This report presents the findings and recommendations of twenty-eight evaluation studies relating to bilateral aid publised by the Operations Review Unit (IOV) of the Directorate General for International Cooperation (DGIS) in the period 1983-1994. The original report, written in Dutch, was compiled in 1995 in the context of the review of the foreign policy of the Netherlands. The policy implications based on the major findings of the original report were included in the Explanatory Memorandum to the budget for development cooperation for the fiscal year 1996. The relevant section of the Explanatory Memorandum is annexed to the present report.
The foreign policy of the Netherlands was reappraised with the aim to further integrate the use of international policy instruments organisationally, financially and policy-wise. Two important organisational changes were the creation of integrated regional departments in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with responsibility for formulating and coordinating development coordination policy, foreign affairs and economic affairs, and greater interdependence in implementing policy for the missions abroad. Further details are presented in the policy document 'The Foreign Policy of the Netherlands, A Review', (The Hague, September 1995).
The nature and scope of the topics covered by the studies presented in this report differ widely. Also, evaluation methods evolved, and evaluation criteria have been adapted over the years to conform to changes in development policy. Initially, IOV evaluations focused on individual projects and synthesis studies covering a large number of such project evaluations. In the course of the 1980s, this focus shifted to evaluations of specific programmes, themes, sectors and regions. During the early 1990s, comprehensive evaluations of the Netherlands' bilateral aid programme for selected development countries were initiated.
The main findings of the twenty-eight evaluation studies reviewed were analysed on the basis of 'cross-cutting issues' which were covered by several of the studies. These are discussed in the first part of the report. The summaries of the evaluation reports are presented in the second part.