Anti-Crime and Counter-Terrorism Capacity Building Programs, 2015-16 to 2021-22 – Evaluation summary

About the evaluation

Global Affairs Canada’s Evaluation Division conducted an evaluation of the Anti-Crime and Counter-Terrorism Capacity Building Programs for the period 2015-16 to 2021-22. The evaluation aimed to inform decision-making, promote learning and improve Canadian programming. Evaluation questions covered: relevance, coherence, design and efficiency, results, and sustainability.

Key findings

• The original intent of the Programs to support government-wide anti-crime and counter-terrorism security assistance abroad remained relevant.
• The Programs lost their sense of purpose over time, with the Programs expanding investments from their security operating niche into the development assistance domain and relying less on security expertise from other federal departments.
• The Programs demonstrated an ability to lead capacity and practice change through funded projects, although project links with Canada’s security priorities were not always clear.
• The Programs achieved its strongest results at the immediate outcome level.
• Sustainability of investments was mixed and could be strengthened by addressing broader incentives to improve performance and increasing linkages with other international assistance programming.

Recommendations

1. Clarify the Programs’ role, purpose, mandate, and revise their organizational structure in order to meet the Government of Canada’s anti-crime and counter-terrorism capacity building security objectives.
2. Better use existing specialized security expertise found within the Programs’ governance structures when coordinating and guiding programming strategic and investment decisions in support of Canada’s security priorities.
3. Proactively engage and develop working relationships with the Department’s geographic divisions and missions to ensure alignment with departmental priorities at the country and regional levels.
4. Review the existing funding framework and apply new streamlined instruments and processes for federal government partners, and incorporate faster and more flexible processes for administering grants and contributions.