UNDP Independent Evaluation Office and GEI to Host 2024 National Evaluation Capacities Conference in China
From October 14 to 18, the Independent Evaluation Office of the United Nations Development Programme (IEO), together with the Global Evaluation Initiative and the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA), will host the 2024 National Evaluation Capacities (NEC) Conference in Beijing.
The NEC Conference is a biannual in-person event that brings together government representatives from all over the world working on monitoring and evaluation (M&E) to facilitate South-to-South peer learning and experience exchange. It provides a platform for M&E stakeholders to build connections, share insights, and explore the principles of good governance, evidence-based decision-making, and improved performance management.
The main theme for the 2024 NEC Conference is “Responsive Evaluation: For Government, For Inclusion, For the Future”, and the aim is to highlight the critical role of national evaluation systems in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and other development objectives. Conference sessions will be organized around three intersecting strands:
- National Evaluation Systems: Focused on building robust evaluation systems that ensure the effective use of evaluations in decision-making processes.
- Inclusive Evaluation Systems: Emphasizing the inclusion of citizens’ voices, alternative knowledge sources, and methods for evaluating complex social dynamics.
- Future-driven Systems and Approaches: Exploring how to adapt technology, employ innovative approaches, and enhance synthesis and knowledge management within evaluation practices.
GEI, together with IEO, has hosted the NEC Conference since 2022. More than 300 participants from over 100 countries attended the last conference in Turin, Italy, which concluded with the Turin Agenda, a common framework for action and collective commitment to strengthen national M&E systems rapidly and sustainably.
The Turin Agenda also highlighted the importance of gender equality, social inclusion, and the meaningful integration of environmental sustainability and climate change considerations into evaluation processes.
Building on the Turin Agenda and discussions at the 2022 NEC Conference, GEI and IEO hosted a series of webinars in 2023 to explore relevant topics dedicated to advancing the development of national M&E systems.
The first webinar explored what gender-responsive and climate-informed evaluation systems look like. The participants shared useful resources and discussed concrete steps to advance the Turin Agenda and strengthen national evaluation systems.
The second webinar looked at engaging youth in national evaluation systems and the challenges associated with evaluating and strengthening M&E systems in crisis settings.
The 2024 NEC Conference is an occasion for the international evaluation community to revisit the commitments outlined in the Turin Agenda, reassess progress made, and consider the next steps towards strengthening national M&E systems.
For more information, visit the 2024 NEC Conference platform.