Evaluation Capacity Development: Lessons Learned

The DAC Working Party on Aid Evaluation, as part of its mandate, has the promotion of evaluation capacity in developing countries. One of the instruments has been regional seminars organized jointly with the regional development banks (Africa in 1990, Asia in 1992, Latin America in 1993, in Africa again in 1998, and in Beijing in 1999 – I have had the privilege to attend most of them) and through the direct assistance of the members. Since I attended the first of these in Abidjan in 1990, progress towards establishing credible and capable evaluation functions or institutions in developing countries has been rather slow. But in recent years considerable progress has been made. In particular, the professional capacity has increased – as witnessed by the many participants from developing countries at this important event. Evaluation institutions exist in many developing countries, but most have little impact on policy and management decisions due to a number of barriers: poor demand; lack of a culture of accountability (often related to ethics or corruption); and lack of feedback mechanisms into decision-making processes. The strongest barrier appears to be the lack of demand: credible evaluation is a function of good governance, i.e. demand for accountability more than of institutionalization of evaluation and/or professional capacity. How, then, can donors contribute to enhancing evaluation capacity in our partner countries? In 1996 the Working Party conducted a survey of donor support for and experiences from evaluation capacity building. The following is a list of the key findings of the study, which, I believe, are still valid. These findings generally apply to both donor and recipient agencies.