Evaluating Country Programmes - OECD Online Bookshop

OECD 1999
Country Programme Evaluations Workshop: The Case of Tanzania
Partnership. As a result of its past crisis (1994-95), the Government of Tanzania
together with aid donors are developing a new partnership strategy, replacing the
traditional donor-recipient roles and aiming at a broader relationship based on
mutual long-term interest and interdependence. The aim is to enhance Tanzanian
human capacity, its ownership of development activities, its prioritisation, based
on demand and not driven by external partners, and its inclusion in the development
process, as well as the conduct of a transparent dialogue.
Review of the country programme 1993-98
The external assessment of the CP that took place in February 1998 has produced
major findings, conclusions and recommendations, which are summarised
below.
Areas of strengths. Regarding the SDC’s poverty alleviation goal, importance
was given to the improvement of service delivery at regional and district levels,
including the related capacity-building, in order to redress the previous deteriorating
provision of public services. The Swiss contribution had a positive impact on the development
of reforms in the health and infrastructure sectors and on the co-ordination of
stakeholders in order to develop a strategic and institutional framework for a better
management of the road network. The SDC’s facilitation of the creation of health
boards at village and district levels contributed to the communities’ empowerment
and participation in the management of health facilities.
Areas of weaknesses. In regard to the programme’s management, the disconnection
between the programme and the project level denied the programme of
basic feedback from field experiences and resulted in a lack of sharing information,
lessons learned and innovations between partners at all levels. Weak strategic orientations
in the CP resulted in a project approach rather than a programme approach,
and partly explains the failure to define a clear concept for the income generation
programme. Basic co-operation principles (participatory and decentralised development,
capacity-building, sustainability, etc.) were insufficiently elaborated and operationalised
as was, in particular, the gender issue for which the non-formulation of a
clear intervention strategy provoked numerous misunderstandings.
Major conclusions to be drawn from the evaluation are twofold:
a) Concerning the programme’s management: the need of a bottom-up management
and planning approach; the need to take greater advantage of field
experiences and mutual learning to strengthen cross-sectoral synergies and
the effectiveness of policy dialogue; the formulation of measurable objectives
in the CP and the Action Plans (APs).
b) Concerning the programme’s activities: the need for placing communities at
the centre of project conception and design; the development of strategies
and locally adapted guidelines for the integration of gender-balanced development
into the programmes and the projects.
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