Projects

Short Description:

Overall goal

The support of an external consultant is sought to:

1.) conduct a methodologic peer review of both, the impact study and the strategic evaluation with a focus on allowing causal attribution to measure effectiveness and impact of ADC’s engagement and;

2.) consolidate observations and put forward recommendations for further improvement

Expected results

The assignment aims at:

- Supporting evaluation management in developing a suitable evaluation approach for undertak-ing causal attribution to measure the effectiveness and impact of ADC’s engagement at the outset of the strategic evaluation

- Supporting evaluation management in ensuring that the external evaluation teams apply a suitable, sound and rigorous evaluation methodology which will allow deriving to robust find-ings, conclusions and recommendations

- Contributing to the methodological soundness and quality assurance of the impact study and strategic evaluation

- Provision of sound recommendations for causal attribution in future ADC evaluations

- Foster learning and contribute to the strengthening ADC’s learning culture

Target group / Beneficiaries

The target group of this assignment is a) ADA's Evaluation Unit (4 people); b) the Evaluation Team who are conducting the Impact Study and the Strategic Evaluation Business Partnerships (2 x 2-3 people).

Activities

Activities under component 1) Ad 1.) to ensure quality application of the impact study and the strategic evaluation, the two activi-ties will be supported through methodological peer review with a particular focus on allowing for statements on causal attribution. The assignment will encompass the commenting of relevant re-ports (inception, draft and final) of the said impact study and the strategic evaluation.

Activities under Component 2.) Recommendations on future steps towards strengthening the employment of relevant strategies for causal attribution in ADC will be derived from i) systematically collected observations made throughout the two peer reviews and ii) a workshop with the ADA evaluation team facilitated by the consultant.

Context

In its Government Programme 2020 , the Austrian Government stipulates its “commitment to sound evaluation of the effectiveness of development cooperation measures” (p. 188). At the same time, within ADC there is commitment to put in place necessary conditions to be able to make solid statements on the causal links along the results chain (from inputs to outputs, outcomes and eventually impacts). As such, robust causal attribution is not only sought in the context of impact evaluation, but also at an earlier stage in the result chain; in the measurement of effectiveness (see Rogers, 2014) . Against this backdrop, ADC is seeking to introduce a more systematic approach and enhance its ability to support the application of the right (mix of) strategies for causal attribution in any given situation.

Two planned evaluations/studies lend themselves for promoting relevant learning and to kick-start this process, namely:

- The impact study Support of agricultural cooperatives as an effective means to reduce poverty? An impact study on ADC’s engagement from 2010 to 2020, with a focus on Armenia and Georgia (thereinafter impact study)

- The strategic evaluation of ADC’s engagement with the Austrian Economy, with a focus on its Business Partnerships (thereinafter strategic evaluation)

To ensure the quality of both activities with a particular focus on strategies allowing causal attribution, both the evaluation and the study shall be accompanied through a methodological peer re-viewer.