Bagbin calls for evaluation policy to let citizens know impact of govt policies
The Majority Leader in Parliament, Mr Alban Bagbin, has observed that the absence of an evaluation policy is denying the citizenry the opportunity to know the impact of government’s policies, programmes and projects.
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He, therefore, affirmed the resolve of Parliament to support the formulation of a policy to promote evaluation in government institutions.
Mr Bagbin made the pledge when he launched the Ghana version of the Evaluation Year (EvalYear) 2015 in Accra yesterday. The EvalYear seeks to promote evaluation of policies and programmes.
Held on the theme: “Strengthening Evaluation for Better Development Results in Ghana”, the event was organised by the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) in collaboration with the Ghana Monitoring and Evaluation Forum.
Minimal evaluation
The majority leader said many public institutions did not appreciate the importance of evaluation, saying, “We put evaluation on the back burner.”
As a result, he said, even reports were not subjected to rigorous assessment to know the benefits of the projects and programmes captured in the reports.
For instance, Mr Bagbin said, Parliament had over the years focused largely on policies and inputs, especially on what was bought and how wisely the money was spent.
He said although that approach had succeeded in ensuring that financial books were kept, “it has not succeeded in ensuring that the leakages are sealed and adequate information generated about whether programmes had their intended impact”.
Mr Bagbin said the situation had arisen partly due to the lack of strong results-based systems and weak capacity at the various public institutions to provide the necessary information in a timely manner to inform the work of Parliament.
He, therefore, gave the assurance that Parliament would further collaborate with the NDPC to promote the demand and use of evaluation in policy making.
Prof. Adei on evaluation
The former Rector of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Prof. Stephen Adei, stressed the need for the country to formulate an evaluation policy to enhance evaluation by government institutions.
He called for the building of the capacity of state evaluators in an effort to make evaluation an integral part of the country’s governance process.
Prof. Adei said much of the effort would depend on the leadership’s demand for evaluation-based policies, programmes and projects.
NDPC on evaluation
The Director-General of the NDPC, Dr Nii Moi Thompson, indicated that evaluation was crucial as it guided development efforts.
However, he said, there was a disproportionate focus on monitoring to the neglect of evaluation in the country.
UN system
The United Nations Resident Coordinator, Ms Christine Evans-Klock, said the UN was committed to supporting efforts at strengthening evaluation in Ghana.
She said the UN wanted to make 2015 the year that “evaluation will be put at the centre of development”.