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ILO’s Technical Assistance on Labour Law Reform in Pacific Island Countries (2012-2018) - Thematic independent evaluation

eval_number:

3155

eval_url:

https://webapps.ilo.org/ievaldiscovery/eval/3155

lessons_learned:

themes:

theme:

Monitoring and evaluation

category:

Organizational issues

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comments:

ROAP and CO-Suva

challenges:

CO-Suva has a weak M&E system. Many useful tools for evaluation, such as sex-disaggregated data, participant lists of training related to LLR, pre-and post-training assessments, and follow-up monitoring of training impacts are missing. In this case, the evaluation has to rely heavily on site visits, key information interviews, and focus group discussions in order to collect data. This approach requires early mobilization of key stakeholders in member states and the development community to participate in the evaluation. If CO-Suva was not sure whether adequate engagement could be mobilized, it could suggest an evaluability assessment to determine: - the extent to which a program is ready for evaluation, including the readiness of the office and its stakeholders; - the changes that are needed to increase its readiness; and - whether the type of evaluation approach proposed in the inception report is suitable to judge the performance of the TA under evaluation. Evaluability assessment is a systematic process that helps identify whether program evaluation is justified, feasible, and likely to provide useful information. If the readiness of evaluation is confirmed, CO-Suva should mobilize stakeholders’ participation as early as possible and work with the stakeholders to prioritize key evaluation questions and generate their buy-in to the evaluation results. Ideally, a logic model for the TA under evaluation could be developed, which would serve as a visual representation of the underlying logic or theory of TA on LLR. In reality, neither evaluability assessment nor the mobilization was done. This result was partially due to the already heavy workload borne by the staff in the office and partially because of the office’s lack of evaluation experience. The M&E capacity of the office should be further strengthened.

success:

A Stocktake Report was prepared to summarize ILO TA and development cooperation projects on LLR in PICs between 2012 and 2017. This report served as an excellent background document for the evaluation.

context:

This regional thematic evaluation on the ILO’s TA on LLR in the Pacific was originally planned in 2017, then postponed until 2019. When the evaluation was finally launched in August 2019, CO-Suva was not adequately prepared for this important exercise. When the evaluator was on the ground, many staff in CO-Suva provided strong support under the leadership of the Officer in Charge, especially those from Samoa, Vanuatu, and PNG, to facilitate data collection activities. Still, the stakeholders in the member states and international development partners did not adequately participate due to the last-minute mobilization and the office’s lack of evaluation experience.

description:

A complicated regional thematic evaluation requires thorough preparation for data collection and adequate mobilization of stakeholders for participation. When there is a weak M&E system, an evaluability assessment should be considered before conducting the actual evaluation in order to reduce uncertainty about evaluation investment and achieve cost-effectiveness.

administrative_issues:

CO-Suva should have actively engaged in the design of the evaluation and improved its readiness for it.

url:

https://webapps.ilo.org/ievaldiscovery/lessons/248451

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location:

country:

Asia and the Pacific - regional

region:

Asia and the Pacific

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eval_title:

ILO’s Technical Assistance on Labour Law Reform in Pacific Island Countries (2012-2018) - Thematic independent evaluation