Evaluation News
Preliminary evaluation of DFID’s Private Sector Infrastructure Investment Facilities – Final Report and Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment now available
The objectives of this preliminary evaluation
were to: i) to establish how effectively DFID’s support to these facilities has contributed to achieving DFID’s core poverty reduction objectives; and ii) to establish what good practice can be replicated and what lessons can be learned in order to improve DFID’s contribution in the future.
Its findings will reinforce the management and monitoring of these facilities to deliver better infrastructure services to the poor and will lead to the development of an explicit PSI Strategy to set the context for DFID’s engagement in the sector and to set out its priorities for future work.
Literature review on Private Sector Infrastructure Investment
This literature review
(468
kb) is the first product for DFID’s Evaluation of Private Sector Infrastructure
Investment Facilities. The two overarching objectives of the evaluation are: i)
to establish how effectively DFID’s support to these facilities has contributed
to achieving DFID’s core poverty reduction objectives; and ii) to establish what
good practice can be replicated and what lessons can be learned in order to
improve DFID’s contribution in the future.
The purpose of the literature review is to inform the evaluation of DFID’s support for international ‘facilities’ which are intended to promote private investment in infrastructure, so as to promote economic growth in poor countries and reduce poverty. The review was undertaken to assess and order the current literature available on private sector infrastructure investment facilities and to provide the basis for mapping the causal linkages from inputs through to outcomes so as to aid the development of an evaluation framework.
Interim Evaluation of Taking Action, Final Report now available
Taking Action – the UK’s strategy for tackling AIDS in the developing world - ends in March 2008, but tackling AIDS will continue to be a fundamental part of our work. Significant progress has been made in the global response to AIDS since we launched Taking Action in July 2004, and the UK needs to update its position and approach to reflect these changes.
DFID have therefore commissioned a thorough and independent Evaluation of Taking Action, which we hope will provide a useful source of information for those interested in contributing to our thinking.
Developing a new HIV and AIDS strategy: Lessons learned from the interim evaluation of taking action
This paper is
an extract from the main report of the interim evaluation(396
kb) of
‘Taking Action: the UK’s Strategy for Tackling HIV and AIDS in the Developing
World’. The extract concentrates on lessons learned from the first two years of
implementing Taking Action which are particularly relevant to the development of
a new AIDS strategy. It concentrates on three evaluation questions:
- Is Taking Action still the most relevant strategy for the UK to adopt to tackle HIV and AIDS in the Developing World?
- How are potential tensions between top-down AIDS targets and a flexible, country-led approach being managed?
- Taking Action is a cross-Whitehall strategy, contains spending targets, and was developed through a consultative process. What lessons can be learned for developing future AIDS and other strategies?
Joint Evaluation of General Budget Support: Thematic Briefing Papers and the Note on Approach and Methods
May 2006 marked the publication of the Joint Evaluation of General Budget Support (JEGBS). It was commissioned by a consortium of more than twenty donor agencies and seven partner Governments under the auspices of the DAC Network on Development Evaluation. This evaluation examined to what extent, and under what circumstances, Partnership General Budget Support (PGBS) is relevant, efficient and effective for achieving sustainable impacts on poverty reduction and growth.
Seven new products stemming from this evaluation are now available for download
Six of these are short, easily digestible, thematic papers including:
1. What are the effects of General Budget Support?(212
kb)
2. When and how should General Budget Support be used?(258
kb)
3. How can the risks of General Budget Support be managed?(270
kb)
4. How does General Budget Support affect ownership and accountability?(260
kb)
5. General Budget Support – Policy Questions and Answers(369
kb)
6. General Budget Support – General Questions and Answers(258
kb)
The seventh, is the "Note on Approach and Methods" which we hope will act as a convenient point of reference for those undertaking evaluations of this type in future. It gives an ex-post assessment of the relevance and experience the evaluation team had when employing the evaluation instruments designed for the JEGBS and provides reflection on some of the complexities, advantages and pitfalls of undertaking a joint evaluation of this scale.
For more information please contact
James Bianco
Evaluating DFID’s policy on tackling social exclusion
This Working Paper(1.4
mb) prepared by independent consultants, responds to the DFID
Policy Paper, “Reducing Poverty By Tackling Social Exclusion”, which set out the
ways in which DFID will do more to address social exclusion in its planning,
partnerships and programmes.
The Working Paper is part of the preparation for the evaluation of progress that will take place in 2007-2008. It develops a framework for assessing progress against the commitments in the implementation plan, and lays the ground for a fuller evaluation of the results of DFID’s work in the future. It also provides a summary of baseline information on DFID’s work on social exclusion.
‘DFID welcomes this working paper, which provides a baseline study of DFID’s work on social exclusion and some recommendations for rolling out DFID’s social exclusion strategy. DFID has already moved to respond to several of the recommendations. For example, we are currently revising official guidance on developing DFID Country Assistance Plans, which will now include guidance on incorporating social exclusion analysis, and we are producing ‘how to’ and ‘good practice’ notes to support DFID country offices take forward work on social exclusion. We are currently looking in detail at other recommendations, in particular the complex monitoring and evaluation framework proposed in the working paper.’
For more information please contact John Murray.
How well has DFID's Country Programmes performed? - Synthesis of DFID's Country Programme Evaluations (CPEs) published
DFID’s Evaluation Department (EvD) commissions a team of independent consultants to carry out a programme of evaluations DFID’s country programmes each year.
The individual studies are intended to improve performance, contribute to lesson learning and inform the development of future strategy at country level. Collectively, the CPEs are important in terms of DFID’s corporate accountability and enable wider lessons across the organisation to be identified and shared.
The 2005/6 programme examined DFID’s performance in Rwanda, Malawi, Ghana, Bangladesh and Mozambique. A synthesis of the 5 studies has now been published.
The report highlights a number of DFID’s strengths including our:
- alignment to the Paris Declaration principles
- high quality in-country presence
- innovative thinking on riskier reform areas
- growing financial weight and predicable resource flows
- effective targeting around MDG objectives
However, the report also identifies areas for improvement around:
- choice of aid instruments and balancing risk in the use of budget support
- building on strong relationships developed through decentralised offices and flexibility, but finding an appropriate balance between government and non-state actors
- strengthening M&E systems to focus more on assessing outcomes and supporting national M&E systems
- preparation and execution of Country Assistance Plans (CAPs),
Read the full report(833 kb)
More information on recent DFID evaluations
Last updated 28 March 2008
