In evaluation, “one size does not fit all” and each assignment is unique.
Several elements contribute to this uniqueness, including the focus and objectives of the evaluation, the different social, environmental, cultural and economic contexts of the interventions to be evaluated as well as the safety and security conditions on the field.
All this is to be taken into consideration when defining the evaluation mandate and designing the methodology. Similarly, several elements are to be considered when assessing the quality of reports, e.g.: are conclusions based on sound and unbiased evidence gathered with the use of appropriate methods, and do recommendations address issues emerging from conclusions?
More and more frequently, evaluation commissioners and consulting companies rely on senior evaluators such as Marco to analyze the quality of the evaluation mandate and of deliverables.
- During his term with the ESS (Feb 2017 to Jan 2022), Marco delivered and coordinated the in-depth revision of about 600 evaluation deliverables (mostly Terms of Reference, Inception and Final Reports), thus contributing to enhancing the quality of evaluation in the DG INTPA of the European Commission.
- In 2020, Marco has been selected by the Council of Europe / Department for Internal Oversight as a framework contractor for the provision of quality review of their strategic evaluations and is recurrently contracted for the provision of these services.
- Previously, he ensured the quality of evaluation reports for the UN Peacebuilding Fund, NORAD, UN Secretariat, WFP, ICANN, the MCC and others.