2. CONTEXT EVALUATION Context evaluation assesses needs, assets, and problems within a defined environment.
Evaluator Activities
o Compile and assess background information, especially on the intended beneficiaries’ needs and assets.
o Interview program leaders to review and discuss their perspectives on beneficiaries’ needs and to identify any problems (political or otherwise) the program will need to solve.
o Interview other stakeholders to gain further insight into the needs and assets of intended beneficiaries and potential problems for the program.
o Assess program goals in light of beneficiaries’ assessed needs and potentially useful assets.
o Engage an evaluator2 to monitor and record data on the program’s environment, including related programs, area resources, area needs and problems, and political dynamics.
o Request that program staff regularly make available to the evaluation team information they collect on the program’s beneficiaries and environment.
o Annually, or as appropriate, prepare and deliver to the client and agreed-upon stakeholders a draft context evaluation report providing an update on program-related needs, assets, and problems, along with an assessment of the program’s goals and priorities.
o Discuss context evaluation findings in feedback workshops presented about annually to the client and designated audiences.
o Finalize context evaluation reports and associated visual aids and provide them to the client and agreed-upon stakeholders.