JOINT EVALUATION OF THE COOPERATION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, BELGIUM, DENMARK, FRANCE AND LUXEMBOURG WITH NIGER BETWEEN 2000-2008

Denmark has been active in development cooperation in Niger since 1974 and from 2005 onwards a more coherent programme of development cooperation was established. Main areas of Danish support have been related to water and sanitation, pastoral economy, micro-credits, agriculture, and governance.

The joint evaluation involved five donors: Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Denmark and the European Commission. The evaluation focuses on the overall effects of development cooperation as supported by the five donors/agencies. It is based on an analysis of macro-economic support and support within the sectors of rural development, transport, education and culture, health, water and sanitation, and handicraft. Furthermore, four cross cutting themes were considered: gender, youth, environment and regional development.

The evaluation was led by the Belgium evaluation services in collaboration with a steering committee of the other four donors and with a reference group in Niger. It was conducted by a consortium of SEE, Bastel, Iram and Dnet in collaboration with a team of consultants from Niger. The research institute LASDEL based in Niger contributed to the evaluation with a study of the local perceptions of development cooperation. The evaluation process started in January 2009 and was formally concluded with a presentation to the Development Cooperation group in the OECD/DAC on the 15th December 2010.