International Year of Evaluation 2015, “Evaluation torch” lit in NY and Bishkek

[Asela Kalugampitiya]

On 17 December2014, Ambassador Thomson of Fiji Mission to the United Nations (sponsor of the UN resolution on National Capacity Development), Deborah Rugg (UNEG Chair and OIOS Evaluation Director) and Marco Segone (EvalPartners co-chair and UN Women Evaluation Director) lighted the 2015 International Year Evaluation Torch (first photo below). The torch was then passed on to Indran Naidoo (UNDP Evaluation Director), Colin Kirk (UNICEF Evaluation Director), Scott Green (OCHA Evaluation Director), Navis Hanif (UN DESA), Andrea Cook (UNFPA Evaluation Director), Vincent Herlihy (Mission of Ireland), Rafael Lourenço Beleboni (Mission of Brazil) and Peni Suveinakama (Mission of Fiji).

The torch will be symbolically passed on to the global evaluation community throughout the 20 events scheduled all over the world to celebrate the Internation..., starting with the Indian Evaluation Week scheduled in New Delhi on  19-23 January and organized by the Planning Commission, Government of India and the Institute of Applied Manpower Research. Representatives from the Voluntary Organizations for Professional Evaluation from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Russia and USA (Washington Evaluators) also lit 5 small torches in Bishkek (second photo below).

Through the symbolic passing over of the torch, participants to the 20 events will be invited to discuss the following four themes:

• Identifying the key future priorities for the global evaluation community to launch the 2016-2020 Global Evaluation Agenda;
• Bridging the gap between the evaluation community (supply side) and the policy makers community  (demand side), including Parliamentarians,  to ensure good quality, equity-focused and gender-responsive  evaluations are demanded and used in policy making;
• Mainstreaming equity-focused and gender-responsive evaluations in Sustainable Development Goals at international level, and in national development strategies at national level;
• Developing equity-focused and gender-responsive National Evaluation policies.

The International Year of Evaluation will culminate at the EvalPartners Global Evaluation Week to be held at the Parliament of Nepal on 30 November-4 December 2015.

Best regards