Reflections on Country-led Evaluation Roger Slade from the IDEAS workshop on Practical Experience of CLE in the Central and Eastern European Region June 2006

Evaluation Much has been written Standard source for internationally accepted definitions is OECD/DAC website A simple practical view is that evaluation is the examination of the relevance, performance and results of any action, policy, program or project It is concerned with both the past and the present It can be summative or formative or both CLE and CLES - Country Led Evaluation

Three Words Independence Implementation Impact

CLE & Independence Actual and perceived independence An attitude of mind Parliaments should drive public accountability Freedom to choose subject, methods and management Freedom to participate and freedom to ignore (the driver in the back seat!) These build credibility: credibility builds trust & ownership: ownership strengthens independence Independence is not arrogance but does confer responsibilities and rights

CLE & Implementation Excellence - standards and quality Instrumentation- flexibility and pragmatism Jointness and sharing Harmonisation of methods and purpose Participation and ownership The need for capacity and the power of evaluation associations (e.g. powers of advocacy & convening)

CLE & Impact Impact as influence Publication, public knowledge and accountability and good governance Learning from results Linking results to resources - beware perverse incentives Build through trust - return to start

Implications for IDEAS Focus (of our strategy) Content (of our work programme CLE and CLES) Partnerships (the need for) Knowledge dissemination Address systemic constraints thru advocacy (foster demand by bringing parliamentarians, authorizers, commissioners & users together with evaluators)