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IEU NEWSLETTER, Issue 16

IN THIS ISSUE
  • IEU at B.32
  • New team members
  • Evaluations
  • LORTA
  • Evaluation Standards
  • Blogs
  • IEU Engagements
  • Coming Up
 Dear friends and colleagues, 

In the past couple of months, the IEU was able to make significant progress on the Second Performance Review (SPR) of the Green Climate Fund. Notably, the IEU published the approach paper of the SPR and the report of Rapid Assessment of the Progress of the Green Climate Fund’s Updated Strategic Plan. Both were presented to the GCF Board at its 32nd meeting in Antigua and Barbuda and garnered much interest from the Board members and observers alike.

Another highlight relates to the finalization of the GCF's Evaluation Standards, which the IEU developed in collaboration with the GCF Secretariat. The Standards aim to support and enable the production of state-of-the-art evaluations and to provide consistency across the different types of evaluations conducted by GCF stakeholders.

Additionally, the IEU recently published the approach paper of the Independent Evaluation of the Relevance and Effectiveness of the GCF’s Investments in the African States and the very first impact evaluation report of the Learning-Oriented Real-time Impact Assessment (LORTA) programme on GCF's FP002 project in Malawi. 

Finally, the IEU is pleased to welcome three new members to its team: Evaluation Specialists Genta Konci and Prashanth Kotturi and Synthesis, Uptake, and Communications Assistant Consultant Safaa Loukili-Idrissi! 

In the coming months, the IEU will continue to work on the SPR, the Independent Evaluation of the Relevance and Effectiveness of the GCF’s Investments in the African States and the Independent Synthesis of Direct Access in the GCF. For more frequent updates on our evaluations, you can subscribe to our social media channels.

Thank you,
Andreas Reumann,
Head of the IEU a.i.

IEU AT B.32
The thirty-second meeting of the GCF Board took place in Antigua and Barbuda in a hybrid setting. The IEU's Head a.i., Andreas Reumann, joined the meeting virtually and presented the Activity Report, which covers the IEU's key activities from 1 January to 31 March 2022, in line with the Board-approved 2022 IEU work plan. The Board noted the report on the IEU's activities, and the recording of the IEU's presentation is available here.
The IEU presented two SPR deliverables at B.32. First, the IEU's Andreas Reumann presented to the Board the Rapid Assessment of the Progress of the GCF's Updated Strategic Plan. Second, the IEU's Evaluation Advisor a.i. Dr. Archi Rastogi presented the approach paper of the Second Performance Review (SPR) of the GCF and outlined the work to be undertaken in the SPR. The recording of the IEU's presentation is available here.

NEW TEAM MEMBERS 
The IEU is pleased to introduce three new members! 
Genta Konci, Evaluation Specialist
Genta joined the IEU in April 2022 from her previous position at UNDP's Independent Evaluation Office. She has more than 16 years of international experience in monitoring and evaluating development sector across UN agencies, governments, donors, and private organizations.
Prashanth Kotturi, Evaluation Specialist
Prashanth brings more than 11 years of evaluation and development experience in private sector, government and the UN. Before joining the IEU in May 2022, he worked with the Independent Office of Evaluation of the International Fund for Agricultural Development. 
Safaa Loukili-Idrissi, Synthesis, Uptake and Communications Assistant Consultant  
Safaa joined the IEU from the GCF's Independent Redress Mechanism. She's a young professional with a strong interest in monitoring and evaluation. She holds a Master's in Environmental Management from the University of Oxford.

EVALUATIONS
The approach paper of the Second Performance Review (SPR) of the GCF has been published. A brief summary of the evaluation approach is available here. Additionally, the IEU has also produced a Rapid Assessment of the Progress of the GCF's Updated Strategic Plan. The assessment is an IEU deliverable contributing to the SPR. It reviews the progress made on the USP as of April 2022 and provides projections on the delivery of the GCF's strategic vision until the end of the GCF-1 programming period. 
The approach paper of the Independent Evaluation of the Relevance and Effectiveness of the GCF's Investments in the African States has been published; it sets out the questions and methods guiding the evaluation and the workplan for its delivery. A brief summary of the evaluation approach is available here. 
The IEU commenced work on the Independent Synthesis of Direct Access in the GCF. The approach paper for the synthesis will be published in the coming days.

