To evaluate or not: Evaluability study of 40 interventions of Belgian development cooperation

Abstract

Due to an increasing importance of evaluations within development cooperation, it has become all the more important to analyse if initial conditions for quality and relevant evaluations are met. This article presents the findings from an evaluability study of 40 interventions of Belgian development cooperation. A study framework was developed focusing on three key dimensions (i.e. theoretical evaluability, practical evaluability and the evaluation context) and subdivided over the different OECD/DAC criteria. Drawing upon a combination of desk and field research, the study framework was subsequently applied on a set of 40 interventions in Benin, DRC, Rwanda and Belgium. Findings highlight that the context dimension scores remarkably better than the theoretical and practical evaluability in particular. The large majority of the interventions have the conditions in place to satisfactorily evaluate effectiveness and efficiency while the opposite holds for sustainability and impact in particular. These findings caution against commissioning of evaluations that ritually focus on all OECD/DAC criteria regardless of their readiness. It underscores the usefulness of a flexible 'portfolio' approach towards evaluations, in which a more systematic use of evaluability assessment from the start of interventions could play a role.

Keywords: Development cooperation; Evaluability assessment; Evaluation context; OECD/DAC criteria; Practical evaluability; Theoretical evaluability.