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Session Title: Quality Global Partnership Evaluations Depend on Good Planning and Governance Practices: Findings of a Review of 60 Evaluations
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Panel Session 718 to be held in Sebastian Section L2 on Saturday, Nov 14, 9:15 AM to 10:45 AM
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Sponsored by the International and Cross-cultural Evaluation TIG
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| Chair(s): |
| Cheryl Gray, World Bank, cgray@worldbank.org
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| Abstract:
The number of Global and Regional Partnership Programs (GRPPs) tackling issues from environmental preservation to communicable diseases has grown exponentially during the 1990s and 2000s, and the value of periodic evaluation is recognized. But the decision-makers in these multi-stakeholder programs often miss opportunities to lay the groundwork for credible evaluations by failing to address early on: M & E policy and framework; oversight roles; team selection; quality assurance; budgeting. The World Bank's Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) was asked by international evaluation networks to survey enabling conditions and planning processes, and the analytical tools used, in a sample of over 60 GRPP evaluations, to identify good practices. These are being published in a "Guidebook" which will complement the work published in IEG's earlier "Sourcebook for Evaluating GRPPs". This AEA panel, one of two which will highlight the findings of that survey work, focuses on enabling conditions and good planning processes.
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Building an Enabling Environment for Quality Monitoring and Evaluation in Global Partnership Programs (GRPPs)
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| Aaron Zazueta, Global Environment Facility, azazueta@thegef.org
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| Dale Hill, World Bank, dhill@worldbank.org
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| Elaine Wee-Ling Ooi, World Bank, eooi@worldbank.org
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Ideally, the GRPP founders are intentional about results-based management, accountability to stakeholders, and continued learning, at program inception. This means looking ahead and laying the groundwork to increase the probability of credible, useful evaluations later on. Examples of good practice will be given where: the GRPP charter specifies periodic independent evaluation; the governance framework anticipates the roles of various actors in monitoring, reporting and evaluation functions, and provides for sound budgeting decisions; and a formal policy elaborates the principles, roles and procedures for M& E, considering both activity- and program-level needs. In some cases, GRPPs adopt host agency policies and processes for team selection methods, evaluation ethics, dissemination and translation of products, or use of standard reporting systems. IEG found a particular lack in GRPP monitoring frameworks and systems, which complicated, and sometimes compromised quality of later evaluations. Good practices vary by program by necessity, but have common lessons.
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Time for an Evaluation: Good Practice Planning Tips for Decision-makers in Global and Regional Partnership Programs (GRPPs)
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| Dale Hill, World Bank, dhill@worldbank.org
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| Elaine Wee-Ling Ooi, World Bank, eooi@worldbank.org
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A key constituent, or program policy, calls for an evaluation in the future. What are needed steps to help ensure it will be high-quality, independent, useful to stakeholders, and acted upon? A good-practice first step is a situational analysis. Is the timing right? Are there past evaluations? What is the state of the monitoring system and available data? Is the budget fixed or flexible? What policies and principles exist for guidance? Different GRPP case examples will be presented. After those questions are answered, the next step is setting the purpose, timetable and budget for the evaluation, and the process for team selection. Also, ideally, processes for evaluation review, dissemination, and response to recommendations will be planned in advance. Often a key consideration is the availability of evaluation expertise and experience among the decision-makers. Different approaches that GRPP officials have taken will be presented to show both good and second-best practice.
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Ensuring Credibility and Usefulness: Good Governance in Overseeing Evaluations of Global and Regional Partnership Programs (GRPPs)
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| Chris Gerrard, World Bank, cgerrard1@worldbank.org
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| Dale Hill, World Bank, dhill@worldbank.org
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| Elaine Wee-Ling Ooi, World Bank, eooi@worldbank.org
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Credibility of all evaluations depends on both design and implementation. The evaluation must meet standards of rigor and independence, while following program policies on transparency and stakeholder involvement. To ensure independence, ideally, the evaluation will have been commissioned by the Governing Body, and the roles of the Governing Body, subcommittees, host agency officials, and management defined in advance. The design will have also been set with appropriate expert and stakeholder input, considering the need to collect new data, possibly at multiple levels, with ground-truthing and triangulation. The characteristics of GRPPs, with their joint decision-making, multi-layered results chain, emphasis on showing good results to attract funding, and varying donor rules, can make both design and oversight complex. Mid-term corrections are sometimes needed. Finally, the ultimate usefulness may depend on dissemination, accessibility of evaluation products, and the process of considering recommendations. Both good practice and second-best examples will be presented.
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