WASHINGTON (Map) - WASHINGTON, May 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) released a new report sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which highlights the importance of evaluations and research in documenting the effectiveness of Democracy and Governance (DG) programming worldwide.

The report, entitled "Improving Democracy Assistance: Building Knowledge Through Evaluations and Research," was commissioned under USAID's Strategic and Operational Research Agenda (SORA). USAID partnered with the National Research Council (NRC) of the National Academies to identify improved methods for evaluations and to learn about the effectiveness and impact of USAID's DG work. Under SORA, USAID also supported a cross-national study of the effects of democracy assistance programs since 1990, which found consistent and clear positive impacts of USAID DG assistance on democratic development.

"USAID is serious about improving the effectiveness of its democracy and governance programs. We welcome this independent report, which provides a road map for USAID and its partners to understand the impact of DG programming, build and improve upon successes, and assist in democracy development in a variety of contexts," said Elisabeth Kvitashvili, Deputy Assistant Administrator for USAID's Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance.

Key recommendations from the report include:

    --  Conducting an impact evaluation pilot program to help USAID determine
        the effectiveness of its projects to advance democracy, ensure
        government transparency and accountability, and promote the rule of law;
    --  Rebuilding institutional mechanisms for absorbing and disseminating the
        results of evaluations of USAID Democracy and Governance programs;
    --  Easing the contracting and programming procedures to ensure impact
        evaluations of DG projects are conducted effectively and examining
        incentives for USAID staff and implementing partners to carry out sound
        impact evaluations;
    --  Considering the creation of a Social Sciences Advisory Group to assist
        in the evaluation effort.

For more information about USAID and its Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance programs, please visit www.usaid.gov.

The American people, through the U.S. Agency for International Development, have provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for nearly 50 years.

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