Evaluation of the International Trade Centre Overview, Key Findings, Conclusions and Recommendations

1
Evaluation of the International Trade Centre
Overview, Key Findings, Conclusions and
Recommendations

• Presentation to the Joint Advisory Group
• November 24, 2005
• Murray Smith, Team Leader

2
Outline

• Conducting the Evaluation
• Key Evaluation Questions
• Methodology
• Comparative Advantage
• Perfomance
• Capacity
• Recommendations

3
Conducting the Evaluation

• The Evaluation was supervised by a Management
  Group and a Core Group reporting to the JAG
• First independent external evaluation of ITC
• Scope of the evaluation was broad and ambitious
• Terms of reference and all reports are on the
  website www.itcevaluation.org

4
The Terms of Reference address 3 sets of Key
Evaluation Questions

• Comparative Advantage
• Performance of Interventions
• Capacity of the Organisation

5
Methodology

• Four Modalities
• Country perspective
• Product perspective
• Organisation perspective
• TRTA Context
• Large number of field and technical studies
• 10 country studies
• 15 product studies including 5 case studies
• E-questionnaires used to contact ITC partners
• Interviews of development partners at the field
  and headquarters level
• Extensive interviews with ITC staff and
  management
• Intensive validation and review

6
Challenges of the Evaluation

• Lack of intervention logic/logical framework
  analysis and indicators of achievement at the
  corporate level
• No baseline data and lack of data on results
  achieved and information on end-users at the
  country level
• Evaluation constructed a reference framework or
  stylised logical framework for the results chain

7
Comparative Advantage of ITC

• ITC has maintained its comparative advantage in
  trade development TRTA
• Good division of labour with UNCTAD and WTO
• Developed new competencies in mainstreaming of
  trade development
• Sources of comparative advantage include its
  network of TSIs, its perceived neutrality, its
  emphasis on trade development, and convening
  power with business and trade development
  communities

8
Performance of Interventions

• ITCs intervention strategy emphasises global
  products with overall resource constraints
• ITC works with TSI partners to leverage the
  global products spread over many countries
• ITC knows its TSI partners but formalised needs
  assessment and cost analysis lacking
• monitoring of results achieved is lacking

9
Performance of Interventions (contd)

• ITC has a pattern of product proliferation
• Achieving Objectives
• ITC objectives are defined at the programme level
  
• Relevance is regarded as high by ITC partners
• Efficiency is also regarded favourably by ITC
  partners but problems noted with follow-up

10
Performance of Interventions (continued)

• Effectiveness and impact depend on the capacity
  of TSIs to convert ITC products into results and
  to reach end-users
• Global networks and mainstreaming of trade are
  activities complementary to bilateral donors
• Sustainability depends on the capacity and
  commitment of TSI partners

11
Performance of Interventions (continued)

• Delivery of products to end-users via TSI
  partners is potential bottleneck
• Some ITC products are more suited to lower middle
  income and transition economies than to LDCs due
  to weaker TSIs and digital divide
• Country-specific projects are regarded by
  partners as offering more results, but lack of
  continuity of funding is a constraint

12
Capacity of the Organisation (continued)

• Monitoring systems differ for Regular Budget and
  Extra-budget
• ITC is at an early stage of implementing RBM
• Self-Evaluation is effective but is linked to
  operational management at present
• ITC programming is in line with its comparative
  advantage newer programming draw on ITCs
  experience and capacity for networking of TSI
  partners

13
Strengthening the Organisation

• Greater harmonisation of donor support to reduce
  transactions and reporting costs, multi-year
  funding to improve planning
• Review and strengthening of the governance
  mechanisms including an expert body to review and
  to guide programming

14
Capacity of the Organisation

• Governance structure is attenuated, fragmented
  and has not adapted to the development of the
  organisation
• The harmonisation agenda provides new
  opportunities for rationalisation of financing
  modalities for ITC
• Cost measurement including backstopping needs to
  be improved

15
Strengthening Operational Performance (contd)

• More systematic needs assessment and measuring
  unit costs including backstopping
• Monitoring of utilisation of products and results
  achieved
• Managing for Development Results (MfDR) is best
  addressed by more emphasis on country-specific
  projects in the portfolio of projects

16
Strengthening Operational Performance

• ITC should implement a change management strategy
• Implementing RBM should be a high priority
• Monitoring of results will require TSIs to
  measure results achieved in terms of capacity
  building for TSIs and especially
• Greater emphasis on strategic HR, professional
  development and gender balance

17
Supporting Trade and Development

• ITC should utilise an MDG lens to integrate
  development goals including
• ITC should explore innovative programmes for the
  informal sector and women entrepreneurs
• ITC should work with TSI partners to develop
  performance standards, monitor results achieved
  and increase sustainability of TSIs

18
Supporting Trade and Development (continued)

• Sustain co-operation with UNCTAD and WTO
• Explore new development partnerships
• Options to strengthen field presence should be
  explored
• Greater emphasis on country-specific projects
• If key management and institutional reforms can
  be implemented, the scale of ITC programming
  should be increased