United Nations Economic Commission for Europe

Evaluation Function

The evaluation function aims to strengthen the accountability of UNECE to its stakeholders, notably member States and donors, while ensuring that lessons learned feed into the planning of future programme activities. Being part of the UN Secretariat, UNECE is guided by the rules and regulations of the UN General Assembly for programme planning, monitoring and evaluation.

The UNECE Evaluation Policy was approved by UNECE Executive Committee in October 2014. It provides the overall framework for evaluation including the organizational policy and procedures in UNECE.

Under this policy, UNECE is subject to two types of evaluations: internal evaluations (self-evaluations, biennial evaluations of subprogramme performance, project evaluations), and external evaluations (conducted by OIOS or JIU).

All UNECE evaluation reports, management responses and progress reports published after 1 October 2014 are posted in Open UNECE website. 

As of 2017, UNECE also reports on the key results of evaluations annually to the Executive Committee. The report summarizes key evaluations, plans and  recommendations for future action. Annual Evaluation Reports are posted in Open UNECE website. 

http://www.unece.org/info/open-unece/evaluation-and-audit.html

Evaluating as One - Working Together in the UN System

UNECE actively participates in the work of the UNEG, and coordinates with the other Regional Commissions through the Chiefs of Programme Planning, and the Regional Commissions Monitoring and the Evaluation Focal Point Network. Moreover, UNECE collaborates with Regional Commissions and other UN entities on evaluations of joint activities. UNECE also engages with the JIU and OIOS on a regular basis

Snapshot

Institutional Set-Up

The Evaluation function is located within the Programme Management Unit (PMU).

Staff (as of 1 February 2018)

Chief, Programme Management Unit, P-5

Programme Management Officer, P-4

Evaluators: 0

Evaluations conducted or commissioned by the unit in 2019

A total of sixteen evaluations (programme-level, subprogramme and end-of-project) were delivered in 2019: three contained in the Biennial Evaluation Plan (2018-2019) scheduled for 2019; two evaluations of UNDA projects, and 11 evaluations of extrabudgetary projects.

http://www.unece.org/info/open-unece/evaluation-and-audit.html

Evaluation Expenditure in 2018-2019, excluding staff costs

US$271,400

Priorities

1. Improve programme performance
2. Promote organisational learning
3. Support accountability

Independence

The Head of Evaluation reports directly to the Executive Secretary. Under the 2014 Evaluation Policy, the head of the evaluation function is responsible for the preparation and implementation of the biennial evaluation workplan, providing guidance and advice, coordination, and capacity building for evaluation. The UNEG Self-assessment reports that evaluators do not sign a statement of potential conflict of interest and there are currently no rules and mechanisms in place that allow evaluators to report discreetly on cases wrongdoing.

The Evaluation Unit provides guidance and ensures overall coordination of all aspects (planning, monitoring, reporting and evaluation) of programme management. It also ensures the follow-up to and implementation of the recommendations of United Nations oversight bodies.

Agenda Setting & Evaluation Planning

The biennial evaluation plan for 2020-2021 was approved by UNECE EXCOM. UNECE evaluation plan for 2022 will be submited along with the 2022 Proposed programme budget.

http://www.unece.org/info/open-unece/evaluation-and-audit.html

The work programme addresses timeliness of evaluation with a view to inform decision-making, specifies the necessary resources for evaluations, and identifies the intended results and impact of UNECE's evaluations.

Stakeholder Involvement and Promoting National Evaluation Capacity

Stakeholders are systematically consulted in the planning/design of, conduct and follow-up to evaluations. Peer reviews or reference groups composed of external experts are not used in the evaluation process. Evaluation consultants are engaged based on their relevant experience, and are predominantly sourced from the region.

Quality Assurance

The quality of evaluation reports is ensured by the establishment of guidelines, checklists, and standardized templates. These cover preparation of evidence-based evaluation reports, findings and recommendations, methodology, executive summaries, and follow up action plans.

Use of Evaluation

An explicit response to the evaluation is issued by the Manager of the entity in the form of an Action Plan. There is systematic follow-up by management and the evaluation entities of the implementation of the recommendations.

UNECE's input to the Secretary-General's Programme Performance Report is publicly available. UNECE is systematically extracting lessons from evaluations and communicating them through workshops and meetings with UNECE's senior management. UNECE's biennial evaluations at the cluster level are approved by member States at the Sectoral Committees, and made available as official parliamentary documentation.

All UNECE evaluation reports, management responses and progress reports published after 1 October 2014 are posted in Open UNECE website. 

http://www.unece.org/info/open-unece/evaluation-and-audit.html

Joint Evaluation

UNECE actively participates in the work of the UNEG, and coordinates with the other Regional Commissions through the Chiefs of Programme Planning, and the Regional Commissions Monitoring and the Evaluation Focal Point Network. Moreover, UNECE collaborates with Regional Commissions and other UN entities on evaluations of joint activities. UNECE also engages with the JIU and OIOS on a regular basis.