Guidance note for Inception Reports - UN Women

4. Work plan
Develop a timeline which shows the evaluation phases (data collection, data analysis and
reporting) with their key deliverables and milestones. Describe what has been done so far,
listing meetings, locations, attendees, and conclusions. A detailed work plan includes clear steps
and goals, including dates, places and personnel involved. For ease of reading, the working
schedule is often presented in a chart format.
Specify responsibilities for the evaluation team members, the evaluation manager and the
reference group.
5. Logistics
Discuss the logistics of carrying out the evaluation. Include specific assistance required from UN
Women such as providing arrangements for visiting field offices or sites.
6. Appendices
Append relevant draft data collection instruments, such as questionnaires and interview guides,
lists of evaluation team members, phone numbers, a glossary, or minutes of meetings.
Append the ToR.
Append CVs of the evaluation team members.
Good practice
The commissioning unit i.e. UN Women and the evaluation reference group should review and assure
the quality of the inception report. The inception report provides an opportunity to clarify the process,
resources requirements and dates for deliverables – at an early stage of the evaluation exercise and
ensure that the commissioning party and the evaluators have a common understanding on how the
evaluation will be conducted. 16
You may also consider having a stakeholder workshop on the draft inception report to encourage wider
participation in the evaluation process. This will help to: (1) bring the collaborating organizations and
partners together to agree on details regarding the scope of the evaluation, arrangements for
collaboration, and a work plan; and (2) discuss concept, methods, and approaches for the analyses.
This guidance note was prepared by Yumiko Kanemitsu in collaboration with UN Women (part of UN
Women) Evaluation Team. Reviewed in December, 2010.
16 Note that the inception phase is a negotiation phase as well. Some issues such as timelines and the degree of the
participatory approach need to be agreed among the stakeholders. It is also important to discuss the accessibility
of the information and the data, and alternative methods in the case the data is not available.
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