1. Exit and sustainability of the Swiss development cooperation Martin Baumann Competence Center 6: Performance Audit and Evaluation Swiss Federal Audit Office IX. EUROSAI Congress, 18.06.2014

2. 2 Setting the scene Ex-post analysis of 14 projects in South Africa and India  Q1: Were the project objectives achieved at the time of Switzerland's exit?  Q2: How was an adequate continuation of the supported projects ensured?  Q3: What is the assessment of the current situation? Fusszeile Preparation phase Implementation phase Post project phase Project startProject end t (years) On-site visit Q Q Q

3. 3 Main challenges  Sustainability: diverse understandings, but increased importance through the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness (2005)  Hardly any studies  Who knows what?  Most projects ended 2005 and 2006  Audit in 2013 Fusszeile

4. 4 New approach  Q1: Were the project objectives achieved at the time of Switzerland's exit?  Q2: How was an adequate continuation of the supported projects ensured? Fusszeile Preparation phase Implementation phase Post project phase Project startProject end t (years) On-site visit Q Q Q

5. 5 Fusszeile On-site visit

6. 6 Fusszeile On-site visit in India Q3: What is the assessment of the current situation? On-site visits in India and South Africa (2 weeks each visit). airplane project car train

7. 7 Fusszeile Meetings, meetings, meetings…

8. 8 Fusszeile

9. 9 Findings  Numerous “project footprints” can still be found years after completion.  Measuring the goal achievement in development cooperation has many limitations and investigating sustainable aspects is complex  The Swiss Development Agency withdrew from projects in a correct manner  Examined projects were needed and innovative, but associated with risks  Project documentation is a key source of information for evaluating lessons learned  Risk assessment is a key to success for the implementation and continuation of projects  Targeted ex-post analyses can create added value Fusszeile

10. 10 Recommendations / Critique  Primarily concern the management of projects  Define internal guidelines for the project completion  Improve the definition of objectives in terms of measurability of progress towards their achievement  Ensure active and consistent project documentation  Systematically monitor key risk areas within projects  Encourage ex-post analyses for selected key projects  Critical reflections regarding the methodology applied: 1.No measurement of sustainability, but only an appraisal (“soft facts”) 2.Almost no comparability between projects (context, goals, developments) 3.On-site visits demand a lot of organization (interlocutors, travel, translation, limited time) 4.On-site visits raise expectations of beneficiaries 5.Cost-benefit: facts gathered vs. resources used Fusszeile

11. 11 Thank you for your attention! Full report available at www.efk.admin.ch Contact: martin.baumann@efk.admin.ch www.efk.admin.ch martin.baumann@efk.admin.ch Fusszeile