Terms of Reference: Evaluability Assessments of CGIAR’s Portfolio 2025-2030

Abstract

The Multi-Year Evaluation Plan includes Guided Evaluability Assessments (EAs) in the first half of 2025 of all portfolio components. EAs are engineered to support the inception period of programs and accelerators, to build strong MELIA plans in anticipation of mid-line evaluations in 2027.

These Terms of Reference (ToRs) present the design and approach to assessing the EA of 13 Science Programs and Accelerators (P/As), including Genebank, of CGIAR’s 2025-30 Portfolio, an activity included in the System Council-endorsed Multi-Year Evaluation Plan (MYEP), and presented in the 2025-27 workplan for CGIAR's Independent Advisory and Evaluation Service (IAES) (SC/M21/DP5). CGIAR’s Evaluation Framework defines evaluability as “the extent to which an intervention can be evaluated in a reliable and credible fashion; the concept is central to a culture of results. A strong focus on evaluability at the design and inception stage facilitates overall ‘measurability’, monitoring and subsequent evaluation”.

This exercise will use IAES’ guideline for EAs 2022, which includes a framework with six domains: 1) Intervention logic; 2) MEL systems and resources; 3) Gender diversity and inclusion; 4) Long-term evaluability; 5) Context and environment; and 6) Management and stakeholder engagement and response. A bespoke application of the EA process will both facilitate the use of EA results in the inception phase of the 2025-30 Portfolio and inform and support evaluation readiness (e.g., for 2027 mid-line evaluations of the 2025-30 Portfolio (also included in the MYEP linked above).

The overall aim for the EA exercise will be to provide actionable recommendations in support of improved MELIA components in the Portfolio.

Explore the IAES Evaluability Assessments Hub to discover how EAs ensure reliable and measurable evaluations.

Citation

CGIAR Independent Advisory and Evaluation Service (IAES). (2025). Terms of Reference: Evaluability Assessments of CGIAR’s Portfolio 2025-2030. Rome: IAES Evaluation Function.