United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)

This 121-page book explores the process of reshaping the evaluation function to cohere with changes in the development framework. It is a publication of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), in partnership with the World Bank, the United Nations (UN) Economic Commission for Europe, International Development Evaluation Association (IDEAS), International Organization for Cooperation in Evaluation (IOCE), DevInfo, and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS). In the first part, Marco Segone opens by presenting the evolution of the evaluation function in the context of United Nations (UN) reform and a changing aid architecture. Then, Samuel Bickel presents an assessment of the status of evaluation worldwide, followed by Jean Quesnel's examination of the growth of professional evaluation organisations. Segone then presents his thoughts on the scope of the evaluation function. In the second part of the book, Segone proposes a strategy for improving the evaluation function through strengthening a pro-evaluation culture and a democratic approach to evaluation. Saville Kushner next presents his thinking on the relationship between evaluation and democracy. In the third part, six members of the International Program Evaluation Network (IPEN) analyse the evaluation function in Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries, giving information on its status and trends. Finally, the annexes give practical information on how to access international evaluation resources via the internet and present the UN Evaluation Norms and Standards and guidelines on how to develop evaluation Terms of Reference (ToR).

Segone begins by noting that traditionally, in the context of international development assistance, the objective of evaluation has been to measure project and programme outputs and outcomes. The first generation (1950s - 1970s) focused on results, with the objective of measuring/comparing. While results remained the emphasis in the 1980s, the objective shifted to transparency/accountability. Evaluation in the third generation expanded into a focus on process and utilisation as well as results, and the objective centred around understanding, learning, decision-making, and positive accountability. In this context, participatory and empowering evaluation represents an evolution in approach and methodology aimed at achieving different objectives. The methodological response was to focus evaluation on analysing change processes and contexts: points of resistance to change; how organisations both constrain and empower people with regard to change; those aspects of change potential that are limited to certain contexts and those that are transferable across contexts; how innovations gain leverage within social and political structures; and how people actually do (or do not) change behaviour patterns.

In addition, Segone notes that the focus of evaluation is shifting from small projects to national programmes and policies. This shift, he says, requires a systemic approach to evaluation that is shaped by integrated M&E systems that are nationally owned. In this context, partnership is a key strategy for ensuring that efforts achieve synergies, that national governments play the leading role, and that international agencies align their M&E assistance with national M&E plans and priorities. Strategic contributions by international development agencies, according to Segone, include supporting sustainable national M&E capacity development, taking into consideration the value of diversity in evaluation approaches, and focusing on the quality of the knowledge produced by evaluative processes. In this context, evaluation professional organisations can foster democratic approaches to evaluation - not only by helping to share experience and expertise, but also by providing a forum for greater dialogue among civil society, academia, governments, and donors. Partnerships with the mass media and parliaments are one strategy mentioned here to further the use of evaluation as an instrument for transparency and accountability.

Segone also stresses that simply having M&E information available does not guarantee that it will actually be used. To ensure the relevance, and thereby the use, of evaluative knowledge, he argues, it is critical that demand from national governments and civil society (not just from donors) drives strategies to strengthen statistical systems. It is important Segone emphasises, to foster a pro-evaluation culture within societies and organisations and to acknowledge that any evaluative process is inevitably a political process. "M&E systems provide critical information that empowers policymakers to make better-informed decisions, or, in the case of the MDGs [Millennium Development Goals], to target appropriate resources and provide policy support for their achievement." Segone concludes that, within a human rights approach, evaluation should focus on the most vulnerable populations to determine whether public policies are designed to ensure that all people enjoy their rights as citizens, whether disparities are eliminated and equity enhanced, and whether democratic approaches have been adopted that include everyone in decision-making processes that affect their interests.

The remaining portions of the book delve into various aspects of this introductory groundwork. For instance, beginning on page 39 Segone explores in depth the process of the democratic approach to evaluation - outlining the stages, which include: evaluability assessment, analysis of organisation decision-making and evaluation users, capacity building to design and implement the evaluation, evaluation planning and identification of the empowerment process, data collection and processing, information analysis and reporting, dissemination and use of evaluation findings and recommendation, and institutionalisation of the evaluation process and practice.

EQUIDAD (Equity, Health and Human Development) listserv, October 15 2008; and email from Marco Segone to The Communication Initiative on January 14 2009.