Real-Time Evaluation of Danish Support to Sustainable Coastal Fisheries in Myanmar Myanmar

DANIDA - Project Dates:
April 2017 - December 2020

Description of Project:
The DANIDA Myanmar country programme had a total budget of DKK 470 million from 2016 to 2020 and included engagement under three thematic areas within i) peace, rule of law and human rights , ii) basic education, and iii) inclusive and sustainable economic growth. Under the overall objective of inclusive and sustainable economic growth improved, including livelihoods of ethnic populations, the development engagement “Sustainable Coastal Fisheries” aims at securing sustainable livelihoods of coastal communities. The Sustainable Coastal Fishery Engagement was implemented by the Department of Fisheries (DOF) within an overall budget of DKK 66 million for the four years, including two long-term Danida advisers to DOF.

Four outputs were envisaged under the engagement:

New legal and regulatory framework adapted;
Human and technical capacity available at DOF for co-management on Union, State/Region and district levels;
Co-management institutions at community level are in place;
Improved livelihoods of involved communities.

Services Provided:

The Evaluation Department (EVAL) introduced the concept of Real-Time Evaluation (RTE) as an approach to enhance the evaluative work by enabling data collection concurrent with the development intervention and to increase the usability of the evaluation interim findings by making it possible to provide feed-back to operational management during implementation. The pilot nature of the Danida engagement on Sustainable Coastal Fisheries warranted a careful implementation process, and the Danish Embassy in Yangon considered the RTE as an additional tool in this regard. The RTE supplemented the output monitoring undertaken by the engagement management by assessing progress towards achievement of outcomes, primarily at community level. Furthermore, the RTE assessed key risks and assumptions related to the achievement of engagement outcomes and objectives, and contributed to a continued assessment of the overall theory of change for the engagement. The purpose of the RTE was therefore to provide input for learning during the implementation process and document the intervention towards the end of the four years.