Institutionalization and Use of Evaluations in the Public Sector in Nepal

Background: Institutionalization of evidenced-based policy-making, planning and decision making practices is the pre-condition for timely demand and use of evaluations in the government. Moreover, a number of factors act as enabling environment for proper use of evaluation recommendations in the national policy making and planning processes. Reviewing various evaluation reports and periodic plan documents of Nepal, this article discusses and analyzes factors that determine uses of evaluations. Purpose: This paper aims to review the institutionalization process and use of evaluation evidences in the planning processes in Nepal. Setting: NA Intervention: NA Research Design: Triangulation of document review and Key Informant Interview (KII) was done. Data Collection and Analysis: This study reviews evaluation reports of 29 projects or programs of various sectors that conducted engaging independent evaluations during 1995-2012 and medium-term plan documents and some policies. Information generated from the Key Informant Interviews (KII) was used to triangulate the information generated from the documentary review. Findings: It was found that proper documentation and rigorous analysis is important to promote the use of evaluations. The use of evaluations heavily depends on the independence of the evaluation process itself and quality of reports. Key findings also include: commitment of policy makers and other important actors is important for the demand and use of evaluation; the use of evaluations also depends on the clarity of objectives; and stakeholder participation is important to use evaluations and enhance accountability.