Criticism due to inadequate effectiveness measurement of foreign projects
Published: Monday, Nov 20th 2023, 10:20
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International cooperation (IC) projects are sometimes inadequately evaluated. According to the Control Committee of the Council of States (CPC-S), there is a "great need for action" when it comes to measuring effectiveness. It has addressed several recommendations to the Federal Council.
Every four years, the Federal Council submits a dispatch to Parliament on Switzerland's international cooperation strategy, including framework credits. For the current period 2021-2024, Parliament has approved a budget of CHF 11.25 billion. The Federal Council must demonstrate whether the funds are being used in a targeted and effective manner.
Today, the use of evaluations for accountability to Parliament and the public is "not appropriate", writes the GPK-S in its report published on Monday. The success rates used by the federal government to prove the effectiveness of the respective projects are "non-transparent, unrepresentative and not meaningful".
New strategy being developed
According to the Supervisory Commission, the success rates are based on external evaluations, which in turn are neither suitable for assessing the effectiveness of IC projects nor for assessing the overarching objectives and strategies of IC. Until these shortcomings are remedied, the CPC-S calls on the Federal Council to stop publishing success rates.
It is "urgent" to put the Federal Council's accountability to Parliament and the public on a solid footing, writes the Commission. The evaluation should be improved at the latest by the time of reporting on the next strategy period 2025-2028. The Federal Council will submit the new IC strategy to Parliament next year.
The Federal Council has until February 21 to comment on the Commission's recommendations. The GPK-S also mentions positive aspects in its report. For example, the costs of the evaluations are proven and low. Overall, the Commission assumes that Switzerland is achieving many of its IC goals and implementing beneficial projects.
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