How are evaluations carried out?

An evaluation process generally has three phases: Preparation, Implementation and Reporting.

The preparatory phase begins with the planning of a two-year evaluation programme. The programme is prepared by the  Evaluation Department based on consultations with i.a. the Danida Board, senior management in Danida, representatives of other departments and embassies as well as the wider resource base. Decisions on which evaluations are to be conducted are made on the basis of i.a. availability of data and the perceived potential for generating knowledge of use for future programme planning. At this point an assessment is also made of whether it can be expected to be advantageous to implement certain evaluations together with other donors.

The final evaluation programme is forwarded to the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs for comments and finally approved by the Minister for Development Cooperation.

When the general topic of an evaluation has been defined, an approach paper is usually conducted in order to summarise important background information about the evaluation topic, identify possible issues that will need special methodological reflection, propose specific evaluation questions etc. On the basis of the approach paper, the Evaluation Department prepares draft Terms of Reference , describing what is required of the coming evaluation. This includes its overall purpose, methodological requirements, geographical and thematic scope, specific evaluation questions, requirements concerning the composition of the evaluation team etc. The draft Terms of Reference are forwarded for consultation among stakeholders in Danida, and the final Terms of Reference take resulting comments into account to the extent possible. The evaluation is subsequently put out to tender following EU procurement rules. The responsibility for the tender process rests with the Contract Secretariat in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The implementation phase begins with the selection and contracting of an evaluation team consisting of independent, external consultants. The selected team is then provided with background information by the Evaluations Department in collaboration with other relevant units in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. On the basis of this, it develops an operational plan for the evaluation, in consultation with relevant stakeholders. The workplan will typically involve extensive review of existing documents, further development of approach and methodology, field work with interviews and/or questionnaire surveys among stakeholders in the partner countries, analysis of data that has been collected, final reporting etc.

The Evaluation Department serves as manager for the evaluation, either alone or, for joint evaluations, together with evaluation units from partner countries and/or other donor agencies. For larger evaluations a reference group is established, with a composition that reflects the topic and purpose of the evaluation. Members can include representatives of relevant embassies and departments, national and international resource persons and representatives from the partner country. The reference group advises the evaluation team throughout the entire evaluation process.

The Evaluation Department monitors the evaluation process in order to ensure i.a. that the evaluation is undertaken in accordance with the Terms of Reference, Danida’s evaluation policy and guidelines, OECD/DAC’s quality standards for evaluation and other relevant policies and guidelines. Further information about the division of responsibility between the Evaluation Department, the evaluation team and other stakeholders and how the independence of evaluations is safeguarded can be found in the ”Codes of Conduct”, which are an integrated part of Danida’s evaluation guidelines.

Reporting. On the basis of the analysis of collected data, the evaluation team prepares a first draft of the evaluation report, and draft conclusions and recommendations are often presented to the parties concerned in a stakeholder workshop. The Evaluation Department reviews the draft with a view to assuring the methodological quality of the report, and comments concerning factual information, methods, conclusions and recommendations are provided by relevant stakeholders, members of the reference group and external peer reviewers. The evaluation team considers these comments when preparing the final draft, but has the right to draw independent conclusions and  the sole responsibility for the final conclusions of the evaluation.

Further information about how evaluations are implemented can be found in Danida’s evaluation guidelines and evaluation policy, which are available under "Reference documents" in the menu on the left.