"Using detailed checklists, the authors explain the stages of a typical consultancy, paying close attention to the practical, ethical, financial, and legal aspects of the process. Drawing on their own extensive experience and a wide-ranging survey of international NGOs and freelance consultants, the ... y discuss how to develop more effective working relationships with all the relevant stakeholders, including donors, partners, programme managers, local staff, and local communities. They also show how development agencies can manage particular consultancies in order to promote long-term learning and thus improve the general quality of their programmes." (Oxfam website) more

"This guide is intended to help people to understand the underlying principles of evaluation, in order to be clearer about its uses and limitations. It will deal with questions such as what evaluation actually is and why it is useful; when it is inappropriate; how to develop programmes and projects ... that can be effectively evaluated; the steps necessary for planning an evaluation; and how to use evaluation to improve development action. It will emphasise the dangers in not being clear about why an evaluation is being requested; the need to involve people; the political nature of evaluation and the importance of negotiation." (Introduction, page 11) more