Professionalism

Professionalism within evaluation is largely understood in terms of high levels of competence and ethical practice.

It also is sometimes discussed in terms of forming a formal profession of ‘evaluator’ with gatekeeping accreditation of training and certification of evaluators. Professionalism is one of the standards developed by the United Nations Evaluation Group and intended to cover all UN evaluations:

"NORM 10 Professionalism

14. Evaluations should be conducted with professionalism and integrity. Professionalism should contribute towards the credibility of evaluators, evaluation managers and evaluation heads, as well as the evaluation function. Key aspects include access to knowledge; education and training; adherence to ethics and to these norms and standards; utilization of evaluation competencies; and recognition of knowledge, skills and experience. This should be supported by an enabling environment, institutional structures and adequate resources."