2008 Are Sida Evaluations Good Enough? An Assessment of 34 Evaluaton Reports by Kim Forss, Evert Vedung, Stein Erik Kruse, Agnes Mwaiselage, Anna Nilsdotter. Sida Studies in Evaluation 2008:1. Stockholm: Sida.

Summary
Evaluations are 'reality tests' of aid efforts and strategies intended to be used in support of accountability, decision-making and learning. In development co-operation today, there is increased demand for evidence-bases results information and greater emphasis on results-based management. The purpose of this study is to contribute to ongoing efforts by Sida's Department for Evaluation (UTV) and Sida as a whole improve the quality of Sida evaluations.

The study is based on a close reading of 34 evaluation reports published in the Sida Evaluations series between 2003 and 2005. All the reports were produced by Sida's line departments and the Swedish embassies in countries where Sida is involved, and most of them focus on individual projects and programmes. UTV evaluations, which are usually concerned with wider issue, were deliberately excluded from the study.

The reports were analysed by an external team of evaluation specialists in order to find out whether the quality of the evaluations produced by the line departments and the embassies should be considered good enough. Do Sida evaluations produce information on processes and results that is comprehensive and detailed enough in view of Sida's management needs and reporting requirements? Are findings, conclusions and recommendations well supported by reported evidence? Do the evaluations produce lessons that are useful for learning and improvement beyond the evaluated projects and programmes?

The overall answer is that there is much room for improvement. Although there are exceptions, Sida evaluations are by and large not good enough. The study concludes with a series of general recommendations for improvement.