CLEAR-AA Continues Support to Uganda with Consultation Workshop to Validate National Evaluation Plan

The Center for Learning on Evaluation and Results for Anglophone Africa (CLEAR-AA), and the Government of Uganda, working through the Office of the Prime Minister, Monitoring and Evaluation Directorate (OP), and through Twende Mbele, have collaborated on various interventions to strengthen the Ugandan national monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system.

CLEAR-AA, a GEI Implementing Partner, worked with OPM to conduct a Monitoring and Evaluation Systems Analysis (MESA) diagnostic to understand the state of M&E in the country. The diagnostic led to development of the M&E Capacity Strengthening Strategy and Plan, the development of an evaluation agenda for the Ministry of Health, and a National Evaluation Plan (NEP) for 18 sectoral programs. The MESA and the M&E Capacity Strengthening Strategy and Plan identified a number of interventions required to strengthen the M&E system in Uganda.

In June 2023, a CLEAR-AA team visited Entebbe, Uganda, to collaborate on the development of the NEP. During this visit, it was agreed that a cluster consultation workshop should be held in the near future to validate the draft NEP and finalize evaluations to be conducted and included in the NEP.

The M&E Capacity Strengthening Strategy and Plan and the National Development Plan III M&E Reforms are informing the UNICEF Programme Cooperation Agreement (PCA), a partnership between UNICEF Uganda Country Office (UCO), UNICEF East and Southern Africa Regional Office (ESARO), OPM and CLEAR-AA.  The PCA brings several countries together under the aegis of a harmonized menu of country-led interventions that seek to provide a package of system-strengthening support.    

As part of the PCA deliverables, there is a commitment to supporting the review of Uganda's National Evaluation Policy. Initial discussions in Entebbe identified significant policy issues requiring attention. Consequently, it was proposed to incorporate activities for initiating the policy review process during the October cluster consultation workshop. On the workshop's last day, CLEAR-AA facilitated meaningful focus group discussions to gather input for the policy review.

CLEAR-AA is actively working on fulfilling the deliverables. The draft NEP has been revised based on feedback from the cluster consultation workshop. Additionally, an analysis of the focus group discussions has been conducted, and CLEAR-AA is currently in the process of reviewing the National Evaluation Policy in line with the identified issues and inputs.