ABSTRACT
This chapter broadens the discussion on the opportunities and challenges of evaluating environment joint programmes by introducing the opportunities and challenges of conducting joint evaluations in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) era. The integrated nature of the SDGs calls for greater synergy, harmonization and complementarity in development work, which is increasingly being reflected in evaluation. However, while the SDGs have brought the social, the economic and the environmental closer to each other in discourse, development practice and evaluation are often carried out with a focus on the human or the natural system, rather than both, which does not bode well for sustainability. The authors argue that one way to address the integrated nature of the SDGs is through joint evaluation, where diverse institutions bring together their corporate skills, data, technical knowledge, expertise and experience to the assessment of the social, economic and environmental dimensions of development initiatives. Recognized advantages of joint evaluations include the potential for broader scope than single agency evaluations, increased multidimensionality in the analysis and a single set of coherent messages addressed to multiple partners. To take full advantage of joint evaluations, the institutional setting and management arrangements should be kept as simple as possible, and the power dynamics should be equal. The degree of independence of the evaluation function of agencies partnering to jointly evaluate sustainable development interventions has an influence on the credibility and utility of the evaluation. The chapter describes how, despite challenges, joint evaluations offer significant advantages that can lead to important institutional and strategic changes with a view to strengthening development results in both the human and environmental spheres.
