The ILO’s field structure – through 5 regional offices, more than 40 country offices and over 600 programmes and projects in more than 100 countries – is the main delivery mechanism for services and support to constituents through Decent Work Programmes and other activities linked to Country Programme Outcomes in the ILO Results Framework. Recent reform and focus on further decentralisation of ILO activities have aimed at strengthening the field structure as an effective structure for supporting constituents. Structures and organisational process at headquarters have been adjusted as well to support these changes. This evaluation was specifically requested by the Governing Body. This high-level evaluation focused on the relevance, coherence, effectiveness and contribution
of the existing field structure and its supporting mechanisms. It was forward looking in assessing the “fit for purpose” of the field structure, in view of the Decent Work Agenda in particular but also the 2030 Agenda and ongoing reform in the UN development system in view of the SDGs. As the independent external evaluation team, AIMS completed desk reviews, field missions to 15 countries on 4 continents, and survey analysis. This led to a report provided to the Governing Body of the ILO containing conclusions and recommendations for improvement of field operations in the context of global changes, as well as lessons learned that are applicable to the next phase of the ILO strategy. This is the second high level evaluation conducted by AIMS for ILO, the first being a review of their evaluation system. All ten of AIMS recommendations for that evaluation were accepted by the Governing Body. The results of this evaluation were presented to the ILO Governing Body in October and were taken into account.