I. D. Evaluation Criteria
This section describes the evaluation criteria developed by the Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD-DAC). In addition to the DAC criteria, other evaluation criteria could be developed (such as design, partnerships and cooperation, and innovation) and cross-cutting issues (such as Gender and Human Rights) could be addressed in evaluations.
Depending on the size of the programme or project, the stage at which the evaluation is taking place and the time and budget available, an evaluation might focus on some of the evaluation criteria, while putting less emphasis on others. All of this is to be specified in the project or programme document ( please see Chapter II) and/or in the evaluation terms of reference (TOR) ( please see Chapter III.
Each of the criteria translates into a different set of questions to be answered by the evaluation. Please see in the Chapter I Tools: Table with evaluation criteria definitions and corresponding sample of evaluation questions.
1. DAC Criteria
Evaluation criteria are important to provide an overarching framework for an assessment and define the evaluation questions. The United Nations commonly uses and adapts the evaluation criteria of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's Development Assistance Committee (OECD-DAC) to evaluate its interventions: relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact and sustainability.
2. Additional Criteria
Additional criteria are also commonly used to customize evaluations and adapt to the specific needs of the evaluation. Indeed, UNODC evaluations use the additional criteria of design, partnerships and cooperation, and innovation.
To define additional evaluation criteria, the following guiding questions should be answered:
3. Cross-cutting Issues: Gender and Human Rights
Carrying out gender equality and human rights responsive evaluations implies a shift in what to evaluate, how to evaluate, and why to evaluate.
To align with United Nations priorities and the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) recommendations , cross-cutting issues, such as gender equality and human rights, should also be addressed in all evaluations through:
 OIOS Inspection of Programme Level Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) of the UNODC (IED-09-006, 5 October 2009) concluded that gender mainstreaming is not consistent in the results framework and absent in the evaluation policy. OIOS recommended the following regarding gender mainstreaming:
1. To ensure that subprogrammes translate gender into systematic reviews and analyses, UNODC should deploy an integrated approach to developing and incorporating gender dimensions throughout its results framework.
2. To ensure that subprogrammes incorporate gender dimensions into their M&E processes, UNODC should include in the Evaluation Policy the necessary guidance for staff to mainstream gender dimensions into M&E processes, including but not limited to data collection, analyses, reporting, and programmatic decision-making processes.