The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and the Bangsamoro Planning and Development Authority (BPDA) signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) to strengthen impact evaluation for Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) programs and projects.
In a statement yesterday, NEDA said the MOA was signed last Monday by socioeconomic planning secretary Arsenio Balisacan and Bangsamoro director general Mohajirin Ali of the BPDA.
The capacity development program on impact evaluation, a key component of the MOA, aims to augment BPDA’s ability to assess local service delivery within BARMM.
The program will focus on attribution in project or program evaluation, ensuring that interventions significantly contribute to the region’s developmental goals.
“The agreement we are signing transcends a mere document. It paves the way for learning, sharing and collaboration among M&E (monitoring and evaluation) practitioners. It equips our institutions with the necessary skills and ex perience to conduct rigorous impact evaluation studies that will directly benefit our community,” Balisacan said.
The MOA is supported by the NEDA-United Nations Development Programme Strategic Monitoring and Evaluation Project. This project seeks to facilitate a more effective evaluation of programs and projects under the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028 and the Public Investment Plan at both national and sub-national levels.
As part of the agreement, NEDA provided technical training to BPDA personnel, enabling them to gain a comprehensive understanding of impact evaluation principles, theories, designs, tools and methodologies. This training shall further enhance their skills in the preparation, design and management of such evaluations.
“The robust evidence generated through this program will inform strategies and plans, embed impact evaluation principles into development planning and facilitate effective communication of policy recommendations to relevant stakeholders,” Balisacan said.
In addition, NEDA and BPDA are jointly designing and executing impact evaluation studies on selected BARMM programs and projects.
This exercise will provide practical learning experience in the design, conduct and management of impact evaluation studies.
The findings and recommendations from this study will be instrumental in policy decisions and the formulation of new projects within the region.
“The insights from these studies will shape policies and programs within the BARMM, promoting transparency and accountability in government efforts,” the country’s chief socioeconomic planner said.
The capacity development program is slated to run for 15 months.
Meanwhile, in a separate statement yesterday, NEDA said Balisacan and Her Majesty Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, in her role as the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development, had a strategic dialogue to amplify inclusive finance innovations that tackle financial inclusion bottlenecks in the Philippines.
The meeting focused on key issues such as identity authentication, enhancements to digital payment schemes and developments in the Philippines’ preliminary efforts in open finance.
“This is indeed a great opportunity to reflect upon and discuss our country’s achievements in inclusive financing, identify challenges, devise solutions and plan further improvements to our financial inclusion initiatives,” Balisacan said.
