Understanding theory of change in international development.

This is a review of the concepts and common debates within ‘Theory of Change’ (ToC)
material, resulting from a search and detailed analysis of available donor, agency and
expert guidance documents. The review was undertaken as part of a Justice and Security
Research Program2
(JSRP) and The Asia Foundation3
(TAF) collaborative project, and
focuses on the field of international development. The project will explore the use of
Theories of Change (ToCs) in international development programming, with field
research commencing in August 2012. While this document will specifically underpin the
research of this collaboration, we also hope it will be of interest to a wider audience of
those attempting to come to grips with ToC and its associated literature.