2009 Annual Conference
November 22, 23 & 24, 2009
The Residence Inn by Marriott
161 Laurier Ave West, Ottawa ON
Theme:
"Effective Development: Defining, Measuring, Learning"
Draft Program
November 22:
18:00 Early Registration & Reception
November 23:
8:00 Registration & Early Coffee
9:00 Welcome: Richard Beattie, CAIDC President
9:15 Keynote Speaker: John Reed, Principal Auditor for the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT), Office of the Auditor General of Canada (OAG)
Vote of thanks: Richard Beattie, CAIDC President
10:00 Break
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
12:00 CAIDC sponsored lunch
Keynote Luncheon Speaker: Ian Smillie
Key Note Address: Effective Development and the Tyranny of Results-Based Management
Description: Ian Smillie will examine the issue of effective development in the context of two recent publications that have caught the public eye: Dambisa Moya's controversial Dead Aid and Paul Collier's The Bottom Billion. He will examine the ever-changing set of nostrums for development assistance against the demand for results in a business that is fraught with unknowns and risk. And he will use examples from his recent book, Freedom from Want: The Remarkable Story of BRAC, to show what can be accomplished when common sense and tenacity prevail.
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
17:00 Closing Announcements
18:00 Conference Reception
November 24:
9:00 Opening Announcements: Richard Beattie, CAIDC President
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
10:30 Coffee & Networking
11:00 Closing Plenary: The Role of Canadian Policy in Promoting Effective Development
Chairperson: Patrick Johnston (Walter and Gordon Duncan Foundation)
Canadian parliamentarians have recently had two opportunities to consider the effectiveness of Canada's international development activities.
In September, the government tabled the first Report to Parliament of the Government of Canada's Official Development Assistance as required by the new ODA Accountability Act. And, in early November, parliamentarians received the annual fall report from the Auditor General which included a chapter that examined CIDA ‘s efforts to implement the commitments set out in its 2002 Policy Statement on Strengthening Aid Effectiveness.
Building on the information contained in these two reports, the closing plenary will engage elected Members of Parliament in a "stock-taking" about the strengths or weaknesses of existing Canadian policies. To what extent do they further - or thwart - the provision of effective development? What policy changes would they advocate that have the greatest potential to strengthen international development effectiveness? And what do they believe are the most important barriers - current or future - that may impede effectiveness? And finally, given that the panellists may be knocking on doors whenever a federal election is called, we will ask them to report on the "mood" of the Canadian public that may shape the future direction of effective international development.
Panellist: Hon. Dr. Keith Martin, MP Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca (Lib)
Panellist: Mr. Paul Dewar, MP Ottawa-Centre (NDP)
12:00 Discussion
12:30 Closing & Thanks: Richard Beattie, CAIDC President
13:00 CAIDC Sponsored Lunch & Networking
14:00 CAIDC Annual General Meeting