Jordan Development Evaluation Association (EvalJordan) in partnership with EvalPartners launched the project “Towards formalizing the National Evaluation Policy and Practices in Jordan” that aims at strengthening the national evaluation capacities and advocating towards a unified national evaluation policy in Jordan. This project, that is being implemented in 8 focus countries around the world, aims at achieving three main objectives:
- Strengthened National Evaluation Policies and Systems (NES) in focus countries,
- Multi-stakeholder partnerships created for an inclusive Voluntary National Review (VNR) process of national development agendas, and,
- Evaluative dimension of VNR adopted at global level by 2020.
The project was launched in April 2019 and completed in January 202. It was implemented in a consultative approach with relevant partners and stakeholders and financial and technical support from UNICEF and included the following activities:
- 11 EvalJordan members participated in the 7th EvalMENA conference and learned from the Moroccan experience with the NEP and the institutionalization of evaluation in their country. A meeting was held between the Moroccan Evaluation Association and EvalJordan to discuss potential cooperation between the two parties in implementing the NEC project.
- Mapping of Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Capacities and Practices in Jordan that EvalJordan conducted to better understand the existing evaluation systems, capacities and efforts that govern the evaluation practices in Jordan. The mapping involved 53 organizations comprising of three different stakeholder types: 19 Governmental Entities, 19 International Organizations, and 15 National Organizations and it reflects the perceptions of M&E focal points at these organizations. The study was essential to inform EvalJordan’s strategy as well as the National Evaluation policy/framework efforts that were delayed due to the Covid-19 crisis.
- EvalJordan conducted the 2nd Evaluation days. This event has two main objectives; first, this event was held to share the results of the M&E Capacities and Practices Assessment exercise that was completed in 2019. Second, this event helped raise awareness and contribute to enhancing the M&E capacity by delivering specialized M&E training sessions to a targeted group of beneficiaries. The Evaluation Days took place on the 27th and the 28th of January 2020 and were attended by 21 government and local entities representatives. The event covered the following sessions:
- M&E Framework, Development of Objectives and Indicators
- Quantitative Data Approaches (Study Design, sampling and analysis)
- Qualitative Research
- Evaluation in the 2030 Agenda – SDGs
- Evaluation (Evaluation Design)
- Evaluation (Implementation and Utilization)