The Ministry For Foreign Affairs (MFA)
Multilateral aid

Raudararstigur 25
101 Reykjavik. Iceland

Tel: (354) 545 9900

website: http://www.mfa.is/

The Icelandic International Development Agency
(ICEIDA) Bilateral aid

Raudararstigur 27
101 Reykjavik. Iceland

Tel: (354) 545 9900

website: www.iceida.is

Department background

• Iceland's Evaluation Profile
  
  
• Iceland's Evaluation Guidelines

The Icelandic International Development Agency (ICEIDA) is responsible for all bilateral aid of Iceland - 40% of ODA - while the Ministry for Foreign Affairs disburses multilateral aid and multi-bi aid. 

While external evaluations and respective principles have been a part and parcel of ICEIDA's procedures regarding bilateral aid for a number of years, it was in 2012 that the agency underwent robust reconstruction on policies and practices with the advent of a special Unit for this purpose.

The Evaluation Unit is a specialised unit within the ICEIDA working under the supervision of the Head of Monitoring and evaluations.  The Head of Monitoring and evaluations of ICEIDA leads teamwork within the agency and liaises with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs on matters regarding evaluations. He is also responsible for policies and agency wide adherence to operational procedures which the unit formulates.

Core responsibilities and duties of the Evaluation unit include the managing of evaluations, supervising and revising evaluation methodology and participating in international co-operation on related issues.

The Evaluation Unit work is guided by an internal evaluation policy of ICEIDA and an established system of monitoring and reporting. Practical application of policy is outlined in an ICEIDA internal operations manual, updated in 2012.

The purpose of final external evaluations and mid-term reviews is to contribute to and foster a culture of learning within ICEIDA and the Ministry while improving the quality of development aid. Evaluations reporting also serves to provide various stakeholders - Parliament and sub-committees, the media and NGOs and the public at large -  with reliable information through ICEIDA publications.

 Access Iceland latest evalutation reports

The publication "Better Aid: Evaluation in Development Agencies" provides individual evaluation profiles for each member of the DAC Network on Development Evaluation.Each profile provides information on the core elements of the evaluation function set-up and management, including the mandate of the unit, mechanisms to protect independence and ensure quality, reporting lines and distribution of evaluation reports.