The UN System Network on Rural Development and Food Security undertakes an evaluation of its activities

An evaluation of the UN System Network on Rural Development and Food Security will be undertaken in the coming months. This evaluation is one of the first to be launched by the evaluation services of FAO (PBE) in the framework of the planned series of auto-evaluation of all main FAO programmes to be done during the next three years.

This evaluation will also provide helpful indications on the future program of work and priorities for the Network in a context of budget reductions in the Sustainable Development (SD) Department of FAO where the Secretariat of the Network is hosted (through the programme entity 253P1 of the FAO program "Management and Support to the UN System Network on Rural Development and Food Security"). This evaluation of the UN System Network would also provide useful inputs for two foreseen broader evaluations: an internal review of the SD Department which will end with an expert panel in March 2004 and a PBE evaluation of FAO Partnerships and Alliances ("cooperation between FAO units and external parties for joint or coordinated action for a common purpose").

The following questions will be discussed during this evaluation:

1. What is the current political value of the Network, through a review of its mandate and how it managed to fulfil this mandate?
2. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the Network, through a review of its activities and main outputs since it was created?
3. How are the partners of the Network involved, including FAO, notably in the support and monitoring of the activities of its secretariat?
4. How has the secretariat of the Network been managed and how could it be improved (priority activities, minimum budget and location of the secretariat)?

The evaluation will review the activities undertaken by the national Thematic Groups through an analysis of the reports of the groups, a questionnaire and specific focused interviews. It will also review the activities of its secretariat, notably on the exchange of information and experiences among its members and through an evaluation of its Website (review of the content of the disseminated information, analysis of the evolution of the statistics, questionnaire to the readers, specific focused interviews with key partners of the Network and recent contributors to the website).

The 20 UN organisations partners of the Network will be invited to provide their views on the Network. A meeting of the main partners or focal points of the UN System Network, notably the Rome-based agencies (IFAD, WFP, International Land Coalition), will be organised to share the findings and recommendations of the evaluation.

The partners of the Network and the readers of its Website will therefore be invited to provide their comments, remarks and suggestions on the activities of the Network in the coming months. The Secretariat already thanks all of those who will take some minutes of their time to provide inputs for this evaluation.

If you want to receive the Terms of Reference prepared for this auto-evaluation, please contact the Secretariat of the Network at rdfs-net@fao.org.