Evaluation

The Manual on Real Time Learning and Performance Monitoring Review has been developed in response to an increasing demand for reflection activities to generate evidence-led insights for decision-making, accountability, and learning purposes across IOM’s work. The Real Time Learning (RTL) approaches and the Performance Monitoring Reviews (PMR) tool complement ongoing monitoring activities and support evaluative thinking across strategic and operational areas of the Organization. They aim to provide rapid insights on a situation, intervention, or event, with limited financial investment. They can be used in cases where activities requiring additional concerted reflection, discussion, and potentially a change in direction have been identified.

This Guidance provides details on the processes, roles, and responsibilities to assure the quality of IOM evaluations. It highlights the importance of using the checklist for reviewing the terms of reference of evaluations by evaluation managers. It also introduces two mandatory quality control tools for reviewing inception and evaluation reports by both evaluators and evaluator managers.

This Guidance is part of a common set of guidance notes issued by the Central Evaluation function of IOM as part of the OIG 2021-2023 Strategy for the management of evaluation and monitoring functions and supports the implementation of the IOM Evaluation Policy (September 2018). Guidance notes are technical documents that set IOM standards and provide explanations on the processes and methodologies used for conducting both monitoring as well as evaluation (M&E) work at IOM.

This document outlines the potential uses of evaluations and provides guidance on how to ensure the use of evaluations and follow-up of evaluation recommendations. In particular, all IOM evaluations (internal and external) should include a management response and action plan for the implementation and follow-up of their recommendations.

The updated Norms and Standards were discussed and unanimously adopted at the April 2016 UNEG Annual General Meeting in Geneva. The 2016 Norms and Standards are interrelated and mutually reinforcing. The ten general norms should be upheld in the conduct of any evaluation; the four institutional norms should be reflected in the management and governance of evaluation functions.

The ethical principles outlined below are firmly grounded in, and build on, the 2016 UNEG Norms and Standards for Evaluation that provide the agreed normative principles to be upheld in the conduct, management and governance of evaluation.

This Guidance has been developed in response to the results of a mapping study conducted to determine the level of integration of HR & GE approaches in evaluations carried out in UN agencies, funds, programmes and training institutions (hereafter referred to as ‘UN entities’).

This Guidance Note, used in conjunction with many other recent resources on impact evaluation, provides a sound starting point for UN evaluation bodies wishing to commence conducting impact evaluations.