Robert Maloney reminded participants at the recent 
Systemic Change workshop St. Vincent was very concerned about the results of projects he was engaged in, and on many occasions asked qualified experts to give their opinion about how things were going. In one of his documents we find the following statement:
To this end, the sites will be visited and … inspected and appraised by experts. These experts will make a report on the sites, as well as on any problems if there are any. French version of Coste: SV II, 628-29: Appendix 2, Petition of St.Vincent to the Parliament.
Evaluation is an indispensable follow-up to action. A periodic review of a project allows us to assess its positive and negative aspects and, if problems are arising, provides us with the opportunity to adjust our goals and the means for achieving those goals. So, evaluation helps the sick poor whom we are serving, and it helps us as we attempt to serve them.
Evaluation is also required by the foundations, agencies, governments and other groups whose help we need. When presenting a project to obtain a grant, for example, interim and final evaluations must be included, since without a regular qualitative and quantitative review there is no way fund-givers can be sure of a project’s steady development.
Tags: evaluation, project, Vincent
