PART TWO
CHAPTER 25. MID-TERM EVALUATION REPORT ON A CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT PROJECT: SAMPLE OUTLINE

A mid-term evaluation is conducted for an ongoing programme or project. It serves two immediate purposes: decision-making and taking stock of initial lessons from experience. Specifically, a mid-term evaluation provides a programme or project manager with a basis for identifying appropriate actions to: (a) address particular issues or problems in design, implementation and management, and (b) reinforce initiatives that demonstrate the potential for success.

A capacity development project aims to develop the abilities of individuals and institutions, individually and collectively, to carry out development tasks. It has four interrelated dimensions: individual learning, organizations, organizational interrelationships and enabling environment.

The present chapter contains an outline, in question form, of the report for a mid-term evaluation of a capacity development project. The questions may be modified or new ones may be added depending on the specific characteristics of the project and the purposes of the evaluation. In this sense, the outline is a guide, not a blueprint.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

• What are the context and purpose of the evaluation?
  
  
• What are the main conclusions, recommendations and lessons learned?

INTRODUCTION

• Whose decision was it to evaluate the project?
  
  
• What is the purpose of the evaluation? Is there any special reason why the evaluation is being done at mid-term and not at, or after, project completion?
  
  
• What products are expected from the evaluation?
  
  
• How will the evaluation results be used?
  
  
• What are the key issues addressed by the evaluation?
  
  
• What was the methodology used for the evaluation?
  
  
• What is the structure of the evaluation report? (How is the content organized?)

THE PROJECT AND ITS DEVELOPMENT CONTEXT

• When did the project start and what is its duration? What are the problems that the project seeks to address?
  
  
• What are the immediate and development objectives of the project?
  
  
• Who are the main stakeholders?
  
  
• What results are expected?

FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS
Project Concept and Design

• Did the project document (i.e., the most recent approved version) clearly define the:
  • problem to be addressed by the project, taking into account the institutional, socio-political, economic and environmental contexts as well as gender considerations?
  • project approach or strategy?
  • linkages among objectives, inputs, activities, outputs, expected outcomes and impact?
  • implementation and management arrangements?
  • indicators for use in monitoring and evaluation, differentiated by gender as applicable?

• How relevant is the project to:
  • development priorities of the programme country at the level being targeted (local or national, macro or sectoral), specifically in terms of capacity development?
    • Was the project designed to support the country's objective of establishing or enhancing the enabling environment to promote the development of a particular target group, geographic area or sector?
  • UNDP areas of thematic focus (i.e., poverty eradication and sustainable livelihoods, gender in development, environmental and natural resource sustainability, and sound governance)?
    • Was the project designed to strengthen the capacities of relevant government agencies, private sector entities or civil society organizations to initiate and sustain development initiatives in these areas?
  • UNDP comparative advantage vis-à-vis other United Nations agencies and development partners?
    • Was the project designed to capitalize on UNDP expertise and experience in capacity development at the particular level of intervention and areas of focus described above?
  • needs of the direct beneficiaries, i.e., institutions and/or individuals who are the direct recipients of technical cooperation aimed at strengthening their capacity to undertake development tasks that are directed at specific target groups?
    • Was the project designed to address specific issues relating to individual learning, organizational structures, processes, management systems, networking and linkages that affect the performance of the direct beneficiaries?
    • Were gender considerations taken into account in designing the project's strategy to address these issues?
    • Did the direct beneficiaries participate in designing the project? If yes, what were the nature and extent of their participation?

Project Implementation

• Efficiency
  • How well has the project used its resources to produce target outputs?
  • How adequate are the quantity and quality of project inputs relative to the target outputs?
  • To what extent are local expertise (by gender) and indigenous technologies and resources used?

• Effectiveness
  • What is the project status with respect to target outputs in terms of quantity, quality and timeliness? What factors impede or facilitate the production of such outputs?
  • How useful are the outputs to the needs of the direct beneficiaries? Is there general acceptance of the outputs by these beneficiaries? Is there a significant gender differentiation in the usefulness of the outputs to direct beneficiaries?
  • Do the outputs contribute to the achievement of the immediate objectives of the project? What signs indicate this? Are monitoring and evaluation indicators appropriate or is there a need to establish or improve these indicators?

• Implementation and management arrangements of the project
  • How appropriate are the execution and implementation modalities?
  • How well is the project managed?
  • How adequate are monitoring and reporting mechanisms?
  • How adequate is the support provided by the UNDP country office?
  • How effective are support-cost arrangements, if any, with United Nations agencies?
  • Do stakeholders, particularly the direct beneficiaries, participate in the management of the project? If yes, what are the nature and extent of their participation, by gender?

• Areas for corrective action
  • What problems in project implementation need to be resolved?
  • What are the flaws, if any, in design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation?

• Areas of potential success
  • Are there early indications of potential success?

Project Results

• Given the indicators established by the project and/or recommended by the evaluation team:
  • How has the project contributed to the development of the capacity of the direct beneficiaries to carry out their tasks in an environment of change in terms of (a) individual learning, by gender, and (b) improving organizational structures and interrelationships?
  • What is the likely impact of the project beyond the direct beneficiaries?
  • Are there any signs of a potential contribution to the enabling environment or to the broader development context (i.e., institutional, socio-political, economic and environmental)?

• What factors affect the implementation of the project?
  • Is there adequate government commitment to the project?
  • Do the stakeholders have a sense of ownership of the project?
  • Have mechanisms been put in place to ensure the sustainability of project results?

RECOMMENDATIONS

• What corrective actions are recommended for the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the project?
  
  
• What actions are recommended to follow up or reinforce initial benefits from the project?

LESSONS LEARNED

• What are the main lessons that can be drawn from the project experience that may have generic application? What are the best and worst practices in formulating, implementing, monitoring and evaluating a capacity development project?

ANNEXES

• TOR
  
  
• Itinerary
  
  
• List of persons interviewed
  
  
• Summary of field visits
  
  
• List of documents reviewed
  
  
• Questionnaire used and summary of results
  
  
• Any other relevant material