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Global challenges in practice: designing a development intervention
Global challenges in practice: designing a development intervention

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2 Why is evaluation important?

You have already been introduced to some of the reasons why monitoring and evaluation are important part of designing and implementing a development intervention. In the short video below produced by the Asian Development Bank, you will hear a number of people talking more about the importance of evaluation. As you watch you might want to make notes of the reasons given by each speaker. Which reasons to you agree with most?

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Video 1 Why is evaluation so important?
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A few of those in the video make reference to the need for accountability. However, the focus of most seems to be on the learning to be derived from examining what worked and what didn’t work and in informing future strategy and decision-making.

Evaluation that focuses on performance is often referred to as a summative approach to evaluation. This is about looking back – the process is generally retrospective and takes place at the end of a project or at a specified point in time. Such an approach is used by external decision-makers to decide whether to continue or discontinue a project, or whether to expand or reduce it. It is seen as a means of securing accountability and is embedded within one of the dominant development management agendas, that of good governance.

Often contrasted with this former approach is one that focuses on learning and takes a formative approach to evaluation. This process can be conducted throughout the lifetime of a project, with the aims of improving the way in which it operates and/or of identifying what should come next. As a result of formative evaluation, revisions may be made to various aspects of the programme.