LORTA 
The IEU's multi-year Learning-Oriented Real-Time Impact Assessment (LORTA) programme incorporates state-of-the-art approaches for impact evaluations to measure the performance of select GCF-funded projects.
 
The LORTA team published its very first impact evaluation report, which looked at GCF's FP002 project "Scaling up the Use of Modernized Climate Information and Early Warning Systems in Malawi" and, specifically, the Participatory Integrated Climate Services for Agriculture (PICSA) component of the project. The project aims to strengthen the planning for and monitoring of disasters, mobilize resources for disaster management and improve the resilience of local communities to climate-related shocks. A 2-page summary of the impact evaluation report is also available here.

 


The LORTA team also published the baseline report for the impact evaluation of GCF's FP087 project "Building Livelihood Resilience to Climate change in the Upper Basins of Guatemala's highlands." The report outlines the theory of change of the project as well as the impact evaluation questions and indicators. 

GCF EVALUATION STANDARDS

As per GCF's Evaluation Policy, the IEU developed, in collaboration with the GCF Secretariat, a set of Evaluation Standards that will ensure that the Fund is able to support the production of state-of-the-art evaluations and to provide consistency across the different types of evaluations conducted by GCF stakeholders. In the process of developing these Standards, the IEU undertook various steps that considered the experiences of experts within and outside of the GCF. The final 15 standards build upon and go beyond the Norms and Standards of the United Nations Evaluation Group and other multilateral organizations.​

BLOGS
B.32 Data Outlook: Funding proposals for Board's consideration
In this Data Outlook blog written before B.32, IEU’s Evaluation Specialist Genta Konci gave a sneak peek at the funding proposals that had been prepared for the GCF Board’s consideration at B.32 and discussed what the approval of these projects would imply. Read the blog here!
Enhancing the capacity of GCF accredited entities through the pandemic: What does direct engagement with project teams look like?

The LORTA programme continues to serve the IEU’s mandate to enhance the capacity and support the learning of GCF's Direct Access Entities. The IEU's former LORTA intern Christina Humtsoe shares her experience working with the Alternative Energy Promotion Center (Nepal) on GCF's FP172 project. Read the blog here!
A Behaviour and Design Toolbox

The IEU's digital Behaviour and Design Toolbox aims to synthesize evidence and develop guidelines on how to evaluate behavioural changes activated by GCF projects. Deborah Sun Kim, Climate Researcher Consultant at the IEU, discusses the toolbox and shares how the LORTA programme collaborates with its partners to better understand behavioural science in developing countries and how these insights might elevate the effectiveness of climate projects. Read the blog here!

IEU ENGAGEMENTS
IEU and the Secretariat: On 25 May 2022, the IEU held a webinar event with the GCF Secretariat to discuss the approach and timeline of the Independent Evaluation of the Relevance and Effectiveness of the GCF's Investments in the African States and the Independent Synthesis of Direct Access in the GCF. The IEU's Andreas Reumann, Daisuke Horikoshi, and Prashanth Kotturi also took questions following the presentations.

 
IEU and evaluation networks: On 12 May 2022, IEU's Dr. Archi Rastogi participated in a webinar on 'Transformational Climate Finance: How can multi-stakeholder finance models drive rapid and just responses to the climate crisis,' where he discussed the lessons learned from the IEU's Independent Evaluation of the GCF's Approach to the Private Sector. The webinar was held as part of a series of learning events hosted by the Transformational Change Learning Partnership of the Climate Investment Funds.

COMING UP
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