Meta-Evaluation: Lessons from other agencies' practice

The purpose of the Learning Project “Meta-Evaluation” is to collect the most important evidence and lessons learnt on donor support with a view to making this knowledge available and accessible to those responsible for the relevant domain within SDC. The LP should add knowledge to the lessons already learnt by SDC in the field of decentralization and local governance.

A considerable effort has been made in past years to evaluate the results of donor support at the levels of output, outcome and even impact in different forms and with different objectives. Important knowledge has been generated. Evidence has been gained, experience has been collected and analyzed, good and bad practices identified, conclusions have been drawn and recommendations for future action have been formulated at various levels.

Under the title „Evidence-based lessons learnt: Support for decentralization processes in developing and transition countries” more than 70 evaluations have been screened. Among the big number of reports available, the study focused on evaluations providing insights into support for decentralization and local governance reform in general (thus not on evaluations which relate to decentralized service delivery in a specific sector like health or education). It highlights the main findings of evaluations providing evidence based on a sound methodology (as far as this could be verified in the context of a desk study).

Documents related to this Learning Project will soon be added on this page.