Workshop. Better evaluation systems for all: Core norms for strong, equitable evaluation policies and systems
During this interactive workshop, presenters will introduce a core normative framework for government evaluation systems, and present concrete examples of efforts to strengthen evaluation quality and use in the context of (national and local) governments’ working across society to achieve the sustainable development goals. The presentation will enable participants to understand core concepts and become familiar with core norms in public sector evaluation, including the OECD’s legal recommendation on Public Policy Evaluation, criteria (definitions and use), and quality standards. The session will feature concrete real-life examples from several governments (countries TBC) with a focus on how these core normative concepts can be adapted to fit different national contexts and to unpack results across communities in the context of public policies to end the climate crisis and poverty. The session will explore issues such as: communicating with the public (navigating transparency, credibility and political debates); working with legislatures/parliaments to inform decision making;  programming evaluations to ensure robust coverage across policies and programmes; ensuring evaluations are credible and also relevant to the intended users – including sharing examples of what works.  
The session is geared towards government officials from national and sub-national institutions working for sustainable development (either domestically or in the context of international co-operation). It draws on forty years of real world experience from OECD members and partners, working in diverse institutional and cultural contexts. The OECD’s evaluation norms are the foundational standards of international evaluation policy and practice today, and this session will empower participants with a solid understanding of these norms and concepts and new ideas for how to implement them in their own institutional context and policy area. This workshop will innovate in terms of presenting an equity focus on the normative standards of the OECD – while illustrating how an equity focus can be applied in evaluations of public policy, sharing examples of disability rights inclusion and youth involvement.