Table 4 Characteristics of individual frameworks related to harmonisation and to building evaluation capacity
From: Frameworks for evaluating health research capacity strengthening: a qualitative study
Document | Coordination and alignment | Capacity building to commission or conduct evaluations | “How to do it” information provided to support Framework use or PM&E practice |
|---|---|---|---|
Danida (2012) [13] | Whole chapter on multilateral development coordination. Highlights benefits of using country systems and data, and of joint or coordinated PM&E | Mentions the need to assess team capacity for qualitative evaluation and the cultural competence of data collectors. Mentions that it may develop the capacity of country organisations it works with on evaluations | Five annexes cover key issues with regard to codes of conduct; quality control and assurance; project inception reporting; evaluation reporting; analytical quality |
Danida (2011) [14] | Some material about coordinating multilateral projects. Highlights benefits of using partners’ monitoring systems | Mentions the possible need to develop capacity for output monitoring among partners | Provides links to tools that funder staff may use, particularly for monitoring |
ESSENCE (2011) [11] | Emphasises need for harmonization of practices across different funders and them using the framework in partnership | Paragraph on general capacity strengthening for funders, but nothing specific to evaluation | Little practical detail. Some key concepts regarding indicators are clarified. There is a list of sources, but this does not indicate which provide practical guidance |
TDR (2011) [15] | Mentions need for partnership across funders | Not mentioned | Contains quite detailed instructions, plus a clear and fairly comprehensive glossary. There is a reading list, but this is not prominent and does not indicate which documents provide practical guidance |
FIC-NIH (2005) [16] | Emphasises stakeholder involvement in planning only | Training and support for funder staff is provided by the Evaluation Officer; support for other stakeholders not mentioned | Little detail. Provides most on indicators, giving examples, but not how to identify and construct an indicator |
WOTRO (2005) | Not mentioned | Not mentioned | No information to support practice |
IDRC (2005) [17] | Not mentioned | Mentions that health RCS may need to address monitoring capacity | Explains the thinking behind CS evaluation, relationships between PM&E, and the types of questions to ask, providing examples of particular questions |
IDRC (2004) [18] | Not mentioned | Not mentioned | Provides a link to characteristics of good performance and associated monitoring questions. Nothing apart from this |
CIDA (2004) [19] | Not mentioned | It takes the form of a capacity building tool. Some discussion about building capacity among local recipients | The entire document focuses on providing detailed information to support the conduct of CIDA evaluations. There are checklists for each chapter, and a list of acronyms |