Institutional Learning and Change Initiative

Keywords:

capacity development; Evaluation; gender; ICT; parternship; results-based

Abstract:

The book has two main sections. The first deals with major trends that have influenced international evaluation, and begins with Peter Morgan’s thoughts on capacity development, a dominant theme in development agencies, but as Peter points out, a hollow theme in international agreements, and one whose fuzziness creates great issues for the evaluator. Ken Stephenson follows with his analysis of Results-Based Management, another major influence on international evaluation. Born in the same timeframe as Universalia was created, RBM supported the rising tide of conservatism espoused at the time by Margaret Thatcher in the UK and Ronald Reagan in the USA. However, like the context in which it arose, RBM has limitations in practice. The following chapter deals with another strong international development influence, “partnerships”. Charles Lusthaus, Katherine Garven, and Silvia Grandi have recently conducted substantive work in this area, so Chapter 4 enables them to share what they have learned. Finally, in response to the limitations of a “project” mentality, and in recognition of the importance of developing organizations and institutions, in Chapter 5, Katrina Rojas and Charles Lusthaus consider how such structures are evaluated. This is a lasting contribution of Universalia’s work over more than two decades, and provides a logical conclusion to the first main section. The second substantive section considers the evolution of evaluation within specific sectors. We admit that the choice of sectors was largely arbitrary, but has worked out well. From the days of the Colombo Plan, agriculture has been seen as key to international development, so we begin the second section with Ronald Mackay and Doug Horton’s chapter on evaluation related to agricultural systems. It is perhaps fair to say that these authors have long been ahead of thinking in the field they evaluate, so they are ideal candidates to share their insights. Nowadays, environment is an important theme in development circles, and we are pleased to have Ramon Pérez Gil share his insights on the evolution of environment as a dominant international force as well as trends in evaluating environmental impact. Two additional “sectors” are included, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Gender Mainstreaming. Ricardo Gomez and Shaun Pather look at ICT, a new, dynamic, and exceedingly important theme in our modern world, while Katherine Garven, Katrina Rojas, Anette Wenderoth, and Elisabetta Micaro consider trends in gender mainstreaming and the evaluation response. We conclude the second section with Doha Abdelhamid’s insights on development in general, and particularly developing evaluation capacities in the Middle East and North Africa. That contribution nicely melds the concepts of capacity, organizational development, and the dominant themes of the book.

Notes:

Edited Book