Independence

Independence can include organisational independence, where an evaluator or evaluation team can independently set a work plan and finalise reports without undue interference, and behavioural independence, where evaluators can conduct and report evaluations without undue influence.

In some cases, independence refers to having an evaluation team that is organisationally separate from the implementing organisation or unit. However, organisational independence, including engaging an external evaluation team, does not necessarily create behavioural independence, such as when contractors fear that future evaluation contracts will be jeopardised if they produce a negative evaluation report. Engagement in the form of a participatory evaluation or a joint evaluation can increase the competence of the evaluation team in terms of relevant skills, knowledge, and experience.

Independence is one of the standards developed by the United Nations Evaluation Group and intended to cover all UN evaluations:

"NORM 4 Independence

6. Independence of evaluation is necessary for credibility, influences the ways in which an evaluation is used and allows evaluators to be impartial and free from undue pressure throughout the evaluation process. The independence of the evaluation function comprises two key aspects — behavioural independence and organizational independence.

Behavioural independence entails the ability to evaluate without undue influence by any party. Evaluators must have the full freedom to conduct their evaluative work impartially, without the risk of negative effects on their career development, and must be able to freely express their assessment. The independence of the evaluation function underpins the free access to information that evaluators should have on the evaluation subject.

Organizational independence requires that the central evaluation function is positioned independently from management functions, carries the responsibility of setting the evaluation agenda and is provided with adequate resources to conduct its work. Organizational independence also necessitates that evaluation managers have full discretion to directly submit evaluation reports to the appropriate level of decision-making and that they should report directly to an organization’s governing body and/or the executive head. Independence is vested in the Evaluation Head to directly commission, produce, publish and disseminate duly quality-assured evaluation reports in the public domain without undue influence by any party."