4. THE EVALUATION DEPARTMENT

The Evaluation Department is responsible for evaluating the performance of development activities to which Denmark has contributed. It provides feedback to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about development cooperation processes and results, as well as accountability to Parliament and the public for the results of Danish development assistance.

The Evaluation Department is an independent department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Head of the Evaluation Department refers to the Head of the South Group – the State Secretary. While evaluation is part of the Performance Management Framework, the Evaluation Department holds no responsibility for daily administration, implementation and monitoring of development cooperation.

Core responsibilities and duties of the Evaluation Department include:

• Programming, formulating and managing evaluations of development activities funded or co-funded by Denmark, including multilateral and NGO activities, to the extent possible in the form of joint evaluations with national authorities in partner countries and development partners.
  
  
• Contributing to learning processes within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in partner countries by providing feedback to operational departments and management about relevance, impact and operational performance of development activities. Participation in the Programme Committee is a key vehicle for feeding back information to operational departments and embassies.
  
  
• Contributing to increased accountability of Danish development assistance by disseminating evaluation results to the Danish public, Parliament, the Ministry’s management and staff, the Danida Board, partner countries, development partners and other interested parties.
  
  
• Developing and improving evaluation methodology and guidelines, as well as methods for disseminating results.
  
  
• Participating in international co-operation on evaluation principally in DAC, EU and Nordic contexts.
  
  
• Analysing Programme and Project Completion Reports, maintaining the filing system for the PCRs and facilitating more efficient use of lessons learned from the PCRs in the design and development of future development cooperation.
  
  
• Contributing to the development of evaluation capacity in partner countries through bilateral and multilateral co-operation.
  
  
• Contributing to the development of evaluation capacity in NGOs and the Danish resource base.