Evaluation of Save the Children’s Capacity Strengthening of Civil Society Organisations Through Save the Children Sweden’s Global CSO Programme, 2017-2021

This external evaluation concerns the Save the Children’s capacity-strengthening of civil society organisations (CSOs) through Save the Children Sweden’s (SCS’s) Global CSO Programme 2017-2021, supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).

At an overarching level, Sida supports the intervention under evaluation in pursuit of two principal objectives: strengthening the capacity of civil society actors in developing countries and promoting a more favourable societal climate for CSOs in developing countries. The assessment investigated the global programme’s three levels of support: for specific projects and programmes implemented by partner organisations, for organisational strengthening of these partners, and for strengthening civil society at large (mainly at the country level). To conduct the analysis, the evaluators also mapped the supported organisations, with approximately 200 Save the Children International (SCI) partners across 15 countries and seven regional programmes; one regional programme was phased out during the programme period, leaving 15 country and six regional programmes.

The evaluators responded to eight evaluation questions1 set out in the terms of reference, which dealt with the relevance, effectiveness, and sustainability of the capacity-strengthening support provided by the global CSO programme. Key findings under each question are provided in the following sections of the executive summary and elaborated upon in detail in the report.