Evaluating Country Programmes - OECD Online Bookshop

OECD 1999
Country Assistance Strategies as a Management and Evaluation Instrument for Donors
areas selected. It is this rationale that transforms an assortment of individual
projects into a coherent programme. Hence, the questions raised in Box 8.3
with regard to the rationale of the country programme can only be answered
with reference to the underlying country concept. Evaluating the rationale of
the country programme means evaluating the appropriateness of the country
concept, which itself depends on three basic factors:
Relevance of the priority areas identified in the country concept: The criteria
of relevance are those mentioned in the section “criteria for the identification
and selection of priority areas” (reference to the core problems
and development potentials of the partner country, etc.). If it turns out that
the country concept has identified irrelevant priority areas on which German
development co-operation with the partner country was subsequently
concentrated, the whole undertaking (the country programme)
does not make much sense. Hence any evaluation of a country programme
of German development co-operation has to start with the question: Has
the BMZ’s country concept identified relevant priority areas?
Relevance of the objectives formulated for the contribution to be made by
German development co-operation in priority areas: These objectives
must be stated in the country concepts or the priority area strategy papers.
According to the BMZ guidelines for preparing country concepts, the criterion
of relevance is the development impact of Germany’s engagement in
the priority areas, i.e. a structure-building effect, a contribution to create
conditions conducive to development.
Chances of the objectives being realised: They depend on both the
design of the country programme (i.e. the selection and interplay of individual
projects in a priority area) and the framework conditions in the
partner country. The country concepts (or the priority area strategy
papers) are supposed to provide information on these issues. The evaluation
has to analyse whether the chances of the objectives being
achieved were properly assessed in the country concept (or the priority
area strategy papers).
– Objectives achievement (effectiveness) of the country programme: At the project level,
there is a clear difference between the goal achievement (effectiveness) and
the impact of an undertaking. The term “goal achievement” refers to the
question: To what extent have the goals of a project (in terms of the measurable
output) been achieved, whereas the impact of a project consists of its
effects on the (economic, social, political, environmental) development process.
At the level of a country programme, however, the criteria of goal
achievement and intended development impact coincide by definition
since the BMZ guidelines for the country concepts call for defining the goals
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