The mandate of Science Council's Standing Panel on Impact Assessment (SPIA) is threefold:

• To provide CGIAR members with timely, objective and credible information on the impacts at the system level of past CGIAR investments and outputs in terms of the CGIAR goals of enhanced food security, poverty alleviation and sustained natural resources
• To provide support to and complement the centres in their ex post impact assessment activities; (this includes facilitating inter-centre impact assessment efforts and providing a forum for exchange of experience from impact studies; and
• To provide feedback to CGIAR priority setting and create synergies by developing links to ex ante assessment and overall planning, monitoring and evaluation functions in the CGIAR