Juha Uitto

Director, Independent Evaluation Office
Global Environment Facility
United States

Jun 30, 2020

Juha Uitto is the Director of the Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) of the Global Environment Facility (GEF). His work focuses on global environmental and sustainable development issues in developing countries, and particularly evaluation of programs and policies in the area. Juha earned his Ph.D. in Social and Economic Geography from the University of Lund, in Sweden. In his role as Director, he ensures quality and timely delivery of major evaluations, and he leads development of Comprehensive Evaluations of the GEF. Prior to joining the GEF, Juha served at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in multiple capacities, latest as Deputy Director of the UNDP Independent Evaluation Office.

For more than 20 years, Juha’s work has examined linkages between environmental degradation and sustainable development through evaluation. Recently, Juha has focused on utilizing innovative approaches and methods, such as remote sensing and other geospatial technologies that help evaluations identify the root causes of environmental degradation and create time series data around GEF interventions. For example, he notes that in Colombia, where the GEF works on biodiversity conservation and sustainable forest management, the peace process has had unforeseen consequences on environmental sustainability through expansion of small-holder agriculture, land-grabbing, and deforestation in previously conflict-affected areas. Juha has contributed to numerous publications, authoring over 40 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, and editing 10 books. Many of his recent publications—such as Evaluating Environment in International Development (Routledge 2014; he is currently working on a 2^nd revised edition)—focus on evaluation.

In addition to ensuring accountability to funders and beneficiaries, monitoring and evaluation is central to learning which approaches work under what circumstances, highlighting recurring challenges (including unanticipated impacts of international development), and identifying ways to improve programming, including in the many conflict-affected countries in which the GEF supports conservation programming. He notes that “monitoring looks at if we are doing things right, but evaluation goes beyond and looks at if we are doing the right things.” Juha explains that evaluation is a critical, analytical, and applied activity that uses multiple methods to understand broader dynamics and analyzes whether improvement is being made in key issues that are addressed within development interventions. It is also essential for evaluations to look beyond the intended goals of the interventions being evaluated, to place them in the broader context in which they operate and to be on the alert for unintended consequences that may arise, whether positive or negative.

Juha has observed a number of ways that international development has changed over the past 30 years, with implications for environmental peacebuilding. Due partially to the economic growth in developing and middle-income countries, inequalities between countries have lessened; however, inequalities within countries have increased substantially. Recently, more resources are being provided to organizations that operate outside of the traditional development dichotomy to address challenges in fragile and conflict-affected settings. And, in reference to environmental peacebuilding, Juha notes that violent conflict obviously poses major challenges to countries and regions experiencing them, and environmental factors often contribute to these issues. He notes that in many countries, especially in the dry areas of Africa and the Middle East, climate change has contributed to agricultural instability and internal population migration away from rural areas.

Recognizing that issues of the environment and conflict have largely been addressed separately and there has not been a common platform to address these intersecting issues, Juha has engaged on these issues through the Environmental Peacebuilding Association, where he serves as Co-Chair of the Monitoring & Evaluation Interest Group.