In resolution 71/11, the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) decided to assess the performance of the Asian and Pacific Centre for the Development of Disaster Information Management at its seventy-sixth session and to determine the continuation of its operations as a regional institution of the Commission thereafter. In line with that decision, the secretariat commissioned an independent and comprehensive review of the Centre, conducted from October 2019 to February 2020, to inform the Commission’s assessment of the performance of the Centre.

The aim of the review was to inform the Commission’s assessment of the continued substantive relevance and financial viability of the Centre and provide recommendations to ESCAP management and the Commission on how to improve the substantive relevance and financial viability of the Centre, in particular in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and on improving the results-orientation and performance of the Centre.

The review was conducted in accordance with the norms, standards and procedures as set out in the ESCAP monitoring and evaluation policy and guidelines to ensure that the review would be independent, objective and of high quality. It was conducted from October 2019 to February 2020 by Ms. Madhavi Malalgoda Ariyabandu, a senior expert in disaster risk reduction with extensive knowledge of and experience in the Asia-Pacific region.

The review included a desk review of relevant documents; consultations with relevant senior government officials and stakeholders of the host country; and consultations with the members of the Governing Council and participating member States, as well as with the national focal points for the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 of the members of the Governing Council. The consultant also sought the views of national, regional and global centres relevant to the Centre’s partnership strategy. The review consultant conducted a mission to Bangkok in October 2019, and in December 2019 she conducted a mission to Tehran, where she consulted with officials from the Plan and Budget Organization, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Iran Meteorological Organization.