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| Global Evaluation Initiative | |
|---|---|
| Name | Global Evaluation Initiative |
| Formation | 2000s |
| Type | International network |
| Headquarters | Geneva |
| Region served | Worldwide |
| Leader title | Director |
Global Evaluation Initiative is an international network that promotes evaluation practice, capacity, and standards across public, private, and civic institutions. It links practitioners, funders, universities, and multilateral bodies to advance evidence use, performance assessment, and accountability. The Initiative collaborates with regional agencies, bilateral donors, and research centers to shape evaluation policy and training.
The Initiative operates as a convening platform connecting stakeholders such as the United Nations, World Bank, OECD, African Union, and European Commission with academic partners like Harvard University, University of Oxford, Stanford University, London School of Economics, and University of Cape Town. It engages think tanks including the Brookings Institution, Center for Global Development, Chatham House, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and International Crisis Group, and coordinates with funders such as Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, USAID, and DFID (now Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office). The network links professional associations such as the American Evaluation Association, European Evaluation Society, African Evaluation Association, and Australasian Evaluation Society to regional commissions like the Inter-American Development Bank and sectoral bodies including the World Health Organization, UNICEF, UNDP, FAO, and ILO.
Origins trace to multi-stakeholder dialogues at forums like the World Economic Forum, High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, and summits convened by the United Nations General Assembly and the G20. Early catalysts included reforms inspired by reports from the International Monetary Fund, World Bank Group, Asian Development Bank, and evaluations promoted by the Global Fund. Founders drew on methodologies developed at institutions such as the RAND Corporation, Methodology Institute of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, and McKinsey & Company. Expansion occurred through regional hubs modeled after initiatives by the Caribbean Development Bank, African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, and bilateral programs of Japan International Cooperation Agency and Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.
Primary objectives include strengthening monitoring and evaluation systems used by bodies like European Investment Bank, African Union Commission, ASEAN Secretariat, Mercosur Secretariat, and Organization of American States; improving evaluation capacity within ministries modeled on reforms in Ministry of Finance (United Kingdom), Ministry of Finance (India), and Ministry of Planning (Brazil); and supporting sector evaluations in health, education, and infrastructure led by WHO Regional Office for Africa, UNESCO, UNICEF Supply Division, Global Partnership for Education, GAVI, and Global Environment Facility. Scope spans humanitarian responses coordinated with International Committee of the Red Cross, UNHCR, Médecins Sans Frontières, and bilateral emergency agencies, as well as private sector impact assessment aligned with standards from International Finance Corporation and Sustainable Accounting Standards Board.
Governance combines elements of networks such as the Gavi Board, Green Climate Fund, Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and advisory models used by Pew Charitable Trusts and International Development Research Centre. A steering committee includes representatives from UNDP Evaluation Office, World Bank Independent Evaluation Group, OECD Development Assistance Committee, European Investment Bank Evaluation Unit, and regional evaluation societies. Secretariat functions are often co-located with institutions in hubs like Geneva, Nairobi, Brussels, Washington, D.C., and New Delhi, working alongside accreditation partners such as Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy and training partners like International Institute for Educational Planning.
Methodological influence comes from evaluation traditions at Campbell Collaboration, Cochrane Collaboration, Impact Evaluation Initiative at J-PAL, and standards from ISO and International Labour Organization reporting frameworks. Frameworks emphasize mixed-methods approaches drawn from randomized controlled trials pioneered by Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo through J-PAL, theory-based evaluation linked to work by Carol Weiss and Michael Quinn Patton, contribution analysis associated with Michael Scriven, and realist evaluation advanced by Ray Pawson. It adapts statistical tools from StataCorp, R Project for Statistical Computing, SPSS, and qualitative analysis approaches used at Max Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy.
Programs include capacity-building partnerships with universities like Makerere University, University of Ibadan, University of São Paulo, and University of the West Indies; thematic initiatives on climate finance evaluation in collaboration with Green Climate Fund, UNFCCC, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and World Resources Institute; health systems evaluation projects with WHO, Global Fund, and GAVI; and urban development evaluation linked to UN-Habitat, World Bank City Resilience Program, C40 Cities, and ICLEI. It has conducted flagship studies modeled after high-profile evaluations such as those by the International Development Committee (UK Parliament), US Government Accountability Office, Office of Inspector General (World Bank), and national audit offices.
Impact is evident through adoption of evaluation guidelines by institutions like UNICEF, UNDP, World Bank, and the African Development Bank; incorporation of evaluation modules in curricula at Harvard Kennedy School, Columbia University, Oxford Blavatnik School of Government, and SIPA (Columbia University); and influence on donor policies at European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, DFAT, Global Affairs Canada, and KfW. Criticism echoes debates involving Transparency International and Oxfam concerning independence, potential donor bias noted by observers such as Human Rights Watch, and methodological disputes similar to those between proponents of RCTs and proponents of qualitative synthesis advocated by the International Development Evaluation Association. Concerns have been raised about scalability, comparability, and political economy effects discussed in forums like the Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group and the IMF and policy debates within the United Nations Economic and Social Council.
Category:International organizations