Participatory Approach to Country-Led Evaluations
Participatory country-led evaluations promote more inclusive public decision-making by actively involving different actors. This approach strengthens ownership of the results, enhances their use, and turns evaluation into a tool for learning, transformation and democratic governance.
The participatory approach encourages the active involvement of a wide range of people in the evaluation process. This includes those who implement the intervention, the target population, public institutions, civil society organisations, partner entities and others. Key decisions about the design, implementation and use of the evaluation are made together by all involved. This approach helps build evaluation skills, includes voices that are often left out, and promotes shared ownership of the results and recommendations, making evaluations more likely to be used.
Over the past decade, DEval has supported several country-led evaluations using a participatory approach. These evaluations have shown strong benefits for strengthening public institutions and decision-making. They bring together diverse technical teams made up of representatives from different groups who actively take part in all stages of the evaluation and share decision-making. In this process, national evaluation authorities play a key role as facilitators – guiding, supporting, and creating spaces for dialogue and learning. This approach improves the quality of evaluations, and helps ensure that results are trusted, used, and responsive to the real needs of the population.
Using this approach, DEval has supported the following evaluations led by national and subnational evaluation authorities:
- 2016–2017: Participatory evaluation of cancer prevention and care services in Valle de la Estrella, Limón, Costa Rica.
- 2019–2021: Participatory evaluation of the public policy on transportation support for older adults, students, and people with disabilities., Jalisco, Mexico.
- 2019–2021: Participatory evaluation of the Programme for Promoting the Autonomy of People with Disabilities., Costa Rica.
- 2023–2024: Participatory evaluation of social and community spaces for older adults,. Ecuador.
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Contact
Sarah Desiree Klier
Telefon: +49 (0)228 336907-943
E-Mail: sarah.klier@DEval.org
Dr Sven Harten
Telefon: +49 (0)228 336907-950
E-Mail: sven.harten@DEval.org