Connect, engage and share. These are the important objectives the National Evaluation Conference had set for its 2022 session, organized by UNDP's IEO Office in collaboration with the Global Evaluation Initiative of the World Bank.

Since 2009, the NEC Conference has moved across continents, engaging with more than 150 countries and unprecedented multinational support. Hosted by the ITCILO in Turin, Italy, the 2022 conference reflected upon “Resilient National Systems for Sustainable Development” within the broader context of the Anthropocene.

As we move out of the pandemic, societies are been increasingly exposed to concerning levels of inequality, aggravating the fragility of development trajectory. Many countries today are experiencing the lingering effects of restriction of movement, an exponential rise in the cost of living, limited resources and a sharp fall in living standards. The 2022 NEC conference focused on recovery, empowerment and sharing progress as stepping stones for countries to build forward better and get back on track toward the Sustainable Development Goals. 

A crisis can often turn into an opportunity, and as we see the world rising from the ashes, governments are been challenged by national evaluation systems to be more accountable and transparent. On the one hand, COVID-19 has slowed down the achievement of the SDGs, on the other, it has pushed governments into adopting more efficient, evidence-based and resilient systems to counteract the crisis. Within a framework of good governance, evaluators can step up to strengthen democratic behaviour, ensure accountability, socio-economic inclusivity and learning.  

Over three days of intense discussion on the ITCILO campus, 350 participants from 110 countries working in oversight bodies, civil society organisations, academic institutions and the United Nations system had the opportunity to come together to assess the position of national monitoring and evaluation systems in a post-pandemic world. 

Discussions and debates organised around national evaluation systems, sustainable development and methodological innovations resulted in participants adopting the Turin Declaration. 

The conference marked the return of high-level and large-scale in-person events on the ITCILO campus in Turin after the pandemic.