Guideline for Inception Phase of Evaluations

The objective of the inception phase is to achieve mutual understanding of the key aspects of the evaluation project, namely the scope, timeframes, approach and methodology, project organisation, deliverables, quality, etc. An Inception Report is an output of the inception phase, and captures what is agreed as the interpretation or revisions to the Terms of Reference and the Proposal so as to ensure the requirements of the assignment can be addressed.

Inception phase applies to both the externally conducted evaluations and the internally conducted evaluations.

On external evaluations, the phase starts immediately when the service provider has been notified that the contract has been awarded to them, and an initial briefing is organised. In internal evaluations, it starts once the Terms of Reference have been finalised by the Unit responsible for the intervention.