In response to gaps identified during the workshop to draft an ISO agreement on evaluation capacity development, the ECDG Board of Directors has formulated a new vision, mission and strategy.

Press release | 12 November, 2011

GENEVA (ECDG News) – In response to gaps identified during the workshop to draft an ISO agreement on evaluation capacity development, the ECDG Board of Directors has formulated a new vision, mission and strategy.

The ECDG and JCSEE workshop to draft an ISO agreement on ECD was held 17-21 October, 2011, in Geneva, Switzerland.  The workshop, sponsored by IDRC, GIZ, and ECDG, was attended by evaluation and standardization experts from all over the world.

During the workshop, preliminary results of a UN study were reported indicating a huge need for ECD in the field.  Donors currently drive ECD, however, their funding priorities disproportionally influence the agenda. In addition, their efforts to develop evaluation capacity were esteemed to be grossly under-resourced.

ECDG’s new strategic direction will address the problems identified during the workshop.  The organization’s new vision is to serve as an “honest broker” between donors, ECD experts and practitioners in the field.

ECDG’s new mission is to be an intermediary organization for regranting purposes in order to catalyze the ability of others to develop evaluation capacity, rather than doing ECD itself, as it formerly did.  The strategies that ECDG will employ are:

• More entrepreneurial mindset: “ECD will involve more risk taking” and “more tolerance for an occasional failure”
• More focus on seeking out and funding “outstanding people and organizations,” versus long drawn-out application processes, as the means to undertake due diligence
• More true partnering between donors, ECDG and practitioners: “More collegial relationships” between ECD stakeholders
• More trust-based relationships, resulting in more discretionary grant-making and faster grant-making processes
• More discretionary and flexible funding for the ECD component of projects and programmes
• A critical mass of young people engaged in ECD work, bringing new experiences, perspectives, and practices to shape the field

In order to help it identify opportunities to be funded, ECDG has formed an Advisory Group composed of top evaluation capacity development experts in the regions.  The Advisory Group members are:

•  Africa:  Search on-going
• Americas: Pablo Rodriguez-Bilella
• Europe: Rafael Monterde Diaz
• Russia and CIS:  Alexey Kuzmin
• South Asia:  Sonal Zaveri
• South East Asia:  Aru Rasappan

In addition to serving as an intermediary grant-making organization, ECDG will develop an ECD knowledgbase where current thinking in the field as well as useful methods, models and tools can be shared.