DPME Outcome Evaluation Guideline

Internationally, National Evaluation Policies (NEPs) and National Evaluation Systems (NESs) are closely interconnected, with systems established to operationalise the objectives set out in evaluation policies (Segone, Bamberger, & Reddy, 2015). The effectiveness of evaluation systems depends on well-defined policies that clarify the purpose, roles, and structures of the public sector evaluation function (Filgueiras & Queiroz, 2021). In the South African context, this relationship is formalised through the National Evaluation Policy Framework (NEPF), which serves as the policy framework, and the NES, which gives effect to the NEPF as part of the government-wide monitoring and evaluation system (DPME, 2019; Chirau, Blaser-Mapitsa, & Amisi, 2021). The NEPF includes various evaluation typologies, among them outcome evaluations. The Department of Planning Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) has outlined seven distinct evaluation typology guidelines: diagnostic, outcome, design, economic, implementation, impact, and evaluation synthesis. However, an outcome evaluation guideline has not yet been formally established. This guideline has therefore been developed to offer practical guidance on planning and conducting outcome evaluations to government institutions at different spheres of government including state owned companies and stateowned enterprise.