Evaluation of EC aid channelled through civil society organisations

This evaluation, covering the period 2000 -2006, assesses the EC aid channelled through civil society organisations (CSOs). Over the period evaluated, the total amount channelled through Civil Society Organisations amounts to 5.3 billion EUR, and a clear increase of CSO channelling can be observed. All in all, 76% of total specified payments have been channelled through Northern CSOs and 24% through Southern CSOs.

The three main conclusions according to the evaluation summary are:

• The participatory development agenda, adopted by the EC, is gradually changing the use of the CSO channel but the participatory development agenda has not yet been fully internalised by the Commission. The EC still lacks a consistent, shared and institutionalised strategy to manage the CSO channel (across regions, sectors and themes)


• The added value of the CSO channel is not optimally used by the EC because the EC is not
  well-equipped to properly deal with the question all along the cooperation cycle, i.e. from the identification phase (“what added value can CSOs, in all their diversity, offer in a given
  context?”) to the design phase and related choice of implementation modalities (“how best to support CSOs to fully realise their added value?”).


• There is a mixed record with regard to results, impact and sustainability. Evidence has been collected of positive effects on a project level. However it is less evident to draw firm
  conclusions with regard to the sustainable impact of these interventions, particularly considering that broader processes of societal change require a longer time span to achieve results, valid questions can be raised on the likelihood of sustainable impact of aid channelled through CSOs.

For the full report, the summary and a presentation of main outcomes and recommendations, please visit: http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/how/evaluation/evaluation_reports/2008/1259_docs_en.htm

Source: http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/how/evaluation/evaluation_reports/evinfo/2008/1259_ev_en.pdf