Results Based Management In The Development Co-Operation Agencies: A Review Of Experience

At the meeting of the DAC Working Party on Aid Evaluation (WP-EV) held in January 1999,
Members agreed to several follow-up activities to the Review of the DAC Principles for Evaluation of Development Assistance. One of the new areas of work identified was performance management systems. The DAC Secretariat agreed to lead and co-ordinate the work.

The topic of performance management, or results based management, was selected because many development co-operation agencies are now in the process of introducing or reforming their performance management systems and measurement approaches, and face a number of common issues and challenges. For example, how to establish an effective performance measurement system, deal with analytical issues of attributing impacts and aggregating results, ensure a distinct yet complementary role for evaluation, and establish organizational incentives and processes that will stimulate the use of performance information in management decision-making.

The objective of the work on performance management is "to provide guidance, based on Members’ experience, on how to develop and implement results based management in development agencies and make it best interact with evaluation systems."