Throughout September and October 2013, the Advisory Group drafted a report with considerations and recommendations intended to reflect the comments received during the consultation and review process, as well as the combined experience and perspectives of the Advisory Group members. Each Advisory Group member read and reviewed the materials under review, the summary notes from consultation meetings, and the individually submitted comments. The group discussed and debated the comments during telephone and in-person meetings, and participated directly in drafting and editing a final report.
On October 16, 2013, the Advisory Group presented the MSI Integrity Board with the Advisory Group Final Recommendations Report Oct 2013 (“Report”).
Summary of the Advisory Group Report
The considerations and recommendations presented in the Report reflected strong support for MSI Integrity and its proposed methodology and criteria for evaluating MSIs. Key themes that arose in consultation meetings and comments addressed: MSI Integrity’s continued development of its evaluation tool over time, incorporating the experience from conducting evaluations and analysis; and, MSI Integrity building on its engagement and learning mission as a resource for MSIs and interested stakeholders by developing other research and informational products to expand knowledge regarding MSIs.
The Advisory Group highlighted that MSI Integrity is a valuable and much needed initiative, and that the comments received during the public consultation and review process reflect similar enthusiasm throughout the field. The Advisory Group broadly agreed that the methodology and criteria proposed by MSI Integrity are sufficient and appropriate to conduct rigorous evaluations of the human rights impact of MSIs, although indicated that greater engagement with MSI members would be beneficial in the future. The Advisory Group advised MSI Integrity to continuously review and develop the methodology and criteria in response to practical lessons learned through conducting evaluations, analyzing data and trends, producing evaluation reports, and engaging with MSIs, stakeholders, and external research. This consideration reflects the practical reality addressed in comments and Advisory Group deliberations that various methods and approaches could be followed to assess MSIs rigorously, and that MSI Integrity has proposed a sufficient and appropriate approach that will benefit from practical learning and evolution over time.
Download the Advisory Group Final Recommendations Report Oct 2013 here.