SJB MP Kabir Hashim in New York to perform peer review of evaluation function at UNFPA

Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Kabir Hashim has been invited as part of a high level global team of six evaluators to perform a peer review of the Evaluation Function of the UNFPA. 

Hashim, an economist, is the Chair of the Global Parliamentarians Forum for Evaluation. Kabir is a graduate of the International Program for Development Evaluation Training (IPDET) and advocates for institutionalisation of evaluation through Parliaments.

A peer review is the mechanism created by the United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) Evaluation Network. It aims to stimulate organisations to strengthen the quality, independence and utility of their evaluation functions by means of peer-led assessment, internal discussion and self-assessment, as well as dialogue with key stakeholders

The objective of the mission is to determine if the evaluation function at UNFPA and its products are independent, credible and useful for learning and accountability purposes, as assessed against UN standards and the evidence base. Since 2005, peer reviews have been conducted for 13 UN agencies. 

A specific objective for UNFPA is to assess the extent to which the current evaluation function is still relevant to the evolving internal and external changes, and feed into the update/formulation of a new evaluation policy to be presented to the Executive Board in 2024.

The Peer Review will assess the entire evaluation function, including centralised and decentralised function, demand and use, and evaluation culture at UNFPA. In specific, it will look at: Evaluation policy; Governance of the function; Management of function at centralised and decentralised levels; Evaluation planning; Evaluation quality; Evaluation follow-up and use; External influence, partnerships and positioning and Financial and human resources for the evaluation function.

The primary users for this review are senior management at all levels and the Executive Board, as well as the staff of the Evaluation Office, regional monitoring and evaluation advisors and M&E officers/focal points or evaluation managers at regional/country offices.