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The 2016 UNEG Norms and Standards provides shared basic principles and best practices in managing, conducting and using evaluations. The ten general norms should be upheld in the conduct of any evaluation; the four institutional norms should be reflected in the management and governance of evaluation functions. The associated standards support the implementation of these normative principles.

The UNEG Norms and Standards was first adopted in 2005. Since then, it has been the guiding documents for the UN evaluation community and has been greatly recognized by member states and the global evaluation community.

The last decade has witnessed many changes in global, regional and national contexts, and in the practice of evaluation. 2015 alone saw the adoption of the new 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (which call for robust, transparent, participatory follow-up and review mechanisms based on country-led evaluations), and the first-ever International Year of Evaluation. At the end of 2014 the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution 69/237 on “Building Capacity for the Evaluation of Development Activities at the Country Level.”

The adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development raises the bar for global development. This has profound implications for the evaluation functions of United Nations agencies and for the United Nations evaluation system as a whole. In order to respond to the evolving context, as well as the increasing demands for accountability and national ownership in evaluation, in 2016, UNEG adopted the updated Norms and Standards for Evaluation. The updated Norms and Standards are forward-looking, providing an aspirational and progressive framework to contribute to the improvement of all United Nations evaluation functions.

It is hoped that this document will strengthen and harmonize evaluation in the United Nations system and provide a useful framework for national level evaluations and the global evaluation community.