To fulfill the Evaluation Policy’s mandate for periodic reviews of evaluation utilization, in 2015 USAID commissioned an independent study, Evaluation Utilization at USAID (published February 2016), which assessed how Agency evaluations from 2011-2014 have been used, and what guidance, tools, or Agency practices might be improved to enhance evaluation utilization moving forward. Internal and external audiences for this study include USAID management, program, technical and regional staff whose work can be informed by evaluations, as well the Department of State and other U.S. Government (USG) colleagues on country teams; Congress; the Office of Management and Budget (OMB); partner country governments; and other donors with whom USAID collaborates overseas.

Four study questions guided the work of the study team:

1. How and when in the Program Cycle are evaluations used or not used?
2. What changes/decisions are made because of evaluations?
3. To what degree and under what conditions does learning occur from evaluation findings that were not anticipated by the intended purpose of the evaluation?
4. What particular business processes or enabling conditions appear to encourage or discourage the utilization of evaluations?

For the full text of the Evaluation Utilization at USAID report, please click here.

For the two-page summary of the report, please click here.