How relevant is relevance?
Webinar | Online
-
Organized by:
Research and Evaluation Centre
- In partnership with: Centre for Evidence-Based Social Sciences
About the Event
Many development agencies utilize the DAC evaluation criteria - relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability - for their evaluations. These criteria were revised in 2019 to improve the definitions and usefulness of the criteria in evaluating development interventions. Yet, in practice, relevance is often assessed against a very low bar.
We will present the findings from a review of how relevance has been assessed in evaluations by the ILO, UNDP, UNICEF and World Bank. We have taken a random sample of 60 project evaluations from each agency: 30 from 2013 and 30 from 2023. We classify the evidence presented against the criteria given in the DAC definition, with additional codes developed through an inductive approach.
Our analysis will present variations in the assessment of relevance by agency, over time and by sector.
The session is intended for evaluators and evaluation commissioners who want to make relevance more relevant.
We will present the findings from a review of how relevance has been assessed in evaluations by the ILO, UNDP, UNICEF and World Bank. We have taken a random sample of 60 project evaluations from each agency: 30 from 2013 and 30 from 2023. We classify the evidence presented against the criteria given in the DAC definition, with additional codes developed through an inductive approach.
Our analysis will present variations in the assessment of relevance by agency, over time and by sector.
The session is intended for evaluators and evaluation commissioners who want to make relevance more relevant.
Speakers
| Name | Title | Biography |
|---|---|---|
| Howard White | Professor Evidence-Based Public Policy | Howard White is Senior Research Associate, REC, and Professor of Evidence-Based Public Policy at the Centre for Evidence-Based Social Sciences. He has been the Director of Evaluation and Evidence Synthesis at the GDN, the CEO of The Campbell Collaboration, and Executive Director of 3ie. |
| Diana Dadzie | Senior Research Associate | Diana Dadzie is MEL Analyst at the African Center for Economic Transformation. She is the MEL lead for the Mastercard project focused on enhancing education systems for a Fourth Industrial Revolution-ready workforce. |
| Xiaoman Wang | Researcher | Xiaoman Wang is a research student at the Centre for Evidence-Based Social Sciences, Lanzhou University. She has a background in media studies and an interest in development assistance. |
| Pan Bei | Researcher | Pan Bei is a research student at the Centre for Evidence-Based Social Sciences, Lanzhou University. |
| Maud Okyere | Researcher | Maudline Oye Okyere holds a Master of Philosophy degree in Agribusiness from the University of Ghana and is currently the Head of Operations at Research Trust Limited. |
Moderators
| Name | Title | Biography |
|---|---|---|
| Ashrita Saran | Director of Research, REC. | Ashrita Saran is Director of Research, REC. She has carried out studies in a range of sectors for DFID/FCDO, WHO, and Mastercard amongst others. |