Evaluation of UNCTAD activities: Overview

The Working Party on the Programme Plan and Programme Performance

1. Reaffirms the importance of independent evaluations for transparency, accountability, learning and evidence-based decision-making, in accordance with the UNCTAD evaluation policy and the norms and standards for evaluation of the United Nations Evaluation Group;
    
2. Notes the assessment by the Office of Internal Oversight Services of the UNCTAD evaluation function, and requests the secretariat to report to the Working Party on the follow-up of the recommendations issued;
    
3. Expresses appreciation for the quality and clarity of the annual evaluation report for 2020–2021 (TD/B/WP/310), and encourages the secretariat to continue strengthening evaluation work, including by ensuring that the recommendations issued are targeted and actionable;
    
4. Requests the secretariat to strengthen the results-based management of its projects, in particular during the project design phase, the sustainability of projects, and the integration of human rights and gender considerations in its work, as well as delivering on other key findings of the evaluations presented;
    
5. Looks forward to considering the evaluation of subprogramme 1 at its eighty-fourth session in 2022, calls on the secretariat to use the previous evaluation of the subprogramme as a reference point, and highlights the importance of selecting an appropriate evaluation team to ensure the relevance and utility of the evaluation and of the recommendations issued.