesotho and Tunisia
WHAT:
WFP supported the establishment and strengthening of Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) systems, policies and frameworks either through the secondment of M&E staff (in India) or by supporting respective line ministries in designing and setting up improved M&E policies or frameworks for national school feeding programmes (in Lesotho and Tunisia).
WHY:
These initiatives sought to promote effective monitoring and evaluation planning, implementation and use among national actors, with a key focus on strengthening the capacities of national institutions and fostering an enabling environment.
SPOTLIGHT
Growing maturity of India’s M&E landscape
A three-year institutional partnership with the Government of India’s Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO) frames WFP’s on-going NECD work in India.
WFP seconded a dedicated M&E expert to the DMEO – a working relationship that is bearing fruit in terms of strengthened institutional M&E capacities.
Through the partnership, WFP and partners have supported the DMEO in drafting the National Evaluation Policy Framework, the DMEO Strategic Paper for M&E, and a National M&E Competency Framework and Curriculum for government officials.
Collaboratively, the partners developed an evaluation diagnostic tool that assess institutional evaluation capacities in different states in India. Hitting the ground running, the tool assessed gaps and identified training programmes customized according to each states’ needs.
The DMEO has now piloted the tool with the Directorate of Evaluation Organization of Government of Rajasthan which resulted in a way forward with the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog, and the Government of Karnataka.
The secondment also led to support for multi-ministerial flagship country-led evaluations, joint studies, and quick assessments on food security and nutrition. Under this approach, the DMEO and WFP are jointly undertaking the first multi-ministerial comprehensive evaluation of the National Food Security Act (NFSA), with a nationally representative primary sample survey.
These activities point to the DMEO fast becoming the one-stop-shop for M&E resources and toolkits for national and state actors in India – a sign of its growing maturity.
WHERE:
Benin, Dominican Republic, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, Peru, India
WHAT:
WFP commissioned five joint evaluations with national institutions and provided advice and technical support to three country-led evaluations. These joint approaches working closely with government hold the space for discussions and plans to develop broader, long-term NECD support – highlighting the critical institutional capacity needs for continued NECD interventions.
WHY:
The initiatives aimed to enhance national capacities and transfer skills, while ensuring impartial assessments that inform decisions and improve implementation through the use of evaluation results.
SPOTLIGHT
Learning-by-doing: Joint evaluations in Eswatini, Namibia & Lesotho
In the Southern African region, WFP’s joint evaluations with government partners have generated a wealth of evidence, achieving greater evidence-based decision-making in school feeding.
The evaluations contributed to more systematic and consultative discussions between national partners, which increased the relevance of the recommendations, and strengthened the national commitment to its implementation. This in return fostered a culture of evidence use that improved programme design and institutional processes.
In Eswatini, for example, a joint evaluation provided recommendations on how the school feeding programme should expand food commodity procurement from smallholder famers, and how WFP could support. The evaluation influenced the adoption of the Home-Grown School Feeding Programme in all public schools, ensuring greater government ownership, and leading to the increase of budget allocations for nutritious commodities in the 2021-2022 national budget.
IIn Namibia, the joint evaluation facilitated discussions at various levels of government on strengthening country ownership, models and sustainability of school feeding programmes and linkages with social protection.
In Lesotho, WFP provided technical assistance to the Ministry of Education and Training in producing the National School Feeding Policy and the corresponding M&E framework. The findings from the joint school feeding evaluation informed the transition to full government ownership of the national school feeding programme.
The deliberate recruitment of national evaluators in all three countries, made a difference beyond the delivery of the evaluation reports. The knowledge and skills acquired were harnessed to generate wider learning and the sharing of experiences across Ministries.
WHERE:
South Africa, Laos, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka
WHAT:
WFP collaborated and engaged with voluntary organizations for professionalization evaluation (VOPEs), civil society and other actors to strengthen capacities and advocacy for evaluation use and evaluators’ professionalization.
WHY:
In the Southern African region, WFP aimed to strengthen the South African Monitoring and Evaluation Association (SAMEA) and contribute to evaluation skills development for evaluation practitioners. With a focus on fostering evaluation use, WFP’s regional bureaux in Cairo and Bangkok promoted formal exchanges among civil society, academia, government, and UN representatives to promote evidence use.
SPOTLIGHT
Feeding the future: WFP’s work immersion programme
In August 2021, six emerging evaluators joined WFP as part of an Emerging Evaluator Programme that was launched by WFP’s regional bureau in Johannesburg together with partners UNICEF, CLEAR-AA and SAMEA.
