International Conference "Ensuring Effective Performance Through Evaluation"

PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS (25.09.2008)

ATTENTION! All three workshops will be one day long, thus one person may register only for one workshop.

Registration for pre-conference workshops will be open at 9.00 on September 25, 2008

Workshops schedule:

Session 1: 9.30 - 11.00

Coffee-break: 11.00 - 11.30

Session 2: 11.30 - 13.00

Lunch: 13.00 - 14.30

Session 3: 14.30 - 16.00

Coffee-break: 16.00 - 16.30

Session 4: 16.30 - 17.30

Workshop 1. How to assess institutional performance

Jean Serge Quesnel is teaching at the United Nations System Staff College and is Adjunct Professor at Carleton University in Ottawa. He just retired from UNICEF where he was Director of the Evaluation Office. He held the same positions at the Inter-American Development Bank and the Canadian International Development Agency. He has led many institutional evaluations.

One efficient way of ensuring effective performance is to use evaluation to assess institutional performance. This means to evaluate one's own institutional performance and those with whom one collaborates with. An excellent and simple evaluation framework was developed by the International Development Research Centre, UNIVERSALIA and the Inter-American Development Bank. The workshop will present the synthetic framework, the evaluation approach, the different types of institutions, and how to diagnose institutional capacity strengthening.

Workshop 2. Evaluation capacity development

Dr. Craig Russon has had a long and varied career in evaluation. He is currently a Senior Evaluation Officer for the UN's International Labour Organization (ILO). In this capacity he manages evaluations done in support of the ILO's mission in various parts of the world. Dr. Russon was one of the founders of the International Organization for Cooperation in Evaluation (IOCE).

During the proposed workshop, participants will have an opportunity to learn about and discuss each of the tools or steps involved in the evaluation capacity development process. The steps in the process include the following: Determine the purpose for which the organization desires to conduct evaluation. The purpose will then be refined into a shared vision for evaluation. Organizational design and culture help the organization achieve its shared vision. Organizational design and culture are put in place by the policies that are implemented; and policies are operationalized through budgets. Participants will apply what they have learned through guided practice. Each participant will take away a plan for evaluation capacity development for the organizations with which they are affiliated.

Workshop 3. Introduction to evaluation: methodology, practice and policy

Dr. Alexey Kuzmin currently is the President of the Process Consulting Company (Moscow, Russia) and teaches evaluation at Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences (MSSES). Alexey has been working as a management and organization consultant since 1987. Since mid-90s has specialized in program and project evaluation. Conducted many evaluations of projects and programs in various parts of the world. Has master’s degrees in engineering and psychology, and doctor’s degree in program evaluation and organization development.

Evaluation requires systematic data collection to provide a basis for making judgments about the program, improving the program's effectiveness, and/or informing decisions about future programming. This workshop gives a basic idea of all stages of evaluation and self-evaluation: purpose identification, planning, information gathering, information analysis, report writing and preparation for the final discussion of findings. Each stage is accompanied by practical tasks based on real situations. Participants will also learn about evaluation practice and policy development in the Newly Independent States.