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CGIAR’s Independent Advisory and Evaluation Service (IAES) provides operational support as the Secretariat for the Independent Science for Development Council (ISDC) and the Standing Panel on Impact Assessment (SPIA). IAES implements CGIAR’s multi-year, independent evaluation plan, as approved by the System Council. The IAES multi-year workplan authorizes the IAES Evaluation Function’s continued role in supporting evaluation standards, guidance, and capacity within CGIAR. Furthermore, as custodian of the evaluation policy, it is tasked in the IAES terms of reference with ensuring excellence across the CGIAR-wide evaluation practice and with operationalizing the CGIAR Evaluation Policy & Framework (2022).
The IAES/Evaluation Function launched the beta version of the Evaluation Guidelines on applying the CGIAR Quality of Research for Development (QoR4D) Framework to Process and Performance Evaluations in January 2023. These pioneering Guidelines build on the work of the Independent Evaluation Arrangement (IEA) and the QoR4D frame of reference (2020) developed by ISDC. In February 2023, IAES organized a 1.5-day hybrid workshop, aiming to:
• Officially launch the beta version of the Evaluation Guidelines: Applying the CGIAR QoR4D Framework to Process and Performance Evaluations (launched online in January 2023)
• Foster a common understanding of approaches and entry points to evaluate quality of science (QoS) among evaluators and subject matter experts (SMEs) in CGIAR
• Draw broader lessons, beyond CGIAR, on assessing and evaluating QoS
• Identify opportunities and next steps to roll out and monitor the use and uptake of the Guidelines in CGIAR and beyond.
The workshop brought together 72 key stakeholders, both in person and remotely, from within and outside CGIAR. These included CGIAR units (such as the Project Portfolio Unit [PPU], the Project Coordination Unit [PCU] and monitoring, evaluation and learning [MEL] focal points for science groups), ISDC, the IAES Evaluation Reference Group, CGIAR funders (the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit [GIZ]), current partners (the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [FAO]), and potential partners in applying the Guidelines from academia, the private sector, non-governmental organizations, and elsewhere (see Annex for the biographies of the participants).
