Evaluation of the Commission's support to the Region of Eastern and Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean : Regional Level Evaluation ; Final Report ; Volume 1

The central scope of the evaluation is the Commission’s co-operation strategy with the region of Eastern and Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean (ESA-IO) and its implementation for the period 1996-2007 with the objective of: -providing the European Commission’s relevant external cooperation services and the wider public with an overall assessment of the Commission’s past and current cooperation relations with the ESA-IO region; -identifying key lessons in order to improve the current and future strategies and programmes of the Commission. The evaluation concentrates on four focal areas. Three of these - namely Regional Economic Integration and Trade, Transport and Communications, and Natural Resources Management - are also focal sectors of the Commission’s support to the ESA-IO region while the fourth sector - Conflict Prevention, Resolution and Management - has been included in view of the ESA-IO region’s instability and of the importance of a peaceful and stable environment for the attainment of the specific and overall objectives of the interventions envisaged. The evaluation was supervised by the Joint Evaluation Unit and benefited from advice provided by the members of the Reference Group.