The Decade of Action presents an ideal moment to bring evaluation more fully into the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) picture. More than five years into the SDG era, it provides an opportunity for countries to be more firmly positioned in the driving seat supporting efforts to mainstream SDG targets into national planning initiatives.

Country-led evaluations of the SDGs will help to build bodies of evidence and construct strategic road maps to systematically track progress at national level

They will provide easier access to local real-time evidence to inform decision-making. Knowing what works, what doesn’t and why is crucial evidence that can feed into the Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) that countries present at the High-level Political Forum to support the follow up and review of the SDGs.

Country-led evaluations are rapidly gaining currency. At the UN High-level Political Forum that took place from 9-15 July, two side-events were dedicated to showcasing experiences from a number of pioneering countries in their efforts to move towards evaluation of the SDGs.

Below are some handy resources related to the two events:

Evaluation – an effective path towards the achievement of the 2030 Agenda

  • Took place on: Wednesday, 7 July 2021
  • Hosted by: EVALSDGs, UNICEF, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, DEval, IIED and IDEAS
  • Short event summary: Evaluation is crucial in assessing value, worth, and merit of national SDG-related policies, plans, and results, and can generate recommendations on how, in what direction, and how fast to drive change to achieve the SDGs. In crisis contexts, evaluations can contribute towards agility in response, re-routing strategies towards the most relevant SDGs, and adjusting resources with a focus on the most marginalized.
  • Speakers: See agenda
  • Event recording: Watch it here

 

Country-led SDG Evaluation: the missing piece of the jigsaw?

  • Took place on: Friday, 9 July 2021
  • Hosted by: EvalPartners, IDEAS, the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs Nigeria (OSSAP-SDGs), UNICEF, UN Women and the UN World Food Programme
  • Short event summary: The road to 2030 lies ahead of us. But how do we know we are on the right path? In this Decade of Action, country-led evaluations of the SDGs can deliver the critical missing evidence to learn what works and what doesn’t; to learn from mistakes and champion successes; to partner and scale up local approaches globally and global approaches locally. Building on the progress made in strengthening national evaluation capacities under UNGA resolution A/RES/69/237, country-led evaluations have the potential to help us build back better after Covid-19, light up synergies across the SDGs and unlock the door to transformation in leaving no woman, man, girl or boy behind.This event showcases the experiences of countries in moving from strengthening national evaluation capacities to embarking on evaluations of specific SDGs to inform and complement Voluntary National Reviews in reviewing progress made towards their development objectives. Featuring insights from the UNEG progress report on the implementation of UNGA A/RES/69/237, the event brings together a multitude of actors from across the international community to lend their voice to and share their experiences on how country-led evaluations of the SDGs can accelerate progress towards achieving the SDGs and lead us to a brighter future.
  • Event recording: Watch it here
  • Speakers: See agenda
  • Other resources: