ROBERT LAHEY American Evaluation Association Conference Anaheim November 4,

 The evolution of Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) in Canada  Key features of the Canadian M&E Model  Some ‘lessons learned’ from 40 years

 EVALUATION  PERFORMANCE MONITORING  OVERSIGHT  CREDENTIALING

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 Our history of Evaluation in Canada begins in 1969 – a centralized unit in government  1977 – Delivery model for Evaluation in government changed

1. An Emphasis on BOTH Monitoring (the ‘M’) and Evaluation (the ‘E’)

7 AN EMPHASIS ON BOTH MONITORING & EVALUATION

2. Internal Evaluation units in most federal government departments, with central leadership

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3. A well-defined foundation setting the rules and expectations for Evaluation – policy, standards, guidelines

4. Checks and Balances to support the ‘independence/neutrality’ of the internal Evaluation Units

5. Oversight mechanisms to reinforce credibility and provide quality control

PARLIAMET

PARLIAMET OVERSIGHT MECHANISMS

AUDITOR GENERAL RELEASES ‘OVERSIGHT’ REPORT

6. Flexibility and a willingness to learn and adjust

NEW EVALUATION POLICIES INTRODUCED

7. ‘Transparency’ as an underlying value in the system

8. An ongoing commitment to capacity building

PROFESSIONAL CREDENTIALS INTRODUCED

515 No. of full-time Evaluators 38 No. of large federal departments & agencies 11.9 Median no. of Evaluators in a large department 93 % of evaluations that involved consultants

$77.6 M Amount spent on Evaluation government-wide 0.10 As a % of direct program spending $2.1 M Average amount spent by large departments 189 No. of evaluations produced by large departments

Building & using M&E capacity requires:  technical factors  cultural factors  sustained commitment

‘ Political will’ to allow & support :  Transparency  Public Disclosure  Objectivity/neutrality in measuring & reporting

Defining ‘results’ and performance indicators on the basis of:  Logic models (results chains), and  Corporate performance frameworks

A supply of good evaluations is not enough  There needs to be a realistic demand  Many potential uses & users  Built-in ‘incentives’ encourage users  Training & orientation for users

 What competencies would they possess?  How best to ‘grow’ evaluators?

 Wedded Bliss  A dysfunctional relationship  Occasional Lovers  Just Friends  None of the above

 Lahey, R., The Canadian M&E System: Lessons from 30 Years of Development, Evaluation Capacity Development Working Paper Series, No. 23, World Bank: November 2010  Contact Coordinates: * Robert Lahey * Ottawa, Canada *