Independent Evaluation of SDC’s Performance in National Policy Dialogue 2013 – 2020

PEM is excited to have been contracted by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) to undertake an evaluation on SDC’s performance in national policy dialogue. Policy dialogue processes can deliver a transformational impact on development aid that is bigger than the sum of individual projects and programmes. The aim of the evaluation is to provide a better understanding of what constitutes successful national policy dialogue and to contribute to the improvement of national policy dialogue as an instrument for SDC. PEM will be responsible for developing the overall methodological approach for the evaluation, in addition to defining the Evaluation Questions, constructing the Intervention Logic, a Theory of Change and an Inception Report. Field missions will be undertaken to conduct Interviews and Focus Group Discussions with SDC staff, government partners, implementing partners, other donors and development partners. The final Evaluation Report presenting the overall conclusions and recommendations will be submitted at the end of the year. Policy change is a highly complex process influenced by numerous interacting forces and stakeholders. In this context, monitoring and evaluation is a considerable challenge, but also presents exciting opportunities to understand how policy dialogue can be successfully implemented in future development cooperation.