IOB carries out independent evaluations of the policies and operations in all fields of development cooperation. Recently, IOB launched an evaluation of Dutch support for capacity development that will result in a synthesis report based on a series of evaluations of the support for capacity development provided by seven organisations in 17 countries, most of them in sub-Saharan Africa. The seven organisations are the Ministry of Health (Ghana) and six Dutch NGOs – Agriterra, the Netherlands Commission for Environmental Impact Assessment (NCEIA), the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (NIMD), Partos, PSO and SNV. Although these organisations work in different fields, they are all directly involved in promoting and supporting capacity development. The evaluation is intended to respond to the need for knowledge and insights that will contribute to the future policies of the ministry, Dutch NGOs and their partners in developing countries. The evaluators will look at how and under what circumstances capacity has developed, and attempt to identify the factors that have influenced the effectiveness of the support provided by the Netherlands government and NGOs.