International Fund for Agricultural Development

IFAD is an international financial institution and a specialized agency of the United Nations exclusively dedicated to transforming agriculture, rural economies and food systems. IFAD invests in the millions of people who are most at risk of being left behind: poor, small-scale food producers living in rural areas. 

More information at https://www.ifad.org/en/who-we-are

Vision, mission and guiding principles

Our mission is to promote accountability and learning through independent, credible and useful evaluations of IFAD's work. Our vision drives us to increase the impact of IFAD's Operation through excellence in evaluation. Accountability, learning, independence and partnership are the principles that guide our work, and help us to understand what works and what needs to be modified for a better impact on the lives of poor rural people.

Independence

The responsibility for the conduct of independent evaluations rests exclusively with IOE. The Director and staff of IOE have the authority to communicate and interact directly with members of the Executive Board, with in-country partners, and with others outside the Fund, as appropriate for the undertaking of evaluations. The Director, IOE has the authority to issue and publish final evaluation reports without prior clearance from anyone outside IOE. IOE presents selected evaluation reports to the Evaluation Committee and the Executive Board, following their guidance

In light of the importance of the independence of IOE, the selection and appointment of the Director, IOE is the responsibility of the Executive Board. The Chair of the Evaluation Committee is responsible for the annual review of the performance of the Director, IOE. The Executive Board has the sole authority to terminate the appointment of the Director, IOE.

Quality assurance

Our Director has appointed an Evaluation Advisory Panel to provide periodic advice on evaluation strategies, plans, methodologies and deliverables. It consists of eminent evaluation experts and scholars from around the world.

In addition, we have supported two external peer reviews of IFAD’s evaluation function conducted by independent professionals in the field of evaluation (2009 and 2019). The reviews provided an external assessment of IFAD’s evaluation function, encompassing the independent evaluation function, management-led evaluation and engagement of the Executive Board.