From the Director's Desk
2020 has been one of the most tumultuous and challenging years. The COVID-19 pandemic changed our reality, and the ongoing impacts continue to influence all aspects of our lives. As this unusual year draws to a close, I am moved to reflect on what we have learned and achieved, which is summarized in an infographic snapshot and splash video.

Against this backdrop, IEO had to adapt its way of working, and the priority was to ensure the safety of our staff, consultants and national stakeholders. We developed guidance and tips on planning and implementing evaluations during the crisis, and provided UNDP-wide training across five regions. With OECD/DAC Evalnet we developed joint guidance on good evaluation practices for evaluation units facing the same challenges during COVID-19.

Real-time sharing of experiences, lessons and insights is critical for improved decision-making and better development results.
This year we launched Reflections – rapid evidence reviews that offer lessons from past evaluations. The first edition of Reflections provided practical and timely insights to support UNDP country offices prepare for, respond to and recover from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, focusing particularly on the most vulnerable members of society. In 2020, IEO produced nine synthesis papers and videos, including on the health sector, social protection, livelihood restoration and job creation, governance, local governance, electoral processes, environment and natural resource management, digitalization and waste management. 
This crisis is unprecedented and had a profound impact on the evaluation approaches and methods used at IEO. Yet we were able to continue and complete our core workplan of thematic and country programme evaluations. We introduced the Country Programme Review instrument, piloted for five countries, to augment the traditional Country Programme Evaluations. In 2020, we conducted 15 independent country programme evaluations and reviews and produced 35 evaluations and reviews. We explored various measures to tackle the “no-mission” reality, and implemented remote measures to conduct desk-based research and analysis.
The IEO established partnerships and collaborations with national research institutions, increased our use of national experts, made use of remote data collection methods, and broadened our document reviews. These approaches allowed us to complete and produce four thematic evaluations of UNDP support to development cooperation in middle-income countries; climate change adaptation; the Syrian refugee crisis response and promoting an integrated resilience approach; and conflict-affected countries.
In our efforts to contribute to sustainable, equitable and inclusive development, IEO contributed to the development of national evaluation capacities. We joined forces with the Independent Evaluation Group of the World Bank to convene the first-ever global partnership for evaluation - the Global Evaluation Initiative (GEI). This initiative aims to strengthen evaluation systems and capacities to close the monitoring and evaluation gaps, bringing together a broad range of national governments, international and regional organizations, and civil society groups. Additionally, we produced the proceedings from the 2019 conference on national evaluation capacities. The report showcases 20 papers from over 30 authors, and includes diverse topics on emerging evaluation priorities and issues such as human development and inequalities; the role of evaluation in leaving no one behind; lessons and good practices from countries strengthening their national evaluation systems; and transforming evaluation to help transform development.
Our team continues to face the challenges posed by this pandemic head-on, with determination and resolve to deliver timely evidence that supports dialogue, reflection and decision-making at UNDP. To build on a strong culture of evaluation, and in our resolve to support UNDP in turning the vision of sustainable and inclusive development into reality, we developed the IEO Strategy for the period 2021-2025. The strategy was formulated as we entered the Decade of Action to deliver the SDGs, and as the world faced the devastating and wide-ranging impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. 
Now, more than ever, evaluation is essential to learn from experience and inform decision-making in the accelerated effort to reach more sustainable development pathways. Ultimately, the hard work and commitment of the IEO team and the support and engagement of our stakeholders enabled us to navigate the challenges of 2020. As we look ahead to 2021, we are excited about the impact IEO work will have on UNDP efforts to help countries and communities respond to a fast-changing development landscape. We look forward to creating new solutions, nurturing new partnerships, building evaluation capacities, expanding IEO capacities and advancing the decentralized evaluation function of UNDP.

As 2020 comes to a close, on behalf of the IEO team I would like to take this opportunity to wish you and yours a safe holiday season and a healthy, peaceful and happy New Year. 

-- Oscar A. Garcia, Director, IEO UNDP


ABOUT THE IEO@UNDP
RESOURCES
At UNDP, evaluation is critical in helping countries achieve the simultaneous eradication of poverty and significant reduction of inequalities and exclusion.

The Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) reports to the UNDP Executive Board. The IEO is governed by the organization's Evaluation Policy and the UNDP Executive Board is the custodian of the policy. The core function of the IEO is to conduct two types of independent evaluations: thematic and programmatic. The IEO also prepares the Annual Report on Evaluation, sets standards and guidelines on evaluation, monitors compliance on evaluation and shares lessons for improved programming. Visit our website at www.undp.org/evaluation for more information.