Itziar Arispe

A self-dubbed evaluation practitioner, Itziar Arispe has enjoyed a long and varied career working across a range of United Nations agencies. Specializing in monitoring and evaluation as well as capacity development—and with a decorated background in Economics and business administration—her first role came at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), where she established the agency’s inaugural monitoring evaluation unit at their field office in Nicaragua.

Following her time in Nicaragua, Itziar next took up a post as an evaluation officer at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). She worked there for the next seven years before going on to join the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) as a monitoring and evaluation officer. 

What’s more, she carved out time to engage actively in academia, teaching and authoring several publications that have established her thought leadership in evaluation capacity building, peace interventions and applied quantitative comparative analysis. The United Nations System Staff College (UNSSC) was the next step in her professional journey; there, she is an evaluation learning specialist, delivering an array of courses that train UN staff in various areas related to evaluation and data analytics.

Itziar views evaluation as an important discipline that contributes to the common good—a collective practice that everyone should learn about and get involved in. Indeed, she describes it as a source of truth, one that reveals the areas ripe for improvement by showing us what already works well, what doesn’t and why. This perspective goes a long way in explaining her passion for measurement and data analytics, which stems from what she considers the active and empowering nature of evaluation. For Itziar, it’s a powerful tool that equips us to make tangible contributions to changing our reality.

Now part of the faculty of the Master in International Development, Itziar heads up a course on results-based management as part of the program. She shares the nitty-gritty of the process, teaching classes on how to conduct evaluations. Her approach is less conceptual or theoretical and more about encouraging her students to think critically. She guides them toward making their own decisions regarding what type of evaluation methodology to choose in response to the problems posed, as well as the evaluation criteria. Itziar also shows them how to work with an evaluation team, conduct fieldwork, collect information, report on findings and broadcast research. 

"I consider evaluation a very important discipline that everyone should learn about: it tells us what we are doing well and what we can do to improve."

She likens the course to the typical journey of an evaluation manager in the UN. To make it more interactive, Itziar explains that emphasis is placed on sharing real-life examples that can be adapted to a variety of realities and circumstances. Of course, she also wants the students to have fun, encouraging them to take a hands-on approach to find innovative solutions that will improve the quality of their interventions in order to promote sustainable development. 

Itziar is relishing her time in the classroom at IE University. She enjoys working with students who show such willingness to learn and improve their expertise in the field of evaluation. Moreover, she is stimulated by their fearlessness in questioning the status quo and challenging concepts or procedures as they look to better themselves and each other.

Her biggest recommendation to her students? Itziar reminds them that career development is a long road, stressing that sometimes the setbacks are just the thing you need to help you overcome your next challenge. “Never stop questioning and thinking about what you can change to do things better, and most importantly, always maintain an open mind,” she says.