The global 2030 Agenda recognizes the critical role of evaluation in translating its transformative vision into reality. It calls for review processes to be "rigorous and based on evidence informed by country-led evaluations and data which are high-quality, accessible, timely, reliable and disaggregated", and highlights the opportunity and need to support and develop national evaluation systems and capacities.
On 19 December 2014, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) passed a resolution on "Building capacity for the evaluation of development activities at the country level" (GA 69/237). In 2021, the United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG) further mandated a National Evaluation Capacity Development Working Group (with the Independent Evaluation Section, UNODC, as an active member) to prepare a progress report on the implementation of Resolution 69/237 by UN agencies. See the report, including activities by UNODC: United Nations contributions to national evaluation capacity development and the evolution of national evaluation systems (April 2022) (Report); (Brief)
On 3 May 2023, UNGA passed a new resolution on Strengthening Voluntary National Reviews through Country-led Evaluation (A/RES/77/283), stating that: "Requests the United Nations agencies, within existing mandates and resources, to provide support at the request of Member States on their efforts to undertake evaluations of the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, and facilitate exchange of experiences and knowledge products from those evaluations."
The Independent Evaluation Section (IES) actively participates in UNEG's National Evaluation Capacity Development Working Group, further contributing to the continuous development of the standard and norm-setting network of UNEG.
Moreover, IES works closely with UNODC's field office network and UN Resident Coordinators in offering technical assistance to support national evaluation capacities and systems (see Supporting Evaluation Capacity Building for UNODC and Member States).
Innovative partnerships have also been developed to strengthen the role of evaluation in the context of the SDGs. This is exemplified by IES' contribution to the UN Joint Programme in the Kingdom of Morocco between the UN and Morocco's National Observatory of Human Development (ONDH).
As a result, IES developed an innovative partnership with the Kingdom of Morocco, in collaboration with ONDH, the University Moulay Ismail (UMI) and the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Morocco to the United Nations and other international organizations in Vienna.
For more information, see further below: Innovative Partnership with Morocco - A Best Practice
Moroccan delegation at the workshop on "Independent Evaluation and National Evaluation Capacity Development" in Vienna 2019, organized by IES: (from the left): Ms. Ikram Bouazzaoui (Master Programme student, University Moulay Ismail (UMI)), Mr. Mohammed Abdou (Dean of the Faculty of Legal, Economic and Social Sciences, UMI); Mr. Anas Baba Ahmed (Master Programme student, UMI); Mr. Abdelghani Bouayad (Director, UMI); Mr. El Hassan El Mansouri (Secretary General, Morocco's National Observatory of Human Development (ONDH)); Ms. Chaymae Zoghlal (Master Programme student, UMI); Mr. Mohcine Dounassi (Master Programme student, UMI) - together with Ms. Katharina Kayser (Chief, IES) and Mr. Asenjo Ruiz (Evaluation Capacity Development Officer, IES).
IES has contributed within the Joint Programme between the UN and ONDH to the development of the new national Masters' programme in Public Policy Evaluation of the University Moulay Ismail (UMI) of Meknes, the first of its kind in Morocco.
The 50-hour module was developed in close collaboration with ONDH and the pedagogic team of UMI's Master's Programme in Public Policy Evaluation.
The evaluation module was delivered in October and December 2018 to the first cohort of students of the Master's programme, a pioneer initiative that aims at contributing to the professionalisation of evaluation in Morocco in order to enable the transformational change that will be needed in order to achieve the SDGs".
In October 2019, one Moroccan student further represented the first cohort of graduates of the Master’s Programme in the panel session on “Transforming Evaluation through Partnerships” of the 6th National Evaluation Conference (Hurghada, Egypt). IES moderated the session, which was co-organized in collaboration with the World Food Programme and the African Development Bank.
IES carried out an innovative workshop, from 21 to 23 May 2019 on "Independent Evaluation and National Evaluation Capacity Development" with the Kingdom of Morocco in the context of the 28th session of the Commission for the Prevention of Crime and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ).
As part of the partnership with the Kingdom of Morroco, the ONDH Secretary General, Mr. El Hassan El Mansouri; the Dean of the Faculty of Legal, Economic and Social Sciences of UMI, Mr. Mohammed Abdouh; the Director, Mr. Abdelghani Bouayad; and four students of the Master Programme, Mr. Mohcine Dounassi, Ms. Chaymae Zoghlal, Mr. Anas Baba Ahmed and Ms. Ikram Bouazzaoui, were invited to Vienna by IES through the ONDH-UN Joint Programme.
During the closing session of the 3-day workshop, Ms. Katharina Kayser, Chief of IES, welcomed the fruitful partnership with ONDH. Mr. El Hassan El Mansouri also welcomed the partnership and recalled it as a very rewarding experience, especially for young students of the Masters' Programme. Mr. Bouayad Abdelghani further emphasized the achievements and promising prospects of the partnership between the UMI, the ONDH and UNODC, pointing to the partnership as a "case of good practice to develop". Click here for the web story.
Panel at the CCPCJ side-event in Vienna 2019 on "Best practices in evaluation and accountability in the 2030 Agenda: the experience of the Kingdom of Morocco (from the left): Mr. Abdelghani Bouayad (Director, University Moulay Ismail, Morocco); Mr. El Hassan El Mansouri (Secretary General, Morocco's National Observatory of Human Development), Ms. Katharina Kayser (Chief, IES) and Mr. Nordine Sadouk (Chargé d'affaires, Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Morocco to the United Nations and other international organizations in Vienna.
The Moroccan delegation attending the IES Workshop on "Independent Evaluation and National Evaluation Capacity Development", further formed part of the panel at the CCPCJ side-event on 22 May 2019, on "Best practices in evaluation and accountability in the 2030 Agenda: the experience of the Kingdom of Morocco".
The side event was co-organized by the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom Morocco to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Vienna and IES, and chaired by Mr. Nordine Sadouk, Chargé d'affaires, Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Morocco to the United Nations and other international organisations in Vienna, and Ms. Katharina Kayser, Chief, IES. The participation of the Moroccan delegation was an opportunity to present the experience of Morocco in the evaluation of public policies related to human development as well as the progress made in institutionalizing evaluation practice.
"Accountability, transparency and evaluation of public policy are paramount for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals", remarked at the opening of the Side Event Mr. Nordine Sadouk, Charge' d'affaires, Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Morocco to the United Nations and other international organisations in Vienna." The new Constitution of Morocco established in 2011 the mandate to evaluate public policies, as a means of promoting transparency and accountability.
Mr. El Mansouri, ONDH Secretary General, stressed that "the evaluation of public policies is a fundamental commitment for all countries willing to increase transparency and accountability vis-a-vis their citizens and meet the challenges of the 2030 Agenda. For this reason, ONDH, UNODC-IES and the University of Meknes have partnered to train a new generation of professionals in evaluation, capable to contribute both at the national and the international level to the achievement of the SDGs." "This is a valuable, tangible contribution to country-led efforts for professionalising evaluation in Morocco", pointed out Mr. Carlos Asenjo Ruiz, IES' Evaluation Capacity Development Officer.
Ms. Cristina Albertin, Regional Representative, Regional Office for Middle East and North Africa, UNODC, highlighted the importance "that the UN looks for new partnerships, so that we not only work with ministries and governments but that we involve other stakeholders. In this case, the partnership with research institutions allows us to better address the evidence gap. We look forward to the results of this partnership between ONDH, UMI and UNODC." Click here for the web story.
