News and Articles

Updates, concept notes, and summaries from the National Evaluation Capacities conferences.

The National Evaluation Capacities conferences have served as a vital gathering point for governments, evaluation professionals, and international development partners since their earliest sessions. These convenings bring together a diverse community of practitioners who share practical insights, emerging methodologies, and institutional approaches to building robust national evaluation systems. Over successive conferences, participants have examined how evaluation can be more effectively embedded within national policy cycles, budgeting processes, and program management frameworks. The meetings have consistently emphasized that strong evaluation capacity is not an end in itself but a means to achieving better development outcomes, more accountable governance, and more responsive public services for citizens across countries at different stages of their development journeys.

The Bangkok Principles on National Evaluation Capacity for the Sustainable Development Goals era represent a landmark collective commitment within this community. Emerging from the fourth international conference co-hosted with the Royal Thai Government, these principles articulate a shared framework for strengthening evaluation systems in support of the global development agenda. They call attention to the importance of country-led evaluation efforts, the need for supportive legal and institutional frameworks, and the value of blending diverse evaluation practices and methodologies. The principles also underscore the significance of independent evaluation offices, the role of joint evaluations, and the importance of building sustainable capacity that endures beyond individual projects or donor cycles, reflecting the varied political contexts and developmental stages of participating countries.

The ongoing work of the National Evaluation Capacities community extends well beyond the conference events themselves, encompassing a rich body of concept notes, summaries, and analytical documents that capture emerging practice. These materials examine a variety of combinations of institutional arrangements, legal frameworks, and evaluation approaches found across different national settings. They seek to document what works, identify persistent challenges, and reveal how countries are adapting global principles to their own governance realities. The collective effort includes studies on baseline assessment, results measurement, and the institutionalization of evaluation within public sector management. Through this shared documentation, the community builds a growing body of knowledge that informs policy dialogue and supports countries in their journey toward more effective evaluation systems.

Looking ahead, the National Evaluation Capacities initiative continues to evolve in response to the changing development landscape and the demands of the Sustainable Development Goals agenda. The community remains committed to fostering collaboration between governments, evaluation offices, development agencies, and civil society organizations. Current and future efforts focus on strengthening the links between evaluation findings and policy decisions, promoting the use of evaluation evidence in national planning, and expanding the reach of capacity development to more countries and regions. The conference proceedings and ongoing exchanges serve as a platform for signatories and participants to renew their commitments, share lessons learned, and explore innovative approaches to evaluation that can support inclusive, sustainable development for all.