Report of the Impact Assessment and Evaluation Group to CGIAR International Centers Week 1999

Report of the Impact Assessment and Evaluation Group (IAEG) to CGIAR International Centers Week 1999, the last report of the IAEG before becoming an external standing panel of TAC on evaluation, which later became known as the TAC Standing Panel on Impact Assessment (SPIA).The report discussed the evolving mandate and structure of the IAEG, and the roles of the IAEG and TAC in the ex ante, current, and ex post phases of evaluation, and the importance of independence in the evaluation function. These considerations had led the Group to approve replacement of the IAEG with an external standing panel on evaluation, served by a wing of the TAC Secretariat. Its role in the impact assessment cycle and in TAC's structure was the subject of a tentative proposal prepared by TAC Chair-designate Emil Javier, which would integrate the standing panel into the existing TAC Standing Committee on Priorities and Strategies, in order to tie the results of ex post impact assessment directly to TAC priority-setting and strategic planning. The IAEG agreed with this approach.Progress reports were presented on IAEG's portfolio of seven ongoing or planned impact studies:1. Impact of CGIAR Germplasm Improvement on Food Production2. Impact of CGIAR Integrated Pest Management Research3. CGIAR Contributions to Poverty Alleviation4. Impacts of CGIAR Innovations on the Environment5. CGIAR Contributions to Strengthening Scientific Capacity and Partnerships6. Implications for the CGIAR of Impact Assessment and Logframe7. State of the Art paper being prepared for the November 1999 workshop on impact assessment in Entebbe, UgandaThe IAEG Policy for Data Sharing and Publications is provided as an annex.Agenda document at the CGIAR meeting of October 1999