Learning Early What Works

Contributing jointly with colleagues Messrs. Codo and Fagla to a bilateral cooperation program in the Republic of Benin by structuring information on employment, education, private sector development, labor market policies and overall conditions in the country using data analysis, qualitative research and stakeholder discussions, and running a computer-based systems analysis over the information gathered. This kind of analysis is capable of evaluating the roles of different elements (such as: policy, economic and education sector trends, institutional strengths and weaknesses) in the given situation and thereby identify those elements which are the most effective for improving overall system results The analysis includes the effects of feedback loops, thus enabling more concerted, holistic strategies and selecting better pathways for reaching results.

Thinking in Systems

Applying ethics is at the core of best evaluation practices and requires continuous effort and determination. There are different protocols for all kinds of participants in our evaluations. For example, before we interview or organize focus group discussions with minors, specific procedures are established which ensure that participants and, where required, their guardians truly consent to the interviews or discussions. The children or adolescents need to have an understanding of the activity they are participating in, and they need to voluntarily agree to participate. They also are made fully aware that they may at their own discretion renegotiate this consent or withdraw from the activity. In the adjacent photo we are in the process of discussing the procedures with a mixed group of students in a secondary school of an urban area.

Informed Consent

For evaluations, we usually work with the standard OECD-DAC criteria set, supplemented by any further criteria the client may have. This core set of six different criteria (relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability, and impact) is a time-tested and useful framework for conducting evaluations of specific projects and other actions. In the adjacent snapshot we are, for example, implementing an evaluation of a public-private partnership project the field of skills training, implemented by a specialized organization of the United Nations with support from an established manufacturer of heavy-duty vehicles (trucks and buses) in order to contribute to a reduction in road accident fatalities and injuries as well as to reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. The OECD-DAC framework can be applied to many different types of projects, from grass-roots all the way to policy levels.

Applying Standard Criteria