Evaluation arrangements in Lithuania Neringa Jarmalavičiūtė, Evaluation Division, Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania

Content of the presentation 1.Organizational structures. 2.Evaluation plans in Use of evaluation results. 4.Lessons from the past and new challenges.

MONITORING EVALUATION Monitoring Committee: Analyses evaluation results; Supervises implementation of the OPs. OP managing committee: Analyses OPs planning and implementation problems. Ministries (intermediate bodies): Initiate strategic and operational evaluations in the field of their responsibility; Participate in ECG. Implementing Agencies: Collect monitoring data at project level. Evaluation Plan for – evaluation strategy: evaluation goals, measures, financial resources etc. Annual evaluation plans (AEPs) – projects: budget, responsible institutions, implementation period, etc. Evaluation Coordination Group (ECG) discusses AEPs; analyses implementation of AEPs; discusses technical specifications and evaluation results, etc. Managing Authority: Participates in ECG; Ensures evaluations under Art. 48, 3 (reg. No.1083/2006). Coordinating Authority: Establishes and approves Evaluation Plan for ; Establishes and organizes work of ECG; Organizes establishment of AEPs and monitors their implementation; Organizes horizontal evaluations; Is responsible for evaluation capacity building. participates in …; prepares project / ensures implementation of..; discusses; collaborates, exchanges information 1. Organizational Structures

2. Evaluation plans in Evaluation Plan : – Evaluation strategy: evaluation requirements, national needs, goals and objectives, measures, financial resources; – Approved by the Minister of Finance in January, 2008 Annual Evaluation Plans (AEPs): – Evaluation and evaluation capacity building projects for the implementation of the strategy, proposed by institutions, responsible for evaluation; – Will be approved by the Minister of Finance every year in December. Coordinating Authority monitors implementation of all evaluation plans and reports to the Monitoring Committee on their implementation and evaluation results.

Evaluation Plan ObjectivesMeasuresResultsFinancial resources 1. Organising and carrying out the evaluation meeting the requirements of EU regulations and national evaluation needs and making use of the results thereof To carry out evaluations of strategic and operational nature. 3 strategic evaluations a year; 20 operational evaluations a year; evaluation reports including recommendations. ~10 million EUR 2. Strengthening evaluation capacities in Lithuania 7 different measures to strengthen evaluation capacity at personal, institutional, inter-institutional and society level. To set up ECG; appoint responsible employees in all relevant institutions; To form legal basis for evaluation; Methodological guidance; Training events, conferences, presentations of the evaluation results, etc. ~1 million EUR

Annual Evaluation Plan projects: – 12 evaluations (6 responsible institutions); – 1 evaluation capacity building project (MoF). Budget: – ~ 0,7 million EUR; – ~ 6,5% of all allocations for evaluation in Main areas of evaluations: – strategic evaluations (e.g. priorities for ); – EU SF impact assessment (on GDP, transport sector and information society); – evaluations to define baseline indicators and to set up methodologies for measurement of different indicators.

Ministry of Finance: projects in evaluation projects: – Development priorities in ; – EU SF impact on GDP; – Compatibility of the EU SF assistance under the SPD with the EU and national strategies and other EU financial instruments; 1 evaluation capacity building project: – Strategy for evaluation capacity building; – Training for the members of the ECG; – Study visits, conference on evaluation; – Methodological documents on evaluation.

3. Use of evaluation results (new requirements in ) Institution, responsible for an evaluation, within 30 working days after the acceptance of an evaluation report: – organizes presentation of evaluation results (e.g. seminar, meeting, discussion with different stakeholders); – publishes evaluation report on the website of the EU structural assistance ( – provides a copy of an evaluation report and information on the implementation of the recommendations to the Coordinating Authority ( form to provide information).

Form to provide information on the implementation of the recommendations Institution responsible for evaluation: Contact person: Evaluation (title): No.RecommendationWill it be imple- mented? Why? (if partly or no) Measures for the implementation MeasureResponsible institution Time yes partly no

4. Lessons from the past… Planning is crucial for timely evaluations and effective use of financial resources. Use of evaluation in decision making process and benefit from evaluation depends on the level of institutionalization. Pure evaluations are more useful than different studies, research. Inter-institutional cooperation (formal and informal) is widely recognized as an effective way for the evaluation capacity building.

4. … and new challenges Use of evaluation results: more thorough monitoring (result indicator in the OPs – 70% of recommendations taken to implement). Growing evaluation demand v. limited supply. New behavior of companies on the supply side: cooperation instead of competition.

Thank you for your attention! Neringa Jarmalaviciute Senior specialist, Evaluation Division Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania Tel Fax