It is with great pleasure that Universalia has been able to introduce McGill ISID to EvalPartner. As Professor of Practice at ISID, Marie-Hélène will be the ISID representative at EvalPartner. She has also been invited to be the keynote speaker at the upcoming EvalPartner Conference to be held in December 2012 in Thailand.
The International Organization for Cooperation in Evaluation (IOCE) and UNICEF, in partnership with several major organizations, launched an innovative partnership to enhance the capacities of Civil Society Organizations (CSO) to influence policy makers, public opinion and other key stakeholders so that public policies are based on evidence, and incorporate considerations of equity and effectiveness. The objective of the Initiative is to enhance the capacities of CSOs to engage in a strategic and meaningful manner in national evaluation processes, contributing to improved country-led evaluation systems and policies that are equity-focused and gender equality responsive.
The Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness endorsed in 2005, and the Accra follow-up meeting, state that national ownership and leadership are overarching factors for ensuring good development outcomes. The implication for the evaluation function is fundamental. The principle of ownership means that partner countries should own and lead their own country-led evaluation systems, while donors and international organizations should support sustainable national evaluation capacity development. The recent Busan High-level forum re-affirmed the above principles, while recognizing that the international development arena has changed significantly. As a result, new modalities such as South/South and triangular cooperation, and new stakeholders such as Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), have been explicitly recognized in the Busan’s Declaration on “Partnership for effective development cooperation”.