Biography

Anne Thomson is a Principal Consultant at OPM and is the focal point for our evaluation work. She has extensive experience of evaluations, both as a team member and as a team leader. She has increasingly been involved in assessments of the impact and effectiveness of organisations in addressing the challenges of changing policy context, most recently including evaluations of PARIS21, the World Bank Trust Fund for Statistical Capacity Building, and in work with Irish Aid, including an evaluation of their support to the International Fund for Agricultural Development. She has also been involved in a number of evaluations and impact assessments involving the agriculture and rural sectors, and more recently has led an evaluation of the Uganda Plan for Modernisation of Agriculture. The latter was a joint multi-sectoral assessment reporting to a steering group representing donors and the Government of Uganda. In all these evaluations, important elements have been inclusive assessment of stakeholder perceptions, and identification of constructive lessons to improve future performance. Anne has spent over 25 years working on issues of poverty, food security and livelihoods, taking particular interest in the linkages between the macro policy context and the impact on the livelihoods of the poor. She was seconded to the UNDP as a livelihoods adviser in New York by DFID during the period when its new results-based management processes were introduced, and she participated in the development of appropriate indicators and targets. She has recently finished an assignment with Irish Aid, helping develop a strategic framework for its engagement with UN funds and programmes.