On 7 November 2023, Eval4Action partners, youth organizations, international organizations, Voluntary Organizations for Professional Evaluation (VOPEs), academia, the private sector, and the evaluation community at large, convened virtually to dialogue on the use and uptake of the Youth in Evaluation standards. The event also marked the launch of lessons from a pioneering approach by UNFPA in engaging youth in the formative evaluation of UNFPA support to adolescents and youth. Through a groundbreaking Youth Steering Committee working alongside senior evaluation professionals, this experience has been a model of innovative youth engagement in evaluation. For the first time in the United Nations system, young people were involved in the evaluation as contributors, evaluators and key informants as well as co-managers and co-decision makers. This engagement was also supported by the EvalYouth Global Network. A publication release and film premiere on this experience fostered a broader discussion on practical and actionable strategies to apply the Youth in Evaluation standards in various contexts. Watch the event recording Speaker line-up

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By Sarah Farina Broadleaf Consulting On April 26, 2023, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution A/RES/77/283, titled "Strengthening Voluntary National Reviews through Country-led Evaluation." This Resolution, led by Nigeria and co-sponsored by 24 Member States, marks a pivotal moment for the evaluation community. The resolution calls for countries to prioritize country-led evaluations of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and integrate evaluative evidence into decision-making processes. The resolution also calls on countries to include evaluation components in their Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs). VNRs are the primary platform at the United Nations for countries to share best practices, success stories, and common challenges in SDG implementation. This resolution follows on other work at the United Nations which emphasizes the importance of evaluation, notably a resolution in 2014 that committed to building evaluation capacity. Both the 2014 and the 2023 resolution were supported by EvalPartners, a partnership between the United Nations, Voluntary Organizations for Professional Evaluation (VOPEs), governments, parliamentarians, civil society organizations, development banks and other partners. It has been my privilege to Chair the EvalPartners Task Force that supported this resolution with the help of diverse partners. The Task Force worked closely to support Nigeria and the other Member States that co-sponsored and supported the development of this resolution. The 2023 resolution represents a momentous shift in political will, with countries taking leadership of evaluation and making strong commitments to commissioning and using evaluation to support decision-making, policy formulation, development of national strategies and reporting on SDGs through VNRs. The resolution provides guidance for how countries can use evaluation to create effective and more equitable strategies, plans and policies. The resolution highlights the following key messages: Evaluation is instrumental in providing timely and credible evidence to regain and accelerate progress towards the SDGs. Countries are encouraged to present regular VNRs with a country-led evaluation component. Evaluative evidence can empower governments to improve decision-making for effective and more equitable strategies, plans and policies. Evaluation should include the full, equal and meaningful participation of all relevant stakeholders, including local governments, Indigenous Peoples, civil society organizations, academia, and the private sector. The adoption of resolution A/RES/77/283 is an important step in encouraging broad use of country-led evaluation to accelerate the SDGs, and we must all consider what we can each contribute to implementing the resolution. Bringing this resolution to life will rely on building new relationships and thinking creatively. There are some clear next steps: Raising awareness of the resolution among countries and stakeholders. Building an enabling environment for evaluation at the country level. Developing guidelines and tools for equity-focused and gender-responsive evaluation. Consolidating lessons learned and sharing experience and insights about how to integrate evaluation and evaluative evidence into VNRs. In order to focus effectively on the greatest contributions that can be made by each sector, there are some key roles that can make a difference: Leadership by national governments National governments hold the key to the successful implementation of evaluation. Governments will be most effective where they demonstrate the political will to prioritize establishing an enabling environment for evaluation, build evaluation capacities, foster partnerships with evaluation stakeholders, and embed evaluation mechanisms in their development plans and strategies. Governments have the power to focus evaluation on national priorities, use evaluation to inform evidence-based policymaking and improve and adapt policies and programmes, and direct their investments where they are most effective and impactful. All actors can play a role in advocating for governments to take leadership on evaluation. Governments