Overview
The Toolbox project was created to set up a ‘one-stop-shop’ where national staff responsible for the sound management of chemicals could quickly and easily find the resources they needed.
An Independent mid-term Evaluation of the Inter-Organization Programme for the Sound Management of Chemicals (IOMC) Toolbox for Decision Making in Chemicals Management – Phase III Project was undertaken between November 2019 and early 2020. It aimed to assess progress towards achieving the project’s planned results and assessed the relevance and effectiveness criteria.
Using a mixed methods approach, the evaluation included an online survey and key informant interviews with stakeholders, along with a theory of change analysis, a comprehensive desk review and three training workshop case studies.
The evaluation had several limitations, the most important being that the changes to the online Toolbox platform had not been completed when the evaluation took place. A second limitation is that the evaluation was conceived from the start as a ‘light’ evaluation without travel to partner countries, although the evaluation team made opportunistic use of the Minamata COP in November 2019 to interview key country stakeholders. Third, as with many evaluations, a considerable amount of the qualitative data collected was based on individual, subjective perceptions and opinions. And fourth, the response rate of the online survey was low (16 per cent), despite two staged reminders.