This paper reviews the results of social protection graduation programmes. It highlights whether people who leave the programmes are lifted sustainably out of poverty, and what changes they experience in their lives and livelihoods. The first part of the report reviews general lessons about how graduation happens and whether there are any impacts on employment, and the second ...» more
Monitoring and evaluation
Monitoring and evaluating civil society partnerships
This report lists and describes tools used by NGOs to monitor the quality of their relationships with partner organisations. It begins with a brief analysis of the types of tools and their approaches, then describes each tool. This paper focuses on tools which monitor the partnership relationship itself, rather than the impact or outcomes of the partnership. While there is ...» more
Community-based social protection
This report reviews the use and effectiveness of community-based social protection (CBSP) mechanisms, and examines how they are integrated into formal social protection schemes and what impact this might have. It begins with a loose definition of the terms used, followed by a section on the evidence on how effective CBSP appears to be. The following section presents the main ...» more
Post-2015 governance and peace indicators
The post-2015 High Level Panel (HLP) produced a report in May 2013 which outlined their recommendations for moving the development agenda beyond the Millennium Development Goals. The report contained 11 illustrative goals which the UN might consider for adoption. This report considers potential indicators for the new Goals 10 and 11, which are: 10. Ensure Good Governance and ...» more
Evaluation Capacity Development
While donors’ efforts to support evaluation capacities of developing countries have increased over the last 20 years, this rapid review of the literature finds a limited evidence base on evaluation capacity development (ECD) approaches and their effectiveness. There are more reports of innovative and good practices than rigorous evidence on what has worked. Nevertheless, the ...» more
Tools for participatory analysis of poverty, social exclusion and vulnerability
Among the tools reviewed are: Ranking: Commonly divided into three approaches: problem ranking, preference ranking, and wealth ranking, which enable practitioners to gain an understanding of local perceptions and preferences on a range of issues, including poverty. Seasonal Calendars: Visual tools which can be useful for identifying periods of stress and vulnerability ...» more
Current thinking on capacity development
Capacity development (CD) emerged in the 1990s from a reassessment of earlier approaches to technical cooperation. (Pearson 2011b, p. 10) It is now “gaining greater prominence in international discussions on the performance and future of development cooperation” (Keijzer et al. 2011, p. 7) and continues to be identified as key constraint in development analysis and political ...» more
Measuring the impact of PFM reforms on service delivery
Key findings At present there are no reliable, accurate tools that isolate and assess the impact of Public Financial Management (PFM) reforms on service delivery performance. This is due to the complex and indirect relationship between PFM systems and service delivery. A number of factors intervene in the relationship including local incentives and funding channelled outside of ...» more
The impact of integrated missions on humanitarian operations
Key findings Evidence remains scarce, problematic and contested. There is at least limited agreement on the following: Integration has had both negative and positive effects. Effects vary by individual actor, type of actor (UN agencies are more affected) and contexts (mission, country, point in time). Protection of civilians: Possible positive impacts: shared objectives ...» more
Participatory methods for community consultation
This annotated bibliography identifies literature about specific participatory methods and tools for community consultation. Key findings Some donors have used particular participatory methodologies to inform country level strategy – such as Participatory Poverty Assessments by the World Bank and a donor staff immersion approach by the Swiss Agency for Development and ...» more
The effectiveness of measuring influence
The methods for evaluating influencing programmes are not well developed, and carrying out such evaluations is considered challenging. Projects often use multiple approaches to influencing, which demand different approaches to evaluation, and strong evaluations often use multiple methodologies to triangulate their findings. While there are many publicly available evaluations, ...» more
Incentivising governments to improve service delivery
Although there is substantial research on service delivery, empirical research into how development activities incentivise better service delivery is fragmented (Tavakoli 2012; Joshi 2010). It is increasingly recognised that increasing technical or financial capacity does not automatically translate into improved service delivery performance or better development results (World ...» more
Remote management of projects in fragile states
This report examines examples of the use of remote management of projects in fragile and conflict affected states (FCAS). Remotely-managed projects are the primary mode of practice for many development actors in countries where security risks are high. The use of remote management in development cooperation has increased significantly in recent years, with projects in many ...» more
Methodologies for measuring influence
Rigorous methodologies for evaluating influence in “hard to measure” activities such as advocacy, lobbying, negotiation and knowledge uptake are still not well developed. There is a body of literature focusing on measuring influence, but evaluation efforts have been characterized as merely attempts, or even missteps (Reisman et al, 2007). While there are examples of practical ...» more
Perception surveys in fragile and conflict affected states
Perception surveys are widely used in OECD countries, and are increasingly used in developing countries and in fragile and conflict affected states (FCAS). Some results of these surveys have been published, and are publicly available. However, many perception surveys are not published due to sensitivities around the questions and data collected. Perception surveys measure ...» more
Theory-based evaluation approach
There is a wealth of literature available on theory-based evaluation and impact evaluation (TBE), but experts disagree on whether TBE is a common and clearly defined approach. Some think a common conceptual and operational understanding has been elusive, while others point to a completely consistent basic concept regardless of slight differences in the use of terminology. Some ...» more
Evaluation of programmes related to violence against women and girls
Key findings: Despite the growing number of interventions related to violence against women and girls (VAWG) during recent years, to date, few rigorous evaluations have been carried out of related programmes. The quality of existing evaluations is also variable. Experts have observed that efforts to address violence against women in recent years have been relatively small ...» more
Evidence for the Development Impact of Inclusive Service Delivery
This paper assesses the evidence of the human development and economic impacts of efforts to make services more inclusive. These interventions mostly involve extending access to under-served groups, but may also focus on improving utilisation or the quality of services delivered to marginalised groups. Attribution issues hamper examination of the contribution of efforts to ...» more
Effective methods to improve police performance
Key findings: There are few detailed case studies of cities or regions in developing countries that outline effective methods for police reform. This is mainly due to the lack of evaluation that objectively identifies certain types of police reform as having improved performance. It is also true that changes in performance may not be universally judged as an improvement, reform ...» more
PNPM/Community-driven development in Indonesia
Key findings: The National Program for Community Empowerment Mandiri (PNPM Mandiri) was launched by the Government of Indonesia in 2007. It is a national programme within the overall policy framework established to implement programmes aimed at poverty alleviation, and strengthening local governance and service delivery. PNPM adopts a community-driven development (CDD) ...» more
