Making Evaluation Results Count

Abstract:

Development agencies are consistently required to improve their performance, in terms not only of project outcomes, but also of the quality of their programming and their institutional capacity. In a very practical sense, evaluations are now perceived as learning opportunities. It only seems logical, therefore, to try and improve the internalisation of evaluation results at different levels. But how can this be done? What dilemmas do we face and what have we learned so far?

This brief draws substantially on a recent workshop entitled 'How can we learn more from what we do? Evaluation and evidence-based communications for development'. The workshop was organised jointly by the ECDPM and Exchange, and was held in Maastricht [Netherlands] on 13-14 December 2002. Its findings were also presented to the DAC Working Party on Aid Evaluation Workshop in Paris in March 2003.