This essay presents issues and prospects for conducting evaluation for aid projects and NGO activities. Evaluation is crucial to improving the quality of projects. Project evaluation should be implemented either after the end of the project or mid-term of the implementation stage. The results should be published to stakeholders for use in formulating new projects and as an information source for learning lessons.
In order to evaluate the performance of an implemented project, evaluators should first understand the contents of project correctly by filling in the Project Design Matrix (PDM). They should then measure the results of the PDM, using the following five criteria: efficiency, effectiveness, impact, relevance and sustainability.
Introducing a rating system would also be an effective measure for obtaining a more objective evaluation. Evaluators should use care in rating results, especially in comparing projects from different areas or fields.
The priority of criteria in evaluation depends on when the project is evaluated. In order to improve the quality of evaluations, professionals who are familiar with the method should collaborate with partners in host countries to prepare the evaluations. Beneficiary's participation in evaluating and improvement of host country's capacity for evaluation should be encouraged. In order to achieve the most from the evaluation process, the organization should be prepared to learn from the results and make any necessary changes according to the five criteria. If the purpose of the evaluation is to snow the projects performance to taxpayers or contributors, the evaluation results should be published as much as possible.
