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CIDA Learns: Lessons from Evaluations 2012

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About this report

Lessons drawn from evaluations can improve understanding of what constitutes good development, and what works and what does not, for both CIDA staff and partners who design and implement international development projects. Incorporating these lessons into our operations will also give Canadian taxpayers better value for their tax dollars.

This first report presents a set of key lessons distilled from a sample of evaluation reports completed in 2011–2012 organized according to themes that emerged from our review. Setting a one-year review time frame ensures our information is new and allows us to provide timely feedback to CIDA.

For this report, we reviewed 19 evaluations (each summarized in the annex) covering a broad range of CIDA programs and projects: 12 covering Geographic Programs Branch, 4 covering Multilateral and Global Programs Branch, 2 covering Partnerships with Canadians Branch, and the Agency-wide Review of Evidence of the Effectiveness of CIDA’s Grants and Contributions. We analyzed the evaluations to identify lessons, and further analyzed the lessons to identify the most relevant factors for CIDA. Focus group discussions helped pinpoint relevant issues.