%0 Journal Article
%T What have we learned here? Questioning accountability in aid policy and practice
%A Lauren Kogen
%J Evaluation
%@ 1461-7153
%D 2018
%R 10.1177/1356389017750195
%X In recent decades, development donors in the West have touted a shift to rigorous evaluations and evidence-based policymaking in order to address global skepticism regarding the effectiveness of aid. In the accompanying rhetoric, ¡°accountability¡± and ¡°learning¡± have been held up as twin pillars that will ensure a more effective aid-making system. This contribution questions the ability of these concepts to improve aid in their current working forms. The contribution offers a revised conceptualization of learning in order to improve funding and funding policy. The revised definition supports two particular areas in which ¡°learning¡± is sorely needed but which are eschewed in most current institutionalized evaluation rhetoric: developing theory undergirding social change (such as theories relating to gender-based violence) and evaluating project design and implementation processes (such as participatory designs)
%K communication for development
%K communication for social change
%K foreign aid
%K monitoring and evaluation
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1356389017750195