The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Philippine country office recently embarked on a partnership to strengthen the conduct of evaluations of priority government programs under the Philippine Development Plan (PDP). The Strategic M&E Project is financed by NEDA and implemented with full UNDP country support, including procurement support. The project has the following components: 1) managing the conduct of independent evaluations of key government themes, sectors, and/or programs; 2) supporting the implementation of the National Evaluation Policy Framework (NEPF); 3) providing learning opportunities on evaluations to NEDA and other government agencies; 4) strengthening of a community of practice on evaluations; and 5) developing an online portal of government evaluations. On the first component, UNDP will commission, on behalf of the NEDA, independent evaluation studies on at least eight (8) themes and programs that are relevant to the PDP. Such evaluation studies will assess the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, sustainability, and impact (if feasible) of priority social and economic programs that have been implemented or continues to be implemented by the government. The results of the evaluation studies are envisaged to inform how policies, and programs should be designed and implemented to achieve the desired results of the PDP, including the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals. The studies will also contribute to the development of government’s capacity to conduct evaluations by informing the design of M&E and data collection systems and practices.
