Executive Summary
This report shares findings from a two-year evaluation of the Strategy for Support via Swedish Civil Society Organisations 2010-2014 (henceforth referred to as the Swedish CS Strategy) as implemented by selected Swedish civil society ‘framework organisations’ (SFOs) and their national partners in three countries – Nicaragua,
Pakistan and Uganda. The evaluation was carried out by a consortium of three organisations in two rounds of fieldwork between March 2013 and October 2014.
PURPOSE OF THE EVALUATION
The terms of reference (ToRs) for the evaluation state that its purpose is “to find out if, how and why/why not the support to civil society actors in developing countries via Swedish CSOs (SFOs) has contributed to the overall objectives of the support by creating conditions to enable poor and discriminated people to improve their living conditions and quality of life. The focus of the evaluation should be on learning aspects.”
The evaluation used the Reality Check Approach (RCA) to understand ‘from below’ the realities and perspectives of people living in poverty and marginalisation, combined with meso-level inquiries into the efforts of diverse actors – notably the SFOs and local partner organisations (LPOs) funded by Sida – to address these issues ‘from above’. These findings are used to analyse the relevance, alignment and feasibility of the Swedish CS strategy, as formally written and as practiced by SFOs and LPOs