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The Government of the Republic of Benin has made evaluation a national priority since 2007. The ambition displayed by the authorities at the highest level is to precede any public action, with a rigorous evaluation. As such, the Government intends to develop all the tools necessary for the conduct of quality assessments. After the development and adoption in 2012 of the National Evaluation Policy (PNE), the second major act in the implementation of evaluation programming and management tools is the national methodological evaluation guide. This guide therefore aims to ensure maximum homogeneity and standardization in the conduct and use of evaluation results. Among other things, it clarifies:

• the methodology for developing the Terms of Reference (TOR) for the assessments;
• the approach and methodological approach to be used to conduct each type of evaluation;
• the criteria to be used to conduct the assessments in accordance with norms and standards;
• the standard structures for project / program / policy evaluation reports;
• the different types of assessment to be conducted;
• the profile of actors qualified to conduct the assessments;
• the standard frameworks for assessing the quality of evaluations.

The demand for National Evaluation Policies (NEPs) has gained traction in Africa as more countries acknowledge the value of evaluation in enhancing efficiency, effectiveness, and equity in public and development management. As these countries implement developmental programmes and projects they require appropriate and effective monitoring and evaluation systems to measure performance, assess impact and draw lessons for future programmes and projects. Similarly, the Sustainable Development Goals call for country-led systems to measure effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, sustainability, and the impact of development interventions.

Representatives from Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, The East African Legislative Assembly, South Africa, Malawi, and Ghana have called for improved research and evidence use in African Parliaments. They were hosted by the Parliament of Uganda for a workshop on research and evidence use in the Parliament Context.

In June 2007, the President of Benin, in an effort to make the Government’s interventions effective to the benefit of the population, awarded the public action evaluation mission to the Ministry of Forecasting, Development and Evaluation. of Public Action (MPDEAP), which became the Ministry of Forecasting, Development, Evaluation of Public Policies and Coordination of Government Action (MPDEPP-CAG) in June 2009. While the MPDEPP- CAG has become the Ministry of Development, Economic Analysis and Prospective (MDAEP), the evaluation of public policies is now the remit of the Primature (Prime Minister’s office). Development of evaluative practice in Benin has been recognized as a necessity by all stakeholders in the development process, the Government intends to develop in coherence with the continuation of the reform of results-based management, a genuine national system of development, evaluation that will help improve public action and strengthen the evaluation culture within the Public Administration. The present national evaluation policy constitutes a unifying tool for the realization of this ambition.

Teams of national experts were commissioned in Benin, Uganda and South Africa to carry out a country diagnostic of the gender responsiveness of National Monitoring and evaluation system which aims to:

(i) Use the AGDEN gender diagnostic tool to review National Monitoring and Evaluation System (NMES) including : a) the National M&E policy, b) institutional arrangements and capacities, and c) processes and procedures;

(ii)Identify potential barriers and enablers to having a well-functioning gender responsive M&E system at the country level

(iii)Identifying and developing concrete strategies (or recommendations) to strengthen the gender responsiveness of country’s Monitoring and Evaluation system.