Agulhas were contracted by the Council of Europe in 2025 to conduct a synthesis report of all evaluations and recommendations issued between 1 January 2024 and 10 November 2025, 2024 and 2025, both centralised (DIO-led) and decentralised (25 evaluations and their Management Response Action Plans in total). This synthesis collates evidence and lessons from 25 […]
Agulhas were contracted by the Council of Europe in 2025 to conduct a synthesis report of all evaluations and recommendations issued between 1 January 2024 and 10 November 2025, 2024 and 2025, both centralised (DIO-led) and decentralised (25 evaluations and their Management Response Action Plans in total).
This synthesis collates evidence and lessons from 25 Council of Europe evaluations published in 2024 and 2025, and analyses how management has responded to their recommendations. The sample includes both independent evaluations led by the Directorate of Internal Oversight (DIO), and decentralised (DEC) evaluations, which are commissioned by programme teams. The objective of the synthesis is to identify patterns and lessons that may not be evident from individual evaluation reports, including on common enablers and barriers for successful programming, to inform learning and adaptation.
The evaluations present a picture of an organisation that is helping its member states to deliver meaningful change, in their path towards integration of European standards on human rights, democracy and the rule of law. Through its standard setting, monitoring and technical co-operation, the Council or Europe has supported policy, legislative and institutional changes across a wide range of thematic areas, while helping promote awareness and understanding of European standards among many thousands of national officials, legal professionals and civil society representatives. The evaluations confirm that the Organisation’s technical co-operation work rests on some areas of strong comparative advantage. Its grounding in European and international norms and the findings of Council of Europe monitoring bodies enhances its credibility. The work also benefits from deep technical expertise, longstanding partnerships with member states and an ability to adapt to dynamic national contexts.
