Evaluating Country Programmes - OECD Online Bookshop

OECD 1999
Country Assistance Strategies as a Management and Evaluation Instrument for Donors
– Instrument for internal co-ordination: The country concepts serve to link the instruments
of financial and technical co-operation (implemented by different
agencies), with a view to realising a coherent development co-operation
approach. A distinction is made between two stages of internal co ordination:
as mentioned before, the country concepts are mandatory for governmental
development co-operation and serve as an orientation for non-governmental
development co-operation.
– Basis for external co-ordination: “The country concepts also constitute the basis
for our influence on and co-ordination with the country-specific programmes
of other donors, in particular the EU and the World Bank.”
– Basis for policy dialogue with the partner governments.
– Information instrument that serves the “transparency of country-specific development-related
decisions taken by the BMZ.”
Some results of the evaluation of country concepts
In 1996/97, the instrument “country concept” was scrutinised through the evaluation
of nine country concepts. It was found that the country concepts had engendered
various positive effects:
– In a number of cases they contributed to focusing the German development
co-operation on priority areas, thereby reducing the fragmentation of
projects.
– In this way they enhanced the continuity and reliability of Germany’s development-co-operation
contribution and German professionalism and ability
to engage in dialogue with partner countries and other donors.
– The country concepts constitute a frame of reference that has made it easier
to reject project proposals or applications outside the priority areas specified
in a country concept.
– Finally, they provide a basis for discussion for the various German governmental
and non-governmental development co-operation institutions active
in a given partner country.
However, the evaluation made it clear that the desired effect of country concepts
has not materialised in all cases. Proceeding on the guidelines established
by the BMZ for the country concepts, the preparation and use of country concepts
involves three crucial steps:
– Identification of “a very limited number” of priority areas on which German
development co-operation is to concentrate, taking into account the partner
country’s core problems, development potential and framework conditions
as well as the experience made so far by German development co-operation
and its general development policy goals.
193