A critical friend: Monitoring and evaluation systems, development cooperation and local government. The case of Tuscany

•M&E systems have affected the quality of development cooperation projects.•Development evaluation shifted from an auditor approach to a collaborative role.•The twofold nature of the ex-ante evaluation as both a method and tool.•Ex-ante evaluation has influenced the policy of the Regional Government of Tuscany.•The strategic significance of adopting M&E systems for local governments.

The role of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems in the field of development cooperation has globally increased in last decades. International and regional organizations, as well as states, local governments and NGOs have largely adopted the tools provided by M&E in order to enhance transparency, effectiveness and efficiency. The paper aims at verifying how and to what extent the implementation of M&E systems has affected the overall quality of international cooperation projects financed by a local government. After a literature review on M&E in development cooperation, the research analyzes the wide range of activities (evaluation ex-ante, mid-term, final, monitoring, consultancy) carried out by the Evaluation Team of the XY in the last eight years in behalf of an Italian local government: the Region of Tuscany. The paper reveals the strategic significance of adopting M&E systems in the medium-long term.