have the power to focus evaluation on national priorities, use evaluation to inform evidence-based policymaking and improve and adapt policies and programmes, and direct their investments where they are most effective and impactful. United Nations agencies as partners United Nations agencies could prioritize partnering with countries who wish to lead evaluations at the national level to support decision-making and use in their VNRs. This could include supporting countries to develop evaluation frameworks, building evaluation capacities throughout the government agencies with responsibilities related to evaluation, including planning, statistics, evaluation and reporting on VNRs, and fostering a culture of evidence-based decision-making within their government agencies and decision-making structures. Additionally, collaboration among United Nations agencies and evaluation partners is crucial for leveraging resources, knowledge sharing, and ensuring coordinated efforts towards sustainable development. Empowering evaluation commissioners Evaluation commissioners such as funders, government agencies and parliaments play a pivotal role in driving evaluation efforts. They have the opportunity to ensure that evaluation is structured to support national goals, and they can allocate sufficient resources and ensure that evaluation findings are integrated into decision-making processes and policy formulation. Additionally, evaluation commissioners can facilitate partnerships and collaborations to empower various stakeholders to strengthen evaluation systems and practices. Civil society at the core of evaluation VOPEs are essential stakeholders in promoting and supporting evaluation. They play a vital role in capacity building, knowledge sharing, and promoting evaluation practices at the national and sub-national levels. VOPEs will need to keep themselves aware of activities related to the resolution so that their leadership can ensure that VOPEs support and collaborate with others involved in evaluating the SDGs. Many other organizations, networks and initiatives are also joining in the movement to advocate for or build the evaluation field, ensuring that evaluation is inclusive, seen through a lens of gender equity, and responsive to key social and environmental priorities. Besides fostering connections within and between these entities, it's crucial to empower and support young and emerging evaluators in leading the development of evaluation practices aligned with local and global values and priorities. VOPEs will need to keep themselves aware of activities related to the resolution so that their leadership can ensure that VOPEs support and collaborate with others involved in evaluating the SDGs. In support of implementing the resolution, VOPEs, EvalPartners and its networks EvalYouth, EvalGender+, EvalIndigenous, Global Parliamentarians Forum for Evaluation, EvalSDGs and other evaluation actors can prioritize supporting implementation of the resolution. This may include convening evaluation actors to learn and share their experiences, and actively engaging with national governments, United Nations agencies, and evaluation commissioners to advocate for and support the evaluation of SDGs and the inclusion of evaluation in the VNR process. Building the evaluation ecosystem EvalPartners launched a Global EvalAgenda in 2015 to provide a shared agenda for actors across sectors who wanted to contribute to building the evaluation ecosystem. There are many more actors in the ecosystem now than when EvalPartners first launched the Global EvalAgenda. We have the opportunity to learn more about the evolving ways that different organizations and networks are building capacity, developing practice and using evaluation. It is important at this time to acknowledge and value the contributions being made across the ecosystem toward our shared goals. I’m excited to see some of these big picture aspirations reflected in the renewed EvalAgenda currently in development and I hope that anyone who has an interest in evaluation is either part of the process or connects with the process to ensure that the coming EvalAgenda is a true reflection of the potential of our many roles and approaches. If those of us who have a stake in evaluation can align with this resolution and bolster the commitment of countries to evaluation through our advocacy and support to governments to incorporate evaluation into VNRs and use evaluation for decision-making, we have a significant opportunity to contribute to SDG acceleration. I am confident that, together, we can use this resolution to make a real difference in advancing towards the SDGs to improve the lives of people around the world. I urge you to be creative and consider what role you can play in implementing the resolution on “Strengthening Voluntary National Reviews through Country-led Evaluation." This blog was co-published on the EvalPartners website. Sarah Farina is Founder and Principal at Broadleaf Consulting. She chaired the EvalPartners Task Force supporting the recently adopted UN Resolution on evaluation co-sponsored by 24 Member States. She has served as Treasurer for the International Organization for Cooperation in Evaluation (IOCE) and EvalPartners and she is a past President of the Canadian Evaluation Society. Follow Sarah on Twitter and contact her via sfarina@broadleafconsulting.ca.

