Significant Progress and Key Achievements Highlighted at GEI Partnership Council Meeting

Significant Progress and Key Achievements Highlighted at GEI Partnership Council Meeting
At the end of November, the Global Evaluation Initiative (GEI) Secretariat’s management team met with the GEI Network Partnership Council to update them on program progress and achievements since the last meeting in May 2022. 
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06 December 2022

The Partnership Council is the governing body for the Initiative, responsible for approving the GEI work plan and budget; providing strategic guidance on activities; and reviewing performance. It is co-chaired by the World Bank Group’s Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) and the United Nations Development Programme’s Independent Evaluation Office (IEO). 

Highlights of Progress Over the Last Six Months

GEI continues to strengthen its presence in 24 priority countries, grow its global network of partners, and expand its impact through ongoing professional development and knowledge sharing activities. In its second year of implementation, the impacts it seeks to achieve are clear and the program is well-positioned to deliver.

Specific updates shared with the Partnership Council include:

  • The National Evaluation Capacities conference highlighted the ongoing need to strengthen national monitoring and evaluation systems to achieve impacts at country-level. The Turin Agenda reinforced the importance of GEI’s efforts to reduce fragmentation and elevate the role of evidence in decision-making. 
  • Since the last Partnership Council meeting, GEI has initiated four Monitoring and Evaluations Systems Analysis (MESAs) studies in Bhutan, Solomon Islands, Brazil (city of Recife) and Gabon. 
  • GEI continues to expand its network.  A Request for Expressions of Interest was released in November to re-establish a dedicated CLEAR center for the LAC region. GEI made its first grant to its partner in Pakistan, which will work there and in future in the Central Asian region. GEI is exploring options to set up centers in MENA and the Pacific.
  • The CARICOM program is making significant strides in its engagement with the Caribbean Community to strengthen results-based management (RBM), including development of a roadmap to strengthen RBM and M&E systems in Jamaica.  
  • GEI continued to deliver its three flagship training programs in English, French and Arabic (IPDET, PIFED and TAQYEEM), in conjunction with 16 customized training programs at country level.
  • GEI launched a “Hands-On Internship Program” targeting Young and Emerging Evaluators (YEEs).
  • BetterEvaluation.org is now an integral part of the GEI knowledge agenda. The site was recently revamped and upgraded and is in its first phase of planned enhancements.
  • GEI has compiled the first-ever global directory of academic programs in evaluation that will be launched in January 2023 on BetterEvaluation.org.