AusAID Bilateral Donor System Country Program Evaluations included in Performance Management and Evaluation Policy (PMEP) of the Agency Part of Tier 2 of Agency Results Framework Three identified components to ‘purpose’ – management, learning and accountability Builds on and tests self assessed Annual Program Performance Reports (APPR)

AusAID CPE Methodology Evaluates three elements of the strategic architecture –  Country Situation Analysis – analysis and policies to inform the ODA approach  Country Strategy – a public statement of the ODA approach  Delivery Strategies – how AusAID will deliver aid in each sector or priority area

AusAID CPE Methodology Evaluative Criteria –  Selectivity and focus – has a clear and informed allocation rationale  Represent whole-of-government interests – means the interests of various Australian Government departments delivering ODA  Effectively managed – is strategic in nature, takes risks into due consideration and deploys resources efficiently  Produce results – refers to the outputs, outcomes and impacts (intended or unintended) of the cooperation program

Methodological Challenges  Explicit versus implicit – strategy acknowledged as only a small part of what the program does  Operational approach entails much wider scale of ways of working – understanding the link between the two is difficult  Avoiding retrospective strategies – does the strategy drive the program or the program drive the strategy?  Enough structure while not restricting innovation in approach

Choosing CPEs Office for Development Effectiveness (ODE) responsible for CPEs -Work plan decided by Independent Evaluation Committee (3 outside members 1 internal) -Largely driven by current internal performance and policy priorities – Health Checks prepared by Operations to inform choices (set of broad-based program metrics) -Very few CPEs in last 5 years – huge political opposition internally and little clarity without significant work on strategies themselves -No mandatory requirement, but have returned to favor given political pressures on spend