Evaluation at Inwent

As an organisation of international cooperation, Inwent demands the highest quality and effectiveness from our training, exchange and dialogue programmes. Impact is the true measure of the success of Inwent programmes at home and abroad.

The international community stipulates that educational programmes focus on effectiveness and that their actual impact be assessable. Inwent has developed its own programme planning, monitoring and evaluation system (Prime) to meet these requirements. Prime is designed to fulfil both the specific demands of our work and national and international standards. These include the guidelines set out by the Development Assistance Committee, (DAC), the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) and those of the German Evaluation Society (Degeval).

Evaluating the impact of Inwent’s programmes is Prime’s central focus. As an assessment tool, it improves the transparency of our work and strengthens our legitimacy with respect to both our clients and the wider public. The Prime system simplifies and advances the quality of our work by providing the information we need to realize improvements. Partner institutions and local reviewers are regularly involved in the evaluation process.

Evaluation formats

Ex-ante evaluation: Used in programme preparation. It provides information about the initial situation our work seeks to address, demand, and the selection of programme partners.

Outcome evaluation: Examines current programme status with respect to objectives set (direct, short- and medium-term impact). An outcome evaluation is generally undertaken at least once a year so that the results can be considered when planning new measures.

Closing evaluation: Six months after the conclusion of a programme a complete evaluation is done. The closing evaluation process analyses the programme’s impact. It serves both to validate effectiveness for clients and as a basis for the planning of programmes to follow, ensuring continual and consistent quality assurance and improvement.

Evaluation programme

In addition to Prime, Inwent introduced a two-year evaluation programme in 2008. The following types of evaluation will carried out on selected topics and instruments in different countries and regions:

Institutional learning

As an institution that transmits knowledge and promotes continued learning, Inwent places special emphasis on the continuous development of the range of programmes offered. Experience, both positive and negative, is a great teacher and serves to broaden our horizons. We reflect on past experience, using it as a basis for updating existing and planning new programmes as well as incorporating it into company development.

Development Co-operation Directorate (DCD-DAC) 

Information of the Ministry of economic Cooperation and Development on the topic