Danida Evaluation Guidelines

This guide from DANIDA aims to provide detailed assistance and guidelines for staff undertaking evaluations for the Danish Development Cooperation.  

Excerpt

"The primary purpose of the Evaluation Guidelines is to communicate to partners and external consultants Danida’s expectations of the quality of evaluations. They constitute a framework built on principles, criteria, standards, good practices and information about Danida’s evaluation process. Particular emphasis has been put on defining the roles of various stakeholders in evaluations and on developing codes of conduct for these stakeholders." (Danida 2012)

Contents

• Chapter 1. Development evaluation: definition and overarching issues 7
• 1.1 What is development evaluation? 7
• 1.2 The role of evaluation in Danish development cooperation 7
• 1.3 Key principles 8
• Chapter 2. The evaluation programme 10
• 2.1 Preparation of the evaluation programme 10
• 2.2 Programme coverage and strategic considerations 11
• Chapter 3. Scoping an evaluation 13
• 3.1 Preliminary considerations 13
• 3.2 Considering a joint evaluation 13
• Chapter 4. Designing an evaluation 16
• 4.1 Rationale, purpose and objectives 16
• 4.2 Preparatory studies 16
• 4.3 Evaluation criteria and evaluation questions 17
• 4.4 Approach and methodology 19
• 4.5 Terms of Reference 22
• Chapter 5. Evaluation of multilateral development cooperation 23
• 5.1 Multilateral cooperation 23
• 5.2 Approach to evaluating multilateral cooperation 23
• 5.3 Collaborating for mutual accountability 24
• Chapter 6. Managing and assigning an evaluation 26
• 6.1 Functions in implementation of an evaluation 26
• 6.2 Evaluation management 27
• 6.3 Evaluation reference group 27
• 6.4 Evaluation team 28
• 6.5 Procuring the evaluation team 28
• Chapter 7. Implementation and reporting 30
• 7.1 Inception phase 30
• 7.2 Fieldwork and data collection 30
• 7.3 Analysis 31
• 7.4 Reporting 32
• Chapter 8. Follow-up, learning and dissemination 34
• 8.1 Management response to evaluations and internal follow-up 34
• 8.2 External dissemination 35