Development evaluation
Hypothesis
Context
Evolution of the Problem
Evaluation risks irrelevance in development practice
It is flying high now but is not delivering on its commitments
Evaluation fatigue : recipients (gov’t & civil society); donors
Expectations : silver bullets & reality
Quality
Positive Bias
monotonic linearity
How can we make evaluation better?
Rethink
Reshape
reform
Recognizing multiple goals and broad set of stakeholders
Recognizing constituents as agents of development
Key role of context
A 3-layer way to think
Experimentation and iteration not silver bullets
Include knowledge translation in evaluation: don’t leave that to others
Build robust M&E systems, not one-off studies
Articulate a theory of change to evaluate against
Broaden understanding of causal mechanisms to “how” and “why”, not just “what”
Identify appropriate comparisons (baselines or counterfactuals are not always “it”)
Ensure methodological rigour
Address asymmetries in evaluation: methods need to address specificities not generalities
Strengthen evaluation systems and architecture
Resource evaluation appropriately
Reporting
Build capacity
How great expectations in Ottawa are dashed in Bamako; or why it’s amazing that evaluations are used at all (with thanks to Aaron Wildavsky)
Fred Carden
Fcarden@idrc.ca
It's not about your project
It's about my country
- Oumoul Ba Tall
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