Caption:Fiji’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Peter Thomson with UN staff.Photo:SUPPLIED.
The United Nations General Assembly today adopted a new resolution on ‘Capacity Building for the Evaluation of Development Activities at the Country Level’.
The resolution invites the entities of the United Nations development system, with the collaboration of national and international stakeholders, to support efforts to further strengthen the capacity of nations for evaluation of development activities. The Fiji Permanent Mission to the United Nations led the passage of the resolution.
With the adoption of the resolution, the Chair of the United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG), Deborah Rugg, thanked the Fiji Permanent Mission for leading the process through the many informal and formal meetings at the drafting stages, as well as negotiations and presentations in the 2nd Committee. In speaking to the resolution, Fiji’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Peter Thomson paid special tribute to Peni Suveinakama of the Fiji Mission, whom he said had managed the process throughout.
During the introduction of the draft resolution at the UN’s 2nd Committee in New York last month, the Permanent Representative of Fiji to the United Nations, Ambassador Peter Thomson had said that, “evaluation is an important tool for development in any country, and this resolution is aimed at strengthening the role the international system can play in providing the necessary support.” He said that as the global community transitions from the Millennium Development Goal’s into the Post-2015 Development Agenda, for lasting success to be achieved, it is essential that countries have appropriate capacity for evaluation.
The passage of the resolution coincided this week with the launching of the International Year of Evaluation. In a ceremony at the United Nations, Ambassador Thomson, in his capacity as President of the Executive Board of UNDP/UNFPA/UNOPS, launched the year by the lighting of a symbolic torch. The torch will be carried around the world to make appearances at the many evaluation events to be held in 2015.
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