By Rai Sengupta Ecorys UK Globally, governments and development institutions are gradually moving from ‘issue-based’ to ‘systems-based’ approaches in child protection. While the former focuses narrowly on specific child protection issues (often addressing the “low hanging fruit”), the latter looks to deliver child protection outcomes at scale, while involving a range of stakeholders at the national and sub-national levels. In essence, a child protection system is a structural framework consisting of “human resources, finance, laws and policies, governance, monitoring and data collection as well as protection and response services and care management” (UNICEF, 2012). This blog examines ways in which the effectiveness of child protection systems can be innovatively evaluated, by focusing on the principles and methods that can be employed to assess the extent to which child protection systems meet their desired objectives. Evaluation of child protection systems is crucial, for it generates vital evidence to inform policy and programming, in pursuit of SDG 16.2 (protect children from abuse, exploitation, trafficking, and violence). How can we evaluate the effectiveness of child protection systems? The OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) highlights six key criteria for evaluating interventions, one of which is effectiveness. Effectiveness is defined as the extent to which an intervention meets its intended objectives, the process through which this was accomplished, and the factors that influence intended and unintended consequences. Evaluating effectiveness is essential for improving programme performance through subsequent course correction (OECD, 2021). Evaluating whether an entire child protection system – comprising a range of individuals and institutions – is effective involves a complex task. At one level, it requires clarity on intended objectives and measures of effectiveness across various sub-systemic components. Further, it requires analysis of outcomes achieved for all sub-groups of children, not just vulnerable children (Wessells, 2014). The following sections highlight evaluation principles and methods through which the effectiveness of child protection systems can be evaluated. Evaluation principles A child protection system consists of a range of services including ‘evidence-based programmes, practices, processes and workforce development’ (Molloy et al., 2017). Rigorously evaluating the effectiveness of such a complex, multidimensional system requires the perspectives of various stakeholders to be incorporated. This can be accomplished through a participatory evaluation. Participatory evaluation involves the relevant stakeholders in a policy/programme across various stages of the evaluation process - from developing the evaluation framework to data collection and validation of findings and recommendations to facilitating the use of the evaluation. In the context of evaluating child protection systems, it is imperative to promote participatory methodologies, wherein administrators, practitioners, and beneficiaries engage throughout the evaluation process to provide inputs, validate findings and co-develop policy recommendations (INTRAC, 2017). Adopting a participatory approach is likely to improve the quality of information gathered. Further, such an inclusive evaluation design is more likely to provide true estimates of systemic effectiveness. For instance, public records on child protection are likely to contain outcomes associated with the establishment of child protection infrastructure (for instance, child welfare committees). However, direct and indirect beneficiaries (for instance, the children and their families/communities) would be more reliable sources of information on child welfare outcomes (Joynes and West, 2018). Analyzing only the first kind of outcomes would provide a superficial impression of systemic effectiveness, while triangulating both forms of evidence through a participatory process would ensure more reliable estimates. The need to include children’s voices in evaluating child protection systems resonates across various child rights institutions. UNICEF (2021) asserts that as service users, children’s feedback and complaints must be incorporated in any assessment of effectiveness across child protection systems. This is vital since pre-existing power dynamics may mask the perspectives of children, while underestimating the evidence gleaned from them. In a similar vein, Save the Children (2019) highlights the need for evaluations to reflect children’s voices, while disaggregating outcomes for gender, ethnicity, and race. This is important for assessing the distribution of intended and unintended outcomes across various socio-economic and demographic categories. Measuring effectiveness for an entire child protection system requires understanding how effectiveness may best be captured for all sub-systemic components. Evaluation methods The