In recent times, the practice of programme evaluation has developed into its own brand of professional skills. However, the approaches to evaluation remain mostly unchanged. To address this gap, the Centre for Excellence for Science of Implementation and Scale-Up at the James P Grant School of Public Health conducted a short course on “Evaluation of Development Programmes”. Held from 29-30 April at the BRAC Centre for Development Management at Savar, the course aimed to enhance capacity for evaluation of development programmes simultaneously improving the effectiveness of social sector programmes.
The participants were taught the principles and practice of professional evaluation for development interventions, with an emphasis on policy, programme and project at all levels. The course covered principles and frameworks for defining, establishing, promoting, and managing quality evaluations. It also addressed the commonalities between evaluation, aid effectiveness and national development goals, concepts and types of evaluation, country-led monitoring and evaluation systems, results based management, qualitative and quantitative approaches to evaluation, use of evaluation for accountability and learning purposes, and how to manage evaluations.