aes18 International Evaluation Conference

Stuart Raetz (Australian Red Cross), Jessica Dart (Clear Horizon Consulting), Tiina Pasanen (Overseas Development Institute), Julien Colomer (International Union for the Conservation of Nature)

This presentation will reflect on a partner-led approach that was taken in an evaluation of a global policy research programme. The International Forestry Knowledge programme (KNOWFOR) was a £38 million UK Aid funded partnership between the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the World Bank Programme of Forests (PROFOR) between 2012-2017.

The partner-led approach involves shared ownership, leadership and responsibility for evaluation with multiple actors. In KNOWFOR the evaluation partners took a lead role in design and planning, data collection, analysis, interpretation and reporting. Partners were supported by an external evaluation facilitator (Clear Horizon Consulting) who played a coordination role while an external quality assurer (the Overseas Development Institute [ODI]) provided independence and credibility. The decision to take a partner-led evaluation was made by partners to build on ownership of a shared M&E system, harness organisational knowledge and to enhance partner's ability to learn.

Based on the shared KNOWFOR experience of those involved in the evaluation as well as independent observers this presentation will argue that the partner-led evaluation has the potential to create meaningful dialogue and learning within and between donors and implementing partners. However, the potential advantages of partner led evaluation need to be seen in the light of several challenges in this approach that are highlighted by the KNOWFOR evaluation. These challenges included coordination between partners and timeframes, ensuring independence from bias, balancing partner versus programme learning, supporting differing levels of partner capacities and ensuring shared ownership of the evaluation findings.

Overall the KNOWFOR case highlights the potential of partner led evaluation to provide an opportunity for inter-organisational learning. In the right institutional environment this approach also presents an opportunity to decentre the traditional donor/recipient relationship. The KNOWFOR case provides rich insight into these dynamics and challenges.