10:30

Session 1: Making Monitoring and Evaluation Matter

Session 2: Economic Growth: Necessary but not Simple

Chairperson: Heather Buchanan, president, Jua Management Consulting

Chairperson: Mary Lynch

Making monitoring and evaluation matter means carrying the M&E torch. This panel explores the conference theme ‘Effective Development: Defining, Measuring, Learning' by challenging international development professionals to meaningfully undertake and use monitoring and evaluation in the pursuit of development results.  

Consider M&E as a compass or GPS on the Olympic road - it's the notion that you need to have clarity about where to want to go (development outcomes) in order to "keep your eyes on the prize". This in turn helps determine the optimal road you want to take to get there. Monitoring is akin to keeping your eyes on the road you have thus chosen (watching road signs - milestones - staying alert, watching for obstacles and averting them). Evaluation is learning from this journey (e.g. understanding unexpected obstacles or discovering alternative routes) and applying previous lessons (including from other development actors) - to this journey.

Better monitoring and evaluation are therefore essential elements to getting to your destination - a gold medal in 2010? Why then is it so difficult? This panel will take an interactive approach to sharing experiences and learning.

Researchers and policymakers have long believed that the development of viable markets and real economic opportunities is critical for economic growth. Popular discussion regarding these assumptions have broadened over the years to cover a wide range of factors including the effects of governance and the enabling environment, one country's growth beyond its borders, achieving the right balance between private and public sector deployment, fragile states' prospects for growth and aid effectiveness. This panel will discuss key themes facing policymakers in both developed and developing countries when designing interventions to bolster economic growth. What appears to be working in different situations, where true progress can be found and where we should be looking in order to improve the success of our interventions are all areas of the conference's theme this panel hopes to explore.

Panellist  Barbara Levine, International Programme for Development Evaluation Training (IPDET)

Panellist  Fred Carden, Head of Evaluation Unit, International Development Research Centre (IDRC)

Panellist  Marc-André Fredette, Director, Performance Management, Canadian International Development Agency

Panellist Pr. Yiagadeesen Samy, Norman Paterson School of International Affairs (NPSIA), Carleton University

Panellist Dr. Asif Chida, Rapporter for the UN High Level Panel (Madeleine Albright, Hernando de Soto, et al) on Legal Empowerment of the Poor.

Panellist Mark Gawn, Team Leader, Economic Growth and Environmental Sustainability (YES), Canadian International Development Agency

11:30

 Discussion

 Discussion

13:30

Gender Roundtable:  How do I Measure Thee - Let me Count the Ways...

Workshop: Using ICT Tools and Best Practices in Monitoring and Evaluation

Facilitator: Nidhi Tandon (Networked Intelligence)

Facilitators: Keith Phillips & Bruce Branch (QLBS)

Description: The roundtable presentations will cover a range of examples and perspectives on the ways in which gender differentials, impacts and outcomes can be measured and monitored through the project cycle. Each brief presentation will highlight a core message and methodology and the examples can be revisited in greater detail through questions and discussions. Presentations include using a Gender Audit as a tool for measuring and tracking women's empowerment and gender equality in organizations and programs, increasing social sustainability through participatory approaches in design and monitoring with examples from the education sector, adapting participatory techniques for project development in the organic farming and the forestry sectors using Jamaica as an example and a civil society response to the evaluation of the implementation of CIDA's 1999 Policy on Gender Equality.

Description: This workshop is designed to show how development professionals can use ICT tools to improve effectiveness and efficiency as well as delivering sustained performance improvement and greater accountability and visibility to the funding agencies. There will be a demonstration of how these services have been used across 14 countries in the South Pacific to build better micro small and medium enterprises and in the microfinance industry in Central Asia. This workshop will be hands on and interactive enabling involvement and trial.

Speaker: Dorienne Rowan Campbell

Speaker: Karen Craggs-Milne, Director, Gender Equality Inc.

Speaker: Dana Stefov, Programme Officer - Policy, Canadian Council for International Cooperation

Speaker: Emily Wilson

 15:00

 Break

 15:30

Session 5: Climate Change

Session 6: Accessing Untied Aid Contract Opportunities

Chairperson: Amitav Rath

Panellist Simon Carter, IDRC

Panellist Pr. Mike Brklacich, Carleton University

Panellist Laurence Blandford, Chief of Negotiations, Environment Canada

Facilitators: Leigh Wolfrom, Deputy Director, International Trade Portfolio and Strategic Analysis, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and Yohanna Loucheur, Team Leader, Policy Development, Canadian International Development Agency

The 2001 OECD Development Assistance Committee (OECD-DAC) Recommendation on Untying ODA, the 2005 Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and the Accra Agenda for Action are significantly altering aid delivery policies and, therefore, how Canadian companies, consultants, and non-profit organizations access procurement opportunities funded by aid.  Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada (DFAIT) is working with other departments on a strategy to assist the Canadian private sector to capitalize on these international opportunities.  DFAIT has asked CAIDC to organize this discussion to seek input from private sector stakeholders on: (i) the main challenges Canadian organizations face in accessing aid procurement opportunities; and (ii) specific ways in which the government could to support such access.

16:30       Discussion

           Discussion

9:05

Session 7: Bidding for Better Aid: the changing landscape for Canadian contractors

Session 8: Food Security

Facilitator: Mark Lusignan, Director General, Contract Management Division, Canadian International Development Agency

Chairperson: Diana MacLean

Implementing the Aid Effectiveness Agenda, pursuant to the Paris Declaration and the Accra Agenda for Action, will affect CIDA's programming and operations. With the Government's commitment to greater focus, efficiency and accountability, the Agency will need to update and adapt its current contracting framework. Changes to the way CIDA delivers aid will inevitably impact on the Canadian business community; but Canadian consultants and contractors will continue to play a vital role in delivering development assistance. Mr. Lusignan will provide insights on how Contracting Management Division will endeavour to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of CIDA's procurement operations, functions and practices. This will include measures to help ensure fair access and a level playing field for Canadian firms as part of moving to global procurement for bilateral development assistance.

Panellist: Sherri Arnott Food Security Policy Group &World Vision Canada

Panellist: Renaud de Plaen, Senior Program Specialist, Rural Poverty and Environment, International Development Research Centre

Panellist: Bon Cummings, Director, Strategic Analysis and Operations Management, Africa Branch, Canadian International Development Agency

10:05

Discussion

Discussion