Economic Commission for Africa Evaluation Policy

Abstract

The first ECA evaluation policy was approved in December 2014, in recent years, ECA has seen several significant changes including the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Sustainable Development Goals, and the revised Norms and Standards of the United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG). The revised Evaluation Guidelines encapsulate the role and use of evaluation given these advancements and provide further clarity in implementing evaluation. The present document outlines the purpose, status, and scope of the policy; provides the definition and purpose of evaluation at ECA, as well as its guiding principles, norms, and standards; presents the scope, focus and types of evaluation processes in place; highlights the resources used; explains the evaluation procedures and quality assurance mechanisms in place; delineates roles and related responsibilities; and lists dispositions for implementation, coordination, and knowledge-sharing. The policy establishes an ambitious corporate institutional framework for strengthening the overall evaluation system at ECA, based on the principles of functional independence, learning, accountability, transparency, utility, and impartiality in evaluation practices, and oriented towards developing evaluation capacity.