ITC Annual Evaluation Synthesis Report 2017

ITC Annual Evaluation Synthesis Report 2017 - web version 2.pdf www.intracen.org/uploadedFiles/intracenorg/Content/About_ITC/Working_with_ITC/JAG/Redesign/07_ITC%20Annual%20Evaluation%20Synthesis%20Report%202017%20-%20web%20version%202.pdf

Overview

This is the fifth edition of ITC's Annual Evaluation Synthesis Report (AESR) since 2013. The purpose of the report is to consolidate findings expressed by recently completed evaluations on ITC's project performance and results, and convey the key learning messages to ITC management, project managers and stakeholders. In this year's AESR, findings from all together 23 ITC projects are considered. It includes learnings from ITC and funder-led external evaluations of ITC operations; and the learning scope has been further extended to cover insights project completion reports delivered by project managers. ITC's comparative advantage in providing internationalisation support to MSMEs is well recognized by funders and partners. Improvements in SME marketing capacity, exports and competitiveness have been witnessed in a majority of the 10 internal and external evaluations, be it in Bangladesh's IT sector, Cambodia's high-value silk sector, Tunisia's textile sector or Uganda's coffee sector. Several evaluations emphasized that, in a complex trade development context, ITC's projects have to further improving the tailoring of ITC;s SME competitiveness and marketing services to SMEs' needs. Trade and Investment Support Institutions (TISI) capacity building has been identified as a challenging performance area by a few project evaluations. A common message expressed by recent evaluations and PCRs is that TISI capacity building takes longer than the typical three-year project implementation period (as seen in the cases of SECO Nepal, EIF Cambodia, EIF Chad projects), especially in countries where TISIs were not yet full-fledged. Therefore, there is a need for future projects to build on the existing in-house analytical tools to benchmark TISI capacity at the outset of a project, and design project interventions in view of realistic objectives matching the timespan and resources available. Beyond that, projects should address the need to build a strong ownership of TISIs, in their role as implementing partners, which is a critical approach to enhancing sustainability and the probability to realize impact. The AESR 2017 also dedicates a chapter to learning on agriculture value chain (AVC) in trade development (Chapter IV). ITC's interventions in AVCs indicate its commitment to development and poverty reduction, and the evaluations highlight some important lessons that can guide future interventions in AVC development.

Report Details

Agency

  • International Trade Centre (ITC)

Report Type

  • Synthesis of Evaluations

Countries

Completed Date

  • Jun 2017

Consultant Name

  • Lead evaluator: Jicheng ZHANG

Agency Focal Person

  • Jicheng ZHANG

Agency Focal Person Email

  • zhang@intracen.org

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Joint Evaluation

  • No

Pooled Funding Evaluation

  • N/A

SDGs