Evaluation PoliciEs in International Non-Governmental Humanitarian Organisations

Studies of evaluation policies and their linkages with evaluation practice have, so far, mainly focused on governmental, multilateral or philanthropic organisations that fund interventions implemented by other actors. Here, we turn attention towards organisations that rely on public funding for their work, such as humanitarian International Non-Governmental Organisations (INGOs). Based on interviews with humanitarian evaluation practitioners who are in the process of reviewing their organisation’s evaluation policies, the study offers insight into how experiences with evaluation practice in INGOs shape the practitioners’ considerations for revising their evaluation policies. This approach allows for an exploration of how both the internal and external factors influence evaluation practice and evaluation policy revision. The research adopts a qualitative and interpretive approach, treating evaluation policies not only as prescriptive texts but also as organisational artefacts that reflect how evaluation practice is imagined, valued, and positioned within the organisation. The study suggests that experiences with the limitations of aligning policy and practice within their organisations lead to a more sceptical and modest approach to both evaluation practice and future evaluation policies. • The study highlights the considerations of evaluation practitioners in International Humanitarian NGOs when reviewing their evaluation policies. • Evaluation policies continue to be valued for their signalling roles and for clarifying the role of evaluation within the organisation. However, evaluation is increasingly seen primarily as an accountability function rather than a tool for organisational learning. Ensuring compliance with global-level requirements at the local level beyond donor reporting is challenging due to both internal and external factors indicating that accountability-focused evaluation systems are difficult to repurpose for learning. • In response, practitioners aim for more modest policy objectives: simplifying the evaluation framework, reducing the number and frequency of local-level evaluations beyond donor requirements, and focusing on fewer, larger global evaluations designed to support organisational learning. These developments reflect a pragmatic shift in how evaluation policies are positioned to guide practice.