The OECD recently released this report, ‘Making Development Co-operation More Effective: 2019 Progress Report’ which effectively updates their evaluation criteria, and evaluates what progress we’ve made as a global community since the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and the Busan Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation.

It’s a great read since it also outlines why these evaluation criteria are important, and updates it to align more with how development looks now. The report highlights that despite the progress made in improving the effectiveness of development cooperation, there are still significant challenges that need to be addressed. These challenges include ensuring equitable participation – including civil society and the private sector – in the development process; improving transparency and accountability in development cooperation; and enhancing the quality and relevance of development programmes.

The report also emphasises the importance of monitoring and evaluating development programmes to ensure that they are achieving their intended results. It recommends that monitoring and evaluation should be integrated into the design and implementation of development programmes, and that data should be shared transparently to improve accountability and learning.

For monitoring and evaluation (M&E) practitioners, this report is important as it highlights the critical role that M&E plays in ensuring the effectiveness of development cooperation. M&E practitioners can use the recommendations in the report to improve the design, implementation, and evaluation of development programmes, and to ensure that they are contributing to sustainable development outcomes. The report also provides useful insights into best practices in M&E and highlights areas where further progress is needed to achieve the goals of the Paris Declaration and the Busan Partnership.