Note by the Secretary-General
Note on the ad-hoc arrangements for the independent evaluation of the “Delivering as one” (DaO) pilot initiative, prepared in response to a request made by the co-chairs of the consultations of the General Assembly (GA) on system-wide coherence during a plenary session on 29 March 2010.
Modality
Consultations with the various evaluation units within the United Nations (UN) system, including the Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) have been held in the past few weeks, and a revised modality has been designed for the independent evaluation of the DaO pilot initiative, which the Secretary-General believes will be able to produce a highly professional, independent, yet, inclusive evaluation, within the given time frame.
Drawing on the two management options presented in the Secretary-General’s report “Follow-up to General Assembly resolution 63/311 on system-wide coherence related to operational activities for development” (A/64/589, 22 December 2009), this “hybrid” modality combines the senior national evaluation expertise of an expert panel with the knowledge of the UN system and the independence of the JIU. In accordance with this modality, Member States will be invited to submit names of national experts who have held senior positions in national and/or multilateral evaluation institutions, and designed and managed complex evaluations, as candidates for membership in an Evaluation Management Group (EMG), charged with overseeing the independent evaluation of the DaO pilot initiative.
The EMG will be composed of nine members:
- (a) one expert from each of the five regions,
- (b) one expert each from two pilot countries, and
- (c) the Chairs of the JIU and the United Nations Evaluations Group (UNEG).
The Secretary-General will write to the Chairs of the regional groups, copied to all Member States, inviting nominations of outstanding evaluation professionals as members of the EMG. Upon receipt of nominations by Member States, the Secretary-General will circulate a list containing a brief profile of each candidate, and in partnership with the regional groups and pilot countries, select the members of the EMG.
Members of the EMG will act in their expert capacity and be expected to possess the following competencies: extensive experience in providing overall direction for complex and strategic evaluations, preferably in the context of cooperation between programme countries and the UN system; excellent technical evaluation expertise and skills, including providing substantive guidance on evaluation design methodology and report writing; and thorough understanding of the standards of professional conduct for evaluators.
The EMG will:
- prepare the final Terms of Reference for the independent evaluation;
- determine the criteria for the selection of a highly professional evaluation team (consultants);
- oversee the selection of the evaluation team and the issuance of relevant contracts;
- review interim reports from the evaluation team;
and based on a submission from the evaluation team, prepare the final report for the consideration of the General Assembly.
Members of the evaluation team should have outstanding evaluation expertise and experience, including on evaluation design, data collection and analysis and report writing. The composition of the evaluation team should include nationals of both developing and developed countries. None of the members of the EMG or evaluation team should have been directly involved in the day to day conduct of the country-led evaluations of the DaO pilot initiative.
Accountability
The EMG will be led by a Chairperson selected by the members of the group. The EMG, through the Chairperson, will report directly to the GA, through the President of the Assembly. Once the final report of the EMG has been submitted to the GA, the group will dissolve.
Administrative, logistical and technical support
UNDESA will provide administrative, logistical and technical support to the EMG, ensuring a fully independent process. The support of UNDESA will include the following:
- provision of necessary background information, among others the reports from the country-led evaluations and relevant resolutions;
- handling administrative arrangements for the meetings of the EMG;
- planning and organization of field visits to the DaO pilot countries by EMG members and the evaluation team;
- organizing consultations of EMG members with relevant stakeholders;
- conducting periodic briefings for Member States on the progress in the evaluation process; and
- issuing contracts for consultants, as well as handling other related administrative tasks.
UNDESA will report to the EMG, through the Chairperson of the group.
In light of the ad-hoc nature of the arrangements for the independent evaluation of the DaO pilot initiative, additional extra-budgetary resources will need to be mobilized under the leadership of the Deputy Secretary-General, from Member States, on a voluntary basis, to cover the cost of the EMG and the evaluation team as well as the secretariat support provided by UNDESA. UNDESA will put in place a trust fund arrangement for the evaluation process and all Member States will be invited to make a contribution to support the independent evaluation of the DaO pilot initiative.
