Evaluating the Sustainable Development Goals

Over the past few years, DEval has promoted SDG evaluations by supporting the evaluation units of partner countries in Latin America (Costa Rica, Ecuador and Colombia). Both evaluations have shown that SDG evaluations can be done successfully, and are being used to improve public policies. SDG evaluations provide information on why, and with which measures, progress has been made, as well as what can be learned to better orientate national policies and programmes.

Efforts to undertake country-led SDG evaluations have been supported by a UNGA Resolution entitled “Strengthening Voluntary National Reviews through Country-led Evaluation” (A/77/L.64), which “encourages Member States to present regular Voluntary National Reviews with a country-led evaluation component (...)”.

More recently, English-speaking countries in Africa (Tanzania), as well as Mongolia are undertaking country-led SDG evaluations with the support of the project. These evaluations provide information on why, and with which measures, progress has been made, as well as what can be learned to device better national policies and programmes in pursuit of the SDGs and 2030 Agenda.

As an orientation for countries to undertake their own SDG-focused evaluations, DEval has worked together with a group of partners (the Finnish foreign ministry, UNICEF and IDEAS) to produce a revised version of a guidebook on SDG evaluation: “Country-led evaluation to achieve the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals” (2025). This is a guide for evaluators, commissioners and managers of evaluations, available in English, Spanish and French language.