It is recommended that the draft results are validated with stakeholders (identified in Step 1, tasks 3, 4 and 5) through meetings and focus group discussions. This will allow stakeholders (including women and men, youth, Indigenous People and vulnerable or marginalized groups) to review the results before they are more widely disseminated, and to provide critical feedback on the findings of the analysis. During the validation process, stakeholders are asked to carefully review the evaluation methods, results and findings. They are also asked to provide critical and constructive criticism about how to address any shortcomings, and to agree with or reject the interpretation and conclusions of the results. In some cases, the feedback received from stakeholders may require the evaluation team to discard or reconsider certain results or findings and/or go back and re-plan and re-measure certain indicators.

Once an internal review is done, distribute a revised evaluation report for an external review. Select respected and trustworthy experts from both the technical field (scientific and policy research) and the target audience. Invite them to review and comment on the revised evaluation report within an adequate period of time. In some cases, reviewers will be unable to undertake a review, so prepare a second list of reviewers at the outset. It is also important to keep in mind that this external review process may take a bit longer than the internal review. Once comments are received, have the evaluation team and those who commissioned the evaluation review them and incorporate changes into the report, as appropriate. The end result of a successfully completed internal and external review process is typically an improved product with greater legitimacy, transparency and credibility. This will facilitate the provision of a well-grounded report for target audiences.