Navigating the Changing Landscape of Evaluation in MDBs and National Institutions in the Age of AI: Insights from NDB-IEO and Partners
Seminario web | En línea
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Organizado por:
Independent Evaluation Office, New Development Bank (NDB)
- En alianza con: Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Republic of South Africa
Sobre el evento
Overview:
As part of gLocal Evaluation Week 2026, the Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) of the New Development Bank (NDB) will convene a high-level webinar titled “Navigating the Changing Landscape of Evidence and Evaluation in MDBs and National Institutions in the Age of AI: Insights from NDB-IEO and Partners.” The session will bring together representatives from multilateral development banks (MDBs), national evaluation institutions, and development partners to examine how evidence systems are evolving in response to artificial intelligence and broader shifts in the evidence ecosystem. It will highlight how institutions are adapting their approaches to maintain the relevance, credibility, and independence of evidence in a rapidly changing environment.
The discussion will focus on how AI is being applied across the evaluation lifecycle—including design, data collection, analysis, and reporting—and how institutions are adapting their M&E frameworks, methodologies, and governance structures to remain relevant in a rapidly changing evidence landscape. It will also highlight how evaluation functions can leverage AI to enhance timeliness, analytical depth, and utilization of findings, while maintaining credibility, independence, and methodological rigor.
The session aims to:
• Examine how AI is influencing evaluation, evidence practice and institutional frameworks.
• Share institutional experiences from MDBs and national evaluation systems in integrating AI into evaluation practice and M&E frameworks.
• Identify strategic priorities for strengthening evaluation systems, methodological standards, and capacity development in the context of AI.
Participants will gain:
• Insights into how evaluation systems are adapting to AI-enabled approaches across global and national contexts.
• Practical perspectives on integrating AI into evidence systems, evaluation processes, including opportunities and risks.
• Lessons on addressing ethical considerations, bias, transparency, and data quality in AI-supported evaluations.
• A forward-looking understanding of how institutions can strengthen M&E systems and evaluation capacity in an evolving digital landscape.
As part of gLocal Evaluation Week 2026, the Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) of the New Development Bank (NDB) will convene a high-level webinar titled “Navigating the Changing Landscape of Evidence and Evaluation in MDBs and National Institutions in the Age of AI: Insights from NDB-IEO and Partners.” The session will bring together representatives from multilateral development banks (MDBs), national evaluation institutions, and development partners to examine how evidence systems are evolving in response to artificial intelligence and broader shifts in the evidence ecosystem. It will highlight how institutions are adapting their approaches to maintain the relevance, credibility, and independence of evidence in a rapidly changing environment.
The discussion will focus on how AI is being applied across the evaluation lifecycle—including design, data collection, analysis, and reporting—and how institutions are adapting their M&E frameworks, methodologies, and governance structures to remain relevant in a rapidly changing evidence landscape. It will also highlight how evaluation functions can leverage AI to enhance timeliness, analytical depth, and utilization of findings, while maintaining credibility, independence, and methodological rigor.
The session aims to:
• Examine how AI is influencing evaluation, evidence practice and institutional frameworks.
• Share institutional experiences from MDBs and national evaluation systems in integrating AI into evaluation practice and M&E frameworks.
• Identify strategic priorities for strengthening evaluation systems, methodological standards, and capacity development in the context of AI.
Participants will gain:
• Insights into how evaluation systems are adapting to AI-enabled approaches across global and national contexts.
• Practical perspectives on integrating AI into evidence systems, evaluation processes, including opportunities and risks.
• Lessons on addressing ethical considerations, bias, transparency, and data quality in AI-supported evaluations.
• A forward-looking understanding of how institutions can strengthen M&E systems and evaluation capacity in an evolving digital landscape.
