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| 1. Introduction 2. Adequacy of the Evaluation Function 3. Defining the Users of OE Services as a Partnership 4. Values, Vision and Mission 5. Defining OE’s Strategic Objectives 6. Four Main Features of OE’s New Approach to Evaluation 7. Defining Strategic Directions and Setting Priorities 8. Defining the OE Annual Work Programme Cycle |
7. Defining Strategic Directions and Setting Priorities
25. In setting priorities, OE’s current interventions have been defined and mapped out on the IFAD project cycle. After agreeing how current interventions contributed to the achievement of OE’s new strategic objectives, an assessment was made of requirements for future operations, i.e. what should there be more or less of, and what should be improved on or added. Subsequently, a review was made of new interventions required to support OE’s objectives. The OE Strategic Directions Matrix below summarizes the results of the foregoing.
OE Strategic Directions5
| Interventions |
User/Partners |
Same |
More |
Less |
Impr |
New |
| Current Interventions | ||||||
| Provide Country Strategic Opportunities Paper inputs | PMD, gov. | x |
||||
| EKSYST/IFADEVAL | PMD, donors, consultants | x |
X |
|||
| Participate in Project Development Teams (PDTs) | PMD | x |
X |
|||
| Participate in Technical Review Committee (TRC) | PMD | x |
||||
| Participate in Operational Strategy and Policy Guidance Committee(OSC) | PMD, senior management | x |
||||
| Conduct mid-term evaluations (MTE) | PMD, gov.,cooperating institution (CI), CBOs | x |
||||
| Conduct interim evaluations5 (IE) | PMD, gov., CI, CBOs | x |
||||
| Conduct completion evaluations (CE) | PME, gov., CI, CBOs | x |
||||
| Conduct ex post evaluations | PMC, gov., CI | x |
||||
| *Conduct thematic evaluations/studies | PMD, senior management. Gov., CI | X |
X |
|||
| *Conduct CPEs | PMD, gov., CI | X |
X |
|||
| New Interventions | ||||||
| * Redefine the evaluation process | PMD, gov., CBOs, CI | X |
X |
|||
| * Develop
a dissemination and communications strategy |
PMD, gov., CI, donors, development community | X |
X |
|||
| *Develop appropriate M&E methods and tools | PMD, gov. CBOs | X |
X |
|||
| Knowledge by the poor | x |
X = Priority Emphasis | x = Emphasis | *= Strategic Priorities
26. In articulating these strategic directions, two main considerations were imposed by the resource limitations implied in the zero nominal growth budget: (i) the introduction of new interventions and increased emphasis on thematic evaluations/studies requires some reallocation of available resources; for this reason OE plans to undertake fewer project evaluations than in previous years; and (ii) since ex post evaluations have yielded scarce results in the past, OE plans to undertake this type of evaluation only in a few exceptional and justified cases.
27. Using the Mission Statement and strategic objectives as a guide, OE has prioritized its strategic directions (see Box 10) for the coming year. These strategic priorities represent important innovations in the way OE intends to support IFAD operations. Such interventions will be developed into practical, user-friendly products and services for use by its partners in 2000 and beyond.
Box 10
Strategic Priorities for 1999 and 2000
Redefinition of the evaluation process as a collaborative learning system.
Development of a more focused instrument for thematic evaluations and studies.
Development of a flexible, issues-oriented and leaner instrument for CPE.
- Definition of a set of good and consistent methodological practices for performance-oriented participatory evaluation and M&E support.
- Development of a strategy for communicating and disseminating the knowledge acquired through evaluation.
28. While concentrating initially on those five priorities, in the coming year OE intends to draw up details of the other strategic directions summarized in Box 10. The proposed new intervention relating to rural people’s knowledge aims at capturing and disseminating more systematically the know-how and innovations of rural people who, over the years, have developed a wealth of valuable knowledge and problem-solving strategies for poverty eradication. That knowledge is a crucial ingredient for making development activities more implementable and sustainable.
8. Defining the OE Annual Work Programme Cycle
29. Finally, the OE team has designed an annual cycle of management events to plan its work and continuously review its strategy (see Box 11). This annual calendar of events brings together OE and its partners in order to improve the responsiveness of its work programme. The new process, based on the learning cycle, is intended to maximize OE’s collaboration with PMD and other partners. It is hoped that the new cycle will be both flexible and iterative: flexible in that it can respond to important opportunities throughout the year; and iterative in that it will become more collaborative over time, as the partnership explores productive ways of cooperating.
Box 11
Annual OE Work Programme Cycle
October: Set new priorities for the year and call for requests from IFAD divisions
October: Consultation within OE, regional divisions and the office of the Assistant President, PMD (et al)
November: Develop tentative budget requests
December: Presentation of work programme
May: Conduct mid-year review
September: Review year’s experiences
September: Update strategic choices
October: Restart the process
5 If there is a continued and steady increase in flexible mechanism lending and a mandatory evaluation between phases, this will increase the demand for IEs. This may require a revisit of the mandatory character of the type of evaluation.