The unique work immersion approach adopted by WFP during the evaluators’ 12-month attachment, may prove to be a more sustainable model for developing the skills and capacity of evaluators that have just entered the field.
One of the biggest challenges for emerging evaluators is the lack of opportunities available to work on real-world evaluations, in real work settings.
Often, aspirant evaluators have sound academic training, and sufficient access to capacity strengthening workshops and short courses. However, to be trusted in a team of professional evaluators where you gain sufficient practical experience, remains a major barrier to their career development.
The programme did just this: it opened avenues for Yeukai Caroline Tizora, Isabel Malandu Mukali, Mayibongwe Mncube, Stephan Paulsen, Sonny Motlanthe and Samukelisiwe Mkhize to work on actual WFP evaluations, receive mentoring and participate in evaluation conferences and learning events.
The four partners launched the programme at the Global Evaluation Initiative’s gLOCAL Evaluation Week in June 2021. The panel of judges received 83 strong applications from across the Southern African region.
WHERE:
Global
WHAT:
At a global level, WFP engaged and contributed to NECD partnerships and coalitions such as EvalPartners, the Global Parliamentarian Forum, the Global Evaluation Initiative (GEI) and the gLOCAL evaluation weeks. WFP actively participated in the UNEG working group on NECD as well as ongoing efforts towards a new United Nations General Assembly resolution on country-led evaluations.
WHY:
WFP engagement in the international evaluation arena has grown steadily since 2017. To achieve the SDGs, a twin-track of advocacy efforts are important: partnerships with UN agencies, governments, VOPEs, donors and other actors on the one hand, and technical actions channelled through the most relevant UN and country-level coalitions, on the other. These efforts contribute to a global, regional, and national enabling environment, and create capacities for the demand and supply of evidence contributing to Agenda 2030.
SPOTLIGHT
The missing piece of the jigsaw? Advocacy for country-led evaluation of the SDGs
The United Nations gave prominence to the role of evaluation with the passing of the 2014 UN resolution on NECD and declaring 2015 the Year of Evaluation. In that same year, the UN’s 193 members states made history by unanimously adopting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which calls for its follow up and review to be “rigorous, based on evidence, informed by country-led evaluations”.
In 2022, the world faces growing crises fuelled by conflict, climate change and the aftermath of Covid-19.
Although there has been significant progress to strengthen capacity of the evaluation function at the country level since 2014, it appeared as if more needed to be done.
And it appeared as if evidence – specifically the evidence from country-led evaluations – was the missing piece that could complete the SDG jigsaw.
In 2021, close to 200 delegates attended a High Level Political Forum side event hosted by WFP and UNICEF together with the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs of Nigeria, UN Women, EvalPartners and IDEAS.
The event, titled Country-led SDG Evaluation: the missing piece of the jigsaw? celebrated the progress of evaluation at the national level with distinguished panellists from Nigeria, India, Argentina and the United Nations Development Coordination Office (DCO). The Assistant Secretary-General of the UN DCO provided remarks on the role and future of evaluation within the UN system. The event was complemented by a virtual exhibition.
In 2022, WFP together with partners UNICEF, UN Women, EvalPartners and IDEAS hosted a Voluntary National Review Lab (VNR) Lab at the High Level Political Forum to introduce different pathways in which evidence from country-led evaluations can feed into country VNR processes. Countries that have used evaluative evidence in their VNRs provided practical examples of how this can be done and shared lessons from the process.
WFP’s work in the 5 action areas resulted in 9 cross-cutting lessons to consider in future NECD initiatives.
Programme-monitoring-evaluation coordination helps better align NECD actions to government needs
Decentralized evaluation functions that are technically strong and possess a mature relationship with government and national partners are best placed to add value to country-led evaluations
NECD initiatives that are results-oriented or product driven are more likely to gain partner trust
Engagement in joint evaluations and country-led evaluations can act as a catalyst for future capacity development cooperation
Prioritising national needs is key to effective joint evaluations
Process guides and quality assurance systems, like WFP’s DEQAS, are instrumental in building the confidence of national staff to manage evaluations
Government-driven, UN-coordinated multi-stakeholder partnerships are best equipped to map and assess national evaluation capacities
Global networks and coalitions help to avoid duplication, share resources and increase advocacy but require a bottom-up, jointly planned regional approach
Participation in regional M&E UN working groups opens up opportunities for more coordinated NECD engagement
