Evaluating Development Assistance: State of the Art and Main Challenges Ahead

Abstract

The main challenges ahead are found in the interface between demands arising from the environment in which evaluation takes place, those arising from the substance matter itself, and the demands for a wide range of skills. The political and institutional environments, therefore, have a significant bearing on the kind of information sought, the objectives, issues and actors to be focused on, and who is to be relied on to provide this information, with what approach and with which tools. In the multi-faceted cultural, economic, social and political environments in which an aid intervention takes place, with the additional strain caused by the involvement of different administrative systems, conflicts between different stakeholders are part of everyday life and may at times threaten even the objectives set for aid. The traditional project aid of the 1960s and 1970s has declined in favour of various forms of programme aid, from sectoral support to balance-of-payments assistance.