Evaluation Programme 2026-2027

The Evaluation Programme is Eval’s multi-annual framework for planning and conducting evaluations and related activities. It outlines the themes where evaluations are expected to generate useful knowledge and actionable evidence to inform decisions by Norwegian authorities and partners. The Programme presents planned activities for 2026 and 2027 and identifies tentative themes for subsequent years. It is subject to revision in response to changing needs and circumstances.

Eval delivers independent, strategic evaluations that address policies, strategies, and issues of system-wide relevance. It uses the OECD-DAC criteria, adapting them to each evaluation’s purpose and context. Each evaluation is designed through specific research and targeted stakeholder engagement to refine scope, questions, and intended users. Preparation for some 2026 evaluations began in 2025. Beyond evaluations, Eval produces syntheses, studies, and other knowledge products, and promotes the use of findings through workshops, evidence briefs, country studies, reflection notes, and other engagement formats.

Through the Programme development activities, especially stakeholder engagement, Eval identified further evaluations and studies that might constitute the basis of future Programmes.

The Evaluation Department designed its strategy for developing the multiannual Evaluation Programme to strike a balance between the relevance of potential evaluation topics and stakeholder needs on the one hand, and time, methodological, and capacity constraints on the other. Key activities were:

• Internal research on the main features, thematic areas, and geographic focus of Norwegian development cooperation. This research identified key dilemmas and decision points where Norwegian policymakers, agencies, and their international partners will presumably require evidence. The findings informed the overall design of the Evaluation Programme by highlighting priority issues, shaping potential evaluation themes, guiding selection, and sequencing evaluations to ensure the timely delivery of evidence.
• Stakeholder engagement: Eval engaged stakeholders through various channels, including in-person workshops and online collection of suggestions and ideas, to gather diverse perspectives and insights.
• Synthesis and analysis of inputs from research and stakeholder consultations to generate, prioritise, and sequence ideas for evaluations and related activities within the Programme.