UNDP'S EXPERIENCE IN EVALUATION APPRECIATED BY PARTICIPANTS AT THE 2019 NATIONAL EVALUATION CAPACITIES CONFERENCE ORGANIZED BY THE INDEPENDENT EVALUATION OFFICE OF UNDP IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE EGYPTIAN MINISTRY OF PLANNING

A Moroccan delegation participated in the "National Evaluation Capacities" Conference held October 20-24 in Hurghada, Egypt under the theme "Leaving No One Behind: An Evaluation for 2030".  Organized by the Independent Evaluation Office of the United Nations Development Programme in partnership with the Egyptian Ministry of Planning, Monitoring and Administrative Reform, the conference brought together about 450 participants, including government representatives, parliamentarians and experts from international and regional organizations in public policy evaluation.

Building on the momentum generated by previous NEC conferences, the objectives of this edition were to provide a space for sharing lessons and experiences in developing and strengthening national evaluation systems, improving evaluation practice in the context of SDOs, and developing new partnerships.

The Kingdom of Morocco was represented by a delegation composed of the Secretary General of the ONDH, Mr. El Hassan El Mansouri, the Second Vice-President of the Chamber of Advisors Mr. Abdelilah Halouti and a member of the Chamber, Mr. Ahmed Touizi, the Vice-President of Hassan 1st University of Settat, Mr. Riyad Fakhri, a Professor from the Moulay Ismail University of Meknes (UMI), Mr. Abdelilah Baguare, the Head of the "Information System" Unit at ONDH, Mr. Abdel Fatah Hamadi and the Manager of the Joint ONDH-UN Program, Mrs. Meryem Touimi Benjelloun.

Under the impetus of ONDH, this conference was marked by the distinguished participation of Mr. Abdelilah Halouti, Member of Parliament, who highlighted the achievements of Morocco in terms of institutionalizing the evaluation enshrined in the Constitution of 2011. To this end, he did not fail to recall the role of public policy evaluation as a strategic tool to improve public action in Morocco by emphasizing the Institutions of evaluation in Morocco, particularly the role of Parliament.

The participation of the ONDH was concretized through :

• An intervention during the session on the "Transformation of evaluation through partnerships" held on Tuesday, October 22nd where the Secretary General of the ONDH highlighted the innovative nature of the partnership linking the Observatory to the Moulay Ismail University of Meknes (UMI) which led to the creation of the first Master in Morocco in Public Policy Evaluation" at the FSJES of Meknes. In addition, thanks to the support of UNODC, the Master students have benefited from qualified international expertise and some have been invited to participate in major events, including the NEC 2019 conference. This model of partnership, he stressed, is now a successful experience that the Observatory is implementing within the Hassan 1st University of Settat and the Mohammed 1st University of Oujda.

• The participation of Mr. Secretary General, in the plenary session "Architecture for effective evaluation" on Thursday, October 24, chaired by Mr. Indran Naidoo, Director of the Independent Evaluation Office UNDP and moderated by Mr. Marco Segone, Director of the Evaluation Office at UNFPA. During this session, the Secretary General presented the progress made by Morocco in the field of evaluation engineering. He also highlighted the role of ONDH, as a national institution mandated to conduct quality evaluations based on scientific approaches to accompany the actors of Human Development in Morocco as well as the efforts made in terms of training in evaluation at the national level, particularly through partnerships with Moroccan universities. 

• The presentation of ONDH's experience in strengthening monitoring and evaluation tools by Mr. Abdel Fattah Hammadi, Head of the "Information System" Unit in the framework of a session on "SDOs and national evaluation systems". He thus highlighted the process of setting up the NHRO referential for the monitoring-evaluation of public policies sensitive to human development in the context of SDOs.

The leadership and rich experience of the NHRO in strengthening national evaluation capacities and the implementation of innovative monitoring-evaluation tools were applauded during the Conference. The Moroccan experience is now "an example to follow" for other countries on the continent.