Evaluations at UNODC are undertaken according to the Norms and Standards for Evaluation developed by the United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG), ensuring the main principles of good evaluation practice: 1. independence and impartiality; 2. transparency, participatory and inclusive; 3. robust methodological approach; 4. utilization focused; and, 5. ethically conducted.
The United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG) is an interagency professional network that brings together the evaluation functions of the UN system, including UN departments, specialized agencies, funds and programmes, as well as affiliated organizations. For more information, see UNEG's website.
The Independent Evaluation Section (IES) engages in numerous activities related to building an evaluation architecture in the UN reform context, with evaluations at UNODC undertaken according to UNEG Evaluation Norms and Standards. IES also actively participates in UNEG's Working Groups, contributing to the continuous development of the standard and norm-setting network of UNEG, including Gender Equality, Human Rights and Disability, with UN-wide guidance in disability inclusive evaluations. In addition, IES contributed to UN wide assessment of past efforts in National Evaluation Capacity Building, setting a foundation for future work .
Moreover, IES adheres to the UNEG Ethical Guidelines for Evaluation, revised in June 2020, ensuring that an ethical lens informs day to day evaluation practice.
In collaboration with other members of UNEG, IES further invests in several initiatives to ensure that evaluations continue to be of high quality and utilization-focused, testing innovative approaches and sharing lessons learned.
IES guidelines and templates have been revised in accordance with new definitions and use of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) evaluation criteria, including adapted definitions for relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability, adding further one new criterion on coherence.
Moreover, IES actively participates in the United Nations Development Account (UNDA) Evaluation Focal Point Network, sharing lessons learned and best practices from UNODC's evaluation management process, coordinating independent project evaluations of UNODC-led projects funded by UNDA.
Following best practices within the UN system, UNODC further volunteered to undergo an OECD-DAC-UNEG Professional Peer Review in 2016, where UNODC's maturity on terms of evaluation was assessed by a panel of of four reviewers from other UN evaluation functions as well as the OECD/DAC network.
The Peer Review of the evaluation function at UNODC was finalized in 2016 with recommendations presented to Senior Management in 2017. See Final Peer Review Report. For more information, see UNEG Framework for Peer Reviews.
SYSTEM-WIDE EVALUATION
IES actively contributed to the strategic discussions on the possible role and contribution of UNEG to inform/guide UN reform, with a particular focus on Agenda 2030. Read more in UNEG's White paper: System-wide Evaluation in Support of UN Reform: Towards Collective Accountability & Learning, reflecting ideas on how to strengthen the synergies between agency specific and system-wide evaluation at global level and how to maximize the value added of system-wide evaluation as a key driver for a stronger, more accountable and effective UN system.
For more information in this regard, see also UNEG's Report on Evidence Changes Lives: Realizing Evaluation's Potential to Inform the Global Sustainable Development Goals.
EVALUATION REPORTS OF OTHER ORGANIZATIONS
Final External Evaluation of the the Joint Regional Anti-Corruption Initiative (RAI) and UNODC Southeast Europe Regional Programme (Report)
OTHER RESOURCES
LINKS TO OTHER EVALUATION WEBSITES
BILATERAL COOPERATION AGENCIES
Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) Evaluation
Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) Evaluation
Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) Evaluation
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Evaluations
Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) Evaluation
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)
Agence Française de Développement (AFD) Evaluation
Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) Evaluation
INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS AND NGOs
International Development Research Center Evaluation Unit
International Development Evaluation Association (IDEAS)
American Evaluation Association
International Association for Cooperation in Evaluation (IOCE)