methodology involved in evaluating the effectiveness of child protection systems is diverse and highly context specific. However, evaluating effectiveness in most cases begins with examining and/or reconstructing the theory of change – the theoretical pathways linking the various sub-systemic components to their intended outcomes. Doing so helps to develop consensus on ‘what good looks like’ (Molloy et al., 2017) - which sets the expectation on what results are to be measured in any effectiveness analysis. In the development of indicators and targets for each outcome, adherence to global conventions may be a useful starting point. For instance, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) provides a comprehensive list of principles underpinning effectiveness in a child protection system, which can help frame targets and measure systemic effectiveness, across logical frameworks (Bruning and Doek, 2021). Further, measuring effectiveness for an entire child protection system requires understanding how effectiveness may best be captured for all sub-systemic components. For instance, ‘singling out’ the effect of a specific intervention (say the establishment of a children’s helpline number) may involve the conduct of a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT), wherein judgements of effectiveness are based on quantitative outcomes, measured across treatment and control groups. However, for components such as practices to enhance parent sensitivity, or laws enacted to promote child rights – effectiveness measurements may require the inclusion of qualitative insights as well. Building upon the participatory and consultative evaluation design discussed above, effectiveness at a systemic level must inevitably leverage evidence – not only from various stakeholders, but also of different types. In essence, any evaluation at the systems level requires a mixed-methods approach, to account for the forms of data available and the formats they are available in. A mixed-methods approach combines qualitative and quantitative evidence in data collection and analysis, thereby building on the strength of each data type, while minimizing the weaknesses associated with any one form of evidence. Such an approach – which may be sequential, parallel or multilevel -- also lends support to the practice of data triangulation, thereby generating more robust estimates of systemic effectiveness (UNICEF, 2017). Evaluating the effectiveness of a child protection system requires a multiplicity of stakeholder perspectives and methodologies. Conclusion In sum, evaluating the effectiveness of a child protection system requires a multiplicity of stakeholder perspectives and methodologies. Adopting participatory principles and mixed-methods analysis is key, particularly for evaluating complex sub-systemic components within this sector. Going forward, it is imperative to develop a common understanding (and a common set of indicators) to evaluate child protection systems globally. Further, leveraging partnerships with development partners, and enhancing government capacity to manage evidence will be crucial for facilitating systemic evaluations. Bibliography Bruning, M. & Doek, J. (2021). Characteristics of an Effective Child Protection System in the European and International Contexts. International Journal on Child Maltreatment: Research, Policy and Practice. Child Protection Systems Task Group. (2019). Strengthening Child Protection Systems: Guidance for Country Offices. Save the Children. INTRAC. (2017). Participatory Evaluation. Author. Joynes, C., & West, H. (2018). Evidence of Effective Child Protection Systems in Practice. Molloy et al. (2017). Improving the Effectiveness of the Child Protection System. Local Government Association. OECD. (2021). Applying Evaluation Criteria Thoughtfully. Author. Wessells, M. (2014). The Case for Population Based Tracking of Outcomes for Children Toward a Public Health Approach in Child Protection System Strengthening. Columbia University. UNICEF East Asia & Pacific. (2012). Measuring and Monitoring Child Protection Systems. Author. UNICEF. (2017). Child Protection Resource Pack: How to Plan, Monitor and Evaluate Child Protection Programmes. Author. UNICEF. (2021). The UNICEF Child Protection Systems Strengthening Approach. Author. Rai Sengupta, a young and emerging evaluator, brings over five years of international experience in monitoring and evaluating large scale development programmes. She presently works as a Senior Monitoring and Evaluation Consultant at Ecorys UK, an international development consulting firm in London, wherein she is part of evaluation teams for large-scale development programmes across India, Viet Nam, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe. Rai has an MSc in Evidence-Based Social Intervention and Policy Intervention from the University of Oxford where she was a fully funded Weidenfeld Hoffmann Scholar. Follow Rai on Twitter and LinkedIn.

