Origins of the Evaluation Unit
Evaluation Coordination
Evaluation Tools and Methods
Evaluation Capacity Building
Evaluation Information Systems

Origins of the Evaluation Unit

IDRC's challenge is increasingly one of ensuring that development research achieves results. Pressure on official development assistance funds and greater demand for public accountability have put IDRC's performance as a development agency under scrutiny as never before. The Centre’s resultant commitment to being a results-oriented organization has led to the decentralization of program responsibilities and a shift to programs that cut across sectors and academic disciplines. Such innovations increase the need to monitor performance and measure program achievements. So, a separate Evaluation Unit was created in 1991, a decade after the evaluation function was established within IDRC as part of the former Office of Planning and Evaluation.

The Evaluation Unit works in four key activity areas: coordination; tools and methods; capacity building; and information systems. Many of the reports mentioned are available in full-text version in the Publications & Resources section.

Overview
Since 1994 the Unit has presented an Annual Report of Evaluation Finding (AREF) report to the Board of Governors, summarizing key evaluation findings for the reporting year and documenting the receipt of evaluation documents from across the Centre. The Evaluation Unit maintains an inventory of evaluation reports produced by the Centre program units and related to IDRC projects.

Strategic Evaluation
Strategic evaluations are evaluations relevant to a number of different programs and programming areas in the Centre. Often these are conducted in consultation or close collaboration with other parts of the Centre. For a list of these publications please go to the Publication & Resources section.

Project & Program Evaluation
The Unit occasionally conducts project evaluations, but more generally provides support to programs on request for assistance in developing terms of reference and seeking consultants. Criteria for more active involvement include, among others: the testing of a new methodology; relevance of the evaluation beyond the scope of the project or program being assessed; or issues of conflict or concern within the program which suggest a need for an external perspective.

The development of appropriate methodologies for research evaluation is an important element of the work of the Unit. Recent efforts in this regard include:

Outcome Mapping
The development of a new methodology responding to the need to measure the impact of research on development has been ongoing since November 1998. It is an adaptation for the development research context of B. Kibel's, Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation,"Outcome Engineering". It is based on assessing changes in behaviour and relationships of boundary partners, and its applicability is being tested with IDRC Program Initiatives (PIs), Secretariats, and projects. A draft manual has been developed; a self-assessment has been conducted in Nagaland with the NEPED project (October 1999); an evaluation with the IMFN Secretariat is underway using this methodology; and a progress monitoring framework has been developed with and implemented by the Bellanet Secretariat. An expansion of work with IDRC partners in Africa, Latin America and Asia is being planned. For more information please visit our "Outcome Mapping" section.

Institutional and Organizational Assessment
In collaboration with Universalia Management Group we have developed an organizational performance assessment framework, including the development of a guide for self-assessment. For more information please visit our "Organizational Assessment" section.

Capacity Building
Assessing the outcomes of capacity building efforts remains a challenge. In 1996, The Project Leader Tracer Study, traced the effects of IDRC support on a representative sample of project leaders. Now, we are working on new methods with an organizational focus in collaboration with the International Institute for Rural Reconstruction (IIRR) and the International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR).

Assessing Sustainability
In the recent past we completed tools for assessing sustainability in collaboration with IUCN (1997). This work is the basis for the current system-wide M & E initiative in IUCN.

Peace and Conflict Impact Assessment (PCIA)
A framework for Peace and Conflict Impact Assessment (PCIA) was developed in collaboration with the Peace Building and Reconstruction (PBR) Program Initiative.

Program Evaluation Guide
In 1997, we developed a program evaluation guide to assist IDRC programs in evaluation planning and implementation. We are building on this work with Outcome Mapping.

Back to top

The Unit engages in capacity building both with partner organizations and within the Centre. Over the next five years, the strengthening of evaluation capacity with IDRC partners is a high priority although efforts to build capacity internally will also continue. In general, this capacity building is carried out through testing and refinement of tools and methods in collaboration with partners and with Centre program staff. This approach has been used in the development of the organizational performance method, as well as outcome mapping. It was central in Peace and Conflict Impact Assessment - (PCIA) which has become an active component of the Peacebuilding and Reconstruction Program Initiative - (PBR). In addition the Unit is an active participant in program meetings and organizes occasional seminars and workshops on evaluation issues.

Over the next five years, the Unit will work on the development of Southern nodes of expertise in evaluation which will provide evaluation support and assistance to IDRC partners wishing to make more active use of monitoring and evaluation as part of their own management and learning systems. This will include the active engagement of IDRC partners (such as the Fondation Rurale pour l’Afrique de l’Ouest, FRAO) in methods development, testing and application (such as Outcome Mapping), as well as support for training activities and exchanges. Ongoing work with the African Highlands Initiative (with the People, Land and Water - PLaW PI) focusses on building evaluation and learning capacity in that long term program. Work with the evaluation component of Acacia will include a significant capacity building component with evaluators in all African countries where Acacia is active. A large CIDA-funded project with BAIF in India, implemented in collaboration with the Ecosystems Approaches to Human Health - EcoHealth Program Initiative, contains a key capacity building component in monitoring and evaluation. 

Evaluation Information Systems

The Evaluation Unit’s program of work includes regular and ongoing activities to support evaluation information at the Centre:

• maintaining and using Evaluation Information Systems including project completion report database (PCR). PCRs are a part of the official documentation of IDRC projects and of our corporate memory. They capture the responsible Program Officer's reflections on the management, activities, and results of a project. A PCR is required for every project that receives $150,000 CAD or more from IDRC.
• maintenance of an inventory of all evaluations conducted in the Centre. The Unit responds on behalf of the Centre to the Office of the Auditor General and other government requests or requirements related to evaluation (accountability requirements).