Evaluation at BSTDB is defined as the process of assessing operations, programs, activities and strategies through systematic and rigorous analysis of their outputs, outcomes and impact against expected results and the overall mission of the Bank. While evaluation is mainly focused on completed operations (post-evaluation), in selected cases and in view of the need to learn from experience earlier in the cycle, the Post Evaluation Office (PEO) also performs Mid-Term Evaluations, upon President's request/approval.
Quality Management Improvement ‚Äì to derive significant lessons learned from past experience in view of using them for improving future operations.
BSTDB was welcomed as the 10th ECG member at the ECG Spring 2014 meeting held in Johannesburg, South Africa (29-30 April 2014).
ED reports its outputs to the Board of Directors and Board of Governors via President in his capacity of Board of Directors Chair. Board presentations are made by the Head of ED. (President can't make any change on submitted reports). ED reports to President administratively (BSTDB has non-resident Boards). Budget approval annually by MC and Board. ED's budget is approved by the Board, commensurate with the Work Programme. The WP is prepared independently by the ED and approved by the President.
Head of ED is one level below VPs and reports directly to President in his capacity of BoD chair. Also has direct reporting line to the Audit Committee of the BoD.
The ED Head participates in Management and BoD/BoG meetings only when it submits/presents an evaluation report, as well as upon invitation.
As per the Board approved policy, ED has unrestricted access to Bank files, staff and clients.
The ED Head and staff are under the same regulations as the BSTDB staff regarding personnel issues. The recruitment of evaluators and administrative staff is done with the active involvement of the Head and are approved by the MC. The ED staff and Head have contracts of indefinite duration, as applicable to all BSTDB. The ED Head decides on the budget and use of consultants, as approved in the WP/budget.
The selection process starts at the HR Department which publishes the advertisement internationally, on competitive basis. Based on short-list pre-selection, a recruitment panel interviews the candidates and votes, the final results to be approved by MC. The ED Head is part of the panel when ED staff is recruited. There is no tenure limit for the ED Head/staff. Rotation not fore-seen.
Consultants are used upon demand, depending on needs. Some years have 0% while other about 30% of the ED budget, for use of consultants.
No internal secondments, only external internships.
Annual Work Plans, prepared independently by ED including consultations with the management. It is reviewed/approved by the President and reflected in the Budget.
About 30 percent (random sampling plus priority type of projects) of the completed projects are independently evaluated by ED. All PCRs are reviewed and reflected in the Annual valuation Overview.
ED undertakes project, country programme, thematic and corporate-level evaluations, as well as various evaluation studies. Project evaluations are random but also include important/flagged projects. Other evaluations reflect actual needs and timing, e. g. prior to preparations of new strategies, there are relevant (country/sector) strategy and corporate evaluations.
Evaluations are selected during the formulation of the ED work programme and performed upon decision of the Head of ED.
Country programme evaluations and corporate level evaluations are undertaken before the preparation of new country strategies and business plan (4 years), as a matter of policy.
Costs for individual evaluations vary, based on time spent and obligatory field visits. Thematic and corporate level evaluations generally require more time/recourses.
No formal rules on this, but in practice the ED budget is within 1% of the total administrative budget.
While there is no standalone CED disclosure policy, certain disclosure rights and principles are described in the CED BoD approved Evaluation Policy.
As OPERs cover mainly private sector operations, they are not open to public. However, upon demand, the ED prepares an anonymous abstract (to ensure Borrower confidentiality) which may be published on the internet site. Some OPERs can be published in a shorter version or in full, after obtaining the consent of the borrower.
Other evaluation outputs, such as Country Strategy Evaluations, are published (website) as parts of the respective Country Strategy updates.
An evaluation is considered complete when the evaluation report has been issued and presented to management/BoD.
Annual Evaluation Overviews, summarising evaluations of PCRs and Projects: 1 per year, reported to MC, BoD, BoG.
Institutional Performance Evaluations: one every 4 years, reported to MC, BoD.
Country Strategy Evaluations: 11 evaluations every 4 years, reported to BoD/BoG.
Draft reports are sent for comments to relevant staff members (not management). Key disagreements are noted in footnotes, but the final decision on the report stays with the Head of ED. There is no clearance or approval of the reports and they go unedited to Management, BoD and BoG.
The final Operation Performance Evaluation Reports are communicated to relevant staff and Management. A summary is reported to BoD and a synthesis of all evaluations each year is reported to Management, BoDand BoG.
Institutional Performance Evaluation Reports have similar reporting.
Evaluation Studies may or may not go to BoD/BoG, depending on their role and nature.
Promoters and projects should not be identifiable in published reports, except in a few cases where consent of the related parties has been obtained.