IFAD’s independent evaluation ratings database

(found via IFAD posting on Xceval)

[from the IFAD website] “The Independent Office of Evaluation of IFAD (IOE) is making publicly available all the ratings on the performance of IFAD-supported operations evaluated since 2002.  As such, IOE joins the few development organizations that currently make such data available to the public at large. The broader aim of disclosing such evaluation data is to further strengthen organizational accountability and transparency (in line with IFAD’s Disclosure and Evaluation Policies), as well as enable others interested (including researches and academics) to conduct their own analysis based on IOE data.

All evaluation ratings may be seen in the Excel database. At the moment, the database contains ratings of 170 projects evaluated by IOE. These ratings also provide the foundation for preparing IOE’s flagship report, the Annual Report on Results and Impact of IFAD operations (ARRI).

As in the past, IOE will continue to update the database annually by including ratings from new independent evaluations conducted each year based on the methodology captured in the IFAD Evaluation Manual. It might be useful to underline that IOE uses a six-point rating scale (where 6 is the highest score and 1 the lowest) to assess the performance of IFAD-funded operations across a series of internationally recognised evaluation criteria (e.g., relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, rural poverty impact, sustainability, gender, and others).

Moreover, in 2006, IOE’s project evaluation ratings criteria were harmonized with those of IFAD’s operations, to ensure greater consistency between independent and self-evaluation data (Agreement between PMD and IOE on the Harmonization of Self-Evaluation and Independent Evaluation Systems of IFAD). The Harmonization agreement was further enhanced in 2011, following the Peer Review of IFAD’s Office of Evaluation and Evaluation Function. The aforementioned agreements also allow to determine any ‘disconnect’ in the reporting of project performance respectively by IOE and IFAD management.”

2010 Annual Report on Results and Impact of IFAD Operations

“The IFAD Office of Evaluation (IOE) has released its eighth Annual Report on Results and Impact of IFAD Operations (ARRI), based on evaluations carried out in 2009. The main objectives of the report are to highlight the results and impact of IFAD-funded operations, and to draw attention to systemic issues and lessons learned with a view to further enhancing the Fund’s development effectiveness. The report synthesizes results from 17 projects evaluated in 2009 and draws upon four country programme evaluations in Argentina, India, Mozambique and Niger, as well as two corporate-level evaluations, namely on innovation and gender.

This year’s ARRI found that the performance of past IFAD-supported operations is, on the whole, moderately satisfactory. However, performance of operations has improved over time in a number of areas (e.g. sustainability, IFAD’s own performance as a partner, and innovation), even though additional improvements can be achieved in the future. The ARRI also found that projects designed more recently tend to perform better than older-generation operations, as overall objectives and design are more realistic and they devote greater attention to results management.

There are areas that remain a challenge, such as efficiency, and natural resources and environment.  The ARRI also notes that IFAD can do more to strengthen government capacity, which is one of the most important factors in achieving results on rural poverty. With regard to efficiency, the ARRI notes that the efficiency of IFAD-funded projects has improved from a low base in 2004/5, even though there is room for further enhancement. Efficiency will be studied by IOE in much deeper detail in 2011, within the framework of the planned corporate level evaluation on the topic.

The report is available on the IFAD website, at the following address: http://www.ifad.org/evaluation/arri/2010/arri.pdf

Hard copies of the report are available with IOE and can be requested via e-mail to evaluation@ifad.org.

Cordial regards,

IOE Evaluation Communication Unit

For further information, please contact:
Mark Keating
Evaluation Information Officer
Office of Evaluation
IFAD
Tel: ++39-06-54592048
e-mail: m.keating@ifad.org

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