Terms of Reference: Review of Culture and Engagement in CGIAR

Under the System Council (SC)-endorsed Multi-Year Evaluation Plan (MYEP) (2025-27 Workplan for IAES (SC/M21/DP5)), the review of the 2020-27 Gender, Diversity and Inclusion (GDI) Action Plans and the Action Plan for Advancing Culture and Engagement (C&E) in CGIAR’s Workplaces is a joint activity between the Evaluation Function (EF) and the CGIAR Internal Audit (IA) function. Recommendations will be subject to a CGIAR Management Response (MR). In 2017, Evaluation of the Gender at the CGIAR Workplace was conducted with MR available on evaluation function website and summed up in Annex 4.

Towards supporting both accountability and adaptive learning related to GDI/C&E in CGIAR workplaces, this joint advisory and summative and formative review will consider how well GDI/C&E practices are embedded in governance (SC; IPB-board and center board), management (Executive Managing Director (EMD), Global Leadership Team (GLT) and center management), research, and organizational culture across the CGIAR integrated partnership. The intent is to provide credible, independent evidence regarding ongoing implementation of the 2025-27 Action Plan and assessment of the previous 2020-24 plans, to build on historical context of the 2017 evaluation.