Emphasizing Evaluation in South Asia: Insights and Learnings from the 2024 NEC Conference
The 2024 National Evaluation Capacities (NEC) Conference, organized by the UNDP Independent Evaluation Office, the Global Evaluation Initiative (GEI), and the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA), served as a platform for shared learning in monitoring and evaluation (M&E) on a global scale.
Held from October 14 to 18 in Beijing, the conference focused on “Responsive Evaluation: For Government, For Inclusion, For the Future,” building deep conversations around national evaluation systems that are inclusive and future-driven, adapting the latest technologies and innovations available. With innovative world cafe-style sessions to hands-on day-long workshops, roundtable discussions and expert panels, the 2024 NEC Conference aimed at enhancing the use of evaluations and building existing and new partnerships to strengthen national evaluation systems, focusing on South-South collaboration.
As an implementing partner of the GEI, the Center for Learning on Evaluation and Results for South Asia (CLEAR-SA) had the opportunity to showcase the depth of its work across the South Asian region, exchange knowledge and experiences with counterparts from around the world, and explore exciting partnership opportunities. Sohini Mookerjee, Evaluation Capacity Development Lead at CLEAR-SA, participated in four panels throughout the week. Dr. Abinash Dash, Director of Evaluation at the Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO) under the NITI Aayog, the apex M&E body in India and a core partner of CLEAR-SA, represented the Government of India in two panels.
Strengthening National Evaluation Systems: Building Capacities vs. Building Capabilities
During the session entitled "Strengthening Evaluation Capabilities: Anchoring Evaluation into the Machinery of Government (MoG)," Ms. Mookerjee brought insights from CLEAR-SA's work with various national and sub-national governments in South Asia. She touched upon the primary differences between capacities and capabilities and the collaborative synchronized efforts required to transform government capacities into capabilities over time. Drawing from CLEAR-SA's experience as a government ecosystem partner, she explored key drivers and critical success factors in enhancing government evaluation capabilities, such as the presence of individual champions, leadership and political will, technical capacity, accountability mechanisms, and more.
Ms. Mookerjee was joined by evaluation experts from around the world, such as Gonzalo Hernández Licona from GEI, Emmanuel Jimenez from the Asian Development Bank, and Patrick Duong from UNDP. The world cafe-style session was followed by small table group discussions among government representatives from Senegal, Tanzania, Pakistan, Trinidad and Tobago, and China.
Gender Equality in National Evaluation Systems
There is broad consensus within the development community that gender equality remains one of the most critical development challenges we face today. One key facet of the 2024 NEC Conference was to include citizen voices and alternative sources and forms of knowledge, and evaluating complexity. Ms. Mookerjee moderated a panel on gender equality in national evaluation systems, discussing alternatives for developing stronger evidence and exploring pathways to achieve transformational change towards gender equality.
Session speakers included Shantal Aragón from the Center for Learning on Evaluation and Results for Latin America and the Caribbean (CLEAR-LAC), Claudia Olavarria from GEI, Silvia Grandi from Global Affairs Canada, and Chuanhong Zhang from the China Agricultural University. Panelists explored pertinent questions around gender-responsive and gender-transformative policies and legal frameworks, gender-sensitive capacity building within evaluation systems, and collecting and working with gender-disaggregated data within evaluations.
Youth and Evaluation
In the session on youth and evaluation, panelists highlighted the achievements of young people in evaluation, discussing how best to integrate young evaluators’ ideas and focus – now and into the future. Ms. Mookerjee shared lessons and learnings from CLEAR-SA's efforts in building the next generation of local evaluators, touching upon the value of mentorship, hands-on training, and career development support.
The 2024 NEC Conference provided an invaluable opportunity for national evaluation communities, M&E practitioners, and governments to collectively chart a path towards strengthening national M&E systems. The conference culminated in the presentation of the draft Beijing Action Plan, a roadmap for building more responsive evaluation systems.
“The Beijing Agenda builds on the foundational principles laid out in the 2022 Turin Agenda, deepening the focus on inclusivity, system integration, and climate responsiveness in evaluation practices. While the Turin Agenda emphasized the need for resilient national evaluation systems, the Beijing Agenda takes this further by embedding evaluation into every stage of policy and program development. It also champions the use of emerging technologies to enhance evaluation efficiency while prioritizing equity, data privacy, and people-centered approaches," said Ms. Mookherjee. "Importantly, the Beijing Agenda adds a strong commitment to incorporating environmental resilience and sustainability in evaluations, ensuring that the evaluations drive transformative change in addressing climate risks and social equity challenges. This continuity and evolution in the NEC declaration reflect a growing commitment of development practitioners and governments to using evaluation as a powerful tool for achieving the SDGs and fostering inclusive development."