EvalTalk #1-2021

"Evaluation & Budgeting: Are they compatible bedfellows?"

MES’s EvalTalk, an ongoing public forum featuring evaluation experts and practitioners, is back! Under the theme Evaluation Matters, the next session will focus on evaluation & budgeting, with the topic title, Evaluation & Budgeting: Are they compatible bedfellows?

Moderated by Dr Arunaselam Rasappan,  this session will convene a panel of international practitioners from the public sector:

  1. Dr Annette Griessel – Deputy Director-General, Department of Planning and Monitoring & Evaluation, South Africa
  2. Dr Buddhima Trakarnvanich – Former Senior Budget Analyst, Budget Bureau, Thailand
  3. Dr Victor Karunan – Former Deputy Representative – UNICEF Malaysia and UNICEF Thailand
  4. Mr Koshy Thomas – Former Under Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Malaysia

This session will be of interest to VOPE members and evaluators, will be held virtually on the following date:

Date: 5 September 2021 (Sunday)
Time: 5pm (1.5 hours) MYS time UTC+8

Zoom registration link or https://bit.ly/3mHF1nv

Note: Registration is free. The session will be interactive with participant interaction, and will be recorded for MES publicity and internal recordkeeping. Registration to participate in the session will indicate permission to be recorded.

The session intends to cover:

  1. Evaluation is well recognised as a crucial strategic management tool across all sectors. If one looks at it closely, it would become apparent that the prudent use of evaluation can lead to substantive improvements across all key management functions including planning and budgeting. Major challenges often faced in developing countries is the poor or inconsistent use of evaluation for strategic performance management. Only a handful of countries have installed evaluation as a legislative policy mandate within the public sector, while others have mandated it administratively.
  2. A key question related to this is to what extent are budgeting practices and strategic decisions being guided and informed by evaluations? Budgeting is a critical management function in allocating scarce resources, yet there is minimal use of evaluation to bring about efficacy in the use of scarce resources.
  3. Session panelists will present the challenges and issues faced as well innovative practices in the use of evaluation for results-based budgeting. They will also focus on the three important components of Strategic Development Results Planning, Resources Allocation & Performance Management and discuss the successes, challenges and lessons learnt using their country experiences.
  4. Special focus will be given to the issue of Allocative Efficiency using Evaluation as a strategic management tool. Attention will also be given to the contemporary challenges of external and internal evaluations linked to policy and program improvements.
What is EvalTalk?

EvalTalk is a public forum initiative on Evaluation hosted by the Malaysian Evaluation Society (MES), targeting those involved in evaluation in various capacities. The purpose of the sessions is to:

  1. Raise awareness on the utility of evaluation as a strategic management tool on a multi-disciplinary basis;
  2. Promote the institutionalization of evaluation into mainstream management practices across all sectors; and
  3. Encourage and support developing countries to benefit from the adoption and strategic use of evaluation for improving development results.
Update: Session Recording

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