20 October 2017: Participants underscored the importance of strengthening country-level evaluation capacities to measure progress and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the 2017 International Conference on National Evaluation Capacities (NEC). The Conference focused on the theme, ‘People, Planet and Progress in the SDG era,’ with the aim of supporting and intensifying momentum towards attaining the SDGs.

Over 500 participants from 113 countries, representing governments, international organizations, development organizations and evaluation networks attended the event, which convened in Istanbul, Turkey, from 16-20 October. The UNDP’s Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) organized the event in partnership with Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the UNDP Regional Bureau for Europe and CIS.

The Conference explored the impact of SDGs on evaluation and highlighted opportunities for strengthening institutional evaluation capacities to support SDG implementation. According to UNDP, evaluations highlight achievements and challenges, contributing to improved accountability, transparency and decision-making, with governments playing a key role in driving such an evaluation agenda. The Conference aimed to enhance understanding of evaluation as a tool for public accountability and learning.

Participants shared lessons learned on strengthening enabling environments, national evaluation policy frameworks and institutional set-ups.

The Conference also offered an opportunity for countries to share lessons learned on strengthening enabling environments, national evaluation policy frameworks and institutional set-ups, among others. Participants discussed how evaluation could help to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’s principle of “no one left behind” and underscored the role of parliaments and civil society organizations (CSOs) in ensuring accountability and providing checks and balances.

The Conference further addressed the importance of, inter alia: Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) at local levels; behavioral change to achieve the SDGs; gender responsive evaluations; collaboration among the public and private sectors to measure contributions to the SDGs; and sufficient and appropriate data for evaluations, including data on accessibility, sustainability and equity.

The NEC Conferences are held on a bi-annual basis, with the location shifting to a new region every two years. Previous NEC Conferences have convened in Morocco (2009), South Africa (2011), Brazil (2013) and Thailand (2015). [UNDP Press Release] [NEC 2017 Website]