World Intellectual Property Organization

Evaluation Function

The Evaluation Section of WIPO is part of the Internal Oversight Division (IOD) which is operating under the WIPO Internal Oversight Charter adopted in 2012. The Evaluation Policy 2010 is under revision and will be replaced by a new policy in 2016.  Independent evaluations in WIPO are undertaken in accordance with United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG) Norms and Standards. They are planned and conducted in collaboration with program and project managers, when necessary with the support of external experts. The evaluation function is overseen by the Independent Advisory Oversight Committee (IAOC) to ensure that the function's independence, integrity and influence are protected.

Self-evaluations in WIPO are undertaken on an annual basis by the program managers and reported in the Program Performance Reports (PPR), which are validated by IOD.

In 2015, in addition to the Director's time, the Evaluation Section has three staff members and a budget of USD 500,000 (i.e. 0.15% of the total organizational budget).

Promoting a culture of evaluation

IOD contributes to the enhancement of the evaluation culture through seminars internally at WIPO and by contributing to events with evaluation associations (European Evaluation Association EEA and Swiss Evaluation Society SEVAL) and with local networks (Geneva Evaluation Network GEN).

Snapshot

• Evaluation Policy:

  • Internal Oversight Charter 2012

  • WIPO Evaluation Policy, 2016

  • Evaluation Strategy 2010-2015 (under revision)

• Human Resources:

  • Director: M

  • Evaluators: Total 3 ; M= 1 F=2

  • Support staff: One intern (M),  One administrative assistant (2/3 FTE)

  • Decentralized evaluation staff: None.

• Evaluations produced per year by the central unit

  • 2014-2015: 7 evaluations per biennium (2 country portfolio, 2 program, 1 thematic, 1 strategic, 1 project).

• Key resource:

  • WIPO IAOD Evaluation Section staff

Independence

The evaluation function in WIPO reports through the Director, IOD directly to the Executive Head of the Organization. The Director, IOD has the authority to distribute evaluation reports to the governing body and/or executive head without prior clearance from other parties within or outside the Organization.  External experts are requested to state potential conflict of interest.

Agenda Setting & Evaluation Planning

Annual Evaluation Plans are part of the Oversight plan prepared by IOD and indicate evaluations to be carried out by the Evaluation Function during a biennium. Evaluation plans are established in consultation with Senior Managers and Member State Representatives. Planning priorities are based on risk-assessment and on utility potential for accountability, institutional learning and relevance for the Organization.

Stakeholder involvement and promoting national evaluation capacity development

Stakeholders are systematically consulted in the planning/design, conduct of and follow-up to evaluations. In country evaluations national consultants are systematically par of evaluation teams. Evaluation results are presented and discussed in-country.

Quality Assurance

The quality of evaluation reports is systematically controlled internally with reference to UNEG quality standards. The WIPO Evaluation Policy explicitly states that evaluations should employ design, planning and implementation processes that are inherently quality oriented, covering appropriate methodologies for data-collection and analysis. Each evaluation report presents complete and balanced evidence, findings, conclusions and recommendations in a concise and traceable manner.

Use of Evaluation

Final evaluation reports are submitted to the Director General by the Director, IOD, with copy to the Independent Advisory Oversight Committee (IAOC) and the External Auditor. An Annual Report on the implementation of the Oversight Plan is prepared and summarizes all evaluation activities (together with internal audit and investigations), lessons learned and progress on the implementation of all recommendations.  There is an internal mechanism - supported by adequate software - to ensure that agreed recommendations are systematically followed-up.

Since September 2014 all evaluation reports are published.

Joint Evaluation

The evaluation section has not been involved in any joint evaluations conducted with evaluation functions of other organizations.