Presentador/a
| Nombre | Título | Biografía |
|---|---|---|
| Ms. Andile Madonsela | Director of Innovation and Equity, Pan-African Collective for Evidence | Andile Madonsela is the Director of Innovation and Equity at the Pan-African Collective for Evidence (PACE), where she leads policy-relevant research to strengthen the uptake and use of evidence in decision-making. She specialises in evidence synthesis and works closely with policymakers at multiple levels to support more inclusive, equitable, and informed processes. Andile has led national and multi-country evidence synthesis initiatives and sits at the intersection of research, innovation, and technology, with a strong focus on making evidence accessible, relatable, and impactful, particularly for advancing equity. |
| Ms. Thokozile Molaiwa | Head of Evaluation at the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) in South Africa | Ms Thokozile Molaiwa is the Head of Evaluation at the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) in South Africa since August 2020. Ms Molaiwa has been part of South Africa’s National Evaluation System (NES) since August 2012. She has over 25 years’ work experience with 18 years’ experience in the evaluation of developmental programmes and interventions. In her current role of managing and coordinating the NES, she continues to shape evaluation policy and practice nationally through co-authoring several DPME guidelines that inform government-wide evaluation standards, assisting state institutions to institutionalise evaluations, evaluation capacity development, and promote the use of evaluation evidence for improved decision making. Her work promotes transformative and participatory evaluation. Notably, she co-authored a 2024 paper on decolonising evaluation systems in partnership with global peers. She is currently the Chairperson of the Technical Committee of Twende Mbele African M&E Partnership. |
| Mr. Manas Puri | Senior Professional, Independent Evaluation Office, New Development Bank | Manas Puri is the Senior Professional at the Independent Evaluation Office of the New Development Bank. Prior to that, he worked as a specialist in conceptualizing and evaluating energy and climate change projects at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Over the past 10 years, Manas has worked on numerous project designs and evaluations in approximately ten FAO member countries within Central and South Asia, as well as North and East Africa regions. He has also contributed to developing organization-wide strategies and methodologies, such as FAO’s climate change strategy, and led the development of the water-energy-food nexus evaluation methodology. Additionally, Manas has authored several academic papers, synthesis reports, and project completion reports. Manas holds a Ph.D. in economics and management and a bachelor’s degree in physics. |
| Ms. Maya Vijayaraghavan | Principal Evaluation Specialist, Independent Evaluation Department (IED), Asian Development Bank (ADB) | Maya leads work on evaluation methods, data analytics, AI, and capacity development at ADB. She previously served as a Lead Economist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and as an econometrician at the World Bank. She holds a PhD in Applied Economics from Clemson University. |
| Dr. Rachna Tanwar | Director, Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO), NITI Aayog, Government of India | Dr. Rachna Tanwar belongs to 2009 batch of the Indian Revenue Service (Customs & Indirect Taxes). Having served in the department, she has vast experience of working in Delhi Preventive (Jaipur & Jodhpur), Customs at major port (Vishakhapatnam), Central Excise, and Service Tax, Preventive Division (Jodhpur), Land Customs Station, (LCS) Munabao, and Anti Evasion wings, Audit etc. She has also served as OSD, Tariff Unit, Customs Policy Wing in DoR, Ministry of Finance for more than two years. During that tenure, she has represented Indian Customs in HS Committee of WCO at Brussels.She also had experience of capacity building activities while serving at National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes & Narcotics (NACIN) at Faridabad (now the Hqrs shifted to Palasamudram, Andra Pradesh). She had been associated with the training of more than five batches of IRS (C&IT) Officer Trainees and also other In-Service training programs, MCTP & International Cooperation and Training wings. She was instrumental in the initiatives of capacity building initiatives for stakeholders; CONCOR, AAICLAS etc for effective handholding and cooperation in related work fields. She has been awarded with Chairman’s Gold Medal during her probation period, while serving in the department, the WCO Merit certificate for effective discharge of duties in Customs field. |
Moderador/a
| Nombre | Título | Biografía |
|---|---|---|
| Ms. Fariha Ahmed | Partnerships Specialist, Independent Evaluation Office, New Development Bank | Fariha Ahmed is Evaluation Partnerships Specialist at the Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) of the New Development Bank (NDB). In this role, she supports institutional learning and strengthens evaluation capacity through partnerships and knowledge-sharing initiatives. She works closely with stakeholders, member country counterparts, and peer evaluation institutions to strengthen evaluation capacity development. Her responsibilities include coordinating high-level evaluation events, managing institutional partnerships, and supporting knowledge-sharing initiatives within the multilateral development community, national and international evaluation institutions. |