The principle guiding IDLO’s approach to evaluation is that managing for results is the responsibility of all IDLO staff and program partners.

The aim of evaluation in IDLO is to promote accountability and learning in order to improve the performance of IDLO’s programs and policies.  Evaluations should provide IDLO and partners with timely, objective and evidence-based information on the performance of policies, programs and activities in order to make informed decisions.  They also serve to hold IDLO and program partners accountable for performance and results.

IDLO’s Evaluation Unit aims to increase the organization's effectiveness in catalyzing legal reform in developing and transitional countries by ensuring high quality evaluations which:

• Determine the results of IDLO programs and policies
• Promote accountability for choices and performance
• Contribute to organizational and partner learning

The Evaluation Unit has two functions:

• to independently evaluate the effectiveness of IDLO programs and policies
• to establish evaluation standards and guidelines to ensure credible, useful and impartial measurement of IDLO results, and monitor adherence to these standards