Evaluation of Swedish aid in Sub-Saharan Africa via CSOs

The purpose of this evaluation is to investigate to what extent and how Sweden’s official development assistance, over time, has contributed to sustainably strengthening civil society’s capacity to work for democracy and human rights in Sub-Saharan Africa. The evaluation is commissioned by the Expert Group for Aid Studies (EBA) and carried out by a team of researchers from Marie Cederschiöld University and Lund University.

Key questions in the evaluation

• To what extent has Swedish aid made a difference in relation to Sweden’s goal to strengthen the capacity of civil society in Africa? To what extent has an increased capacity been translated into impacts on democracy or human rights?
• Which factors explain the degree of goal fulfilment and how can variations in goal fulfilment be understood?
• How can efforts to strengthen civil society’s capacity be developed to work for democracy and human rights more effectively and sustainably?

Why this evaluation is important
This evaluation is important for several reasons. A strengthened capacity among civil society actors is expected to promote democracy and human rights in developing countries. Capacity, civil society, democracy, and human rights are also important focus areas for Swedish development assistance to Sub-Saharan Africa. These focus areas constitute furthermore a significant part of Swedish aid.

Activities and time plan

• Selection of countries, March 2022
• Selection of interventions, April-May 2022
• Stakeholder involvement, May-August 2022
• Data collection and analysis, March-September 2022
• Stakeholder workshops, October 2022
• Draft report, November 2022
• Stakeholder involvement, December 2022
• Launch event, January 2023
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Expert Group for Aid Studies
The Expert Group for Aid Studies (EBA) is a government committee mandated to evaluate and analyse the direction, governance, and implementation of Sweden’s official development assistance (ODA). EBA engages researchers and other experts to carry out studies of relevance for policymakers and practitioners. Contact person at EBA for this evaluation is Program Manager, Markus Burman (markus.burman@gov.se).