Mid-term Evaluation of the Justice and Accountability Reform (JAR) Programme in Uganda

PMCG provided an independent mid-term evaluation of the EU Sector Reform Contract (SRC) “Justice and Accountability Reform (JAR)” in Uganda. The period under evaluation covered the years 2017 to 2020.

The reform aimed to design and implement budget support operations in Uganda. In particular, the focus of PMCG’s evaluation was on assessing the achievements and results of budget support programs with an increased emphasis on results-oriented approaches. Besides taking stock of what had already been achieved, the evaluation issued recommendations on several chief factors, such as the conditions under which budget support has an effect, the design and implementation of future budget support operations in Uganda, and improvements to be set up by the EU to maximize the impact of such programs.

The examination of the performance of the SRC consisted of several factors, providing thorough insights on:

• Lessons to be learned – The evaluation highlighted the lessons to be learned and their implications for the design and implementation of future budget support programs in Uganda.
• Quality of achieved results – The evaluation focused on the quality of the achieved results, measured against the expected objectives. It also provided evidence of why and how these results were linked to the EU intervention.
• Hindering factors – It identified factors hindering the process, including but not limited to constraints in government policies and institutional and administrative arrangements in Uganda.
• Impact indicators – The evaluation team collected data and information on the outcome and impact indicators supported by the JAR Programme through 2017-2020, and analyzed the evolution of the design of and indicators within the monitoring framework between 2017 and 2020, presenting results in a consolidated table.

The evaluation will help inform the design and implementation of future budget support operations in Uganda, and improve the effectiveness of budget support in terms of accountability, justice, and other aspects.