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Developed by six intergenerational and multi-stakeholder task forces and launched during Youth in Evaluation week in April 2023, standards for enhancing meaningful youth engagement in evaluation target six stakeholder groups: academia, governments, international organizations, the private sector, VOPEs, and youth organizations. The task forces are advancing further uptake of the standards by mobilizing the wider evaluation community and raising awareness of the standards. They also provide guidance for the self-assessment of the standards and identify Youth in Evaluation champions. Quick overview of the standards Building momentum through partnerships is key to the wide adoption of the standards. The task forces and Eval4Action co-leaders invite interested stakeholders, including Eval4Action partners, regional evaluation leaders and young and emerging evaluators to join a relevant stakeholder task force. If you are interested in guiding, contributing, and supporting the roll-out of the standards, write to contact@eval4action.org. If you would like to express your organization’s interest in using the standards, please fill this form.

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Advancing Youth in Evaluation is a growing movement worldwide. With the launch of the Youth in Evaluation manifesto in May 2022, 140 organizations and 482 individuals have committed to undertake strategic and concerted efforts to build capacities of young and emerging evaluators and engage youth and young evaluators meaningfully in all stages of evaluation. To translate this vision and commitment into reality, co-created ‘standards on enhancing meaningful youth engagement in evaluation’ will provide a roadmap to step up the practice and accountability towards engaging youth in evaluation. The standards are organized around six dimensions: leadership and accountability; practice; advocacy and capacity development; knowledge management and communications; human resources; and financial resources. Tailored standards have been developed for specific target groups such as international agencies, VOPEs, governments, youth organizations, academia, and the private sector. The development of the standards has been led by the respective task forces via intergenerational and inclusive consultations and dialogue. Further details on the co-creation of the standards are available in this concept note. Everyone is invited to join the launch of the standards during the the Youth in Evaluation week in April 2023. The launch schedule is as follows: 25 April: Launch of standards for governments and academia 26 April: Launch of standards for international organizations and the private sector 28 April: Launch of standards for youth organizations and VOPEs Access the standards

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Read updates on the campaign activities and news from partners around the world. If you would like to receive the newsletter directly in your inbox, sign up to receive Eval4Action updates here. As an individual advocate or a partner network, if you have news or information to share with the Eval4Action community, please write to contact@eval4action.org.

Read updates on the campaign activities and news from partners around the world. If you would like to receive the newsletter directly in your inbox, sign up to receive Eval4Action updates here. As an individual advocate or a partner network, if you have news or information to share with the Eval4Action community, please write to contact@eval4action.org.

Read updates on the campaign activities and news from partners around the world. If you would like to receive the newsletter directly in your inbox, sign up to receive Eval4Action updates here. As an individual advocate or a partner network, if you have news or information to share with the Eval4Action community, please write to contact@eval4action.org.

Read updates on the campaign activities and news from partners around the world. If you would like to receive the newsletter directly in your inbox, sign up to receive Eval4Action updates here. As an individual advocate or a partner network, if you have news or information to share with the Eval4Action community, please write to contact@eval4action.org.

Read updates on the campaign activities and news from partners around the world. If you would like to receive the newsletter directly in your inbox, sign up to receive Eval4Action updates here. As an individual advocate or a partner network, if you have news or information to share with the Eval4Action community, please write to contact@eval4action.org.

Read updates on the campaign activities and news from partners around the world. If you would like to receive the newsletter directly in your inbox, sign up to receive Eval4Action updates here. As an individual advocate or a partner network, if you have news or information to share with the Eval4Action community, please write to contact@eval4action.org.

Read updates on the campaign activities and news from partners around the world. If you would like to receive the newsletter directly in your inbox, sign up to receive Eval4Action updates here. As an individual advocate or a partner network, if you have news or information to share with the Eval4Action community, please write to contact@eval4action.org.

