The Joint Evaluation Trust and NWO WOTRO
One of the preconditions set by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for awarding the MFS II subsidies to sixty-seven Dutch development organisations was that all programs would have to be evaluated. The Ministry also specified the requirements for these evaluations. In order to meet these requirements in the best way possible nineteen out of the twenty alliances that received MFSII funding joined forces in the Joint Evaluation Trust (Stichting Gezamenlijke Evaluaties (SGE). NWO – WOTRO was contracted by SGE to manage the evaluations and published calls for proposals for conducting the evaluation studies. The various research teams selected for carrying out the evaluations were coordinated by NWO – WOTRO.
The evaluation focussed on the effectiveness, efficiency and relevance of the programmes in four thematic areas: contribution to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), capacity building of organisations, civil society strengthening and international lobbying and advocacy. The findings were laid down in ten comprehensive reports.
Conclusions
The evaluators concluded that the development programmes have positively contributed to achieving the Millennium Development Goals and that lobbying and advocacy programmes have clearly influenced policymakers’ agendas. Also concerning capacity building positive results have been achieved: many organisations have improved their capacity to manage their own affairs successfully. Although it was hard to measure due to time constraints the researchers also found positive results with regard to civil society strengthening. “We should be proud of what we have achieved. The Dutch development organisations have done a great job that is not only effective, but has been executed very efficiently. We may call ourselves a top sector indeed”, said Bart Romijn, Executive Director of Partos, the Dutch association for NGOs working in International Development.
Keep learning
The evaluations also generated important insights in the factors that influence the effectiveness and efficiency of interventions. For example, being involved with partners and programmes over a long time period turns out to be an important success factor. Although efficiency is ingrained in the DNA of development organisations, at programme level more explicit attention is required to the consequences of choices in terms of efficiency. These lessons learned need to be applied as much as possible when continuing the programmes.
The evaluation reports: