Promises to keep

Report on the evaluation of the implementation of "Towards Global Equity," Oxfam International’s Strategic Plan, 2001 – 2006

"Promises to keep" is the first comprehensive, independent evaluation of the joint work done by Oxfam affiliates over the last five years, since the Strategic Plan "Towards Global Equity" was published in 2000.

The evaluation is presented here with both the Executive Summary and the synthesis report of the four separate sectoral components: Trade; Education; Humanitarian Response; Gender. "Promises to keep" assesses the impact that Oxfam International and its affiliates have had over the past five years. We have built this learning into our new six-year Strategic Plan that we’re calling "Demanding justice," available in June 2007.The evaluation is positive about so much of what Oxfam has achieved. It reveals our strengths and helps us to map where we go and what we do to succeed over the course of our next plan. It also highlights where we have not done as well as we wanted. We asked the assessors to be frank. We want to learn from all our work, not just from the successes, and not just from the problems. We are committed to openness and transparency because this is important to public accountability. This evaluation has been a major input into our new six-year plan that builds on our strengths and corrects our shortcomings. It is right that it be available for scrutiny.Not surprisingly there are some assertions and findings in the evaluation that Oxfam International does not agree with. We have addressed these in a separate note "Promises to keep: Oxfam International’s response," published here alongside the evaluation.Oxfam International is a young organization. We are still evolving. Some of the criticisms, particularly of our capacity for evaluation of our joint work, are a consequence of Oxfam International being a “work-in-progress”. We are aligning and developing collective systems and standards across our very diverse confederation – but this is a gradual process that will take a bit of time to get right. That said, this is not an excuse for poor performance and in "Demanding justice" we will explicitly address this issue by building in a much stronger emphasis on evaluation and learning.We encourage our stakeholders, particularly partners, to read and engage with Oxfam International around the issues raised in this evaluation. If you would like to be part of the feedback process, please email us to register your interest.