Maximising Evaluation Influence in an International Development Donor Agency

Abstract

This article examines how current theories of evaluation use and evaluation influence can assist an international development donor agency, namely the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), maximise the outcomes and track the consequences of evaluations of its country programs. It considers those theories most relevant to AusAID's evaluation interests and contexts, that is: instrumental use; conceptual (or enlightenment) use; process use; and evaluation influence. It finds that evaluation influence has much to offer in terms of linking evaluation outcomes to the achievement of program outcomes. By considering the mechanisms that can mediate evaluation influence, the framework underpinning evaluation influence theory builds on many of the central tenets identified in evaluation use theories and encourages the consideration of an evaluation as an intervention in itself. The principal benefit of doing so is to understand when, and why, some use of evaluation occurs and when and why it does not.

Evaluation influence theory holds the potential for AusAID to maximise its evaluation efforts and strengthen its country programs. The systematic consideration of which mechanisms can influence the intermediate and long-term outcomes that lead to social betterment is the key to realising this potential. Empirical research into these mechanisms could both assist and be assisted by AusAID embracing an approach of valuing evaluations as an intervention in themselves.