Publications

Global crises, doubts concerning the legitimacy of development cooperation (DC) and cuts in funding are increasing the need to focus even more closely on the economic efficiency of interventions when designing DC. The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) therefore aims in its current reform plan to strengthen the efficiency-oriented steering of German DC. By deploying resources efficiently, the BMZ's value-based and interest-driven policy seeks to contribute to eliminating poverty, hunger and inequalities, promoting peace and security and facilitating sustainable and equitable growth.

• Noltze, M., K. Süß and S. Harten (2026), Designing Development Cooperation to be Economical: Better Evaluations for More Efficient Policy, DEval Policy Brief 10/2026, German Institute for Development Evaluation (DEval), Bonn.

Globale Krisen, Zweifel an der Legitimität der Entwicklungszusammenarbeit (EZ) und Mittelkürzungen erhöhen die Notwendigkeit, bei der Gestaltung der EZ die Wirtschaftlichkeit von Maßnahmen noch stärker als bisher in den Blick zu nehmen. Das Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (BMZ) zielt daher in seinem aktuellen Reformplan darauf ab, die effizienzorientierte Steuerung zu stärken. Bei einem effizienten Einsatz von Mitteln möchte es mit einer wertebasierten und interessengeleiteten Politik dazu beitragen, Armut, Hunger und Ungleichheiten zu überwinden, Frieden und Sicherheit zu fördern und nachhaltiges und gerechtes Wachstum zu ermöglichen.Ob dies gelingt, soll in unabhängigen Evaluierungen überprüft werden.

• Noltze, M., K. Süß und S. Harten (2026), Entwicklungszusammenarbeit wirtschaftlich gestalten: Bessere Evaluierungen für eine effizientere Politik, DEval Policy Brief 10/2026, Deutsches Evaluierungsinstitut der Entwicklungszusammenarbeit (DEval), Bonn.

Public development finance should be economical. In development cooperation, the success of interventions is assessed largely using the instrument of evaluation. This meta-evaluation and evaluation synthesis assess the quality of project evaluations carried out by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the KfW Development Bank (KfW), as well as their findings on the economic efficiency of their interventions.

• Executive Summary (PDF, 354 KB)
• Annex on the Methods (available only in German) (PDF, 5.71 MB)
• BMZ Response

• Noltze, M., G. Kühltau and K. Süß (2026), Efficiency in German Development Cooperation. Meta-evaluation and Evaluation Synthesis, German Institute for Development Evaluation (DEval), Bonn, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21803856.

Öffentliche Entwicklungsfinanzierung soll wirtschaftlich sein. In der Entwicklungszusammenarbeit erfolgt die Erfolgsbewertung von Maßnahmen unter anderem über das Instrument der Evaluierung. Die vorliegende Meta-Evaluierung und Evaluierungssynthese bewerten die Qualität von Projektevaluierungen der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) und KfW Entwicklungsbank (KfW) und deren Ergebnisse zur Wirtschaftlichkeit ihrer Maßnahmen.

• Zusammenfassung (PDF, 377 KB)
• Methoden-Anhang (PDF, 5.71 MB)
• Stellungnahme des BMZ

• Noltze, M., G. Kühltau und K. Süß (2026), Effizienz in der deutschen Entwicklungszusammenarbeit. Meta-Evaluierung und Evaluierungssynthese, Deutsches Evaluierungsinstitut der Entwicklungszusammenarbeit (DEval), Bonn, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20341006.

In late 2023, the German government faced public criticism for funding cycle paths in Peru. This episode is particularly salient given a broader trend of declining public support for development cooperation.This study investigates how exposure to negative information about development cooperation affects public support for these policies. In particular, it asks whether negative information undermines support and whether this effect can be mitigated through the provision of evidence or through evidence literacy education. The research questions are addressed using two survey experiments: a theory-driven conjoint experiment and a vignette experiment based on a newspaper article reporting on German-funded cycle paths in Peru. Across both experiments, we find a robust and substantial negative effect of negative information on public support for development cooperation. Evidence on potential mitigation strategies is mixed. Although the provision of evidence literacy education does not consistently buffer the negative impact of negative information, it significantly increases individuals' propensity to seek additional information.The findings suggest that negative media coverage poses a serious challenge in maintaining public support for development cooperation. Although evidence literacy alone may not shield public opinion from negative information, it appears to foster a more critical and inquiry-oriented public. Policy communication strategies may therefore benefit from complementing factual information with longer-term investments in evidence literacy to strengthen democratic resilience in debates on development policy.

• https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/dpr.70091

• Eger, J. & Klennert, A. L. (2026). Negative news, misinformation, and public support for development cooperation: Can evidence literacy education build resilience? Development Policy Review, 44, e70091. https://doi.org/10.1111/dpr.70091.

German and international development organisations frequently emphasise the important role of effectiveness and evidence in their work. The importance of an evidence-based, impact-oriented approach continues to grow as a consequence of the increasing pressure to deliver results in development cooperation. Rigorous impact evaluations (RIEs) play an important role
in measuring and increasing the effectiveness of specific interventions. To ensure that RIEs can inform Development cooperation on practical and strategic issues a viable RIE evidence architecture is required.

• Faust, J., M. Bruder and K. Wolf (2026), Five Steps towards a Viable Evidence Architecture for Rigorous Impact Evaluations, DEval Policy Brief 8/2026, German Institute for Development Evaluation (DEval), Bonn.