|
Client: EC EuropeAid
Partner(s):
Start/End Date: October 2003 -
August 2005
Description:
The 2003 evaluation plan of the EuropeAid Cooperation Office charged the Evaluation Unit with the evaluation of European Community Support to Private Sector Development in third countries. The evaluation was designed to improve the coherence of the Commission’s sectoral approach through an assessment of its cooperation activities in Private Sector Development (PSD) in the context of the objectives of the various national and regional cooperation and development programmes.
The evaluation was carried out in two phases, (i) the Desk Phase and (ii) the Field and summary phase.
The desk evaluation was based on an analysis of documents collected in Brussels and complemented by interviews with Commission officials and a questionnaire sent to sample Delegations. The evaluation’s Final Report (June 2004) presented a set of Evaluation Questions, evidence of a response to each question, a thorough analysis of this evidence and preliminary conclusions and recommendations.
The tasks carried out at this stage were as follows:
• Operational definition of Private Sector Development for the purposes of this evaluation;
• Compilation of documentation on the policies of the EC and major international institutions, assemble and analyse the documentation on EC past interventions and EC current programming;
• Prepare, on the basis of the reconstruction of the EC intervention logic, the evaluation questions allowing the team to meet the objectives of the evaluation;
• Formulate the methodological approach to the evaluation questions (judgement criteria, indicators, instruments and methods for collecting analysing and interpreting the indicators).
The Field and Synthesis Phase of the European Community Support for Private Sector Development in Third Countries over the period 1994-2003 was designed to complement the Documentary Evaluation completed in June 2004 (Desk Phase, A277-07). The aim was to find new information; verify working hypotheses; and test, refine and possibly complement the preliminary findings, conclusions and recommendations established during the Documentary Evaluation by carrying out a comprehensive analysis of PSD support in the field. Further, due to the key role the PSD Thematic Network can play in EC support to PSD, a survey focusing on the exchange of information and tools was carried out between headquarters and Delegations. This Field and Synthesis Phase took place between October 2004 and August 2005.
The tasks carried out were as follows:
• Country missions in Zambia, Vietnam, Jamaica, Mexico and Morocco. The main findings of the country missions were presented in five country reports, followed by a presentation to the Reference Group in Brussels in June 2005.
• A survey of the PSD Thematic Network, presented to the Reference Group in June 2005.
• Integration of data collected during the Desk Phase and Field Phase in a single framework as a basis for the final report.
• The final analysis, conclusions and recommendations including the answers to the evaluation questions and an overall assessment of EC past performance regarding PSD support were presented to the Evaluation Unit on July 2005. The 2003 evaluation plan of the EuropeAid Cooperation Office charged the Evaluation Unit with the evaluation of European Community Support to Private Sector Development in Third countries over the period 1994-2003. The evaluation was designed to improve the coherence of the Commission’s sectoral approach through an assessment of its co-operation activities in Private Sector Development (PSD) in the context of the objectives of the various national and regional co-operation and development programmes.
The evaluation has been carried out in 2 separate phases: (i) the Desk Phase and (ii) the Field and Synthesis Phase.
The desk evaluation was based on an analysis of documents collected in Brussels and complemented by interviews with Commission officials and a questionnaire sent to sample Delegations. The Evaluation’s Report (June 2004) presented a set of Evaluation Questions, evidence in support of a response to each of these questions, a thorough analysis of this evidence and preliminary conclusions and recommendations.
The tasks carried out at this stage were as follows:
• Operational definition of Private Sector Development for the purposes of this evaluation
• Compilation of documentation on the policy directions of the EC and major international institutions, assemble and analyse the documentation on EC past interventions and EC current programming
• Prepare, on the basis of the reconstruction of the EC intervention logic, evaluation questions allowing the team to meet the objectives of the evaluation
• Formulate the methodological approach to the evaluation questions (judgement criteria, indicators, instruments and methods to collect, analyse and interpret the indicators)
The Field and Synthesis Phase was designed to complement the first Phase completed in June 2004, i.e. Search for new information; verify working hypotheses; and test, refine preliminary findings and conclusions by carrying out a comprehensive analysis of PSD support in the field. Further, due to the key role that the PSD Thematic Network can play in EC support to PSD, it was agreed to carry out a survey focusing on the exchange of information and tools between headquarters and Delegations. This Phase was undertaken between October 2004 and August 2005.
The tasks carried out were as follows:
• Country missions in Zambia, Vietnam, Jamaica, Mexico and Morocco. The main findings of the country missions were presented in five country reports, followed by a presentation to the Reference Group in Brussels.
• A survey of the PSD Thematic Network, presented to the Reference Group in June 2005.
• Integration of data collected during the Desk Phase and Field Phase in a single framework as a basis for the final report.
• The final analysis, conclusions and recommendations, including the answers to the evaluation questions and an overall assessment of EC past performance regarding PSD support – have been presented in July 2005
The following services were provided:
* Private Sector Development Evaluation,
* Operational definition of Private Sector Development,
* Multicountry and multiprojects / programmes,;
* Definition of the methodological approach to the evaluation questions (judgement criteria, indicators, instruments and methods to collect, analyse and interpret the indicators);
* Country missions in Zambia, Vietnam, Jamaica, Mexico and Morocco;
* Survey of the PSD Thematic Network;
* Overall assessment of EC past performance regarding PSD support.
Additional services provided:
* Proposal for a framework of coordination for PSD interventions in Vietnam between EC and EU Member States (presented and discussed at the EC Delegation in Hanoi with 10 Member States);
* Definition of the role of the EC PSD network as a knowledge building and sharing-mechanism for the EC delegations involved in the private sector (based on interviews with 15 delegations);
* Organization of several focus group sessions in Zambia and Vietnam with private sector actors to debate key PSD constraints in their respective countries, the role of the government and of donors in providing support for the private sector;
* Establishment of a set of recommendations to improve the EC PSD strategy in third countries: prioritisation of the EC area interventions based on their comparative advantages, identification of best practices per area of intervention, identification of key topics where coordination with other donors should be sought;
* Elaboration of a framework manual on How to intervene in PSD.* Private Sector Development Evaluation
* Operational definition of Private Sector Development
* Multicountry and multi projects-programmes evaluation
* Definition of the methodological approach to the evaluation questions
* Country missions in Zambia, Vietnam, Jamaica, Mexico and Morocco
* Survey of the PSD Thematic Network
* Overall assessment of EC past performance regarding PSD support.
Additional services provided:
* Proposal for a framework of coordination for PSD interventions in Vietnam between EC and EU Member States (presented and discussed at the EC Delegation in Hanoi with 10 Member States)
* Definition of the role of the EC PSD network as a knowledge building and sharing-mechanism for the EC delegations involved in the private sector (based on interviews with 15 delegations)
* Organization of several focus group sessions In Zambia and Vietnam with private sector actors to debate key PSD constraints in their respective countries, the role of the government and of donors in providing support for the private sector
* Establishment of a set of recommendations to improve the EC PSD strategy in third countries: prioritisation of the EC area interventions based on their comparative advantages, identification of best practices per area of intervention, identification of key topics where coordination with other donors should be sought.
* Elaboration of a framework manual on How to intervene in PSD.
|
