The International Index of Evaluation Capacities (INCE)—originally developed by several actors from Latin America and the Caribbean and coordinated by the German Institute for Development Evaluation (DEval) in collaboration with the World Food Programme (WFP)—has officially expanded beyond the region. With the recent completion of its first assessment in Mongolia, the INCE is gaining recognition as a global public good and a powerful instrument for strengthening national evaluation systems.
INCE has already proven to be an effective tool across Latin America, where 11 countries regularly assess their evaluation capacities—some now in their third cycle. These recurring assessments have played a key role in institutionalizing evidence-informed, context-sensitive policy making across the region.
Now, with Mongolia’s entry, INCE marks a significant milestone in its global journey. The country’s first INCE results-sharing workshop took place on May 14, 2025, at the State Great Khural (Parliament), hosted by the Agency for Government Supervision (AGS). The workshop was held alongside a policy forum focused on newly adopted regulations governing monitoring, evaluation, organizational performance, and results assessment.
The forum brought together over 400 participants, including representatives from the Office of the President, Parliament Secretariat, Office of the Prime Minister, line ministries, civil society organizations, universities, research institutes, international agencies, private sector evaluation firms, and the National Committee on Monitoring and Evaluation. The event aimed to build capacity among civil servants involved in policy planning and evaluation, and to reflect on the strategic use of the INCE findings in Mongolia.
What stands out about Mongolia’s experience is not only the broad engagement—144 institutions took part in the INCE measurement—but also the depth of national ownership. Led by AGS, in close collaboration with the Mongolian Evaluation Association (MEA), the initiative has been deeply integrated into national governance. AGS’s leadership has not only anchored the INCE process within the national policy agenda but also sparked meaningful dialogue among decision-makers, evaluation professionals, and civil society.
Subnational participation further underscored the importance of embedding evaluation systems at all levels of government. This inclusive, system-oriented approach offers a compelling model for other countries seeking to localize and institutionalize evaluation.
“By taking the lead in Mongolia’s first INCE assessment, AGS has not only demonstrated national ownership and commitment to strengthening evaluation systems—it has also opened the door to mutual learning, showing how government leadership can drive inclusive, evidence-informed reform,” said Sarah Klier, Evaluation Capacity Development Team Lead at DEval.
With each new partner, the INCE network becomes a more vibrant platform for mutual learning and policy innovation. DEval and its partners look forward to supporting new countries on this journey, and to strengthening the global community of practice that is forming around INCE. A five-day workshop, held from February 17 to 21, 2024, brought together key government institutions to plan a country-led evaluation of Tanzania’s Agricultural Sector Development Programme Phase Two (ASDP II). The workshop aimed to finalize the evaluation’s terms of reference and strengthen the capacity of stakeholders to manage and commission evaluations as part of Tanzania’s national monitoring and evaluation system.
The event was organized by the Prime Minister’s Office through its Division of Government Performance Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME), in collaboration with the Centre for Learning on Evaluation and Results – Anglophone Africa (CLEAR-AA), an implementing partner of the Global Evaluation Initiative (GEI), and the German Institute for Development Evaluation (DEval).
Participants included representatives from key government ministries and agencies involved in agriculture, infrastructure, planning, natural resources, and rural development.
The ASDP II evaluation forms part of a broader national effort, supported by GEI and its partners, to strengthen Tanzania’s National Evaluation System. The evaluation will contribute to more effective policy and decision-making and help drive better development outcomes across the agricultural sector.
“When we don't rigorously evaluate public interventions, we can't tell if they succeed or fail, leaving us to govern by guesswork,” said Dr. Takunda Chirau, Acting Director of CLEAR-AA.
Agriculture plays a central role in Tanzania’s economy. The sector employs approximately 65.5 percent of the labor force, supports the livelihoods of more than 70 percent of the population, and contributes 29 percent to gross domestic product. It also supplies 65 percent of industrial inputs, accounts for 30 percent of exports, and is largely driven by smallholder farmers, who manage more than 90 percent of cultivated land.
ASDP II is a 10-year program launched in fiscal year 2017/18 and implemented in two five-year phases. It supports Tanzania’s efforts to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 2: end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture.
