2023 Annual Report on Evaluation - Selected Highlights
What works and where is there room for development in Finland's development policy and cooperation? What kind of results have been achieved and what can we learn from them? The Annual Report summarizes the results of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' centralized evaluations and reviews in 2023.
In 2023, evaluations on the Human Rights Based Approach in Finnish development policy and cooperation, Finland's International Climate Finance, Finland's development cooperation in the Education Sector, Finland's Support to Strengthening the Domestic Resource Mobilization in Developing Countries and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Development Communications were completed. In addition, review of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' support to international recruitment, and review of the use and usefulness of centralised evaluations were completed.
The annual report reflects on last year's changes globally, and in Finland. The Director of Development Evaluation states that the change of government coalition also has an impact on the evaluation process. Information is needed on how well the previous policies have functioned, while it is also necessary to consider how the implementation of new policies can be supported by evidence and how they will be evaluated at the end of the cycle. Although global uncertainties, conflicts and competing narratives pose their own challenges, the task of the evaluation activity is in all circumstances to produce information for decision-making, learning and the ensuring accountability.
Our guest contribution highlights the potential of evaluation as a force for positive change and the new opportunities created by artificial intelligence in evaluation activities. The ability of artificial intelligence to collect data and analyze it is undeniable - but at the same time it creates new requirements for evaluators to ensure that the collected data is not misused and that the artificial intelligence remains under human control. The evaluation unit has also started actively experimenting with the use of new technologies in evaluation and continues to develop solutions made possible by artificial intelligence.
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2023 Annual Report on Evaluation – Selected Highlights (PDF; 286 Mb)