ANNUAL REPORT 2009 - FPDL

REGIONAL PROGRAM EVALUATIONBackgroundLGI contracted two evaluations process regarding FPDL, the Regional Program and the Programfor Anticorruption Practitioners.FPDL and Regional Program EvaluationThis evaluation reviews the performance of the Regional Program for CapacityBuilding “Working Together” offered by FPDL (Partners Foundation for LocalDevelopment), Romania and supported by the Local Government Initiative (LGI),Budapest. In line with the ToR, the evaluation deals with a series of issues related toproject implementation as mentioned above. In addition, FPDL was assessed in termsof its organizational and financial capacity, The evaluation looks at both the programand also the main institution involved, FPDL.Evaluation objectivesThe objectives of this evaluation, were to assess FPDL in terms of the:• The ability to effectively serve as a transnational, professional network to trainlocal elected officials• The track record in raising the quality of training programs for elected officials inthe region through dissemination efforts• Its running of an organizational and management structure congruent with themission of the Regional ProgramConsultants: The evaluation was conducted by Forbes Davidson and Alberto Gianoli,from ,Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies, Rottterdam, TheNetherlands, and Nicolae Taralunga, IHS RomaniaEvaluation design and methodologyThe approach used follows the evaluation framework of OECD. This focuses onRelevance, Effectiveness, Efficiency and Impact. In addition, the organizationaland financial aspects of FPDL were assessed using the Common AssessmentFramework (CAF)For collecting data on the different evaluation topics, the following approaches wereused:• The basis for the evaluation was a desk study of project related documentation,including the project documents, financial reports, as well as project progressreports, board meeting notes, general documents, reports prepared by partnerorganisations as well as the Internet. In addition to these project relateddocuments, a desk study was made of publications realised by the project,including training manuals, newsletters, etc. An overview of documentsconsulted is provided in Appendix 3.• A self-evaluation framework was developed which was completed by FPDL.This can be found in Appendix 4, and is a very useful input.• Face to face interviews were held. An overview of people met, is provided inAppendix 2.• Telephone interviews were conducted , and these are also listed in Appendix 2• Questionnaires were developed and sent to 100 partner organizations.As part of the evaluation, field visits were held with LGI in Budapest and with FPDL inBucharest.15