By Yatin Diwakar and Harish Koidala EvalYouth Asia This blog is part of the Eval4Action ‘Walk the Talk’ blog series. The series details six nominated actions for influential evaluation that were contributed during the Walk the Talk drive, held in October 2021. These lessons and reflections inspire greater action for influential evaluation in the Decade of Action. One of EvalYouth Asia’s (EYA) stated objectives is to build the capacities of Young and Emerging Evaluators (YEEs), in line with the Asia Pacific Regional Evaluation Strategy. When EYA and Asia Pacific Evaluation Association (APEA) brainstormed on how to provide quick career development and capacity building opportunities to YEEs, we realised the need for conducting some basic training programmes that can plug the supply gap in capacity development in the region. Currently there are very few training programmes targeting YEEs who need support in navigating the complex world of the M&E profession. YEEs need support in learning the basics as there are few academic programmes in the region which teach M&E. They also need support to understand how to best develop their career in this field. When youth enter the evaluation sector from different academic backgrounds, they lack access to networks which can be leveraged to get better M&E jobs or consultancy opportunities. This background led to the organisation of a short winter school where YEEs from different countries could come together, learn a few key concepts related to M&E and share their experiences. Unfortunately, as the global COVID-19 pandemic limited travel, this plan was shelved. But this challenge was turned into an opportunity with the planning of a virtual event. Thus, the first Asia Pacific Virtual Winter School for YEEs was held from 29 to 31 March 2021 and encouraged by its success, the second winter school was held from 17 to 19 December 2021. Now, we plan to annually hold this event virtually and hope to have separate offline events as well. These winter schools provide opportunities to selected YEEs in the region to become competent, experienced, and well-networked professionals who contribute to evaluation capacity at national, regional, and international levels. Expected outcome for YEEs from the Virtual Winter School These winter schools are organised by EYA and APEA, in partnership with all the EvalYouth national chapters in the region, Sri Lanka Evaluation Association (SLEvA), Evaluation Community of India (ECOI), EvalYouth Global Network, UNFPA, and the Center for Evaluation at University of Sri Jayewardenepura with outreach support by the Asia Pacific Communications Hub. Partners supporting the Virtual Winter School The transition to an online event removed physical barriers for participants, allowing a well represented, multi-country participation at no cost. The winter schools had speakers and resource persons from around the globe. It had participants from the Pacific in the East to Africa in the West, Kyrgyzstan in the North to Australia in the South. While in itself this was a groundbreaking initiative in the region, what made it special was the way it was organised - exclusively through volunteers dedicating their time for completing each aspect professionally. The first winter school received ZERO funding, while the second received a small grant providing for a coordinator. Even in the paucity of funds, a dedicated team of organising committee members that represented various partners, volunteered to organise the winter school. Except two advisory members, all were YEEs, including the leaders and the consultant. This brought in a different energy and ethics to the group, where everyone worked together making best use of the online tools: Google Meet for weekly meetings, writing quick emails, and relying on WhatsApp for most communication. Calendar invites and shared drive spaces allowed timely collaboration enhancing partnership amongst volunteers across national borders. Similarly, WhatsApp groups of the participants promoted networking amongst the participant YEEs. The main event effectively used the meeting platform to engage the participants and provide a class-room like experience. While any online programme or even offline events nowadays will do all these things, what we found special about the Winter School was the importance given to youth, who were not necessarily well versed with the different tools or the specifics of organising an event at this scale. Still, they came together, explored and learnt together from each other and delivered a very professional event, not once, but twice in the year. The volunteers learnt nuances of online meeting platforms and tricks for effective use of collaborative tools. They prepared detailed guidelines and template documents (moderator slides, producer guides, speaker guides, selection procedure, social media plans, etc.) which now can be used for any similar event. It also provided a sense of unity to these disparate volunteers from across the countries in the Asia Pacific. The two Winter Schools provided opportunities to over 100 YEEs to hone their skills in M&E, but we believe that it offered the volunteers an even better opportunity and gave us the confidence to execute such a large, virtual, volunteer driven event successfully. Over the past year, many participants of the Winter School have now taken up responsibilities in their EvalYouth national chapters (alumni of the first Winter School were crucial in setting up the second group of EvalYouth chapters in the region), some are active with their VOPEs and all are using the knowledge gained to effectively build their careers. One might say that the two Winter Schools provided opportunities to over 100 YEEs to hone their skills in M&E, but we believe that it offered the volunteers an even better opportunity and gave us the confidence to execute such a large, virtual, volunteer driven event successfully. We hope that a new team of volunteers, comprising alumni of the winter schools and new co-leaders of the EvalYouth chapters will come together to regularly hold this annual online event and it will be complemented with some offline training programmes as well. This will contribute greatly to building M&E capacity in the region and in continuing the VOPE structures. This is imperative to strengthen the call for Evaluation for Action towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Yatin Diwakar is a PhD Scholar at the Centre for Technology Alternatives for Rural Areas at IIT Bombay. He is a co-leader of EvalYouth Asia, co-founder and co-leader of EvalYouth India and a core group member of Evaluation Community of India. He is also the co-leader of the NEPS theme of Asia Pacific regional evaluation strategy and the co-author of the status report of NEPS in the Asia Pacific. Yatin is also working with the Government of India in the preparation of the National Evaluation Policy Framework. Follow Yatin on Twitter. Harish Koidala is pursuing Masters in Public Policy from the National Law School of India University, Bangalore. He is the Mission Manager (Partnerships) with EvalYouth India and an active member of Evaluation Community of India. Harish was part of the team that organised the first Asia Pacific Winter school for young and emerging evaluators and the first ever Indian Evaluation Case Competition – 2021. Contact Harish via harishkoilada@gmail.com.