SDC How-to-Note Beneficiary Assessment (BA)

Like other agencies involved in international development cooperation, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) is committed to enhancing its results orientation, learning and effectiveness through more responsive and accountable programming. Encouraging a culture in which citizens participate in the planning, monitoring and evaluation of programmes and country strategies is essential for achieving these aims. This note is about SDC’s experience with beneficiary assessment (BA), an evaluation approach used to increase its responsiveness and accountability to the citizens who are the intended direct and indirect beneficiaries of its work.  It aims to both raise awareness of the potential advantages of using Beneficiary Assessment to enhance learning, responsiveness, accountability and effectiveness, and to contribute to enhancing capacity and confidence to use BA in the evaluation of projects, programmes and country strategies by providing practical orientation and support.