EVALUATION Finland’s Development Policy Programmes from a Results-Based Management Point of View 2003–2013 Evaluation on Finland’s Development Policy and Cooperation 2015/1 EVALUATION FINLAND’S DEVELOPMENT POLICY PROGRAMMES FROM A RESULTS-BASED MANAGEMENT POINT OF VIEW 2003-2013 Markus Palenberg Marko Katila Diane Bombart Bernadeta Killian Pirkko Poutiainen Indufor Oy, IfDS 2015/1 This evaluation was commissioned by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland to Indufor Oy. This report is the product of the authors, and responsibility for the accuracy of the data included in this report rests with the authors. The findings, interpretations and conclusions presented in this report do not necessarily reflect the views of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland. © Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland 2015 This report can be downloaded through the home page of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs http://formin.finland.fi/developmentpolicy/evaluations Contact: [email protected] ISBN 978-952-281-291-9 (pdf), ISBN 978-952-281-296-4 (e pub) ISSN 2342-8341 Cover design and layout: Innocorp Oy/Milla Toro CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................VII ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS .............................................................................................VIII TIIVISTELMÄ................................................................................................................................... 1 REFERAT ......................................................................................................................................... 2 ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................................... 3 YHTEENVETO .................................................................................................................................. 4 SAMMANFATTNING ..................................................................................................................... 10 SUMMARY .................................................................................................................................... 16 KEY FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ........................................................ 21 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................ 25 1.1 Context ..........................................................................................................................................25 1.2 Purpose and Scope ........................................................................................................................26 1.3 Organisation of Work and Quality Assurance ............................................................................27 1.4 Structure of this Report................................................................................................................28 2 EVALUATION APPROACH AND METHODOLOGY .................................................................... 29 2.1 Evaluation Questions ....................................................................................................................29 2.2 Evaluation Framework .................................................................................................................31 2.2.1 Analytical Framework .....................................................................................................................31 2.2.2 Operational Framework ..................................................................................................................33 2.2.3 Data Gathering and Triangulation ...................................................................................................35 3 INTRODUCTION TO RBM AT THE MFA .................................................................................... 37 3.1 Results-Oriented Developments at the MFA to Date ................................................................37 3.2 RBM-Related Evaluations and Reviews ..............................................................................................40 3.3 Key Points ..........................................................................................................................................43 4 RESULTS FOCUS AND LEARNING FROM RESULTS IN FINNISH DEVELOPMENT POLICY ........ 44 4.1 Quality of Guidance in DPPs and in Downstream Policies ........................................................44 4.1.1 Quality of Guidance in DPPs ...........................................................................................................44 4.1.2 Quality of Downstream Guidance ...................................................................................................54 4.2 Validity and Timing of DPP Guidance ..........................................................................................57 4.3 Learning from Results ..................................................................................................................61 4.4 Key Points ..........................................................................................................................................66 5 MANAGING FOR RESULTS IN POLICY IMPLEMENTATION....................................................... 67 5.1 The Budget Allocation Process.....................................................................................................67 5.2 Evidence on Compliance with Quantitative Targets .................................................................68 5.3 Correlations between DPP Guidance and Financing Trends ....................................................71 5.4 Implementation Evidence: Gender ..............................................................................................72 5.5 Implementation Evidence: Sustainable Development ...............................................................73 5.6 Implementation Evidence: Tanzania ...........................................................................................74 5.7 DPP Implementation and Results Orientation in MFA Development Cooperation ................75 5.7.1 Bilateral Cooperation: Country Strategies .......................................................................................75 5.7.2 Multilateral Cooperation: Influencing Plans ....................................................................................77 5.7.3 Other Aid Channels and Instruments ..............................................................................................79 5.7.4 Policy Coherence, DPPs and RBM ...................................................................................................80 5.8 Organisational Culture and Management ..................................................................................82 5.9 Key Points ......................................................................................................................................85 6 REPORTING AND ACCOUNTABILITY ........................................................................................ 87 6.1 Reporting of Results .....................................................................................................................87 6.1.1 Reporting to Parliament .................................................................................................................87 6.1.2 MFA-Internal Reporting by Policy Implementation Channel ...........................................................89 6.2 Accountability Functions of Steering and Advisory Bodies ......................................................92 6.2.1 The Development Policy Steering Group (DPSG) .............................................................................92 6.2.2 The Quality Assurance Board (QAB) ................................................................................................93 6.2.3 The Development Policy Committee (DPC) .....................................................................................93 6.2.4 The Government High-Level Network of Policy Coherence for Development (PCD) .......................94 6.3 Information Systems for RBM .....................................................................................................95 6.4 Key Points ......................................................................................................................................95 7 LEARNING FROM INTERNATIONAL PEERS .............................................................................. 97 7.1 International Experiences with Results-Based Management ...................................................97 7.2 Collaborative Benchmarking .....................................................................................................102 7.2.1 Asian Development Bank ..............................................................................................................103 7.2.2 France ...........................................................................................................................................105 7.2.3 IFAD ..............................................................................................................................................106 7.2.4 New Zealand .................................................................................................................................107 7.2.5 Sweden .........................................................................................................................................108