LocationsHow UNDP is Helping to Strengthen Evaluation Capacities in a Local Chinese Institution
April 29, 2025
National Evaluation Capacity Conference (NEC) 2024 Closing Ceremony
In an increasingly complex world, monitoring and evaluation play a crucial role in ensuring that development projects are effective, inclusive, and responsive to global challenges.
Recognizing this, the Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) of UNDP, the Global Evaluation Initiative (GEI), and the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) co-hosted the 2024 National Evaluation Capacities (NEC) Conference.
The 8th iteration of the conference, held for the first time in China, brought together more than 500 delegates from over 100 countries. A key outcome of the event was the launch of the Beijing Action Plan for 2030, which outlines five actions aimed at enhancing national evaluation systems and capacities on a global scale.
"Evaluations are a critical accountability tool and also a platform for learning, encouraging us to draw lessons from the past to inform future development efforts. Robust evaluation systems are essential for governments to reflect on both successes and failures, respond effectively to citizen needs, and ultimately achieve their development objectives,"said Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator, in his remarks at the conference.
With the theme of “Responsive Evaluation: For government, For inclusion, For the future,” the sessions focused on building strong national evaluation systems and leveraging them to promote evaluation use and a culture of learning, ensuring that evaluations include the voices of the most marginalized and incorporating diverse forms of knowledge, as well as harnessing the power of technology, innovation, and data management to anticipate tomorrow's challenges.
During the conference, UNDP, in collaboration with UNICEF, conducted a two-day training workshop titled “Utilizing Evaluation to Formulate Evidence-Based Policy/Programming in China.” The workshop brought together local evaluation practitioners from government, academia, and the private sector. By introducing the United Nations Evaluation Group’s (UNEG) key evaluation concepts and guidelines, UNDP helped strengthen participants’ evaluation capacities and foster greater alignment with international standards. The sessions also reinforced UNDP’s commitment to advancing the NEC conferences’ mission at the local level.
UNDP and UNICEF conducting an evaluation training workshop during NEC 2024
One of the partners who attended the session was Shaanxi Normal University (SNNU), a leading academic institution in China. SNNU has been collaborating with UNDP China to design and implement new approaches for conducting terminal evaluations and pilot the terminal evaluation of Hope Project. Funded by the Tanoto Foundation and implemented by SNNU, the Hope Project has been working to address development gaps in rural China since 2019, delivering tangible results in Shaanxi Province and beyond.
In supporting SNNU to further strengthen their evaluation approaches and capacities, UNDP China introduced and integrated UNEG’s principles and guidelines into the evaluation framework. This includes incorporating UNDP’s evaluation methodology, which emphasizes the importance of on-the-ground engagement in the field, including direct interviews and discussions with beneficiaries to ensure credibility and integrity.
An evaluation team member interviews a project beneficiary
By applying this approach, stakeholders gain a better understanding of the factors that have led to both challenges and positive results. This approach also provides important insights for effectively scaling development impact and designing a replicable framework for similar interventions elsewhere.
UNDP, SNNU, and the Southern Medical University visit an evaluation site in Ningshan County, Shaanxi Province
Following extensive communication and consultations with SNNU and Southern Medical University, the evaluation methodology was structured around the Problem-Evidence-Determinant-Action-Long-term-Scale (PEDALS) framework, which follows a strategic six-step process.
The PEDALS Framework
UNDP upholds the principle that accurate and insightful evaluation findings originate and emerge from direct, on-the-ground engagement in the field. As such, in line with UNEG guidelines, key informant interviews (KII) and focused group discussions (FGDs) are systematically conducted throughout the evaluation process as essential components to ensure the credibility and integrity.
For SNNU, adopting the lessons learned from UNDP’s evaluation processes can serve as a foundation for conducting other evaluations, thereby strengthening the impact of their projects nationwide.
“Engaging with UNDP's evaluation framework, Southern Medical University's PEDALs framework, and integrating considerations of inclusivity and future-oriented dimensions in assessments have enhanced our ability to identify issues, provide rigorous empirical evidence, and implement targeted actions during evaluations,” said Shi Yaojiang, a professor at Shaanxi Normal University. “We have also come to appreciate the critical importance of incorporating the 'voices of beneficiaries' into the evaluation process. Moving forward, we will place a stronger emphasis on assessing long-term impacts to ensure that project outcomes can be effectively replicated and scaled across broader regions."
"This collaboration with UNDP has deepened our comprehension of global evaluation standards and methodologies, enabling us to effectively integrate these insights into our project assessments,” said Wu Wei, Secretary-General of Tanoto Foundation China. “It has illuminated the path for measuring the long-term impact of our initiatives through scientific and systematic evaluation frameworks, thereby charting a course for their sustainable development. Looking ahead, we will partner with Shaanxi Normal University and UNDP to incorporate extensive field interviews and feedback from beneficiary families into our evaluation processes, ensuring the authenticity and comprehensiveness of our assessment outcomes."
This initiative, and others to follow it, stand as a testament to the power of collaborative evaluation in driving meaningful, long-lasting development progress. UNDP remains committed to continuing to make strides in helping to strengthen national evaluation capacities and establishing new benchmarks for evaluation practices.
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