Exit and sustainability of the Swiss
development cooperation
Martin Baumann
Competence Center 6: Performance Audit and Evaluation
Swiss Federal Audit Office
IX. EUROSAI Congress, 18.06.2014
Setting the scene
Ex-post analysis of 14 projects in South Africa and India
Preparation phase
Implementation phase
Q
Post project phase
Q
Q
t (years)
Project start



Project end
On-site visit
Q1: Were the project objectives achieved at the time of Switzerland's exit?
Q2: How was an adequate continuation of the supported projects ensured?
Q3: What is the assessment of the current situation?
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Main challenges
 Sustainability: diverse understandings, but
increased importance through the Paris
Declaration on Aid Effectiveness (2005)
 Hardly any studies
 Who knows what?
 Most projects ended 2005 and 2006
 Audit in 2013
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New approach
Preparation phase
Implementation phase
Q
Post project phase
Q
Q
t (years)
Preparation phase
Project start


Project end
On-site visit
Q1: Were the project objectives achieved at the time of Switzerland's exit?
Q2: How was an adequate continuation of the supported projects ensured?
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On-site visit
On-site visit in India
Q3: What is the assessment of
the current situation?
On-site visits in India and South
Africa (2 weeks each visit).
project
airplane
car
train
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Meetings, meetings, meetings…
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Findings
 Numerous “project footprints” can still be found years after completion.
 Measuring the goal achievement in development cooperation has many
limitations and investigating sustainable aspects is complex
 The Swiss Development Agency withdrew from projects in a correct
manner
 Examined projects were needed and innovative, but associated with risks
 Project documentation is a key source of information for evaluating
lessons learned
 Risk assessment is a key to success for the implementation and
continuation of projects
 Targeted ex-post analyses can create added value
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Recommendations / Critique
 Primarily concern the management of projects





Define internal guidelines for the project completion
Improve the definition of objectives in terms of measurability of progress towards their
achievement
Ensure active and consistent project documentation
Systematically monitor key risk areas within projects
Encourage ex-post analyses for selected key projects
 Critical reflections regarding the methodology applied:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
No measurement of sustainability, but only an appraisal (“soft facts”)
Almost no comparability between projects (context, goals, developments)
On-site visits demand a lot of organization (interlocutors, travel, translation, limited time)
On-site visits raise expectations of beneficiaries
Cost-benefit: facts gathered vs. resources used
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Thank you for your attention!
Full report available at
www.efk.admin.ch
Contact:
[email protected]
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