Evaluation in Development Agencies
The evaluation of official development programmes has grown tremendously over the
past two decades; the public and taxpayers increasingly demand credible assessments
of whether aid “works” to improve the lives of the world’s poorest. Global efforts
to hold donors and partners accountable for the outcomes of development co-operation
have also contributed to the growing interest in evaluation.
In this context, this study describes the role and management of evaluation in development
agencies and multilateral banks, based on questionnaires, findings from peer reviews
by the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC), interviews and a literature review.
The study includes information about the specific institutional settings, resources,
policies and practices of each of the DAC Evaluation Network’s 32 members. The study
identifies major trends and current challenges in development evaluation, covering:
human and financial resources, institutional set-ups and policies, independence of
the evaluation function, reporting and use of evaluation findings, management response
systems, donor co-ordination, joint evaluation, and the involvement of partner countries
in evaluation work.
This study is part of the DAC Network on Development Evaluation’s ongoing efforts
to increase the effectiveness of development co-operation policies and programmes
by promoting high-quality, independent evaluation.
Published on December 14, 2010
In series:Better Aidview more titles